Track & Field games have been a popular genre ever since the original NES, and with the growing success of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the recent Summer Olympics, and the once again upcoming sequel of Mario & Sonic (not to mention Konami's rebirth of New International Track & Field for DS), other teams are starting to throw their hats in the ring.
Game Factory, known best for its tranquil Zenses puzzlers and Rubiks DS and Wii games, is putting the finishing touches on World Championship Games: A Track & Field Event, a title that hopes to offer a more realistic take on Olympic sports, but still keep the classic "easy to play, tough to master" schemes that were found in classic 8-bit gaming alive and well.
DreamStation writes: "World Championship Games: A Track and Field Event offers players 14 tracks and field type "events" that play out like mini-games. These mini-games can be played one at a time at the player's choosing or randomly through a decathlon style tournament. The concept for a fun game is there, but how fun is this game?"
Nine Over Ten writes: "Sometimes it's pretty hard to comprehend why developers continue to churn out subpar games after subpar games that do not even measure to half of the better games in a certain genre. It is as if the publisher had a "me-too!" brainwave and while this can be good if they provided quality games in the first place, truth is these are shovelware."
Track and field games are typically pretty simple in design and concept, and World Championship Games is no different. Players select an athlete, a country to represent, and then have at it. The only real differentiator here is in control. The game's developers have come up with some interesting, if sometimes complex, methods of interface. Sprinting, for example, requires players to tap the stylus on footprints moving down the touch screen at the exact moment they hit a horizontal bar, rather like a rhythm game. It's a welcome change from beating the A and B buttons to make your runner hoof it down the track. Executing a long jump, on the on the other hand, is much more challenging than it should be. Players begin by tapping the footprints to run, then they must hold one of the shoulder buttons for a set length of time to set the angle of the leap, then press the A button to successfully land. It's unlikely that younger children will have the discipline to learn such complicated controls, but for older players who take the time to master them, World Championship Games can be a pleasant distraction.
