Every four years, as soon as the summer Olympic games get rolling, I get an irrepressible gaming itch. With the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio upon us, it's back: It's time, once again, to break out the Olympic retro gaming classics.

My personal Olympics tradition started as a kid (circa 1984) when I played Epyx's Summer Games competitively with my older brother and his friends. Since then, every four years, I pull out my family's old Atari 800 and boot up that classic, trying once and for all to finally master pole vaulting. Man, it's tricky.

Over the years I have played many other classic Olympics-themed sports games, of course, with stop-offs on the IBM PC, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Sega Genesis, among others. In the slides ahead, I've highlighted seven classic Olympics retrogaming titles that will help you scratch your Olympics gaming itch in a nostalgic way—assuming, of course, you're anything like me whenever the quadrennial event comes around.


1. Microsoft Decathlon (Apple II, 1981) Publisher: Microsoft



Unlike later Olympics-themed games, Microsoft's early entry in the genre focused less on pure action and more on the simulation elements (e.g. angle, power, distance, and time) of the ten track and field sporting events involved—although plenty of key mashing still took place during a typical play session. This title originated on the TRS-80 in 1980 and later received fairly popular ports to the Apple II (in 1981, seen here) and the IBM PC in 1982. I remember playing the IBM PC version in school and laughing as the animated jumper falls flat on his face if you make a misstep.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

2. The Activision Decathlon (Atari 2600, 1983) Publisher: Activision



As a kid, I regularly participated in epic Activision Decathlon sessions with my brother and his friends, which often left us with blisters in the palms of our hands from wiggling or rotating the joysticks of our Atari 2600 so rapidly and for such a long period of time. Never again until Mario Party would a game wear out so many joysticks. But this title, which included the classic ten track and field events (100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter race, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, and 1500-meter race) was brilliant fun.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

3. Summer Games (Commodore 64, 1984) Publisher: Epyx



There's something about the quantifiable nature of Olympic results (e.g. 8.5, 7.0, 9.5, etc.) that makes you and your friends want to try and try again to best your previous high scores. Epyx's classic Summer Games plays off that urge brilliantly as you compete in various events that refreshingly extend beyond track and field, including gymnastics, rowing, diving, and skeet shooting. The game was wildly successful and received many ports to other platforms, with the Commodore 64 version, seen above, the most popular of all. I played it on the Atari 800 and still play it regularly today.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

4. Track & Field II (NES, 1988) Publisher: Konami



As a sequel to Konami's earlier game, Track & Field for the NES and arcade, Track & Field II improved upon its predecessor with better graphics and new sporting events, including many (like archery and hammer throw) that had rarely made appearances in games of this genre. Most events required furious, rapid button mashing, which often proved challenging and exhausting unless you came equipped with a turbo controller. This game is the reason why I bought a NES Advantage.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

5. Stadium Events (NES, 1987)



Many people in the US know Stadium Events better as "World Class Track Meet," which was the title it shipped under when published by Nintendo for inclusion with the



(Screenshots: MobyGames) Publisher: Bandai AmericaMany people in the US know Stadium Events better as "World Class Track Meet," which was the title it shipped under when published by Nintendo for inclusion with the Power Pad exercise mat accessory. After Nintendo licensed the game (and the pad) from Bandai, the original version went out of production and became quite rare, which makes it a frequently coveted holy grail of the NES collecting world. Gaming wise, the title proved very entertaining—especially if you had a friend to stomp rapidly on the Power Pad with. (As we discovered when we were kids, you can cheat if a friend hits the sensors behind you with his fists as you run.)(Screenshots: MobyGames)

6. Track Meet (Game Boy, 1991) Publisher: Interplay



In 1991, Olympic video gaming went portable on Nintendo's Game Boy in the form of Track Meet, which, as its name suggests, included six traditional track and field events (like pole vault and long jump)—and also weight lifting. In every event, the game pitted players head-to-head verses a cartoon-like nemesis whom the player must beat to advance. Despite somewhat lackluster reviews upon its release, this title still stands as one of the better Olympics-themed portable classics.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

7. Olympic Gold: Barcelona '92 (Genesis, 1992) Publisher: U.S. Gold



Perhaps the most popular Olympics game of the 16-bit era, this '92 Games tie-in garnered positive reviews from critics and fans alike. The title featured seven sporting events (hammer throw, 100m dash, archery, 110m hurdles, pole vault, 200m freestyle swimming, and springboard diving), which presented an entertaining variety that dared to venture outside traditional track and field territory. Like many previous Olympic games, players had to mash buttons rapidly in most events to win—but that didn't stop me and my neighbor, way back in 1992, from bragging about who had the strongest thumbs.



(Screenshots: MobyGames)

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