California Games scores 8/10 in the verdict of The Games Market editorial team.
Once Upon a Time
California Games!
by Simon Larocca·August 26, 2024
Se chiudo gli occhi, mi sembra di
avvertire il profumo leggero delle palme sui controviali e quello di salsedine
farsi largo nelle narici, la sensazione della sabbia calda che solletica i
piedi e la brezza estiva che scompiglia i capelli (magari!) e accarezza la
tavola da surf, solida e attraente come una modella teutonica, piantata sulla
spiaggia accanto alla versione immaginaria di me in costume: queste erano le vibes che mi regalava California Games
when I played it many years ago and, even today, the sensations it gives me on the
skin are the same.
California Games, which calling an iconic title would not be enough to truly explain what it meant to gamers like me, had so many incarnations since its first 1987 version for Commodore 64 that not even Link from Zelda could boast such a number of existing versions! Could our beloved, magnificent NES possibly have been left out? Of course not: 1989 is the year of California Games on Nintendo’s first 8-bit consoles and fans go into what is known as seventh heaven.
Le selectable disciplines are those that
have handed down to history the game in question: the half pipe which will allow us to transform into new Tony Hawks
on a skateboard (don’t forget knee pads because you will fall very often and
hurt yourselves badly!), Surf with
its spectacular maneuvers atop waves as treacherous as they are
foamy, then Frisbee,
acrobatics and adrenaline on the back of the two-wheeled steed called Bmx, a ride on Roller Skates
avoiding puddles and enjoying the Californian backdrop with palm trees, sun and
the ocean never so blue, ending with my favorite California game: footbag! In this last discipline
we will have to keep the ball up using various parts of the body, such as the shoulders,
the head and even the heel, without letting the ball fall on the grass: we will accumulate
points based on how many consecutive touches we manage to make, but the style with which we play our match will also be rewarded.
The musical motifs
that accompany each discipline are destined to stay in your head
for days and days, while you will be gasping in an attempt not to slip any more
on banana peels zigzagging on skates and drive the poor distressed maiden to despair;
even today my heart breaks for my inability on small
wheels.
California Games lets you take part
in all the games the title offers one after another, like a true
five-ring competition, or we can select just one or more
disciplines to test ourselves in and break every record.
Forse at this point
you may be wondering how it is possible that a video game that talks about summer sports,
the sea, and beauties on roller skates is still so acclaimed today
as a synonym for lightheartedness and freedom in a field, that of
home entertainment, which is based on very different principles: the answer
has its roots at the dawn of “modern” video gaming and in the people who, with
pixel dreams, grew up.
Il suo successo deriva di certo
from the freshness of its gameplay and from the learning curve in my opinion
well balanced (I repeat, you will often fall off the surfboard and skateboard
but this will strengthen your competitive spirit), and yet it is the ability to
drag the player’s mind out of the bedroom, closed within four walls
with a joypad in hand, perhaps during a cold winter and with homework to
do, or exams to take depending on your ID card:
California Games takes you soaring high, leading you to the epicenter of the Californian summer
with all the joy and
fun that a game like this could, and still can, give you.
L’summer
is ending? No, my dear Righeira, it has just begun.
8
Pro
From the cover to the last pixel of the most hidden submenu, it exudes summer and fun like very few other titles ever have
Inspired disciplines, some difficult to master, but once you learn them you will triple the fun with your friends
Timeless atmospheres in an endless summer that will surely move you
Contro
Some disciplines are easier to play than others; perhaps greater balance would have been more desirable. But this won’t stop us, we all know it.
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
Simon Larocca
My name is Simon Larocca, and I am a gamer, collector, and lover of pop culture in all its forms. I go to the cinema whenever I can, I have been reading since I started wearing glasses, so, basically forever, and I have a passion for storytelling in all its forms, so powerful that it became my profession. But as Doc from Ritorno al Futuro would say, there would be no present if one did not look at the past with respect and admiration, and it is the Simon child of more than thirty years ago, give or take a year, who is to thank for that.
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