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AUTHOR: SEGA - AM3 RELEASE: 1996 TYP: Sport SPIELER: 2 LEVEL: 10 SPRACHE: Englisch WERT: 11€

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Nehmen Sie am Wettkampf von 8 Weltklasseathleten in den abwechslungsreichen Disziplinen des Zehnkampfs teil. Laufen, springen und werfen Sie um den Titel und genießen Sie die tolle Atmosphäre dieser Umsetzung von AM3. Lassen Sie sich von der Wettkampfspannung packen!

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SEGA Magazin Ausgabe 9/1996: ^{[Grafik: 92% Sound: 82% Gesamt: 92%]}
Hervorragend! Die technische Extraklasse und das durchdachte Gameplay garantieren Athlete Kings einen Platz in der ersten Spiele-Liga. Insbesondere die hochauflösenden Grafiken und die perfekt gestalteten Polygon-Sportler machen dieses Sportspiel zum Vorzeigetitel!
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Some of the most fun I’ve had in competitive play recently, came from playing Sega World Wide Soccer ’97 against my best friend (and beating him hands down to add to the fun…) In short, these games stand the test of time, and are illustrations of the buzz one can get from Retro gaming. But yesterday, I discovered a new giant in the world of the Saturn. Athlete Kings! This arcade port is a particularly relevant title at the moment as it is somewhat Wii like in its appeal. Whilst the remote is not swung about in motion sensor fashion, there is a degree of physicality to the game, that goes beyond the normal exertion employed in button mashing. You see to power your athlete through his various decathlon disciplines, requires thumbs of fury. Huge, muscular thumbs. Steroid pumped, hulkish thumbs that can hit the ‘A’ button at lightning speeds. The game has four playing modes; Arcade, Decathlon, Practise and Two Player (or versus) Mode. The events your athlete will have to compete in are as follows: Hundred metre dash, (hit the A button repeatedly as fast as you can to beat the qualifying time). You can also hit the “action button” (B) at the finish line, to throw that all important pose for your photo finish… The long jump requires the same physical rigour as the 100 metre dash. This time however, hold the action button to jump. The longer you hold the button affects the angle of your jump, and therefore the distance. Step over the line before the sandpit and you’ve fouled so your timing is crucial! The shot put, discus, javelin, pole vault and the high jump require basically the same controls, but with the shot put and the javelin, there is a pulse on the force meter that you have to catch at its highest level for maximum distance. The 110m hurdles are hilarious, as the timing of pressing the action button is crucial and any mistake sees you colliding into them , time after time! The 400m and 1500m requires the player to run, but at the same time check progress against a stamina bar. There is a brilliant element of pick up and play to the game, and non-gamers can enjoy it without any previous gaming experience. In this respect, it encompasses the spirit of the Wii and Nintendo’s desire to create ‘family oriented’ or party games. But this is Sega people, 100% Sega! The graphics are luscious in Saturn terms, with smooth frame rates and animated cut scenes. I’d go as far to say they look almost Dreamcast like in their splendour. (The game was later reincarnated as a slightly more serious Dreamcast sports sim, Virtua Athlete 2K ) Presumably as the game play was so simple, it allowed the developers to go all out as far as the Saturn’s graphical abilities were able to go. Slightly comic in appearance, your athletes will flex if they win and throw a bitch fit if they lose… Athletes include USA’s Rick Blade, Germany’s Karl Vain, Great Britain’s hugely Afro-ed Jef Jansens, Russia’s pervy looking Aleksei Rigel, Jamaica’s Femi Kadiena, Japan’s Joe Kudou, France’s Ellen Regiani and Li Huang … All suitably stereotypical game types! All in all a genuine Saturn legend and a great game for a party! Athlete King, Father Krishna salutes you! Overall score 9/10! Superb! http://thesaturnjunkyard.blogspot.com/

Sega's own version of Decathlon, the most grueling of multi-event sports consisting of the 100-Meter Dash, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 400-Meter Race, 110-Meter Hurdles, Discus Throw, Pole Vault, Javelin Throw and the 1500-Meter Race, split over two days of competition. Featuring eight athletes with different abilities and specialties, from the agile Karl Vain and Femi Kadiena, the fast Li Huang and Ellen Reggiani, the well balanced Joe Kudou and Rick Blade to the powerhouses Aleksei Rigel and Jef Jansens, the player must achieve the best scores possible in each event to get to the World's best results table, not only in the decathlon points table but also on the individual events table. All events follow the core gameplay of other athletics titles (such as Track & Field), with some changes from event to event. Spriting events such as the 100-meter dash are pure button-bashing, with the 110-Meter Hurdles requiring an additional tap in the action button to pass the athlete at the correct time over the hurdle without losing speed or knocking it down. At the opposite level, the 400-Meter and the 1500-Meter Race add a stamina bar that must be kept above critical levels at all times to keep the athlete fresh until the end, this being done by simply pacing the number of presses done by the player (the 1500M also requires the player to steer the athlete in the best path: as close as possible to the inside edge without hitting other runners or losing speed from going over the edge). Jumping events, along the javelin, require a fast build-up, an well-timed action (be it jump, set the pole or release the javelin), and setting the most appropriate angle. Discus is the only event where button mashing isn't required, and asks the player to rotate the D-pad clockwise to build strenght, followed by a push of the action button to set the angle of release as well as the direction. Like in the original ST-V version (which means it is in every way similar to the arcade version), two players can compete at the same time in the running event, and at the 1500M race six drones compete at the same time. www.Mobygames.com

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