Hyper Olympic '84 (1988). Play online

Summary

Hyper Sports – called Hyper Olympic ’84 in its Japanese arcades – takes the two‑button dash of Track & Field and spices it up with seven new Olympic tests. You sprint to power the swimmer’s strokes, time breaths with the action button, pick left or right shot in skeet, swing on the long horse and rotate in mid‑air, aim a held‑and‑released arrow in archery, charge the triple jump and weight‑lifting lifts, then battle the pole vault’s preset run speed and timed release. The pole‑vault event never made it onto the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC or C‑64 ports, making the arcade version the only place to try that final ascent.

The game smashed arcade charts worldwide: it ranked among Japan’s top table units in August 1984, held top‑four status in North American dedicated cabinets through November, and hit number one in UK arcade listings. Critics praised its frantic depth, with Play Meter’s Gene Lewin scoring it 9/10 and calling it an exceptional sequel to its predecessor.