The Activision Decathlon

The Activision Decathlon brought the popular athletic decathlon concept to the Atari 5200, in which the player competes in ten events one after another, from the 100-meter dash through the long jump and shot put to the 1500-meter run. The game was designed by David Crane, one of Activision's key creators, and thanks to the more powerful hardware compared to the Atari 2600, the 5200 version was the first to add computer-controlled opponents, so the player could for the first time compare their performance directly against artificial intelligence, not just against a record of their own previous attempts. Controlling each event requires a different technique - fast alternating stick movements for sprints, precise timing for a jump or throw - so the game forces the player to switch between different types of movement in rapid succession.

On the Atari 5200, the game benefits from the analog stick, which allows finer response than a digital joystick, which is especially useful in events like the pole vault or javelin throw, where the exact moment of release matters. The graphics remain modest in the spirit of the era, the athlete figures are simplified, but the movement animations are legible, and the game communicates well when the player made an incorrect movement or fouled on takeoff. The audio side is minimalist - music is absent, and it is accompanied only by impact sounds and applause after a good performance, which keeps the player's attention focused purely on their own performance.

Decathlon was one of the most popular athletics games on home consoles in its time and was also known for physically tiring players out due to the intense stick-shaking required in the sprint events. The Atari 5200 version is considered one of the technically most accomplished thanks to its more precise controls and the presence of computer opponents, which increased the motivation to play again and improve one's own times. Even today it remains an entertaining example of how a simple idea - ten events and one button - managed to entertain a generation of players and became a forerunner of later multi-event sports games on other platforms.

Why play it: For an entertaining example of how a simple idea with ten events and one button managed to entertain an entire generation and foreshadow later sports multi-event games.