California games was a sports game depicting various "sports" (I use that term loosely with some of the games included) that Californians supposedly thoroughly enjoyed. Some of the games were cool, like the half-pipe skateboarding, which was like an early early early early early Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The other games included surfing, frisbee, BMX biking, and of course, who can forget the most annoying hippy-centric "sport" of all time, HACKEY SACK!!! That's right, this game marked the introduction (and departure) of keeping a small spherical sack filled with beans in the air by way of kicking it in a very queer looking fashion. All in all though, the whole package of California Games was done pretty well. It was a huge success, most likely because it ventured out of the usual sports area and went into the 'extreme' sports arena, which was just starting to really pick up steam.
I can see why this game would have been a hit during its respective time period. But even then, it is still pretty clunky when compared to classics like Super Mario and Mega Man 2. This would be a great downloadable game... Read Full Review
In the late '80s, famed developer Epyx (sadly no longer with us) created a series of "Games" titles, which featured multiple sporting events. After releasing the Olympics-inspired Summer Games and the equally successful ... Read Full Review
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