Developer: Cinemax
Publisher: Cinemax

NA Release: July 26, 2012
EU Release: July 26, 2012


# of Players: 1 - 4 (passing your system to another person)
Nintendo eShop price: $4.99
Nintendo DSi Shop price: 500 points
Genre: Sports

Decathlon 2012 is a remake of an Atari 2600 title known as The Activision Decathlon. Decathlon 2012 features the same amount of events from the original and from the actual track and field events. The Activision Decathlon is known for destroying joysticks due to almost all the events require you to rapidly wiggle the joystick left and right. Decathlon 2012 uses the exact same control scheme except that you get to use only the stylus. While you don’t need to worry about destroying the touch screen, I kind of wish it had for me as a punishment for even considering downloading this.



Gameplay

There are two modes, Classic Decathlon (tap the orange square) and Practice (tap the green square). For those unfortunates who just downloaded the game, I recommend you read the digital manual first (red square). When I tried out the Classic Decathlon and Practice for the first time, I thought that the stylus controls were awful, with the touch screen showing the steps and immediately highlighting the current phase really doesn’t help much. The most complex controls such as Javelin Throw event, there is actually just one step instead of two. You make your character run by sliding the stylus repeatedly as fast, with less forcing down, as possible and the throwing starts with the performance base on your last slide before lifting off the touch screen. I was assumed that I have to left the stylus after the running and slide one more time for the throwing animation, I bet that everyone will assume that if they haven’t read the manual first either. Practice mode is still important since you still have to know how to avoid disqualification such as crossing the line from Javelin Throw.

While the stylus controls do work, that doesn’t mean that the gameplay is fun. Videogames are repetitious I get that. Decathlon 2012, however, is really pushing it. Most of the time is just rapidly sliding left and right when it doesn’t involve a stamina bar. After correctly executed all 10 events, there really isn't anything going back to since there's no real reward when winning gold.

There is multiplayer, up to 4 players, in Classic Decathlon and you activate that feature by tapping Players on the upper-left corner of the touch screen. Unless you let your friends read the manual and practice on very event first, multiplayer is a waste because you clearly have the advantage.



Presentation

There really isn’t a whole lot to say about the graphics. It doesn’t matter what country you’re representing, taping the changeable flags, your faceless character will always wear the same Team USA uniform. The character animation is depressingly the only visual effort similar to the Atari original without retrospectively impressed about it. The title cards for the title screen and representing each event are repulsively effortless, just pixelization and negative space.

The only music is from the main menu, which brings a falsely cheerful athletic experience, and from the result screen, which brings a falsely serious retro experience.

Conclusion

I recommend that you avoid Decathlon 2012. For those of you who own a 3DS and feel the urge for some Olympics, I suggest you download the free demo of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games from the Nintendo eShop.

1 / 10 eShop Points

1- Pathetic: This game should be thrown in the trash