Athlete

Copyright : Microids | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

As you can guess by the title of this game it?s another athletic/olympic style computer game from years gone by, this one was put together by the not so well known Microids in the mid 80?s. Expect all the usual events such as the 100 meter dash and the long jump as you race against the clock and the CPC.

Graphics

For such an early attempt at this style of gameplay and considering the awful games like this we have had to play from the same period this is actually not a bad looking game at all. Microids have put a lot of time and effort into the sprites (in-game characters) and layed on a fair amount of colours for you to look at while playing. Animation of the characters is also pretty top notch for a software house you very rarely hear anything about, this was the closest thing you would get to the classic Daley Thompson series without inventing a time machine and leaping forward 5 years or so. A very good job all round in our opinion, they even included an option for those using monochrome or green screen monitors which in turn made the game look a whole lot better and easier to see.

Sound

Sound is a bit of a let down, sure the game is full of music and the occasional sound but it?s really starting to show it?s age as I?m sure you?ll agree when you first load the game. Having said that and by comparing it to the other games we?ve seen from the same time period it?s pretty nice to have at least a half good attempt at bringing sound to the genre.

Gameplay

As for the gameplay, well I?m only sorry that this game never reached the UK market as I?m sure it would have done remarkably well indeed. The control system is much the same as the later Daley Thompson series in which you had to tap the hell out of your joystick or keyboard to get your character to run faster than the computer controlled opponent but we guarantee the people that bought this title didn?t break half as many joysticks as those who went on to by Decathlon.
The game is written in French (we think) but don?t let that put you off, when redefining the keys you first press left then right followed by your jump/fire button. After starting the game simply enter the number of players then your name(s) and away you go, no need to understand a single word of French to get enjoyment out of the title. Without a doubt this is one of the best early day Decathlon games we?ve seen.