Winter Olympics: Lillehammer '94

The Good
When compared with Salt Lake 2002 (the last official title to be released as the time I'm writing) the game has a lot of variety, with a total of 10 events, but "variety" is used very loosely, as from those 4 are events based on gates (Downhill, Giant Slalom, Super G and Slalom) and two (Luge and Bobsled) are virtually identical, except for one being slightly faster. Still, the remaining four (Ski jump, Biathlon, Moguls and Short track) are rather unique, so at least there's some variety. I'm also fond of some the music tracks and the (few) sound effects and the art direction did a good job in the use of the mascots and the menus look appropriate, although a bit on the spartan side.

The Bad
Gameplay is non-existent in some events. While the controls are bearable in Downhill, as gates decrease in size on Giant Slalom and Super G, a single trajectory miscalculation means disqualification, either from hitting a gate (which I'll go into more detail next), trees or from passing outside the gate. If this is bad, in slalom things get worse, as even a single touch on a flag sends your athlete belly up and thinking what happened. Anyone, and I mean anyone who spent some time watching these events knows that most falls are caused from failing to get a proper position in one of the skis, or going too fast on a change of direction, NOT hitting a flag. In slalom, almost all flags in the better trajectories are hit - in here, at the first contact the skier is eating snow. However, if this is not enough, there are some inaccuracies in others - In Luge and Bobsled, the counter is already counting when the player is doing the initial speed buildup, moguls should be all about turning and clinching two jumps in the proper platforms (which are absent) and finally, the effects of fatigue in Biathlon are nowhere to be seen, and the gameplay is nearly absent in it.

Graphics are little more than adequate, Of course that white is the dominating colour, but that does not explain the lack on detail and animations on the game.

The Bottom Line
This is no Winter Challenge. Like racing games, winter sports all profit a lot from having even the most basic of 3D graphics. It's much better to see the gates as they approach instead of having to guess if the next is left or right. While it's interesting to have a points and a medals table, as the player is prone to miss completely at least two events (and possibly in five or six), winning the points medal is quite difficult, (and took me around five years to achieve on the real stuff - with emulators and save states might less).

The game fails pretty much on a lot of aspects due to hardware limitations and poor gameplay options. Not recommended, even for fans of the genre.