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The Commodore 64 version allowed players to link Summer Games and Summer Games II to engage in one large Olympics, accumulating medals in a tournament from both games.

"I'm sure that the original Olympic Games had to figure out how to smooth out the rough edges, too."

The game starts out with the Olympic Torch being run up a small set of stairs and touching the hugh torch while the stadium of fans sit in the background under a slightly cloudy and blue sky, thus starting the Olympic Games. Then, some white doves are released into the air. A great start for this Olympic sized game.

Then, you get the basic joystick driven menu screen. Your options are: Compete in all events, (Play through the game, as you are suppose to.) Compete in one event, (Play only one and avoid everything else.) Practice, (Great for learning how to do things.) Number of Joysticks, (1 or 2.) See world records (About the only true goal of the whole game.) and See opening ceremonies. (The guy lighting the large torch with the small torch screen.)

Next, you get your choice of which country you wish to play for. There are seventeen different countries and the in-house one, ENYX, who made the game. And, each one is identified by both the nations flag and their name. The game supports one to many players, each taking turns. (Unless the specific event supports competition.)

For games, there is the Pole Vault, (Colorful backdrop with the basic goal of using a long pole to hurdle over a very high pipe, set on two stilts.) Platform Diving, (Colorful backdrop with judges, a pool and a diving board on top of a laddered structure. Point is to dive with style and impress the judges.) the 4x400m relay, (In the background is the stadium of people watching you and the other runner. Run with a steady pace, as you do have an energy bar to deal with. Pass the baton off to the next runner in line, and you'll start to control that runner. The screen scrolls to the left very smoothly. However, if either runner falls too far behind, they have to do the run off-screen. The audience even cheers on the runner by initialing out USA with those large flip over cards.) the 100m dash, (Looks the same as the 4x400m relay, but you won't have to bother with multiple runners, the baton or the energy bar.) Gymnastics, (Nice backdrop of an audience with an interior dome setting. You are a gymnast who has to do a hand stand sort of jump off a piece of gymnastics equipment, flip in mid-air and land on her feet.) 400 Meter Freestyle Relay, (Swimming. Nice backdrop and a swimming pool divided into 4 lanes. Swim as fast as you can. Four swimmers will go 50 meters in each direction.) 100 meter freestyle (Same as 400m freestyle, but without the extra swimmers.) and Skeet Shooting. (Another nice backdrop with the cloudy blue sky and the mountains/trees. You aim cross hairs at clay pigeons and try to blow as many out of the sky as you can. You get different shooting spots, too.) Which makes a total of eight Olympic type games that can be played in Summer Olympics for the Commodore 64. (It should also be noted that each game requires a loading time. But, it is usually takes 30 seconds or less.)

Graphics: 8 out of 10.

All the graphics really look nice. But, for a game that has only 8 Olympic games in it, there sure are enough background recyclings going on. For example, the Pole Vault and opening ceremonies use the same backdrop. The 4x400m Relay and 100m Dash are virtually the same. Same goes for the Freestyle Relay and the 100m Freestyle. Luckily, there is enough action happening and it all looks nice and smooth. Even the menu screens look OK.

Sound: 6 out of 10.

Each event has a few sound effects for certain things. Then, there is the short bits of music for each nation that is played during the player/country selection screen and the Gold/Silver/Bronze awarding screens. There are also a couple other little songs that play at various spots. What audio is there is acceptable. But, don't expect any background music to play during any of the games.

Controls: 5 out of 10. (A mixed bag.)

Each event has its own set of joystick controls. Some are easy and understandable. But, most have to almost be guessed at or learned. Worse yet, the game gives you no in-game instructions about what does what. Basically, you'll need the manual or a lot of practice.

Overall: 6 out of 10.

This game is best played with friends to compete against. But, the world records that are saved between gaming sessions are good for using as a goal if you can't find any friends willing to play this old game. Don't expect the computer to provide an AI player any more than it absolutely has to. If you are the only human player, you will always win the gold...no matter how badly you did. The odd controls that some of the games use really bring down the overall score and fun factor, especially when it seems like the controls don't even respond at times. Visually, the game is top notch. And, this is a great first effort for the series of Olympic themed games that EPYX produced for the Commodore 64.



Reviewer's Score: 6/10 | Originally Posted: 02/10/02, Updated 02/10/02

Summer Games was the first multi event sports game by Epyx. Building on this title, Epyx began with the games series. Summer Games was based on the concept Sweat by Scott Nelson. It was the first game by Epyx on which a graphics designer worked (which crucially determined the way Epyx later developed their games), and one of the best games of this company at all.

Events:
1 Pole Vault
2 Platform Diving
3 4x400m Relay
4 100m Dash
5 Gymnastics
6 Freestyle Relay
7 100m Freestyle
8 Skeet Shooting