Mark ventures where Dwain Chambers can only dream...

With the Beijing 2008 Olympics getting underway in august, we found it a bit baffling that Sega's official videogame of the world's most prestigious sporting event was released a good month beforehand. Like many of you, we thought we'd hold off on playing it until excitement for the real thing had reached a fever pitch.

So here we are, a day before the day before it all kicks off – with blistering fingers and what can only be described as 'gamers thumb'. Beijing 2008 has certainly brought back many a fond 8bit retro Track & Field memory, and several stick-waggling injuries we're not so fond of too. But has our hard work, dedication and stringent diet [of caffeinated drinks and starchy sandwiches] been worth it?

Keeping up with the Sonics

Before we get into that, we can't really talk about Beijing 2008 without first mentioning Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Sega's other Olympic title has been a huge smash-hit on Wii and DS, and we enjoyed it so much we did our own GAME Online Olympics. The official game, then, has a lot to live up to.

It starts off well. Beijing 2008's presentation is top notch, and as you take part in your first events through Training mode you feel a real sense of spectacle. The crowd's noise level rises, the stadium seems packed and the athletes, while not exactly on a par with Gears of War, look more next-gen than you may expect from a title based on a license.

Beijing 2008's list of events is also impressive, and with the main singleplayer mode being an Olympic team challenge, where you play each event and distribute stats to develop your athletes, a lot of effort has clearly been put into recreating the 'Games in all their glory.

Hand-shredding sprints

As with the real Olympics it's the track and field events that are Beijing 2008's torchbearer – particularly the sprints, which are sure to shred your hands with the choice between standard button mashing, or Beijing 2008's new and more effective (though increasingly painful) analogue stick waggling control method.

Swimming uses the same premise, with both opting for a novel, but half-broken method of starting races. You'll hold a trigger to build a power bar as close to the red zone as possible, then boost into the red to fly from the blocks. It's a little like a car's rev counter in a racing game, but instead of stalling if you're a bit overzealous accelerating, you'll simply false start – leading what should be an exciting exercise in pinpoint timing to become either overly conservative or immediately frustrating.

Elsewhere, Beijing 2008's events live or die based on their control implementation. The jumping field events involve a combination of stick waggling and QTE-style timed trigger pressing, which works well, but will leave your hands begging for mercy. Diving however is a slow-mo mesh of unresponsive stick circling, while gymnastics uses both sticks simultaneously, making the frustration twofold – though both can be mastered with patience.

Real Olympic feel

Weightlifting and kayaking are about the only truly poor offerings, however, and archery is probably the pleasant surprise of the whole package. Beijing 2008 offers a few duds, then, but the range of 38 events, genuine big stadium atmosphere, the team mode's pleasing sense of progression and the overall real Olympic feel make it worth picking up. With competitive net play, online leaderboard rankings and Xbox Live Achievements on top it also offers a lasting challenge.

The spirit of any Olympic game is its same-screen multiplayer, though, and we'd have to say that Beijing 2008 does lack something here compared to the Wii's manic Mario & Sonic workout. PC and next-gen gamers will find a lot to enjoy with Beijing 2008 (as long as they can deal with sore digits), but if you own a Wii as well and were planning on recreating the Olympics at home with your friends, it's difficult not to recommend Sega's older, cuter Olympic offering.

GAME's Verdict

• A real sense of spectacle and a feeling of truly being at the Olympics.
• Good old-fashioned stick-waggling Track-and-Field gameplay.
• Team mode, net play and online leaderboards all make Beijing 2008 a lengthy Olympic challenge.

• A few real duds in the list of events.
• Stick-waggling controls will shred your hands - especially on the Xbox 360 pad's harsher analogues.
• Beijing 2008's same-screen multiplayer lacks the manic fun of Mario & Sonic's Olympic escapades.

Review by: Mark 'Silver Medal' Scott
Version Tested: Xbox 360
Review Published: 07.08.08