Hyper Sports

The sequel to Konami's all-conquering Track & Field features seven all-new Olympic events. Like its predessessor, Hyper Sports featured two run buttons and one action button per player. This game is known outside Japan as "Hyper Olympic '84".


 * FREESTYLE SWIMMING - After a few seconds of swimming, "breath" will appear, press the ACTION button to take a breath and continue swimming. To swim better, try to predict when you will need to take a breath, this is approximately every 2-3 seconds.


 * SKEET SHOOTING - Use the LEFT and RIGHT buttons to shoot either the left or right target respectively. Try to hit as many consecutive targets as possible: If the player hits everything perfect then a bird will fly past. Hit that and the player is awarded a 3000 point bonus.


 * VAULTING HORSE - Press ACTION when you are at the end of the spring board, you will then spring onto the horse. Wait until you are in a fully upright handstand then press ACTION again to leap off the horse. Once in the air, hit the RUN BUTTONS repeatedly to spin. Ensure that your feet are facing the ground as you land.


 * ARCHERY - First, LEFT or RIGHT to set the wind. Then hold the ACTION button until the angle gets to about 5.0', release the button and hope it hits the middle of the board. A "nice" is achieved if a bullseye is made. If you get 8 nices, in the first or second round, you will move onto the next round where you can earn more points. There is a point bonus for getting all "nices"; in the first round it is 3000 points, in the second round it is 4000 points and in the third round it is 6000 points. If you get all "nices", the moving target will be replaced by an apple, which can be hit for an increasing number of bonus points. When the apples appear, there is no angle factor, you just have to hit the button to fire the arrow.


 * TRIPLE JUMP - Press RUN (LEFT and RIGHT) buttons repeatedly to gain speed. Then hold ACTION to get an angle of 45'; when you land you will take one step forward, press ACTION only when you have taken a step, then try to get a 45' angle again. Repeat for the final jump. If you hold ACTION just as your foot hits the board, you will get a distance boost.


 * WEIGHT LIFTING - press LEFT and RIGHT repeatedly to build up the weight-lifter's power. When he has enough power, he will lift up the weights and they will flash. Then whilst it is flashing, press ACTION. He will then stretch out his arms and you will have to keep pressing LEFT and RIGHT for him to keep it held above his head for 3 Beeps. When the 3 Beeps are over, you've qualified.


 * POLE VAULT - This is by far the trickiest event of the game. Press RUN buttons to start the run. Then as you near the silver pole trap, hold ACTION and the pole will lower towards the trap (the closer it is, the more power you will get for the next part). Keep holding ACTION until you reach the top of the bar, then release. You will then let go of the pole and vault over. Hold ACTION just as you get half way over the bar and you will "drift" to the right and hopefully over the bar itself. Once your character has let go of the pole, hitting the RUN buttons can increase the height of the vault.

Tips and Tricks

 * Swimming : If the two middle swimmers achieve a dead-heat, a frog appears and a 3000 points bonus is awarded.
 * Skeet Shooting : Shoot the final object with the left hand side target and a parrot will fly from right to left. This can be hit repeatedly for 1000 points.
 * Vault : After launching from the horse, tap a run button to rotate so you land on your head. An object falls from the sky and a 3000 poins bonus is awarded.
 * Triple Jump : The optimum angles needed are 35, 41 and then 45 degrees. If you foul your first jump, then qualify on the second using the optimum jump angles a rocket flies past and a 3000 points bonus is awarded.
 * Weight Lifting : Following a successful lift, pressing both run buttons the instant the dropped weights hit the floor causes 3 girls to be displayed, holding a "1000" sign. A 1000 points bonus is awarded.

Trivia

 * While not quite achieving the commercial and critical success of "Track and Field", Hyper Sports still proved to be very popular among gamers and, like its prequel, really came into its own as a highly addictive multi-player experience.
 * Kelly Kobashigawa holds the official record for this game with 538, 340 points.
 * BUG : If you 'get a mole' on the pole vault, but the jump qualifies as a world record, you will not be awarded your bonus points.
 * BUG 2 : The game lists 'Today's Top 10', but these are actually the 4th to 13th inclusive highest scores ever. The 14th to 20th highest scores ever are also stored, but never displayed - this is why the first game after switching on a well-used machine generally gets ranked 21st. The 1st to 3rd highest scores ever are displayed on a separate screen labeled "Hyper Medalist".
 * Oddity : If your time runs out on a weight lift and you have one red and two white lights displayed, the lift will be counted as successful. This is in accordance with actual competition weight lifting rules.

Games in the series

 * 1. Track & Field (1983)
 * 2. Hyper Sports (1984)
 * 3. Konami '88 (1988)
 * 4. Hyper Athlete (1996)
 * 5. Nagano Winter Olympics '98 (1998)
 * 6. International Track & Field 2000 (2000, Sony PlayStation)
 * 7. International Track & Field Summer Games (2000, Nintendo 64)