Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 24th Genre Rank: (Sports) 2nd Awards: None I Lost My @#!@ Directions!!! Pros: Each Event Featured is Fun/ Great Background Graphics Cons: No Closing Ceremonies/ Speed Skating Graphics are Poor The Only Way Americans Can Win the Bobsled= Video Games

Overview: Since the 2002 Winter Olympics are winding down, it would be fitting if I threw in my Winter Games review for the Atari 7800 in the mix of the current winter sports fever. Instead of dozens of sleep inducing sports such as curling and ice dancing, Winter Games for the Atari 7800 offers 4 unique and surprisingly fun events for up to 8 cold weather heroes. The events are Biathlon, Speed Skating, the Ski Jump, and the 2-man Bobsled.

Graphics: Visually the game is either good or bad, depending on what event you are currently enjoying. Personally, I really like the graphics on the Ski Jump, Bobsled, and Biathlon events. The Biathlon has several different cut-scenes in it, each depicting a new and well-detailed background. The Bobsled event has a nifty overhead shot of the bobsled course that can help you judge the upcoming turns. The Ski Jump has a "Picture in a Picture" (thank you Mr. Rogers) where you can see the ramp/ landing spot and your ski jumper at the same time. The best graphics are probably the "Flag Page". This is where you can choose to represent one of several countries by viewing the beautifully done flags of each country (Betsy Ross who?). Why, you can even represent the legendary country of Atari if you so desire. The opening ceremony graphics are decent as well, even though the torchbearer is wearing a muscle shirt in the dead of winter. My only beefs in the visual department are the baby blue and yellow menus and the Atari 2600 throwback Speed skating event. Each leave something to be desired. But overall, I would award Winter Games the silver medal here.

Sound: Ack...once again the Atari audio department owes us money. Apart from the Olympic theme playing in the opening ceremonies, Winter Games is disturbingly void of audio. The Biathlon suffers the most, because this long event needs a dance track or something to keep those waiting to play awake. Here, I would award Winter Games a lump of Coal.

Gameplay: Something tells me that the Epyx line of Summer/ Winter/ California games were the heart and soul behind the Mario Party mini-games. The controls are super easy for the most part, and almost anyone could complete these events...with a little practice. The Biathlon by far is the hardest to grasp, because of the inclines and the sudden switch over to the shooting range. If you are unlucky enough to not own the instructions, you might wanna do an Internet search to find some online instructions. The other events, Speed skating, Ski Jump, and Bobsled are fairly simple, and can be very fun if a number of people are competitive with you. Although at times frustrating, the control and gameplay of the four events are fairly simple to pick up and learn. I would give Winter Games a Silver Medal here as well.

Interpretation: I've played numerous Epyx games of this nature on 3 different consoles, and Winter Games is one of the best. Only having four quality events as opposed to having a /3 good/ 2 weak/ 1 bad mix is really the way to go. Quality, not Quantity...my friends, is the key to video game hoop-la. Overall, the game fares well against all completion on all consoles from this genre and era, but I really miss the Closing Ceremonies where the overall winner was crowned. It's a shame that this version of Winter Games doesn't have that. Still, Winter Games gets another Silver from me in this category.

Value: One of the original party titles, Winter Games has 4 quality mini-games inside that maybe could entertain a half drunk group of sailors or a Boy's Club for a few hours. But sadly, the games are very short (except for the Biathlon, which by comparison may be a little too long) and that probably means that most people will play this a few times and grow tired of it quickly. This game really requires 1 or 2 friends to play it with you to have any fun. It would have been great if you could have assigned a couple of computer countries to battle it out with you. But alas, you can't. I really believe that the lack of closing ceremonies hurts this game's life span since there is no real sense of closure. After all, we would all enjoy seeing ourselves receiving a gold medal, wouldn't we? In this category, Winter Games snags a Bronze.

Overall: Well, the good news is, you at least won't get screwed by the scheming French judge when you play Winter Games. As far as sport titles go, this is one of the systems' best...even though initially that doesn't mean much. The graphics, gameplay and the quality of each event is impressive in it's own right, even though holistically this game probably won't hold your interest for long. If you have a bunch of people you know who love classic video games and/or party games like Mario Party or Mario Kart, you might wanna give this game a spin. If you have Multiple Personalities, this game might be for you. If you are currently roommates with Mary Lou Retton, you might talk enough trash to get her involved in the fray. If not, just get this game to complete your 7800 collection…it is at least good enough for a "once through."



Other Reviews:
The Video Game Critic: A-
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 3.5 out of 5.0 (Good)
The Atari Times: 4 out of 10

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What is your favorite event in Winter Games?

Biathlon Ski Jump Speed Skating Bobsled

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