Games, The: Summer Challenge Download (1992 Sports Game)

The sequel to Winter Challenge, this Summer edition includes 8 events from athletics to cycling. The events are:

Kayak: The player goes on a downhill stream, and must navigate through gates without missing or touching them (unlike the real event, there are no reverse gates), as well as avoiding to hit the margins of the stream. Pushing forward paddles, pressing a direction along a button allows a sharper turn. The winner is the one with the fastest time after penalty time is added

Archery: Each competitor has four targets, each with three arrows. By moving the directional buttons the player moves the erratic crosshair, while pressing a button fires the arrow.

400m Hurdles: The player does a full lap on the track by pressing the first button to set the pace and the second to jump. Mistiming the jump either makes the athlete knock the hurdle and lose a few tenths of second, or goes completely off-balance and falls, ending the event

High Jump and Pole Vault: Two similar events where the player starts by setting the bar height, and then mashing the power button to build enough speed. Then, just before the jump point the action button must be pressed and held until the athlete is in position to pass over the bar. The contest ends once there are three misses at an height, or the maximum height is cleared.

Equestrian: The most technical event, the player must steer the horse to the best trajectory while jumping over hurdles and walls. While a knockdown means a time penalty in the end, if the horse refuses to do a jump (if the button is pressed too soon or too late) the competition ends immediately.

Javelin: A simple event where each player has three attempts to launch the javelin as far as possible. To do so, first some speed must be built, and a few steps before the mark start pressing the action button to start the launch sequence, which initiates the angle measure. Once the player releases the button (ideally at an angle between 40 and 45 degrees next to the mark), the javelin is released as well

Cycling: In this sprint event the player must complete a number of laps in the velodrome, while keeping as fast and as close as possible to the inner edge without falling.

Like with Winter Challenge, graphically, the game features the same polygonal environments with bitmap athletes and game modes include the ability to train or compete in a tournament (up to ten human players, with three computer levels and 16 nations to choose from). It's also possible to replay and even store your best (or worst) moments.

Summer Challenge is a truly classic, keyboard trashing, sports game. :) It has all the necessary ingredients: it looks good, it's fast, fun, diverse and challenging. It will cause pain in your arms and muscle spasms, but none of that can compare to the joy of braking your own record in a discipline :)

However, be careful not to play this game in front of many people. The sight of your arm hysterically twitching in an attempt to press as fast as you can is not the most peasurable one. Now, about the game itself...

It offers eight disciplines: kayak, hurdles, pole vault, high jump, javelin, cycling, archery and equestrian. It will take a lot of time to master those disciplines. You can also choose your opponent player's skill, ranging from amateur to world class (practically unbeatable).

Controls are very simple. In most cases you will only use and space bar. In some disciplines you will have to steer by using the arrow keys but that is pretty much it.

You can create custom tournaments and compete against your friend so, in a sense, multiplayer is supported.

Graphics and sound are great. Go win your first Olympic medal! :)

Very well made multisports game from Accolade. Jump with horses, Kayak down a stream, throw with spears, you name it, they got it. Well not all of course.

Probably the best track&field game ever made. You can play it alone, or compete with friends. Hurdles, javelin, high jump, pole vault... a lot of fun and excitement. I broke two keyboards while playing this game... (constantly pressing the ENTER button). Trust me, this one will make You an addict...

You compete in what is a mini version of the Summer Olympic games, taking part in 8 different events. You have the option of training in certain events so that you can get better results or you can straight out go and enter the tournament which consists of you competing in all 8 events - which are Archery, Equestrian, Kayak, Hurdles, Pole Vault, High Jump, Javelin and Cycling. Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals are awarded for each event, and if you don't get a place in the top 3 times, or the top 3 scores then you simply receive nothing. The keys take a while to master, but however as is with everything else - practise makes perfect.

The Games: Summer Challenge is a worthy sequel to MindSpan/Accolade's classic Winter Challenge, this time based on Summer Olympics games. Similar to its predecessor, Summer Challenge lets you compete in 8 different events, each of which you can practice for as long as you like before the tournament.

Summer Challenge is based on the same engine as Winter Challenge and designed by the same team, so you can expect the same ease of use, excellent graphics, and fun music. The events are archery, equestrian, kayaking (my favorite), 400m hurdles, pole vault, high jump, javelin, and cycling. You enter the tournament with up to 10 friends, or go solo against the computer. I find that the game is a bit easier and more repetitive than Winter Challenge in terms of actual gameplay: smacking the ENTER key repeatedly is usually enough to win most events. Hand-eye coordination is still key, but not as crucial as your finger reflexes. Still, Summer Challenge is a lot of fun, especially in multiplayer mode. Highly recommended, especially if you like Winter Challenge or Epyx sports series.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

People who downloaded Games, The: Summer Challenge have also downloaded:
Games, The: Winter Challenge, California Games 2, California Games, Front Page Sports Football Pro '98, Games: Summer Edition, The, Hardball V Enhanced (a.k.a. Hardball 5 Enhanced), Blades of Steel, Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '98