Decathlete

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.