Sega Saturn
Athlete Kings
Athlete Kings
Back in the old days of Arcade action, there was a hugely popular title by the name of “Track and Field”. A simple enough concept, re-enact the energetic exertion of Olympic-standard athletics by means of mashing buttons as fast as you can, attempting to qualify to move on through a sequence of “popular” events.Simple graphics, simple concept, simple fun. Simple, eh?
Fast forward a decade and a bit, and the concept receives a new lease of life… a coin-op by the name of “Decathlete”, and the Saturn conversion by the name of “Athlete Kings”.
Introducing a selection of athletes to choose from for starters, they all have their own strengths to draw on in the different events. American Rick Blade and Japanese Joe Kudou fill in as “All rounders”, the Brit, Jef Jansens (hilariously named “Robin Banks” in the arcade version) and Russian Aleksi Rigel as the throwing specialists, Karl Vain, the German jumping specialist, and then the women, Ellen Reggiani, Femi Kadiena and the chinese teenager who is amazing at running but has the most forgettable name in the world.
Anyway, the events are all as you would expect in a game like this, and they take on the form of the traditional Olympic Decathlon. The 100m sprint and the 110m Hurdles are short but intense button-bashing races, the hurdles being interjected with occasional presses of the action button to jump said wooden barriers. The 400m and 1500m races are a little more leisurely, simply because you have to watch your stamina. The Long Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault and Javelin are all about button bashing to power up, and then good timing with the action button to set angles, extend legs and plant poles. The Shot Putt is all about timing alone, unless you use the “spinning” method, whereby you can increase the power using a circular motion on the joypad, the same method you must employ for the Discus event.
Whether alone or against friends, the game provides ample challenge, with tight qualification targets in arcade mode, and the honest, simple multiplayer fun, this is one of the best of the genre.
The simple truth is, this game has been one of the prides of my collection, so this doesn’t just get a recommendation, it’s a “Game to Play Before You Die”.
No, really.
Incidentally, I’d be interested to know what sort of records other people have attained on this game. Here’s the ones of mine that I can remember…
100m – 9.52seconds
Long Jump – 9.98m
Javelin – 99.04m
High Jump – 2m 56cm
Pole Vault – 6m 34cm
All the tasks are completed by means of rhythmic rapping, usually following the “teacher” on each stage. However, you can progress beyond just being “good” by freestyling a bit, and at this point the teacher actually leaves you to it, just freestyle yourself to massive points, but you’ve got to be impressive with every set of beats you lay down.
Still, Parappa’s charming original gameplay left an indelible mark on the games world, and although there’s actually very little to the game itself (it’s almost like one mini-game off Bishi Bashi Special in that respect), the sheer volume of content and entertainment contained within, combined with a supremely evil preciseness on the beat makes this game enough of a challenge and experience to make it worth shelling out for. Any way you look at it, this game is one you should try and play through at least once, if only to hear the entirety of the soundtrack.
Bearing in mind, I've never been really into Pinball machines in the arcades, I very rarely left the realms of video games, but occasionally I have been tempted to give them a go. But this game showed me a little of what I was missing... Of course, when you load a game like this up, and you see the four tables available, you invariably start with number 1.
Table number 1 is a sci-fi themed table called "Ignition". Possibly the weakest moment of the entire series, I still haven't played this table much. I think the main problem with it is the big open space in the middle, all the targets and ramps are at the side, but the ball physics and the gameplay remained solid, and the competition between me, my father, and all the rest of my family began.
The table that would ultimately begin the true obsession with beating each other's scores would be table 4, "Nightmare". The combination of superb table design, multiple features and bonuses, superb music and perfectly placed targets resulted in a tussle for the number 1 spot in the high score table. Stupidly high scores were possible given luck and skill, but every single score you could set is theoretically beatable!
Basically, the slightly irrelevant plot goes along the lines of “Student with passion for myths gets hand-picked by the Gods to combat evil dark power, odds stacked against him etc.” Yes, the plot is irrelevant, as the game itself is superb from start to finish, and really doesn’t need it, the few hints in the instruction manual are enough to see you through without giving everything away.
Anyway, you begin your quest plunged into the depths of hell, with several puzzles to solve and lots to do for starters. First off, the super smooth animation strikes you as your character runs along, jumping around, punching and kicking, with objective number one appearing to be to obtain some fireballs with which to bring down the essential teleport balls. These fireballs also make eradication of the nasty skeletons much easier than punching them. Fireballs, immunity and other artifacts will be found inside various chests and pots littered around, a couple of swift kicks will burst them open, and away you go.
That’s just level 1… As you travel on your journey you must face Medusa, Vikings, Ogres, Odin, Mummies and a whole host of booby traps inside a pyramid, and with a limited number of lives available, you’ve certainly got your work cut out. But it’s all presented in glorious multi-colour, and although the final battle is a bit of a disappointment (it’s far too easy, the trials of the Pyramid prior to this are some of the finest puzzles and traps to negotiate in any game EVER) you’ll certainly feel a sense of achievement when you do manage to save Zeus and his chums from whatever Dameron was trying to achieve.
TI Invaders is, in my opinion, by far and away the best version of Space Invaders up until the franchise was truly revisited in 1991. 
The enemies begin as large red aliens, and progress to smaller and smaller sizes, including some balls that actually disappear save for two pixels that stay visible. Occasionally, a yellow UFO travels across the top of the screen, awarding you a bonus that varies according to where you hit it… hit it dead centre for maximum score!
Yep, the game had the simplicity of the Space Invaders we all know and love, the perfect difficulty curve, and, above all, sheer playability. If you haven’t already played this, whether emulated or on the real McCoy, then you’ve missed out, big style. 
So, let's begin. Get past the "no-frills" title screen (It just says "Parsec", basically. In plain mono-spaced text, no less) and we're hurtling across space in our natty little space ship. You can fly around a little, even crash, just get used to the handling, the game doesn't start until you press fire.
On the first level, these beasties take one shot to die. On level 2, they take 2. And so on, until level 4, after which they just come faster instead.
Finally, you face an Asteroid belt, and must destroy a certain number of rocks to begin the next level, where we start all over again.
Thankfully, you do have 3 speeds of movement. Known as "Lifts", Lift 1 is the one you'll use for the refuelling tunnels. Lift 2 is medium speed (I never used this, EVER) and Lift 3 is full speed, what you'll be using for the majority of the game.
Also, your laser can only be fired for so long before it overheats, destroying you. On Level 1, this is about 6 seconds of continuous fire. From about level 10, one tap on the fire button will start your ship flashing, the warning signal for an imminent overheat.