In my mind THE best Olympic sports type game on the Commodore 64.

HES Games – by 321 Software and HESWare – beats Epyx‘s great sports titles by virtue of its simplicity, and of it’s refined control system. And there’s an interesting mix of events too.

You’ve got track and field, archery, springboard diving, weightlifting, hurdles, and world records to beat. And thankfully it’s not too much of a joystick-waggler – you have to control and time your movements well, rather than bash buttons. The animation is top notch throughout too. Very exuberant and characterful and really brings the game to life.

Considering that this title came out in 1984, and still has life now, that is something of an achievement…

In fact: HES Games is so good that it has been re-released a number of times under various different titles, such as: Go For The Gold and Gold Medal Games.

If you look hard enough you will still find people playing and enjoying it now.

Note: I would love to see someone home-brew a sequel to this with pole vaulting, high jump, and other various events. It could be done and would be great!

More: HES Games on Wikipedia