Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Chris Miller

Before starting this review, let’s jump in the wayback machine for a moment.

The year is 1984, and a dozen 9-year-olds are huddled around a new, blue, stand-up arcade machine.  The control panel of the machine is covered in buttons, far more that we’re used to seeing in our standard Pac-Man or Donkey Kong machines.    Billy drops in his quarter, and his hands suddenly explode in a blur of repeating button mashing as his 16-bit avatar virtually flies down the track.   He has an amazing predilection – bordering on ESP – that tells him exactly where he needs to release the javelin or where to give that brief pause to let his runner clear the hurdle.  A roar goes up from all the other kids as Billy sets yet another high score on this amazing new arcade game called “Track & Field”.

I was not Billy.

In fact, I was typically the kid standing in the back wondering how on earth Billy could possibly get his hands to move that quickly.  I’m lucky if I can slam the buttons with half that much speed, much less with the actual tempo that is required to get a high score.   If only I were able to muster up a fraction of the motor skills he has, maybe I could get a sniff of the top 10.  With a sigh, I walk away knowing that I will never, ever be able to compete with the likes of Billy and I sadly resign myself to the neglected Burger Time machine in the corner.

Fast forward 25 years, and I receive my review copy of New International Track and Field in the mail.  The 9-year-old in me is nervous to open it.  What if I still can’t compete with Billy after all these years?  What if – even after thousands of hours of rapid fire gaming – I still don’t have the hand-eye coordination speed to succeed where I failed so miserably before? 

Deep breath.  I can do this.  Billy:  no longer will I stand on the virtual sidelines while you take all the glory.  You’re mine now.  And so it begins…

It’s obvious just from the box art that New International Track & Field (NITF) has ditched any semblance of realism, and is instead going for a highly stylized anime look.  Giant heads and huge eyes abound, and, surprisingly, it all works really, really well.  It’s a very whimsical presentation that really fits the style of gameplay.  The menu sections are all very well designed (if a bit bland), and everything is extremely easy to find.    Jumping into gameplay takes only a few seconds, and loading times are non-existent. 

You select from 8 starting characters, and each one has their own unique personality, look, and full description.  Each one is unique, and are worth reading for the comedy value alone (the bio of one characters explains that she plays in an “all-girl electro-punk band called 'Rocket Ass Go'”.  Ooooookay….).  Upon entering, winning, or losing an event, each character will do a little dance, flex their muscles, or even bust out some breakdance moves.   It adds a bit of style to the proceedings, and you’ll find yourself using different characters simply to see their individual quirks.  You can also unlock bonus Konami characters by earning enough points.  Frogger, Solid Snake, and even Simon Belmont can be jumping off the high dive if you put in enough time to unlock them.

The actual events have a very “old school meets new technology” feel to them, right down to billboards advertising old-school Konami games like Gyruss or Frogger.  Many of them - especially the straight sprint and hurdle events – look exactly like you remember them from the arcade versions.  NITF makes decent use of the DS hardware, and the 3D characters are very well animated in whichever event they’re doing.  Cycling, rowing, sprinting, shooting – they all look very good.  It’s nothing that will tax the limits of the system, but there’s enough eye candy to keep you interested.  There are some goofy touches, such as flames shooting from runner’s feet, but nothing that is too distracting from the action.    For all the attention to detail they put into the graphics, it's a shame that many of the events require you to focus so much on on the action meters for precise timing, that you'll miss the actual event graphics taking place on the top screen. 

Just as with the graphics, each character has their own unique sound set and will make some rather generic comments after each event (i.e.  “Oh yeah!”, “Uh huh”, or “All right!”)   The audio in the events themselves is fairly basic, but gets the job done.   You’ll hear whooshing sounds as your divers complete flips, loud clunks if they trip over hurdles, and Mario-esque plinks as they hit skeet shooting targets.  Again, nothing fancy, but serviceable.

I can almost guarantee, however, that you will never, ever, ever want to hear the Chariots of Fire theme again after spending a few hours with NITF.  While it was somewhat amusing the first time, having to hear the bastardized MIDI version for the hundredth time is like an ice pick to the ear drum.  I’m still humming that damnable song as I type this.

In a nutshell, NITF has basically replaced the button mashing of the old arcade games with stylus scribbling.  You make you player run or build power by frantically rubbing the stylus side-to-side.  You make your character flip by frantically spinning a disc with the stylus.  You shoot your gun by frantically tapping the screen.  You lift weights by frantically…well, you get the idea.  There are a few events that require some additional skills such as choosing a throwing angle or timing your release, but in general, you’ll spend most of your time trying to destroy your touch screen with the stylus.

Here’s a quick test to see how well you will do with NITF:  Draw a 2” X 3” square on a sheet of paper.  Now take your pen and rub side to side across that square as quickly as you possibly can.   Repeat that 200 hundred times, then ask yourself these questions:

1. Could I do that quickly?
2. Could I do that without my hand cramping up into a shriveled claw?
3. Was that fun?

If the answer to all three questions is yes, then run out and pick up NITF right away.  I have no doubt you could absolutely destroy Billy.  Unfortunately, I realized very early on that I was no better at rapid stylus scribbling than I was with rapid button mashing all those years ago.  I also discovered that I could only play for 15-20 minute stretches before my hand cramped up so bad I could barely move it.  Needless to say, this is not a game for marathon sessions.  There is an option to use the buttons and D-pad instead of the stylus, but this was ultimately far more frustrating.   Much to my dismay, the massive amount of scribbling did irreparable damage to my DS screen.   In fact, I found myself pushing so hard that I actually bent the tip of my stylus while trying sprinting to the end of a Steeplechase event.    Oops.

Here’s where I’m torn, however.  Although I personally struggled with the controls due to my lack of superhuman motor skills, they all work exactly as intended.  The faster you scribble, the faster you run.  The faster you can spin the disc, the more flips you can do.  So I can’t really give NITF bad marks for controls, but I will warn anyone who doesn’t have the twitch reflexes of a coked-up spider monkey that they could run into some trouble with this game.

One thing that you can never accuse NITF of is not having enough to do.  With 24 different events, along with multiple career, multiplayer, and challenge modes, this is truly a game that takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master.  The single player campaign focuses on career mode, in which you take your burgeoning track star from a complete unknown to a world champion by competing in different events.  Each meet consists of 4 different events and pits you against 4 AI opponents.   The game does a great job of introducing the controls through easier events and working you up to the more complex and demanding events.  However, the difficulty level can be a bit uneven, and it’s frustrating when you hit a roadblock on one event out of four, and have to start the entire meet over again.  Thankfully, you can stumble through these most of these meets at the Easy level, which allows you to unlock all the events events, ranks, trophies, and other goodies.  Once unlocked, you can practice any of them in the Single Event mode.

And stumble you will, as many of the events are extremely difficult to wrap your head around.  The extremely brief and rather vague tutorials help somewhat, but for the most part you’re left to your own devices to figure out the best way to succeed.  Some events, such as the 100 meter dash, are simple:  move the stylus back and forth really, really fast.  Some of the more advanced events, however, require not only lightning fingers, but also an advanced math degree from MIT to figure out the specific angles and timing you need to succeed.  I never could wrap my head around certain events like the high jump or pole vault, and even after practicing for hours, I could barely clear the minimum height required to advance.  I found the funnest events to be the shooting and archery, which required more quick tapping than quick back-and-forth.  I’m sure every player will have their own favorites (javelin, skeet shooting, and vault for me) and ones they absolutely and completely hate (discus and that cursed pole vault).

NITF is a completists dream.  Not only are there a multitude of outfits, characters, trophies, and titles to unlock, but you can also take your skills online and compete for bragging rights against the scores of players from around the world.  There are apparently plenty of Billy’s in the world, as I have no idea how people managed some of the scores they did in these events.   You can tell folks are making full use of the practice mode and honing their NITF skills and timing to absolute perfection to achieve some of the marks I’ve seen.  That says a lot about the competitive and addicting nature of this game.

NIST has solid presentation and is great for some short, quick gaming sessions.  If you have quick reflexes and a fast stylus hand, you will probably have an absolute blast with this one.  The old school feel will bring a smile to those of us who played it before, and it will present an excellent challenge for anyone willing to give it a try.

Sadly, I find myself in the same boat in 2008 as I did in 1984.   While I really wanted to have fun with it, I simply couldn’t hang with the Billy’s of the world.   Once again, their lightning reflexes and dexterity got the better of me, and I had to hang up my virtual track shoes and just walk away.  Hopefully, the claw hand I developed while playing won’t affect my success on the Burgertime machine…

Gaming Trend Score

72

1. Graphics: 75
2. Audio: 59
3. Controls: 75
4. Gameplay: 72
5. Value/Replay: 80
6. OVERALL:72