I remember playing Olympic games in the arcade. I remember ruining many of my fathers credit/gas cards by bending them into a v so I could run them back and forth accross the buttons on the arcade machine. That little trick let you run full tilt. I still remember the sound that used to make. When I first played decathalon at home it was a very different experience. I went through many a joystick back in the day trying to play this game. Apparently the average joystick could not handle being violently jerked left and right to make the player run on the screen.
I remember playing Olympic games in the arcade. I remember ruining many of my fathers credit/gas cards by bending them into a v so I could run them back and forth accross the buttons on the arcade machine. That little trick let you run full tilt. I still remember the sound that used to make. When I first played decathalon at home it was a very different experience. I went through many a joystick back in the day trying to play this game. Apparently the average joystick could not handle being violently jerked left and right to make the player run on the screen. My favorite for this game was a black and grey stick called "The Boss" This is about the best stick
to hold up to the violent movement required from this game.
Once I had a stick that I could actually play with, I remember having hours and hours of fun with friends and family trying to beat high scores and each other. I always wished there were some other way to make the guy run though. That was a carpel tunnel injury just waiting to happen. Enough complaining though. This was a solid game by (Activision) I think it was. Unlike later games such as Olympic Games it had a sort of Mario/Nintendo character quality. the little men running on the screen were funny. The game was not serious. It was just plain fun. The graphics were what you could expect for the day and the sound was nothing to write home about, but at the end of it all it was a solid game with a great deal of replay ability. I could definitely sit down now and play the old game.
Decathalon is worth taking a look at, or another look at whatever the case may be. Be warned though. Be prepared to try and dig up your old joysticks and for gosh sakes, stretch out those wrists before you get playing. We don't need any Decathalon inguries, now do we?
