Developer:

Publisher:

Genre:

Players:

Release Date:

Winter Heat is an excellent showcase of what the Saturn can do, outclassing Konami's Nagano license on both PSX and N64. The glorious visuals, including excellent 3D routines for the skiing events, and engaging characters make up for the simplicity of the gameplay. As an all-round homage to winter sports its not without faults, but basically the best on offer.

With the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan just weeks away, no prizes for guessing the inspiration behind Sega AM1's latest multi-sports compilation. Winter Heat is a direct successor to Athlete Kings (Decathlete) by the same team, released around the time of the Atlanta summer games. Winter Heat ploughs a similar furrow, with eleven short events relying on a mixture of button-pounding and timing. The trimmed-down, fast-moving feel to the game comes from its joint origin as an arcade game for the ST-V system. The eleven events cover familiar Alpine disciplines; Ski Jump, Downhill, Slalom, Cross Country; Track events; bobsleigh and skeleton (luge); two speed-skating events and a concession to 'new wave' winter sports; aerials and snowboarding. The first event is a straight speed-skiing event which is a barely disguised 100m dash. None of the events are to difficult to learn, but some are a good deal easier than others.

Event controls for nearly all the events are similar to most games of this ilk, but with the odd original touch: in the Aerials, you select a difficulty level and then attempt to match its power level to perform a stunt. Higher level tricks are more difficult to pull off, but reward more points.

Winter Heat's eight characters have the same level of detail as Athlete Kings, indeed most of the original personalities are retained, in new Nordic attire. They are a triumph of character animation, each with believable and idiosyncratic movement patterns. This sequel now supports four players, but with no proper practise mode.

9-10