DecAthlete #BestOfSaturnSilver

Developed by AM3 for the ST-V “Titan” arcade board and then ported to the Saturn for a summer 1996 release, DecAthlete (Athlete Kings in Europe) is an Olympic-style sports game for one to two players. Sporting eight competitors from major sporting countries, players tackle 10 events in succession. Alternately, single event or practice modes are also available.

The game released in time for the Summer Olympic Games held that year in Atlanta, Ga. Being an ST-V port, the Saturn version is exceptionally faithful to the coin-op, and sports super-smooth high-resolution 3D models animating at a crisp 60 FPS. The visuals are simple yet colorful, and our characters are very nicely animated.

The game’s draw is the well-executed control scheme. Primarily utilizing the D-pad and two action buttons, each event is an exercise in rhythm and timing. Some events, such as the races, require careful management of stamina. Button-mashing afficionados won’t make the podium here, differentiating the game from various previous Olympic videogame efforts.

Upon release, the game garnered positive reviews and compared favorably to other Olympic-themed games released at the same time. The game was lauded for being appealing especially to players who don’t usually play sports games — this can be attributed in part to the excellent visuals, and in part to the snappy control scheme. Today, the game continues to hold up very well and is worthy of a Silver ranking in our weekly #BestOfSaturn series.

	Peter Malek
		A Saturn fan since the beginning, Peter plays Saturn almost exclusively. For Peter, Saturn represents a moment in time where 2D games were at their best, 3D was just rising, and fascinating gaming 'firsts' were commonplace.  There are very few Saturn games that Peter cannot find some enjoyment in!