Sydney 2000 (video game)
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| Sydney 2000 | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Attention To Detail |
| Publisher(s) | Eidos Interactive |
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Sports (Olympic) |
| Mode(s) | Single player, two player, hot seat or simultaneously |
| Platform(s) | PC, Sony PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast |
| Media | 1 CD/GD-ROM |
Sydney 2000 is the official video game of the XXVII Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Sydney, Australia in 2000. Developed by ATD and published by Eidos, it was released for the PC (Windows), Sony PlayStation and the Sega Dreamcast. With a total of 32 countries and 12 events, it was the follow-up of Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996.
Although the button mashing-laden gameplay did not changed from previous games, the main competition itself become more complex with the inclusion of the Virtual Gym and a complete Olympics qualifying tour, composed by four stages, and the player can only run for the medals of the events he qualified for. While some of the events are the women's, each event is only set to one gender: it isn't possible to run the women's 100 m hurdles or the men's high jump.
Graphics are in full 3D, and presented with TV broadcasting cameras. Although the athletes are poor in textures, the models allow each one to have noticeable muscles and physical details (such as the cheeks in the weight lifter), and the results look more realistic than most of those relying more on textures than actual models. Animation is overall good and graphically was the most solid title in the genre as of 2000. Sound is average, with real BBC commentators, although the lack of lines makes them too repetitive after a while.
With good sales and mostly positive reviews, it won the BAFTA award for the Sports game of the year 1.
[edit] Events
- 100 m sprint
- 110 m hurdles
- Javelin (F)
- Hammer
- Triple Jump
- High Jump (F)
- Skeet shooting
- Super Heavyweight Weight Lifting
- 100 m Freestyle Swimming (F)
- 10 m Platform Diving (F)
- Chase Cycling
- Kayak K1 Slalom
[edit] Competition
The biggest change from previous games in the series lies in the Olympic mode: instead of starting in the Olympics, the player must improve and qualify an athlete for the event. Each event has four stages (Open Trials, Initiation Event, The Championship, Olympic Class), and for each stage the player must complete some minigames in the Virtual Gym that range from running on a treadmill, climbing a pole, squats or reaction training, for a total of 20 minigames. Completing a Virtual Gym game improves the athlete in one of the three ratings temporarily, and to earn the new capacities definitively, it must complete an event with a certain score. After the player is happy with the athlete development, he can try to qualify for the next stage by running against other athletes at the same level. Although it's possible to compete in the Olympics as soon as the athlete reaches the Olympic Class, to get a perfect athlete (with 100% on all ratings) one must complete all minigames, including those on Olympic Class. As the game relies mostly on athletes' ratings, even players with lower button presses per minute can make World Record times without serious effort as long as they passed all the mini games.
Other modes include a arcade mode, training and head to head, where two players can compete with their Olympic mode trained athletes. There are four difficulty levels altogether.
Individually, there isn't much difference in gameplay from previous games: two action buttons control speed and there's a third for extra action: jumping, passing a hurdle, setting the angle and releasing the hammer or javelin, tough the wall, etc. All events rely on this formula, except diving (which uses "click-a-long" rather than the freeform jumping of Olympic Gold), Skeet and K1 Slalom. Chase Cycling also requires the player to pace himself, or the final cyclist will run out of long pace before the final sprint.
Although generally stable, the game lacks tweaking in some events: the High jump uses men's results, and while some events such as the 100 m sprint and triple jump are quite easy, others such as the javelin and hammer throw require lots of training.
