''The Activision Decathlon'' is a sports game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It was ported to the

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

, Atari 5200,

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

, ColecoVision, and

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

. Up to four players compete in the ten different events of a real-life

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

, either in sequence or individually.

Gameplay

The events are: #

100-Meter Dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

# Long Jump #

Shot Put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

High Jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

# 400-Meter Race #

110-Meter Hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

# Discus Throw # Pole Vault # Javelin Throw # 1500-Meter Race

Activision Decathlon Club patches

A player whose score met or exceeded the values below could send photo documentation to receive an Activision Decathlon Club patch in one of the colors of an Olympic medal: * 8,600 points: Bronze * 9,000 points: Silver * 10,000 points: Gold

Reception

Shortly after release, Activision's ''Decathlon'' drew comparisons to Konami's popular arcade game ''Hyper Olympic'' (''Track & Field''), which was introduced at the Amusement Machine Show a month later in September 1983. According to ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazine, several people claimed there were "cursory similarities" between the two games. The Atari 2600 version of ''Decathlon'' was reviewed by '' Video'' magazine in its "Arcade Alley" column where it was described as "an absolute triumph of imaginative programming" and as "a masterwork". ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' rated the VCS version 92% while giving the ColecoVision version a 93% score. In 1985, the game appeared at number-two on the Atari 8-bit chart in the United Kingdom.

Legacy

The game was later reissued simply as ''Decathlon'' by the UK budget label Firebird. It was included in the 2002

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

compilation '' Activision Anthology''.

References

External links