Summer Games II

Summary
Sequel/add-on for the 1984 Olympics game "Summer Games" with 8 new disciplines - including, for the first time, equestrian show jumping!

Game Design
2D side scroller. Animation of the movements is quite nice for the time and somewhat realistic.

Gameplay
The game can be played with joystick or keyboard. Players can choose in the menu to compete in all disciplines or just a few. There is only one equestrian course.

Riding Mechanics
"Enter"/"Fire" to start. "UP" (arrow key or pushing joystick in that direction) makes the horse go faster. "DOWN" slows down or turn around after stopping. To jump, "LEFT" to take off and "RIGHT" to land successfully. The horse will refuse if you miss the right take off point or fall down if you don't stick the landing ("Enter" to get up again). 20 penalty points for a refusal, 6 points for a fall, 1 point for every second over 50; disqualification after 99 seconds or 99 points. The idea of controls simulating balance instead is arguably more realistic than simply giving a "jump key". It is also used in later games like Mes Galops 3D de 1 à 4 and especially Ride! Equestrian Simulation.

Differences between Releases
The graphics and colours depend on the system: On the original C64 the horse was brown with some details, the Apple II one is much simpler and black and the DOS horse is magenta due to the limited colour palette. There apparently were some later ports to consoles and the game could also be played on the Nintendo Wii as part of a retro games module.