Sports titles have been around since the very start of video games. The very first video game, Tennis for Two, and the game that popularized the medium, Pong, were based loosely off of the sport of table tennis. As technology advanced, games were created based off of many more popular sports, including Baseball, Football, and Racing.

Because the Olympics involve such a disparate array of various kinds of sports, it was very difficult to create a game that really captured the spirit of the Games. Any Olympics themed game would, by necessity, be little more than a series of mini-games that featured excessive amounts of timed button mashing. Also, many Olympic events are style competitions decided by judges, such as gymnastics, which would not work in a video game. Because of these limitations, only a small portion of Olympic competitions are featured, including athletics (track and field, javelin, discus, etc.), ski racking, and shooting.

The Opening Ceremonies:

The first game inspired by the Olympics was Konami's 1983 Arcade hit, Track & Field. Track & Field features six athletics events including the 100m dash, hammer throw, and high jump.

The player would smash a combination of three buttons, two for running and one action button, in different ways for each of the six events. This gameplay mechanic will basically go unchanged in the next two decades Olympic themed video gaming. As the years go on, extra buttons will be added and players will be able to choose what country they represent, but the spirit of button mashing will live on forever.

Unfortunately, there is no button combo for Usain Bolt's trademark "stop trying after 50 meters, showboat the rest of the way, and still break the world record" move.

Track & Field will spawn a number of direct sequels from Konami. 1984's Hyper Sports added non-athletics themed sports like Archery and Swimming. Track and Field 2 introduced the option of choosing a country to represent including the heroic USA, the dastardly USSR, and other unimportant countries that got in the way of the epic Cold War rivalry. The recently released New International Track & Field for the Nintendo DS allows you to play as notable Olympic athletes like Frogger, Solid Snake, and Simon Belmont.

The Qualifying Rounds:

In 1984, Epyx released Summer Games for the Commodore 64 and other various PC platforms of the era. Summer Games featured a greater variety of events than the Track and Field series, including diving and some gymnastics events like Vaulting. Epyx released a number of sequels including Winter Games and Summer Games 2. Although these titles weren't official Olympic games, the US Olympic Committee did license later games in the series.

Although Commodore 64 Swimming isn't an Olympic Sport, we're sure Michael Phelps has won about 500 gold medals in it anyway.

A few games were later released that, while based on the Olympics, only covered a certain part of it. The most notable is Team USA Basketball, released in 1993 by EA for the Sega Genesis. In this game, you take control of the legendary Dream Team as you plowed through the weak national teams of the rest of the world. Team USA was part of EA's popular 16-bit basketball series that included Bulls Vs. Blazers and Lakers Vs. Celtics.

However, unlike these earlier titles that pitted powerful teams battling for supremacy, this game featured the greatest basketball team the world has ever seen playing against the likes of Slovenia. (We have nothing against the fine people of Slovenia or their proud basketball tradition, but if we wanted to see somebody lose by 80 points, we'd watch Elder Kozo try to play Elder Taragan in a game of Ice Hockey.)

The Medal Round:

In 1992, US Gold released Olympic Gold, the very first officially licensed Olympic game, for the Master System and Genesis. Olympic Gold was the official video game of the 1992 Barcelona summer games. The title was a standard mini-game button masher, but because it was plastered with official logos from the Olympics and Coca-Cola (the official soft drink of the 1992 US Olympic Team!), it became something special.

Olympic Gold allowed the player to represent an athlete from one of 8 countries including the US, France, Germany, and the Unified Team (which consisted of the leftovers from the former Soviet Union). The players would compete in 7 different events, gaining points based on how they did on the medal table. This would become the standard formula in every subsequent official Olympic video game.

Starting with Olympic Gold, every following Olympics will feature their own official game. They're all pretty much the same game with updated visuals, so we we'll just give you the highlights:

1994-Winter Olympics: Lillehammer 94 by US Gold for 16-bit consoles- This was the very first officially licensed Winter Olympics title. The game mainly consisted of ski racing events like the slalom and downhill interspersed with the popular bobsled and luge (unfortunately, there was no appearance from John Candy's Jamaican Bobsled team).

1996-Olympic Summer Games by US Gold for 16-bit consoles.- Nothing special here, just the usual button mashing Athletics fest that Olympic fans have all come to know and love. The game was easily overshadowed by another Atlanta Summer Games title (see our Silver Medal section below). This would also be the very last game ever released by US Gold before they were bought by Eidos.

1998-Nagano Winter Olympics '98 by Konami for N64 and PlayStation- Konami took over the Olympic reigns from US Gold in 1998. Nagano is most notable for being the first game to feature the sport of kings, Curling. (We would like to take this opportunity to declare Curling the official Winter Sport of Pink Godzilla. Come see our awesome team in action at a Curling rink near you!) The only thing missing from this game is Hermann Maier mode, where you crash headfirst into multiple barriers going 80mph, and then still defeat your opponents for the gold a few days later.

2000-Sydney 2000 by Eidos for PlayStation and Dreamcast- This version of the Olympic video game is similar in gameplay to it's predecessors, but it sets itself apart with a unique "career" mode. This time, your aspiring gold medalist doesn't just get a free pass to the Games, they have to earn it through a series of training mini-games (oddly enough, the ever popular doping minigame is nowhere to be found).

2002-Salt Lake 2002 by Eidos for PS2. Hot off the heels of the surprisingly successful Sydney 2000, Eidos prepared a follow up, the first official Olympic game to appear on the powerful new PlayStation 2. Unfortunately, Salt Lake 2002 was such a big flop that not even Mitt Romney could save it from failure. A whopping 6 events appear in this title, 3 of which are pretty much the same. But Salt Lake 2002's biggest and most unforgivable error is it's lack of Curling! Winter Olympics without Curling is like Figure Skating without questionable officiating. (Don't trust the French judges!)

2004-Athens 2004 by Sony for PS2- Sony took over publishing the Olympic video game in the 2004 version. In this installment, the Games returned to Athens, the site of the original ancient Olympics. Luckily for gamers, original ancient Olympic sports like naked wrestling, naked racing, and naked table tennis were not included in Athens 2004. Only pure, wholesome sports are included like breaststroke, clean and jerk weightlifting, and pole vaulting.

2006-Torino 2006 by 2K Sports for PS2 and XBox. 2K Sports was chosen to present the 2006 version of the official Olympic video game. If you've played any of these games, then you know what to expect in the 2006 version. One interesting feature is the ability to unlock alternate uniforms for some nations, and in some instances, entire countries can be unlocked. (We wonder what how the people of Jamaica think about being an unlockable country.) Sadly, once again, Curling is given the shaft and not included in the final product.

2008-Beijing 2008 by Sega for PS3 and XBox 360- Sega gets the honor of presenting this year's version of the Games. Unfortunately, if you're playing this title on the west coast, NBC will only show the game on a tape delay, so all the events are seen days after they really happen. The real challenge of the game is to avoid finding out what happens in the big events until they are finally shown "live", 48 hours after they have already finished.

Medal Winners:

Bronze Medal
Australian Olympic Commercials.

In 2004, Australia won a total of 49 Olympic medals, good for 4th place overall. While we're sure that the athletes themselves had a little to do with this success, we believe that the string of commercials for the Athens 2004 game for the PS2 played a big part.

A huge ad campaign, urging Australians to buy the game and help bring home gold for their native country. A dozen different ads The announcer even questions gamers' patriotism, accusing one poor chap of being "UnAustralian" for daring to question the importance of the Athens 2004 game. We can only imagine the shame Australia felt at the hands of this vicious ad-man when their country finished behind the US, Russia and China in the medal standings.

See the entire video series here, if you dare. (We couldn't find a way to embed any of the videos.)

Silver Medal
Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings.

So here's the story, the five Olympic Rings, which make up the logo of the Games, have been stolen. The Games can not be held without their official corporate logo (without the logo, how will we know whether or not the products we buy are official sponsors of the Games!), and it looks as though Atlanta will blow their chance at hosting the world's biggest sporting event. But wait! It's Izzy, the strange unidentifiable mascot of the '96 games, and he's here to retrieve the rings and save the Olympics!

This is the plot of the Genesis/SNES game Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings. Izzy's Quest is a platforming game in which the titular hero must travel through various worlds in order to save the rings. Along the way, Izzy can collect many pieces of swag, including Olympic medals and other easter eggs. Izzy can even morph into different athletes like fencers or archers, using their powers to defeat evil.

In the end, Izzy finds the medals and saves the Olympics. The games go ahead as planned and all is well with the world. The greatest victory of all might be the fact that Americans can now say with confidence that our Olympic mascot can kick any other Olympic mascot's ass. (We're looking at you Vancouver, your giant rock monster thingy doesn't scare us!)

Gold Medal
Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games

Let's face it, what really makes the Olympics special is the fierce competition between powerful nations. In our childhoods, most of us gathered around the TV, hoping that the Americans would defeat the hated Soviets (or the other way around, depending on where you lived). These days, it's too hard to get excited about a good old fashioned Olympic rivalry.

Luckily for us, Sega and Nintendo teamed up for a historic event. The Olympic Games are the setting for the very first ever video game meeting between Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario. The Plumber and the Blue Blur are finally brought together by the spirit of competition.

Unlike the real Olympic Games, Sonic and Mario features only two opposing teams. There are no plucky third world countries fighting for an impossible dream (sorry Bonk, no gold for you Crash Bandicoot, better luck next time Johnny Turbo). There are only two titanic forces, duking out to relive the lost glory of the 16-bit days when dinosaurs walked the earth and Genesis still did what Nintendidn't.

Sonic, Mario, and their respective crews duke it out the usual assortment of Olympic events, with more emphasis on athletics events as usual. There are also a small handful of "dream" events, Olympic themed competitions that involve the usual assortment of shells, coins, and other Mario/Sonic themed craziness.

Although the button mashing mini-game concept is nothing new, the very idea that the two very different worlds of Sonic and Mario could be brought together is inspiring. The Olympic ideal of bringing hated enemies together to set aside their differences for a celebration of sport had been accomplished here. Perhaps, just for a moment, partisan Sega and Nintendo fanboys could set aside their disdain for each other and peacefully coexist. However, a few short months later, Mario and Sonic were beating the hell out of each other in Smash Brothers Brawl. It seems that just like in the real world, the Olympic ideal doesn't exist outside of the stadium.

Maybe in 2010, Sonic and Mario will meet again in a Winter Olympics themed game. Maybe they'll invite some other mascots from other companies. Perhaps we'll see Master Chief and Samus bobsledding or Donkey Kong and Kratos in the slalom. And maybe, just maybe, we'll see Mario and Sonic, facing off in the ultimate test of skill and finesse, in the Olympic Curling rink.

Sorry, we could help ourselves...