Beijing Dreams

Being inundated with Olympics tie-ins once every four years would be okay if it wasn't for the fact that they all play near identically to the very first joystick wagglers from a quarter of century ago. Although this game does seem to have come out during the games, playing it now, just a few weeks later, it suddenly seems so old hat only Fred Flintstone would wear it.

To be fair to Ozura, it has tried to add some sort of spin to the usual formula, since you don't actually play as an official Olympics athlete at all. Instead you're cast as one Lei Jiang, who becomes infatuated with a sports reporter and competes to win a special wildcard placement in the Games just so he can meet her. It's a bit like that Simpsons episode where Homer gets to go into space to prove that anyone can do it - except without the inanimate carbon road, space shuttle or jokes.

What the game does have though is five different events: 100 Metres, Hurdles, Long Jump, Triple Jump and High Jump. As you compete in them you move around different areas of China, which controversially includes Tibet.

The story doesn't really have much bearing on proceedings, and before you know it you're pressing the '4' and '6' keys on your keypad to propel your little big headed man around the track. Which key you're supposed to press next is flashed up on screen, so you can't just settle down to an alternating rhythm - as in the wagglers of old. The only other complication is a turbo boost button which can be activated to give you that little extra bit of speed as you approach the line.

Five different events is a just about acceptable number, but you'll notice that the ones that have been picked are all extremely similar. Having to jump over hurdles or time a triple jump requires precious little extra skill and rewards with only an increasing sense of déjà vu.

The game is aware of these problems, though, and so the main story mode allows you to earn experience points as you compete, improving your stamina and allowing you to run faster. Each trial has its own set of records and qualifying times, with success often unlocking a new location to race in.

The rather obvious problem with all this is that whatever meagre rewards the game chooses to dole out for your continual play you're still just re-playing the same five events over and over again. The graphics are okay, but there's only ever one character on the track and the animation isn't a patch on Ancient Games or Playman Summer Games 3. In fact there's really no reason to choose the game ahead of either of those or even the official Beijing 2008 game. Sadly, Beijing Dreams falls short of the bronze.