ESPN Winter Sports 2002

The game features just about every Winter Olympic sport worth watching: downhill alpine skiing, slalom skiing, bobsledding, half-pipe snowboarding, ski jumping, freestyle mogul skiing, speed skating, figure skating, and curling. Hockey is notably absent from this list; the game developer rightly assumed that hockey fans will be better served by a dedicated hockey game such as NHL 2002.

The included events use clever but simple control schemes, and the basics of each event are explained with a tutorial designed to quickly teach you how to perform the necessary actions and go about the business of breaking records. For example, ski jumping involves quickly pressing two buttons and then a third to jump, the former two to extend your distance, and the third one again to land. Bobsledding mainly demands a smooth touch of the digital stick, and figure skating is a choreographed event wherein the player performs onscreen prompts. It's amusing that a next-generation game uses a control system based on the old-school Track & Field arcade machine, but in the past 20 years nobody has come up with a better way to simulate Olympic sport.

While the controls may be dated, the graphics are unmistakably on the cutting edge. The game looks brilliant--crisp and pure as the day after a light snow. The snow fans up when skiers turn, and the polygonal athletes have excellent facial graphics. The presentation is fantastic and so is multiplayer with a buddy.

So, when Olympic fever strikes, even if the Olympics are long gone, you'll want to have a copy of Konami's ESPN International Winter Sports 2002. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Excellent controls and a wide range of sports to play
• Looks fantastic

• The controls aren't really simulations; they can even be physically tiring
• It's missing Olympic accouterments and athletes

Note: This review refers to the Xbox version of this game.

Amazon.com Product Description
Experience the thrills and brutal spills of cold-air competition with ESPN International Winter Sports 2002. The game's 10 fast-paced events include downhill alpine skiing, freestyle mogul skiing, bobsledding, speed skating, and more. Carve gates at death-defying speeds in the slalom or bust big air in the ski jump. There's even a curling competition. Compete in the trial mode and select events with aspirations of gold and record smashing in mind.

While in championship mode--the highest level of difficulty--you pick one country and compete in all events. Choose to represent the U.S., England, Canada, France, Holland, Italy, Japan, or Germany. Each country has its own unique characteristics and abilities as well as strengths and weaknesses. A two-player split-screen mode lets you go head-to-head in an in-your-face test of speed and skills. Crisp graphics render the winter conditions realistically, letting you spray snow in the slalom or stare down the glare of ice that faces you in the treacherous bobsled run.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! GRAPHICS ARE GOOD BUT NOT THE GAME!!!


A great game...Lots of fun!   June 4, 2002
 7 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is one great game. It is lots of fun! It is loads better than Salt Lake City 2002, because it has more events, and the events are much better. This is a challenging game, with competitions that are hard, but can be easier depending on how much you practice the events, and which character you choose. It's hard to do well becasue each character has their different strengths. The only few things this game is lacking is the Olympic venues, real athletes, and a Create-A-Player mode. Create-A-Player would be nice. The following is the ratings of each event:

Downhill 8.5/10
This at first is hard to do, b/c you need to go fast and hit all, the gates, but once you get good, its rewarding.

Slalom 5/10
This is possibly the worst event. It's extremely hard to make all the gates, let alone while trying to score a fast time. Although, though I am not very good at it yet, it could be fun once you get good.

K90 7.5/10
An average event, not very hard to learn, and easy to get a silver medal in. Getting a gold is very hard, b/c the CPU is very tough.

K120 6.5/10
Again, an average event, a little weaker rating than the K90 b/c it is quite harder to do, b/c you have to keep pushing O and X.

Moguls 10/10
THIS IS GREAT. You have to make good turns all the way thru as well as performing tricks. There are 25 different tricks you can pull, but a few good ones are missing, such as the dinner roll. This one can be hard to do, but it is great fun.

Snowboard Halfpipe 9/10
This is also GREAT. It's fairly simple to learn, and there are 16 different tricks you can pull, which are all cool. Also, different countries have differnt tricks, so there are more than 16.

Speed Skating 5.5/10
Not very good. It's physically tiring. You have to push O & X alternately and slow down on the turns. I am glad this is only 500 meters, and not 10,000, otherwise my arms would fall off. This can be good if you have a fast skater.

Bobsleigh 8.5/10

This is fun to play, and easy to win if you dont hit any walls, or only hit a minimal amount. The downside is that this isn't very realistic. It has big hills and big drops, and no real bobsled course has that; just turns. Also, there are little things on the track that give you speed boosts, which don't occur in real life. Other than this, it is still fun and fairly easy.

Curling N/A
I haven't played this one yet b/c the other events are too fun, so I can't fairly give it a rating. My friend played halfway thru one match and it takes forever, so I don't play it.

Figure Skating 8.5/10
This is fun to do, and easy to win if you have good timing. You choose from 3 songs and press certain buttons to make your skater do certain things, and then you can do jumps and spins. I recommened that you choose the song "Bomber Night."

Extras-
There are 4 game modes: Trial, Head to Head, Men's Championship, & Women's Championship
Also, you can unlock certain "outfits". I have no idea what they are b/c I haven't unlocked any yet. You are also given a password at the end of a championship to post on the internet to compare you score to others around the world.

Overall, this game is a good buy, b/c it's fun and it's cheap.


Fun, BUT...   March 3, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is a great game! It has ten events, each very fun. However, a create a player mode would be nice. A more realistic olympic compitition would be great. Also, IT NEEDS REAL ATHLETES!

Speed Skating 6/10
It's fun, but pressing O and X at various speeds isn't THAT fun.

Figure Skating 6/10
You have to press buttons at certain time to get the skater to do tricks. Not really that good.

Moguls 9/10
This is really fun. You can perform a ton of tricks of the two ramps. The turns with the L and R button are also nice.

Slalom 2/10
I HATE this event. It is impossible not to miss a gate. Ughhhh!

Downhill 4/10
It is is a little easier to not miss a gate, but it is still really hard.

Bobsleigh 8/10
This is another great event. At the start you press O and X rapidly and then L to get the each athlete in the bobsleigh. Then, you steer the Bobsleigh to the end.

Half-Pipe Snowboarding 6/10
It's okay... but it's not really that fun. You just have to press the right button at the right moment.

Ski Jumping K90 10/10
NO JOKE! This is one AMAZING event. First, you press the left and right control stick down to set the wind. Then, you hold them to to gain speed and push them both of when you get to the jump.Push them bothe slowly down as you fall to keep up with the yellow line. Press L or R to land.

Ski Jumping K120 4/10
This is what happens when you take K90, replace everything with button mashing, and excpect it to be fun. Ughhhh!

Curling 5/10
I know how to play but... It's not really all that fun in Winter Sports 2002. The computers are also unrealistically good.

Now that you have read my review, I hope you can make an honest decision.


Enjoyable Olympic competition   February 12, 2002
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I enjoy this game and it's not as much button mashing as one would think. Some events are better than others, but there is a good variety of different events, and several competition modes to keep things from getting repetitive. This is a good multiplayer game to compete with your friends, but is also interesting enough to play single player.

It doesn't really capture the Olympics as much as I would like, as there are only 8 nations represented and none of the Olympic venues or licensing, but this is a well presented and fun game that I would recommed for anyone looking to have a bit of the Winter Games experience at home.


Potentially more fun than the official SLC 2002 videogame   November 2, 2001
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

Consider...ESPN Winter Sports 2002 will have more events than Eidos' Salt Lake 2002 (10 vs. 6), and a better VARIETY of events (downhill, slalom, 4-man bobsled, snowboarding (halfpipe), 90 and 120m ski-jumping, freestyle moguls, 500m speedskating, ladies' figure skating and men's curling) vs. SLC 2002's multiple variations on skiing (men's downhill, women's slalom, men's snowboard parallel GS, women's freestyle aerials, 120m ski jumping and 2-man bobsled). It has only 2 game modes vs. SLC 2002's four, and the lack of a create-a-player feature will hurt, but I think this will be the better game. Konami's forays into the PS2 sports videogame realm have been hit and miss, mostly miss, with the exception of MLS Extra Time, the best soccer title of the 2000-01 season. Sure, SLC 2002 will have the actual venues of the Winter Games, but if you had a choice between seeing the venues and playing a diverse series of competitions, what would you buy? Thought so...