The Activision Decathlon

The Activision Decathlon is a sports game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983.[1] It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, and MSX. Up to four players compete in the ten different events of a real-life decathlon, either in sequence or individually.

The Activision Decathlon
Developer(s)Activision
Publisher(s)Activision
Designer(s)David Crane[1]
Platform(s)Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, MSX
ReleaseMarch 18, 1983
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, up to four players on the Atari 8-bit

Gameplay
Commodore 64 version

The events included are:[2]

  1. 100-Meter Dash
  2. Long Jump
  3. Shot Put
  4. High Jump
  5. 400-Meter Race
  6. 110-Meter Hurdles
  7. Discus Throw
  8. Pole Vault
  9. Javelin Throw
  10. 1500-Meter Race

Activision Decathlon Club patches

Players who score within or over any of three margins shown below could take photos of the TV screen with the verified scores and send them in to receive special Activision Decathlon patches resembling the colors of Olympic medals:

  • 8,600 to 8,900 points: Bronze patch
  • 9,000 to 9,999 points: Silver patch
  • 10,000 points or more: Gold patch

Reception

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."[3]:28

Legacy

The game was later reissued simply as Decathlon by the UK budget label Firebird.[4] It was included in the 2002 PlayStation 2 compilation Activision Anthology.

See also

References
  1. Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. "The Activision Decathlon Atari 2600 manual". archive.org. Activision. 1983.
  3. Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (December 1983). "Arcade Alley: Super Gifts for Gamers". Video. Reese Communications. 7 (9): 28–29. ISSN 0147-8907.
  4. "Decathlon". Atarimania. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-10-03. Publisher: Firebird (UK) [..] Other versions with the same title: Activision (USA), Activision (UK), HES.
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