Video Olympics

Gameplay

The best part about the Video Olympics cartridge is the variety of Pong games. You can play classic Pong, Super Pong, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and so on. All of the games on here are worth playing and they are all sure to bring back memories for the older gamers that actually owned a Pong console like my father. The regular Pong variation is like any other, you deflect the ball back and forth with your paddles until somebody misses it and the other player gets a point. As the ball bounces back and forth it will pick up speed and become increasingly difficult to hit the ball. The player to get to 21 points first is the winner. Games like Basketball and Soccer still use paddles but you need to get the ball in the other players net and defend your own. All of these variations are very clever and there are even some that allow 4 players. This gameplay is solid and will never be to old, ever.

Graphics

It is very hard to be critical about the graphics. You don't need very much to play Pong. Regardless the colors do look nice and bright. Games like hockey have a blue rink and white nets and that works surprisingly well considering how simple it is. The paddles are simply rectangular and don't have round edges disappointingly and the same thing goes for the ball. The middle line from Classic Pong is missing and that is annoying since the "Fuji" symbol stands for the 3 lines in Pong (middle line and two paddles). But overall the graphics do a fine job of displaying Pong on your screen.

Sound/Music

Once again it is very hard to criticize something when it doesn't really need it. There is only one sound in Video Olympics and that is the bonk of the paddles. This sound is also used for serving the ball and when you score. I wouldn't have it any other way but it does seem like a waste not to have separate sounds for these actions. But this minor setback does not create a problem.

Control

Perfect. You cannot complain about the paddle controllers because they are 100% accurate. The paddles on the screen move perfectly with the controller allowing for a fast response time. The button on the controller is used to serve the ball and nothing else. The paddle controllers make a perfect match with this game, you can't complain because of how well suited it is.

Overall

If you own a 2600 it is a crime not to own this awesome cartridge. The collection of games on it is wonderful and will provide hours of multi-player mayhem. And with how common the cartridge is you should have no problem getting it. Video Olympics is a no brainer because everybody enjoys Pong. This ladies and gentlemen is the reason to own a set of paddle controllers.