Flash Olympics (Sort of)
The Sports Games featured today can easily be divided into two categories. The first two have to do with Track and Field Athletics. The last two, with Archery. All of them, of course, have to do with the Olympics; but then, most Sports (Games) do.
Sprinter is a game similar to World’s Strongest Man, which was reviewed not so long ago. How? You may ask. Well, controls couldn’t be simpler if you tried: all you have to do is press two buttons alternately (the left and right arrows, in this case) as fast as you can. That will give your runner the speed he or she needs to win each and every single race. Other than that, the game poses no further complications. There are different races, but the concept is pretty much the same.
Hurdle Race, however, adds complexity to it. While controls aren’t really complicated to master, you do need some skill to get the timing right and jump without knocking down the hurdles. In addition, you should try and get as many coins as possible, which is sort of difficult while trying to pay attention. The point of view of the game, as if you actually were part of the race, only makes things more challenging. Graphics are pretty decent too, surprisingly.
Now, Bow Man obviously belongs to the second group, and guess what? Yesss, this is a stickman game! (it’s getting old, I know). You can compete against the computer or a second player, or polish your aim in the practice mode. You control both angle and strength with which the archer draws the string through your mouse. When competing, your goal is of course to take the other bowman down, taking advantage of the fact that he makes to or three measuring shots which are destined to miss their target (that is to say, you). The trickiest part of the whole thing is that you actually cannot see your opponent at first, and you definitely can never see him in the same shot as your avatar. That obviously makes taking aim a matter of art and skill.
Finally, there is Mulan Fire Away. Based on the Disney movie with the same name (well, not really, just ‘Mulan‘), this is an archery game not unlike the previous one. Or maybe this is completely different, because you can actually see the title character and the target in the screen at the same time, which makes all the difference. Other variations include the fact that the target varies its height automatically after each shot, and you control the bow with your keyboard (up and down arrow keys for aim, left and right for strength). Each time you hit the target you are granted one more arrow, which means the game ends once you run out of them. Then again, you might very well make the game last for hours; that, as usual, depends on your skill only.
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