Sydney 2000 (video game)

Sydney 2000 is the official video game of the XXVII Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Sydney, Australia in 2000. Developed by Attention to Detail and published by Eidos Interactive, it was released for the PlayStation, Microsoft Windows and Dreamcast. There were versions developed for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, but both versions were cancelled.[1]

Sydney 2000
Developer(s)Attention to Detail
Publisher(s)Eidos Interactive
Platform(s)PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast
ReleasePlayStation
  • NA: 31 July 2000
  • EU: 25 August 2000
Microsoft Windows
25 August 2000
Dreamcast
  • NA: 28 August 2000
  • EU: 4 September 2000
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Events

Nations represented
Playable countries

Gameplay
Sydney 2000 - Skeet Shooting

Although the button mashing-laden gameplay had 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.

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, touching the wall, etc. All events rely on this formula, except, Skeet and K1 Slalom, and diving (which uses "click-a-long" rather than the freeform jumping of Olympic Gold) Chase Cycling also requires the player to pace himself, or the final cyclist will run out of long pace before the final sprint.

The biggest difference 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, Invitation Event, The Championship, and Olympic Class), and for each stage the player must complete minigames in the Cyber Gym that range from running on a treadmill, climbing a pole, squats or reaction training, for a total of 20 minigames. Completing a Cyber Gym game improves the athlete in one of the three ratings temporarily, and to earn the new capacities definitively, the athlete 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 an arcade mode, training and head to head, where two players can compete with their Olympic mode trained athletes. There are four difficulty levels altogether.

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.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
DreamcastPCPS
AllGame[2][3]N/A
CGWN/A[4]N/A
Edge7/10[5]7/10[5]7/10[5]
EGM4.83/10[6]N/A4/10[7]
EurogamerN/A8/10[8]6/10[9]
FamitsuN/AN/A26/40[10]
Game Informer3.5/10[11]N/A2.75/10[12]
GamePro[13][14][15]
GameRevolutionC−[16]C−[16]D+[17]
GameSpot5.6/10[18]4.2/10[19]5.8/10[20]
GameSpy2/10[21]35%[22]N/A
IGN6/10[23]6.4/10[24]5/10[25]
Next Generation[26]N/AN/A
OPM (US)N/AN/A[27]
PC Gamer (US)N/A52%[28]N/A
Aggregate score
Metacritic53/100[29]51/100[30]57/100[31]

Sydney 2000 received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[29][30][31] In Japan, where the Dreamcast and PlayStation versions were ported for release and published by Capcom on 26 October 2000,[10][32] Famitsu gave the latter console version a score of 26 out of 40.[10] GameZone gave the PC version a score of nine out of ten and said, "The graphical quality of this program makes it a sure-fire winner. What it lacks in some areas, it makes up for in others. If you are a fan of Olympic-style action, this is a must-have."[33] However, Computer Games Magazine gave it one-and-a-half stars out of five and said that it was "a prime example of a game that should have stayed where it belonged--on the consoles," and that the game "simply isn't much fun; most of the time, it isn't any fun at all. It feels more like work than a good time and that's never a good recipe for success."[34]

Kevin Rice reviewed the Dreamcast version of the game for Next Generation, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "A weekend rental at best. It's somewhat amusing to relive childhood memories of the local arcade, but the game's lack of depth and repetitive game mechanics grow old quickly."[26]

gollark: This might be wrong, actually, but who cares.
gollark: Oh hey, I finally worked out how to do finger-snapping by accident.
gollark: Can GCC (GTech™ C compiler) support a bounded amount of statements per function?
gollark: That's a shame.
gollark: Can XXX be 0?

References[35]
  1. "NESWORLD.COM - SYDNEY 2000 (UNRELEASED N64 GAME)". www.nesworld.com. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  2. Thompson, Jon. "Sydney 2000 (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. Beal, Vangie. "Sydney 2000 (PC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  4. Price, Tom (November 2000). "Sydney Olympics 2000 [sic]" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 196. Ziff Davis. p. 168. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  5. Edge staff (October 2000). "Sydney 2000". Edge. No. 89. Future plc.
  6. "Sydney 2000 (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. 2000.
  7. "Sydney 2000 (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis. November 2000.
  8. Ellis, Keith "DNM" (14 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 (PC)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 7 January 2001. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  9. Self, Rich (24 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 (PSOne)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 7 January 2001. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  10. "シドニー2000 [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  11. "Sydney 2000 (DC)". Game Informer. No. 90. FuncoLand. October 2000.
  12. "Sydney 2000 (PS)". Game Informer. No. 90. FuncoLand. October 2000.
  13. Cheat Monkey (14 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review for Dreamcast on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 13 January 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  14. Wright, Brian (5 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 14 February 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  15. Cheat Monkey (14 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on 12 February 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  16. Liu, Johnny (September 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review (DC, PC)". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  17. Liu, Johnny (September 2000). "Sydney 2000 - PlayStation Review". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on 12 April 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  18. Taruc, Nelson (3 October 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review (DC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  19. Ryan, Michael E. (14 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review (PC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 12 February 2001. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  20. Taruc, Nelson (29 August 2000). "Sydney 2000 Review (PS)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  21. Mad Carl (4 October 2000). "Sydney 2000". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  22. Moen, Michael G. (3 September 2000). "Sydney 2000 (PC)". SportPlanet. Archived from the original on 11 February 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  23. Gantayat, Anoop (28 August 2000). "Sydney 2000 (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 29 March 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  24. Blevins, Tal (28 August 2000). "Sydney 2000 (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  25. Zdyrko, David (24 August 2000). "Sydney 2000 (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  26. Rice, Kevin (November 2000). "Finals". Next Generation. Vol. 3 no. 11. Imagine Media. p. 124.
  27. "Sydney 2000". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Ziff Davis. November 2000.
  28. Williamson, Colin (November 2000). "Sydney 2000". PC Gamer. Vol. 7 no. 11. Future US. p. 151. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  29. "Sydney 2000 for Dreamcast Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 29 December 2017.
  30. "Sydney 2000 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 29 December 2017.
  31. "Sydney 2000 for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. 29 December 2017.
  32. "シドニー2000 [ドリームキャースト]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  33. Lafferty, Michael (4 September 2000). "Sydney Olympics 2000 [sic] Review - PC". GameZone. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  34. Abner, William (25 September 2000). "Sydney 2000". Computer Games Magazine. Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on 3 May 2003. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  35. "Sydney 2000 [GBC - Unreleased] - Unseen64". Unseen64: Beta, Cancelled & Unseen Videogames!. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.