California Games

California Games completed Epyx's trilogy of sports compilations and brought to the Atari 7800 events inspired by California street and beach culture – skateboarding, surfing, footbag, BMX freestyle, frisbee throwing, and rock climbing. Compared to the more classic Summer and Winter Games, this was a markedly more relaxed take on sport, matching the image of 1980s California as the cradle of a new generation of street sports. Each event has its own scoring system based on tricks performed, speed, or precision, so the game motivates repeated attempts to improve one's score. Compared to the purely athletic approach of the series' earlier entries, this one is more about style and creativity of execution than dry stopwatch numbers, which was a fairly unusual approach for sports games in the mid-1980s.

On the 7800, the game feels fresh thanks to its colorful settings – from the skatepark to the beach to cliffs above the ocean – and correspondingly catchy music that rounds out the relaxed atmosphere of the whole concept. The controls are adapted to the joystick and require a feel for trick timing, which makes events like skateboarding or BMX the most entertaining parts of the game. Compared to earlier entries in the series, there's a clear effort toward greater visual dynamism and variety of settings. Rock climbing, meanwhile, emphasizes route planning and conserving stamina, so there's a decent variety of pace and challenge type even between the individual events.

California Games became one of the best-selling titles of its genre on home computers in the mid-1980s and helped popularize sports compilations as a staple of game libraries. The 7800 version arrived somewhat later but preserved the gameplay and atmosphere of the original. To this day it's a pleasant demonstration of how sports games in the 1980s could be not only competitive but also stylish and fun. For 7800 owners, California Games marked the last major encounter with the concept on which Epyx built its reputation, and at the same time a pleasant farewell to an era when sports games didn't necessarily have to copy real Olympic rules.

Why play it: As a pleasant demonstration of stylish and fun 1980s sports games, and the last major encounter for 7800 owners with the concept on which Epyx built its reputation.