Arcade Video game published 36 years ago:
Track & Field (c) 1983 Konami.
Track & Field is an athletics-themed action game for up to four players, who compete against each other in six track and field-based disciplines.
The game controls consist of two run buttons (one for each 'leg' of the athlete) and one 'Action' button. Players must hit the two run buttons alternately to build up speed and use action button to jump or throw.
In each event, there is a qualifying time or minimum score threshold that the player must achieve to advance to the next event. failing to qualify (in one heat for track events or in three attempts in the other events) will reduce the players' number of lives by one, the game is over once all lives are lost.
Track & Field can accommodate up to four players, who compete in pairs in the running events and individually in the others. If there are fewer than four players, the remaining slots are played by the computer (or player "CPU"). In all multiplayer heats, however, the relative performance of the players has no effect on the game and advancing is based solely on reaching qualifying times and targets.
The six events are:
* 100M DASH - Run as fast as possible.
* LONG JUMP - Run to the take-off board then choose angle of jump (42 is the optimum angle).
* JAVELIN - Run to the line then choose angle of throw (43 is the optimum angle).
* 110M HURDLES - Run and time jumps over the hurdles.
* HAMMER THROW - As the athlete spins faster and faster, time release of hammer and angle of throw (45 is the optimum angle).
* HIGH JUMP - The athlete will run to the bar; just as he reaches it, use Action button to start the jump and hold down the action button to reduce the angle of climb, i.e. you start going straight up at 90 degrees if you tap the button just once. Use run buttons while in the air to gain extra height.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : GX361
Main CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 2.048 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips : DAC (@ 3.579545 Mhz), SN76496 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), Sanyo VLM5030 (@ 3.58 Mhz)
Players : 4
Buttons : 3
= > [1] Run (Left), [2] Jump/Throw, [3] Run (Right)
Odd-numbered players (1 and 3) use the controls on the right side of the panel; even-numbered players (2 and 4) use the controls on the left side.
In a 4-player game on an upright machine, players 1 and 3 share player 1's control; players 2 and 4 share player 2's control.
On a cocktail machine, players 1 and 2 play from one end of the machine, while players 3 and 4 play from the opposite end. The screen's orientation will flip for each pair of players.
- TRIVIA -
Track & Field was released in October 1983 by Konami.
Track & Field proved to be incredibly successful for Konami, and would spawn countless imitations - particularly on the 8-bit home systems of the time - as well as three sequels of its own. One of the undoubted reasons for its success was the superb multi-player game, which, for perhaps the first time in the video arcade, introduced a genuine sense of rivalry among players and showed the gaming world what was truly possible with multi-player gaming.
The song that is heard playing on the high score and awards screen is 'Chariots of Fire', written by Vangelis for the movie of the same name.
This game is known in Japan as "Hyper Olympic". A Bootleg of this game called "Atlant Olimpic" was released in Italy in 1996, thirteen years after the game first appeared.
A Track & Field unit appears in the 1985 movie, 'The Goonies'.
- UPDATES -
Later versions of this game replace the two 'Run' buttons with a trackball.
- SCORING -
Points are awarded in each event. The faster the time, the further or higher the jump, or the further you throw the more points you score.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* 100m Dash : Achieve exactly the same time for player 1 and 2 and 1,000 point bonus will be awarded.
* Long Jump : 3 jumps of exactly the same length will cause a little man with a key to run across the screen, awarding 1,000 points.
* Javelin : Throw the javelin off the top of the screen to bring down a bird for a 1,000 point bonus. To do this you must achieve the 'maximum' angle.
* 110m Hurdles : If both players finish the race in a dead heat then a little man with a key will run across the screen, awarding 1,000 points to each player.
* High Jump : Fail the first two jumps and then clear it; a mole burrows up for a 1,000 point bonus.
* Hint : When you alternate tapping the run buttons (run1, run2, run1, run2 etc.) you will get a much better speed increase. You have three attempts to qualify on all but the two running events.
* BUG : In both Javelin and the Hammer Throw, throwing over 100m will cause a counter wraparound, so a 100m12 throw will be logged as 0m12 (and will not qualify you).
- SERIES -
1. Track & Field [Model GX361] (1983, ARC)
2. Hyper Sports [Model GX330] (1984, ARC)
3. '88 Games [Model GX861] (1988, ARC)
4. Hyper Athlete [Model GV021] (1996, ARC)
5. Nagano Winter Olympics '98 [Model GX720] (1998, ARC)
6. International Track & Field 2000 (2000, PS)
7. International Track & Field Summer Games (2000, N64)
8. New International Track & Field (2008, DS)
9. Hyper Sports Winter (2010 iPhone)
10. Hyper Sports Track & Field (2010 iPhone)
- STAFF -
Music by : Shigeru Fukutake
- PORTS -
Note: Ports released in Japan and North America are not listed here. For Japanese ports, please see the Japanese version entry, "Hyper Olympic [Model GX361]". For North American ports, please see the Centuri "Track & Field" (North American version) entry.
* CONSOLES:
[EU] Nintendo NES (feb.2, 1992) "Track & Field in Barcelona [Model NES-91-AUS]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] [EU] (aug.8, 2007)
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1992) [Model DMG-KH]
[EU] Nintendo DS (oct.26, 2007) "Konami Arcade Classics [Model NTR-ACXP-EUR]"
[AU] Nintendo DS (oct.29, 2007) "Konami Arcade Classics"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Commodore C64 (1985)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1988)
MSX [EU] (1984) [Model RC710]
MSX [EU] (1984) "Track & Field 2"
MSX [EU] (1984) "Track & Field II" by SCEE
* OTHERS:
LCD handheld game (1984) "Track & Field Running Type" by Bandai.
LCD handheld game (1984) "Track & Field Throwing Type" by Bandai.
- CONTRIBUTE -
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