Track and Field

Copyright : Ocean Software | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

You?re in for the workout of your life - 6 gruelling events await you: 100 metre dash, long jump, javelin, 110 metre hurdles, hammer throw and the high jump.

You can play alone or against the computer. You can choose 4 levels of difficulty: Easy, normal, difficult or awesome but keep in mind your real opponent is yourself, you have to make the qualifying time or distance in each event to move on, otherwise it?s all over.

The home computer version of the arcade waggle favourite and prequel to Hyper Sports, released only as part of the Game, Set and Match 2 compilation? doesn?t bode well does it?

Graphics

Track and Field was one of the most famous arcade games in its day and upon loading this game you?ll immediately recognise? nothing. Never has an arcade conversion looked less like its source. It?s not as if the game has been altered to look better on home computers or anything, quite the opposite in fact with backgrounds reduced to featureless green blobs.

Character movement is unrealistic with your fairly robust player struggling through the six equally lacklustre looking events. Only the hammer throw shows any signs of graphic originality by at least looking different from the other five. It?s stilly pretty ugly though.

Presentation is basic and while I?m not a hundred percent certain on the history of this game, I get the feeling its an aborted game that was chucked on a compilation because its unsellable otherwise?

Other than the format of the events, this game bears no resemblance to the arcade at all and I?m amazed that Konami ever allowed this game to be published in any format as it takes a whiz all over their property.

Sound

Virtually nothing. I would actually have scored this better if they had the good grace to make it silent instead they have opted for some insultingly poor sounds to indicate changes in options at the menu and some other random in-game noises, all of which are absolutely abysmal.

Gameplay

I?m tempted just to write one swear word and leave it here, like a burglar leaving a massive dump on the kitchen table, just for the hell of it. But, that would be the easy way out. I?ve played bad games before, more than I care to think about it but this one offended me to the very core.

Taking a classic arcade game like Track and Field that may not have been the most innovative in terms of gameplay but earns respect for the addictiveness and charm of the whole experience and doing this to it is despicable.

The gameplay, for what it is worth, is sluggish and at times you?ll find yourself losing speed for no readily apparent reason. The crude presentation lends the gameplay no favours as the whole thing feels pressing and unwelcoming. There?s no sense of achievement even when you do qualify for the next round and absolutely no encouragement from the game to keep playing.

I have absolutely nothing good to say about this game. Even people who absolutely adore joystick wagglers will find it hard to come up with something credible from this abomination as each of the games play similarily with only the hammer throw deviating from the standard run as fast as you can and choose an angle. The first four events are tricky if virtually identical and the high jump is as laughingly easy as it is unrealistic.

The only thing coming close to a redeeming feature this game has is that it was never realeased on its own and I don?t think it was heavily pushed to sell the compilation either although I can?t quite remember to be honest. They should have filed it in a drawer and forgotten all about it though, that would?ve been the best for us all.