Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer ’94

Winter Olympic Games is the officially licensed game for the Winter Olympics tournament of 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. The European version (Winter Gold) does not feature the license, but is otherwise the same game.

The player can compete for one of 20 different nations in 7 different events: downhill skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, bobsleigh, slalom skiing, short track ice skating and freestyle moguls. Each discipline can be practiced on its own before the actual competition. Competition can either be the full set, only the first or last half, only the downhill disciplines, or without the downhill disciplines.

Controls and perspectives differ by event: the downhill ski events are shown in isometric perspective. The athlete’s course is controlled relative to the screen. He can crouch to accelerate and also put the skis together to brake. Jumps in freestyle and ski jumping are triggered through the buttons. Biathlon is seen from a side-scrolling perspective. The buttons are used to accelerate, taking into account the athlete’s constitution indicated by a heart meter. The shooting is done by moving a crosshair over the targets and pushing a button. Short track is seen from a top-down perspective, with the athlete’s movements controlled through alternating pushes of left and right on the d-pad. Bobsleigh is seen from a third-person 3D perspective behind the sleigh.