Olympic Skier

The Good
If you keep toying with the idea of participating in the Winter Olympics, you could always go down to a ski resort or, if you rather be home-bound, pick up a copy of Olympic Skier (or Ski64, according to the tape loader). Although Epyx made the event famous with Winter Games, it was Mr. Chip that got there first. However, the game only features three courses – Slalom, Ski-Jump, and Downhill – compared to Epyx’s nine.

In the first course, you have to ski through flags scattered through a vertically-scrolling slope, and you get disqualified if you miss three. You are also aiming to finish it in the fastest time possible, by pushing the joystick down to speed though the course, but you can push up to slow down. If you crash into any trees, rocks, or logs, or get disqualified, you proceed to the next course where timing is crucial in making a successful jump off the ramp. If you land at the right time and at the right distance, you’ll see yourself skiing off the screen. If not, you’ll tumble down.

The third course is similar to the first, but without the flags. Once again, you are aiming to complete the course in the fastest time possible. The controls are also similar, but this time you can press the fire button to jump over any obstacles in your way. At the end of each course, you are given a score which adds up to a total of 1000, and if you are good enough, you have the chance to enter the top six. Mr. Chip has added the rating system for one purpose: to mock the player if they perform badly. When I had achieved a rating of under one hundred, the game thought my performance was “hilarious”; otherwise, I would be classed as “rubbish” or “awful”.

Out of all the courses, I never did manage to complete Downhill, since this is the same event that I crashed the most. Having said that, I am glad Mr. Chip has added some humor in the game, in the form of a huge, red helicopter that carries your injured player away to the hospital. Graphically, each obstacle is quite large, so there are plenty of opportunities to crash into them if you don’t time your jumps properly. Static is heard as you ski towards the finish line, and this gets louder the longer you push the joystick down. There are a few good melodies that play when you complete a course, and what you hear will depend whether you crash or actually reach the finish line.

The Bad
The second course has been gimped; no matter how correct my jumps were, I always got close to zero points.

The Bottom Line
Olympic Skier is an early sports game where you participate in three courses, and although you do the best you can, you are also mocked for your performance. The game itself is very good, in terms of sound and graphics, and it is addictive. There are some nice little pieces of music thrown in as well. Until Mr. Chip’s offering, not one company ever thought of doing a sports game based around the Winter Olympics.