Ludography
Winter Challenge cover

1991 · Port · MindSpan · Sports

Winter Challenge

Sega exclusivePort

Winter Challenge is a video game that portrays seven winter sports that are competed in during the Winter Olympics. This game however was not endorsed by the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee, or any similar organization for any other country.

Released
31 December 1991
Platforms
Sega Genesis
Genres
Sports
Developers
MindSpan
Publishers
Accolade
Modes
MultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
Action

About

The Games: Winter Challenge is a sports video game developed by Canadian developer Mindspan and published by Accolade for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1991 and as Winter Challenge for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in Europe in 1991 and the United States in 1992. The game portrays eight winter sports events that are competed in during the Winter Olympics. The game is unlicensed and not endorsed by the International Olympic Committee or similar organisations. Upon release, Winter Challenge received praise from several publications, with attention directed to the game's variety of events and visual presentation, with some criticism towards the inconsistency and difficulty of events. A sequel to the game based on the Summer Olympics, The Games: Summer Challenge, was released by Accolade in 1992.

Keywords

  • skiing
  • snow
  • tournament

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Winter Challenge features two modes. In Tournament mode, the player can create a competitor and participate with up to ten players, with selectable names, countries and user pictures. Once the players are selected, the game shows an opening ceremony for the tournament and then takes the player to a tournament screen where they can see their icons for the events, as well as four buttons that shows their current standings, starts a new tournament, allows the entering of a password to return to an existing tournament, or return to the main menu. In this mode, computer-generated opponents have a skill level, from 'Amateur' to 'Professional' and 'World Class', affecting their speed and stamina in events.

In Training mode, the player can participate in a single event as one player. Several events are simplified for the training mode to allow error, such as being able to miss flags in the giant slalom. Once completed, the player can play again, return to the main menu, or watch an instant replay of their performance.

Reception

Winter Challenge received positive reviews from gaming publications, with many critics praising the variety and appeal of the game's different activities. Describing the title as a "multi-venued game" that imitated a "full-scale Olympic competition", Computer Gaming World praised the game as "more exciting" than its predecessors and highlighted the balance of "fast-paced" and "leisurely" game modes. However, some critics noted that the game was inconsistent in its execution. Computer Game Review observed that "the cross country events are too long and rather dull", and "competing against other than amateur competition is extremely tough." Similarly, whilst Mean Machines found the game "varied and engrossing", the game had an "inconsistent quality, finding some events "easy to finish", and remarking that "the multi-player mode is where the game is best appreciated."

Several reviewers praised the game's graphics and use of perspective to convey the action in the game. Sega Pro noted the rear view perspective "works successfully and gives a real impression of movement and perspective." Similarly, ACE praised the perspective for providing a "good view of the action as well as an excellent first-person impression of speed." Game Zone highlighted the "realistic" reflections and shadows, and noted the graphics were animated "well".

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Sega Genesis31 December 1991Europe · North America 31 December 1991

Editions and related releases

Part of
The Games: Winter Challenge
Port of
The Games: Winter Challenge

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.