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Summer is coming and it's time to don your skimpy shorts
and go out and get fit by doing lots of strenuous sporty
things. If that's not really your style and you like
to spend the sunny season slumped on your posterior
toggling your joystick, then you can still compete in
various sport events courtesy of HES Games from
Americana. There are six different events which have
to be loaded separately -- three of them test your joystick
toggling muscles and the other three require precision
timing and reflex skills.
Before
an event is loaded you must enter the number of players
(up to six) and enter their names and affiliation (ie
Mad Dog Regan USA, Mag the Hag UK etc), and select the
strip colour (red shorts, red top for Derek Hatton etc).
After that any of the events may be loaded and it's
possible to view the real world records for that event
by pushing the joystick in certain directions. Once
you've seen what you're up against you can start the
event proper.
Another
nice feature about HES Games is the replay/classic
replay options. After you complete an event you can
watch it again by pressing F1 on the keyboard! Or, if
you so desire, watch a classic replay -- an emulation
of when the world record took place. This is particularly
useful with weightlifting to study technique. If you
manage to get a world record or a good score then this
can be saved out (on the disk version ONLY). Right,
here is a breakdown of all the events . . .
100M
SPRINT
This
nice simple event is played over a scrolling track with
your big character seen in the centre of the screen.
When the starting gun sounds, frantically waggle your
joystick left and right. The faster you can waggle the
faster your on-screen personna hacks. One or two players
can bash away at this event. Two players is better since
it adds that competitive edge.
110M
HURDLES
This
is viewed in similar style to the 100m sprint and the
same sort of joystick toggling applies, but if you only
waggle left and right in this event, your man falls
rear end over chest because he won't jump a hurdle when
he encounters one. So, to remedy the situation, press
right on the joystick when he comes up to a hurdle and
he jumps it. In between the hurdles waggle the joystick
to get up speed.
LONG
JUMP
Yet
another event which takes place over a scrolling backdrop.
Move the joystick left and right quickly to gain speed
on the run up and when the man reaches the board press
up on the joystick to make him jump. If you time it
correctly he flies through the air and lands in the
sandpit. Then pull right on the joystick to push him
forward otherwise he falls backwards landing on his
bot, spoiling the jump length.
ARCHERY
This
is the first event to deviate from joystick waggling
and it tests your timing. This event is played in 3D
-- all that is seen of your archer is a hand holding
the bow; beyond that the four targets are arrayed. To
put an arrow in the bow, keep the fire button depressed
and pull back on the joystick. Once the arrow is strung
you can move the bow anywhere on the screen and using
the sight mounted on the arrow you can fire it at the
target. This event automatically caters for the distance
to the target, so you don't have to worry about compensating
for the arrow dropping during its flight, but you do
have to watch out for the wind and compensate for its
effect. Current wind speed and direction is shown and
is constantly updated.
WEIGHTLIFTING
This
has two parts -- the Two Hand Snatch and the
Clean And Jerk, and is another event which tests
your timing. Both feature a big fat weightlifter who
stares out of the screen and the player controls lifting
movements by either pushing or pulling on the joystick.
The real key to success is learning to time the weightlifter's
movements -- if you mistime a snatch or don't give him
time enough to steady himself, he drops the weights.
The two-handed snatch is the easier event, requiring
an up/down/up (with pauses) movement on the joystick
to lift the weights successfully. Clean and jerk is
far more difficult and requires up/down/up/down/up (with
pauses) to lift the weight.
SPRINGBOARD
DIVING
This
is viewed from the side. You woman (for it is a she)
stands on the extreme left hand side of the screen and
when the joystick is tapped right begins the short run-up
to the end of the board. When she reaches the end of
the board, push up to make her jump, pull down to tense
her legs, and then up again to spring. If this is timed
correctly, she whizzes through the air doing somersaults.
Just before she hits the water, pull down to kick out.
Points are awarded for the gracefulness of the dive
multiplied by the dive's difficulty factor.
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