California Games

The Good
California Games on the Master System was a gem. It was a game that was intended for multiplayer but was worth playing solo to sharpen your skills. What I like about Cal Games is the simple pick up and playability of it.

All the events on the game were very easy to control and as a result this meant that it was a very competitive game. In the SMS version there are 6 different events in which to partake: Half Pipe, Footbag, Surfing, Skating, BMX & Flying Disk (Frisbee). Each one was very different and very pleasing to play.

It had advantages over the Genesis/Mega Drive version in that it contained an extra event & was easier to control. The SMS version was more simplified and better off for it. It was no slower than its 16-Bit counterpart and looked very good.

Beating a pre-set high score gave you the chance to 'win' a prize. Golden surfboard, Bike or Footbag. Gaining one of these would make the respective events a lot more interesting as they would have better attributes. For example the Golden BMX could jump higher, allowing for a higher score to be attained.

That feature was really placed to enhance the solo mode. But the multiplayer didn't need them, as it was great fun with a few friends (as many as 9 could compete).

Altogether an accomplished title that still holds up today

The Bad
The surfing section could be a little boring, this was the only event that was better on the Genesis/Mega Drive version

The Bottom Line
If you are looking for a sports game that is a little different, this is it. Fun for one player or more.

The Good
Please forgive me for talking like Bill & Ted in my online summary, I just wanted to give an example of the language used in this game. If you didn't know by now, California Games is about extreme sports that became popular in the eighties.

• The whole eighties extreme sports theme is one of the reasons why this game is fun. It's visible in the gameplay, the cool graphics, the (official) brand names and, as mentioned, in the language. This one simply has style, just look at the cool title screen with the state of California license plate. You just got to love the game's presentation.

• The game has many nice touches and charming humor: Hitting the seagull with the footbag, the letters of the Hollywood sign falling down, the boy whistling at the girl while roller-skating, the appearance of the dolphin during surfing etc.
• Great graphics & animation (the surfing event was especially well done) and neta sound effects (always used at the right moments). The music was allright and fortunately it only played before the start of an event, not while you were competing so it didn't distract you (No, I'm not a big fan of PC speaker tunes).
• Of course Calgames wouldn't have become a classic if it didn't also had great gameplay. Oh boy, Calgames is easily the best of Epyx's Games-series. There are six events: Half-Pipe, Footbag, Roller-Skating, Surfing, Flying Disc and BMX.
  1. All the events are fun to play.
  2. All the events are different (unlike Winter Games with biathlon & cross-country and, yuck, two figure-skating events).
  3. All the events had controls you could actually master (unlike the high-jumping event in Summer Games II or bull-riding in World Games)
  4. And best of all, none of the events relied on button-bashing (think speed-skating from Winter Games or Summer Games' rowing).
• This was a great game to play with the family or a friend. Up to 6 (or 8?) persons could compete in the tournament and everybody had his favorite events. Before the tournament you could pick your own sponsor and for every event there were some huge trophies you could win.

**The Bad**

• You couldn't do any cool tricks on the half-pipe (only turns).
• I always fell down the ramp at the end of the BMX course :->

**The Bottom Line**
One of the definite classics of the first decade of PC gaming. I can't imagine there's anybody out there who doesn't like playing California Games.

The Good
Ahh! No matter on which platform I play California Games, when I START the games I really can't help myself playing 2 or 3 hours at least. California Games is one of my all-time favorites and has a very special place in my humble gaming experience. It's so addictive, so perfect arcade gaming it's GREAT to be playing it!

All events in the game share the same soul of the 80s; being able to compete in events such as BMX and footbag also increase the enjoyment (Yeah, I bet you remember the BMX mania which was back in the days but I never heard "footbag" before until I played California Games!) But of course everyone has their favorite events and for me they were surfing and rollerskating which I played most, I enjoyed most. I really missed the blonde girl in the "surf judge panel" who was always giving me my highest scores and the boy who was whistling for me when I passed slowly in front of him while rollerskating :) And what about skateboarding? I was so talented on it that "Hollywood" in the hills had always dropped one of its letters with my earthquake effect! But to be honest I wasn't so good at flying disk (Frisbee!). You should have seen one of my spectacular jumps over the frisbee which was generally concluded dropping by, to the left of the screen, while frisbee was on its way to the right of the screen!

The Bad
Its sequel was a huge disappointment, unfortunately :(

The Bottom Line
All in all, California Games is the best of Epyx. And I enjoyed almost every minute of it! Surely a classic...