Pathetic is the only word that comes to mind when I think of the graphics in Athens 2004. It is mind boggling how Olympic-style video games always end up being sub-par compared to other sports games, but this is ridiculous. Player models look absolutely horrible, especially the women in the game (who all look "butch" instead of the normal petite body frame). In fact, the only thing that looks gorgeous in the game is the horse model in the Equestrian event. The actual environments are okay, but again, not up to the potential that they should be at in terms of visual content.

On the audio front, Athens 2004 is again okay, but there is nothing special to set it apart from any other Summer Olympics game ever made. Athens 2004 gives us the usual sounds, including crowd noises and starter pistols, among other typical track and field audio.

First of all, Athens 2004 offers the highest number of events to ever grace the video game world, in terms of Olympic-style track n’ field games. In fact, it’s more than any Winter Olympics too. Athens 2004 offers twenty-five (yes, that’s 25!) events. Of course, the four swimming events are controlled the same, as are some of the running track events, which is unfortunate. But, as a whole, the guys and gals at Eurocom designed a well-rounded number of events to participate in.

The variety of control in Athens 2004 includes the typical button-mashing events, but isn’t limited to them. There are a fair number of events that don’t include any insanely quick button presses at all. The controls for the non-typical field events actually will have you using analog sticks and use timing to perform graceful moves via button presses. In fact, the gymnastic events are a good example of this. Controlling a horse around an obstacle course (the Equestrian event) is another example of the diversity in Athens 2004.

Whatever your pleasure, Athens 2004 offers a huge variety of game play modes. Of course, they all boil down to Olympic competition, but it’s great to see the developers thinking of ways to make the game more user-friendly. The different game modes included are Arcade, Practice, Single Event, Party Mode (bust out those dance mats and burn it up Olympic-style), Challenge (multiplayer mode based on a handicap system), and Competition. Within Competition, it is possible to play Individual events, a Decathlon, Heptathlon, or Athletics, as well as Aquatics or Gymnastics. Of course, the heart of the game comes in the form of Champion mode, where you will play all 25 events in the game. Finally, Athens 2004 also offers a sweet Custom mode, where you can create your own list of events, and save different configurations to the memory card. Any way you play it, any fan of Olympic video games is going to love the variety of Athens 2004.

Included in Athens 2004 are the following events, so be prepared for a few hours of button-mashing mayhem if you play the full Champion mode:

Athletics (Track) Events 100m 200m 400m 800m 1500m Hurdles Long Jump Triple Jump High Jump Pole Vault Discus Shot Put Javelin Throw Aquatics (Swimming) Events 100m Freestyle Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly

Gymnastics (Artistic) Events Floor Exercises Men Floor Exercises Women Rings Men Vault Equestrian (Jumping) Events Individual Mixed Weightlifting +105kg Men, Clean & Jerk Archery Individual 70m Women Shooting Skeet Men

The difficulty of all track 'n' field games has always depended upon the skill level of the user. Athens 2004 is no different. The fact is that for the average player, the game is probably at the perfect difficulty level. For those that may be a bit green to the button-mashing goodness, the difficulty will seem as though it is too hard at first. It may take some time (and practice) to get a feel for the different controls. And, for those who wish there were real video game Olympics, it won’t take long to master Athens 2004. The good news is that the variety of control schemes will help even out the competition because naturally some will be faster at button-mashing, while others may be better at precise controls.

Athens 2004 offers a number of events, and with that, a number of different controlling schemes. This adds a ton to the replay value, because not everyone will enjoy 3+ hours of button-mashing to complete a full Olympics. This also means that the game will cater a little bit more to those that may not be as fast on their feet (or fingers in this case).

Despite the rough graphics and lack of finish that Athens 2004 has, true fans of this type of game may want to pick this one up. I would definitely say it is worth a rental first, just to be sure however. The sheer number of events makes it worth a look. Athens 2004 is another good game in a long line of track and field games. Unfortunately, it could have very easily been the best with a little more polish.