9.4 /10 1 Votes
4.8/5 CoolROM Genre(s) Sports game Designer Ken Nicholson Developers Epyx, Choice Software | 4.6/5 Emuparadise 4.7/5 Let's Play SEGA Initial release date 1987 Series Epyx Games | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Composer(s) Chris Grigg
David Wise (NES version)
Chikako Kamatani (SMS version)
Andras Magyari (Genesis version) Release date(s) 1987
Virtual Console
NA: July 6, 2009
EU: April 11, 2008 Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer Platforms Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System Publishers Epyx, Sega, Atari, Milton Bradley Company, U.S. Gold, Erbe Software, SA, Hands-On Mobile, Commodore Gaming, Kixx Similar Epyx games, Epyx games, Sports games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller skating, flying disc (frisbee) and BMX.
Contents
- California games high stakes part 1 game grumps vs
- Development
- Ports
- Events
- Team sponsors
- Reception
- Cultural influences
- References
The game sold very well, topping game selling charts for winter months. It also got very positive reaction from reviewers, many of whom consider California Games to be the last classic Epyx sports game, due to staff changes not long after its release.
The game was followed in 1991 by California Games II, but the sequel failed to match the original's success.
California games high stakes part 1 game grumps vs
Development
Several members of the development team moved on to other projects. Chuck Sommerville, the designer of the half-pipe game in California Games later developed the game Chip's Challenge, while Ken Nicholson the designer of the footbag game was the inventor of the technology used in Microsoft's DirectX. Kevin Norman, the designer of the BMX game went on to found the educational science software company Norman & Globus, makers of the ElectroWiz series of products.
The sound design for the original version of California Games was done by Chris Grigg, member of the band Negativland.
Ports
Originally released for the Apple II and Commodore 64, this game was very lucrative for Epyx and was released for several other platforms over the years. It was eventually ported to Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Atari Lynx, DOS, Sega Mega Drive, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX and Sega Master System.
More recently the game was released for mobile phones in the Java format, and current rights holders System 3 CEO Mark Cale has stated that the game will be available in future as both a retail product and an on-line product for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. The Commodore 64 version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in Europe on April 11, 2008 and in North America on July 6, 2009.
Events
The events available vary slightly depending on the platform, but include all of the following:
Team sponsors
Team sponsors for California Games include Epyx, Costa Del Mar, Kawasaki, Santa Cruz, Ocean Pacific, Casio, Auzzie, Spin Jammer, Maxx-Out, Milton Bradley, Jetski and Ray-D-O.
Reception
With more than 300,000 copies sold in the first nine months California Games was the most-successful Epyx game, outselling each of the four previous and two subsequent titles in the company's "Games" series. Computer Gaming World recommended the game, calling it fun. Compute! called California Games "both inventive and charming". The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon #129 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars. Two decades later, historian Jimmy Maher wrote that California Games "is about as clearly a product of 1987 as it's possible for a game to be". Despite the "painfully dated" slang, he described it as "one more symbol of the power of the California Dream", and stated that the Lynx version was "rather brilliant".