FIGURE E


Can you nail the record in the Hammer Throw? Roll over picture for a larger image.

At just the right moment, you release the hammer, hurling it down the field to crash to Earth. With the Hammer Throw the challenge is to start your release so that not only do you not cross the fault line, but are also facing downfield.

Crazy Olympics
The Crazy Olympics mode, Figure F, has you competing in all five events with Opening Ceremonies and Award Ceremonies. Can you take the Gold?

FIGURE F


Here are some very sketchy-looking scantily clad men posing for their trophies. Don't ever say Computing Unplugged doesn't give you any skin! Roll over picture for a larger image.

Conclusion
Crazy Olympics from CrazySoft is exactly like the 80s version I recall from my youth. Some of the events, namely the Hurdles and Hammer Throw, are just as challenging as I remember them too. You really have to time the release just right to get the hammer downfield.

I really enjoyed playing Crazy Olympics. For a time, it took me back to days gone by. The demo version has limited play and doesn't give you access to the Olympics mode, but $12.95 will get you unlimited play and access to the Olympics. For great graphics, repeat playability and outright fun, I give Crazy Olympics 4 out of 5.

I do have one problem with Crazy Olympics, but I really don't know what, if anything, can be done about it. You see, on the Easy setting the ToDo and Memo buttons are used as controls. On the Hard setting, you tap controls buttons on the screen. In either case, rapid and repeated taps are required for player action, just like in the arcade version. Now, this isn't any kind of detriment to the game itself, in fact it's keeping true to the original.

But I can't help thinking that all this repetitious button or screen tapping is going to be bad for the Palm device you're playing it on. As I said though, I don't know what the solution is. Perhaps if there were a game controller or thumb board that duplicated those buttons there wouldn't be as much risk to the device itself. There's no doubt about it though, Crazy Olympics is crazy good fun.

OUR RATING: 4 of 5

James Booth is a self-taught PC and Palm device user that dabbles in graphics and photography. He can be reached at lizardworks@mchsi.com.