Company: Activision
Released: 1983
Rarity: Uncommon
PROS:
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Large number of events
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Fun with 2 players
CONS:
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Control is hard on the hands
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Very few games could tear up a joystick, not to mention your hands,
quite like The Activision Decathlon. Jiggling the Atari 2600 joystick
was bad enough, but try doing it to the Colecovision controllers and
you'll find out what "feel the burn" is all about. Fortunately it's
still as much fun as it ever was, only now it looks a lot better on the
Colecovision.
In Activision Decathlon you get to compete in 10 events including: 100m
dash, 400m dash, long jump, 110m hurdles, shot put, javelin throw, high
jump, pole vault, discus, and the grueling 1500m dash. Your goal is to
do well in the events and try to reach over 1000 points in each event.
Unfortunately, to make your character run, you have to quickly move the
joystick from side to side. It's actually a lot of fun until you have
to do it for almost 5 minutes straight on the 1500m dash. Then it gets
painful.
The Colecovision version of Decathlon did get a nice visual upgrade
complete with a runner that actually looks and moves like a real
athlete. The animations are very impressive in all of the various
events. The music wasn't so lucky. It sounds almost exactly like the
Atari 2600 version other than a few new crowd noises thrown into the
mix.
Activision Decathlon is one of those games that you'll really enjoy
playing for short periods of time, but due to the stress the game puts
on your hands, it's not one you'll sit down and have long gaming
marathons with. At least not if you value your hands and
Colecovision controllers.
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Corbie Dillard
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© 2008 COLECOVISION CRITIC
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