Summer Games
-
Mega Sports
(1992) -
The C64 Collection 1
(2022) -
THEC64
(2022)
-
Summer Games
(2009 on
Windows, 2010 on
Macintosh, 2014 on
Android)
Description official descriptions
Summer Games allows up to eight players to compete in a series of summer themed Olympic events. The gameplay is similar to the other entries in Epyx "games" series. Each player can choose a country to represent, and then takes turns competing in various events to see who will win the gold medal! The game allows you to compete in all of the events sequentially, choose a few events, choose just one event, or practice an event. The events available vary slightly depending on the platform, and may include:
- Pole vault
- Platform diving
- 4x400 meter relay
- 100 meter dash
- Gymnastics
- Freestyle swimming
- Skeet shooting
- 100 meter freestyle
- Rowing
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Commodore 64 version)
7 People
| Designed by | |
| Music by |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 73% (based on 18 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 63 ratings with 1 reviews)
Good game, but loses in comparison with C64 version.
The Good
The SMS version of Summer Games has good graphics, like other games on the same console, allows multiplayer competition and has the Summer Olympic Games theme. End.
The Bad
First, the gameplay. The factor that has defined the C64 version (and define any game, in my opinion) isn't so good on the Master System. Rather, even C64's Summer Games hasn't the best gameplay in the world, but it's good.
Graphics aren't fluid as seen on C64 and sound may be annoying. Ok, it's a 80's PSG chip, but many SMS games have better music and sound effects than Summer Games. Besides, Summer Games was a classic in 1984, but the SMS version was launched almost seven years after C64 version.
The SMS version also removes three events from the original version: 4x400m relay, skeet shooting (a nice event!), and rowing.
Last, but not least, Brazilian gamers has known only this version for years, thanks to Tec Toy, official SEGA distributor in Brazil (where I live).
The Bottom Line
It's a decent version of Summer Games. However, if you aren't a die-hard fan of sports games, try instead the nice C64 version of Summer Games over this one. If you have a Master System, please try first the nice version of California Games for your console.
SEGA Master System · by Gustavo Henrique dos Santos (97) · 2015
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lifelike running animation predating Jordan Mechner's rotoscoping | Andrew Fisher (699) | Apr 24, 2023 |
Trivia
Memory
The Atari 2600 version of "Summer Games," released in the later years of Atari's dominance in the Home Video Game market, was one of a handful of games that used 16K of memory! The Atari 2600 had been designed to only run cartridges of 2K and 4K in size. Games that were written to exceed that 4K memory limitation required the "bank swapping" technique in order to access 8K, 12K, and even 16K game cartridges.
Memory was still expensive in the 1980's, yet the public wanted more and more advanced games, especially since it had been several years now since the release of the many popular 8-bit home computer systems that had been flooding the market and reducing in cost. And with the Nintendo Entertainment System having just been released, the Atari 2600 was beginning to look very dated. In order to satisfy the public’s craving for games requiring increasing amounts of memory, creating a bigger game for the Atari 2600 was the only way to do it.
In order to handle the expansiveness of their games, Epyx released all three of their Olympic-based games with multiple ROM chips equaling the necessary 16K. Using bank-swapping, the various ROM chips could be accessed and swapped as needed. And all of it was embedded within a standard-sized Atari 2600 Cartridge!
Ports
As with the sequel, conversions for Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, ST and Amiga were later made, but only for compilations Gold, Silver, Bronze and Mega Sports.
Awards
- Happy Computer
- Issue 04/1985 - Best Game in 1984 (Readers' Vote) (Commodore 64, Apple II and Atari 8-bit versions)
- Zzap!
- May 1985 (Issue 1) - #18 'It's the Zzap! 64 Top 64!'
Information also contributed by Martin Smith
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Related Sites +
-
Crapshoot
A humorous review on PC Gamer -
Unofficial Epyx and Summer Games homepage
A little history of Epyx and an interview with Stephen Landrum, discussing the creation of Summer Games.
Identifiers +
Contribute
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Servo.
Amstrad CPC added by Nellistos. Windows added by Rik Hideto. ZX Spectrum added by Jo ST. iPad, iPhone, SEGA Master System added by Kabushi. Atari 8-bit added by Martin Smith. PC-88 added by Terok Nor. Windows Mobile added by Игги Друге.
Additional contributors: chirinea, General Error, formercontrib, SirOrlando, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.
Game added April 26, 2004. Last modified May 24, 2024.