ESPN International Track & Field
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Konami Developer: Konami Media: GD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: It's unbelievable how far the graphics on Track 'n' Field games have come since 'back in the day.' ESPN International Track & Field has got some of the most amazing graphics ever! Character skins are so incredibly smooth, you wish that you could enjoy them ... but it's back to the button-mashing, Jack. The sound fx are quite impressive as well. Complete with a score announcer, ESPN delivers the Olympic experience to your living room.
Gameplay: ESPN International Track & Field has 12 total events, ranging from your typical running and jumping events to gymnastics and weightlifting. The balance of events is very impressive, yet still we wait for some game developer to reach out and implement twice as many events. Of course, ESPN ITF is still one of the best titles out there. So you popped in the disc and can only find 8 events? Well, you best get your fingers ready (as well as some bandages for the blood) as you will need to unlock the other four events (High Jump, Triple Jump, Vault and Trap Shooting). Don't worry if you're not the best at these type of games though, as ESPN International Track & Field is overall pretty easy to compete in, yet a bit harder to master.
Difficulty: The first playable 8 events of ESPN ITF are relatively easy. Once you figure out how to do the events, earning medals really won't be all that tough. In fact, the World Records are quite obtainable (maybe even a bit too easy). This will be key as you will need a lot of gold to unlock the other 4 events (hint, hint). If you are like me, you will probably find the gymnastics events more difficult, as there is more to it than just all-out button smashing. Instead, your reaction time is more important in delivering a gold medal performance.
Game Mechanics: If when you first pop ESPN International Track & Field into your Dreamcast, you get annoyed by the fact that the tutorial only shows that you need to press the 'X' and 'A' buttons for speed (which are the farthest apart on the controller), don't fret. Actually you can use any of the four action buttons, which actually makes it easier to gain speed. However, it would have been nice to customize the buttons for individual preference, as the 'action' buttons are the 'L' and 'R' buttons under the controller. This is really one of the only drawbacks of the game. If you're into TnF games, then you may want to check out ESPN International Track & Field.
-Woody, GameVortex Communications AKA Shane Wodele
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