Winter Games

Winter Games expanded the successful sports-compilation concept with winter events and arrived on the Atari 7800 as the natural sibling of Summer Games. Here players try their hand at biathlon, speed skating, ski jumping, bobsled, and figure skating, with each event built around a different type of control – from rhythmic button-mashing during cross-country skiing to precise timing of the takeoff on the ski jump. The game again allows multiple players to compete, taking turns through the individual events and earning points toward an overall ranking. The wide range of events, each requiring a slightly different approach to the controls, is one of the main reasons players kept coming back to Winter Games even after mastering the first, easiest event.

The 7800 rendition offers colorful snowy backdrops, smoothly animated athletes, and musical themes that evoke the festive atmosphere of a Winter Olympics, similar to Summer Games. The figure skating event stands out the most, where the player assembles a sequence of moves and tries to perform them to the rhythm of the music – an element missing from other sports games of the time that gave the title a mark of originality. The controls remain accessible, but achieving top results in all the events takes patience and practice. Bobsled and luge, meanwhile, test the feel for properly steering through curves, bringing the game closer to fast arcade racing than pure athletics.

The original Winter Games by Epyx was among the most successful sports compilations on home computers in the mid-1980s, and its release on the 7800 brought this established concept to console owners as well. Today the game works as a pleasant offering for fans of retro sports games – it doesn't offer the depth of modern simulations, but it retains a charm and playfulness that make it worth returning to even decades later. Together with Summer Games and California Games, it forms a natural trio of titles that complement each other on the 7800 and together illustrate well how variously the sports-compilation concept could be approached in the 1980s.

Why play it: For fans of retro sports games, it offers charm and playfulness without the depth of modern simulations, and together with Summer Games and California Games it forms a natural trio of titles on the 7800.