Aaahhhh-thletics. Athletics can be interesting. Events are shows of strength, both physical and in character. The competitors hail from all kinds of backgrounds and upbringings and compete on the levelest playing field that there could possibly be, with absolutely no drugs in sight.
There aren't any drugs in International Track & Field, but there is the potential for drama. The extreme lows of frustration are followed by the exhilarating highs of victory as players battle it out across eleven track and field events, either against the computer or a bunch of other people on the same couch.
I don't have a bunch of people or a couch, so I'm going toe to toe against ol' CPU to see where I stand in this world of sport. May I bash my buttons with precision and skill, rather than blind rage, all in an effort to cross the line first, throw the thing the furthest, or whatever else we find ourselves doing.
Fun Times
There is only ever one way to start an athletics game, and that's some kind of patriotic display. You can represent whatever country you want, providing it's on the list, but if it's the wrong country then you're letting yourself down before you've even got to the track.
The competitions you'll be required to excel in are the classics. Sprints and Hurdles, Long, High and Triple Jumps, Shot Puts and Hammer throws, Discuss and Javelins and wrapping it up with Freestyle Swimming and Pole Vaults. Something for everyone.
Each is confined, smartly, to just three buttons. In the Sprint, you run with Square and Circle, and duck your head over the line with Triangle or Cross. I know that's four buttons, yes. Alternate between the run buttons and then bash the duck of your choice. Three buttons.
I'm telling you all of this so matter-of-factly because things didn't go as planned.
Frustrations
I'm not entirely sure which part of the emulation is to blame for the garbled text but it's a problem that remains unsolved after a few different troubleshooting attempts, so I'll have to live with it. A good athlete doesn't get distracted, and most of them aren't important to you anyway.
So off you run, bashing your buttons and you come home in 4̘͕͔̰̮̦̾́̆ͥͧ̚t̼̙ḧ͙̩́ͫ͑͆ ͈̠͕̟̘p̷̟ͫĺ̵͙͉̘̠̳̝͋ͅa̢͙͈͚͙̮̦̖ͦ͂ċ̹̭̑̉͗̀̄ͫe͎̫ͤ̂̈͡ and get told, rather bluntly, that you're not good enough, Game Over thanks for coming.
Like Track & Field before it, if memory serves, it's a case of qualify or fail, and qualifying might as well be 'come first' in most events. There's a point system in place for how well you do in any given event, but it is still a case of 'do or die'.
Chalking it up to having to take screenshots at the same time, I put my game face on and tried again.
C̝̫͉̥͙̖̔̈́ͧ̌̏̿ò̴̢̡̹̳̭̼͖̤̳̟͊̏ͯͮͮͩm̉̑̾̀̾̍̿҉̻͉͎͓͠ĭ͊͏̭̙̺͍̭͙̯͟n̷̑̔͜͏͕͚͈̳͈͉̲͔g̺͓͉̺͖̫̲̓͐̃ͩ͑͠ ͉̬̲̻̯̓ͧi͕̤͈͛̐ͭ̌ͣ̔ͩ̆̃́͘n̗̜̣͚̝͈̠̽̔ͦ̇̓̓̋̕ ̉̍̌̿ͦ͑͂̇͢҉͇̫͈̫̹̱̩͕͟s̙̖͔̮̜͛ͮ̇̓̊̄̽̓e̊͋̈͜͡͏̞̦c̘̱͍ͮ̈̓ͬ̀̕o̴̯͈̣̅̽̒̅n̠̄̓̎͋̚̚͟d̛̦̠̭̫̪͍͉͐̀̏ ͉͕̖͈͕̜̱͇̇ͨ̎͠i͐̀͘҉̵̯̟̝̟̤͓̖s̴̡̨̭̹̟̤͍̥͆̂́̌ͥ̔̃ͦn̥͈͉̘ͬ͐̋̎ͯ̕'̶̖̝̟ͪ͊́̍ͪ̂ͥ̅t́̐҉͉͚͕̲̞̭̱̦̱͜ ̡̱̞̻̥̦̻̫̽̍̉̍ͥͅg̸͓̳̞̺͔̓ͯ̇͋͊ͫ͆̍ͧͅͅo̦̻͌ơ̞̔̒̔͂͌ͯ̅̉͡d̛̟̝̮̹̔̍͢ ̹̹ͥ̈̋ͤͭ͑̔̈́̓͟͡ë̵̩̻͇̯̲͊ͥ̄ͫ̀ͅn̞̳͂̔͂͂ͥ͌o̶̖̟̮͑̓ͯ̌u̖̺͂ͧ̽̍̈ͩ̿̏͟gͩͥ͛͏̧͈͎̻̲͖͈͈͓h̩͎̩̰͔̖̒̾̂̐̒̉͠ ̶̱̱̘̋ͩ͗̂̄͌͗͘͝ͅͅe͐̔̀͢͏̜̯̙̭͓̲̱i̧͎̗̣̋͊̈̏̚͡ͅͅẗ̬̪͎́́́h̥͎͈̠̤͒ͮͤ̉ê̼̼̫ͤ̌͋ͪ͟ř̸̰̱͈̣̳̥̄̀.̵̷̨͈̠̗̣͈̮̎̿̽
At that point, I didn't see the appeal of trying to struggle through both the controls and the text and took to YouTube to see what I was missing.
Final Word
Not a whole lot was the answer, but to be fair to International Track & Field, its presentation on original hardware/emulation that works isn't too shabby.
There's a game to be had here. It's simple and doesn't exactly push the new generation of 3D capable consoles to their limits, but it does the job. It retains the simple but demanding controls of the past and mixes them with the looks of the future.
Get a multi-tap out for four players to swear at the game at the same time and you can easily have an evenings entertainment sorted.
Would you want to? Eh, that's your call. I can think of better multiplayer titles that'll give greater entertainment, but of all the athletics titles we've seen so far (why are there so many on this list?), International Track & Field comes home the clear winner.
If you're interested, just go out and play it. If you're not, it's safe to skip. Much like the Olympics.
Fun Facts
The Japanese arcade release got the title Hyper Athlete in an attempt to make it even vaguely interesting to people...
International Track & Field, developed by Konami, first released in 1996.
Version played: PlayStation, 1996, via emulation.
Version watched: PlayStation, 1996 (NintendoComplete)