California Games

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California Games
Developer(s) Epyx
Publisher(s) Epyx
Release date(s) 1987
Genre(s) Sports game
Mode(s) Single Player
Platform(s) Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum

California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California.

The game sold very well, topping game selling charts for winter months. It also got very positive reaction from reviewers. Many consider California Games to be the last classic Epyx sport game. After this game, the staff in Epyx changed.

The game can now be played on cell phones in Java format.

Contents

[edit] Events

Note: all these screenshots are of the Commodore 64 port.

BMX

Flying disc (also known as "Frisbee", omitted in the 2600 and Lynx versions)

Footbag

Rollerskating (omitted in the 2600 and Lynx versions)

Skateboarding

Surfing

[edit] Ports

Originally released for the Apple II and Commodore 64, this game was very lucrative for Epyx and was released for several other platforms over the years. It was eventually ported to Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Atari Lynx, DOS, Sega Mega Drive, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX and Sega Master System.

[edit] Easter Eggs

There are some Easter-Eggs in this game.

  • At some occasions, the H of Hollywood in Skateboarding falls down. (The remaining "OLLYWOOD" might be a reference to the ollie.)
  • You can hit the seagull in Footbag.
  • There is a shark in Surfing who laughs.
  • When practicing Flying Disc, a UFO occasionally 'abducts' the catcher of the disc

[edit] Legacy

This game was followed in 1991 by California Games 2. The sequel didn't match the original's success.

[edit] Trivia

  • The sound design for the original version of California Games was done by Chris Grigg, member of the band Negativland
  • Chuck Sommerville, the designer of the half-pipe game in California Games later developed the game Chip's Challenge
  • The gameplay for the footbag game was inspired by a scene in the movie The Great Dictator wherein Chaplie Chaplin juggles a balloon depicting the planet Earth with his feet.[citation needed]
  • Ken Nicholson the designer of the footbag game was the inventor of the technology used in Microsoft's Direct X
  • Kevin Norman the designer of the BMX game went on to found the educational science software company Norman & Globus, makers of the ElectroWiz series of products.

[edit] External links

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