Hello an welcome to this week’s instalment of Lost Gems, the series where I discuss classic games that have been lost, forgotten or abandoned. As it is the winter season, I want to cover the winter sports game developed for arcades by SEGA AM3, then ported to the SEGA Saturn for the 1998 winter Olympics. So it is time to take a look at Winter Heat, the Sequel to DecAthlete (Athlete Kings in Europe), released worldwide in 1998.
Disclaimer: while the game discussed here is no longer officially on sale, there are still ways to obtain the game. This can either be through the second hand market, or via unofficial digital roms/rips. I do not condone or promote piracy, so there won’t be any links to roms or rips of the game beings covered.
So with the introductions out of the way, let’s get started. I will be discussing the general game experience, the give my personal thoughts on the title.
About the game
Set in an unnamed winter sports resort, Winter Heat is a winter Olympics game where players challenge 11 distinct events. The gameplay is directly taken from the arcade version, where all of the actions are completed through rapid button presses. The competitors in these events have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, with some excelling at Skating, Alpine and Nordic events. But there are two athletes who are balanced all round competitors.
The events in this game are the staples of the Winter Olympics, with events like Speed Skiing, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding and Speed Skating. All of the events have the player mashing buttons, with a speed button which is used in every event and the action button, which is used to jump. These events are played across four distinct game modes, which can be played either alone or with another player. All of the modes are available from the main menu.
In 11 Event Heat, play through all 11 of the winter sports events, playing through them in order across two days, starting with Speed Skiing and ending with Cross-Country Skiing. The objective is to try and get the highest score possible across all events. There are no retries, so whatever score the player gets for the event will be scored. When playing in 2 player, there is a competitive element to the action, with both players battling it out for the top spot.
Then there is Arcade mode, where players will be able to enjoy an Arcade perfect recreation of the game. In this mode, the player will challenge all of the events with a qualifying target, which the player will need to meet in order to pass the event. Between events, the player will be able to select the order of events they want to play, with the qualifying target shown. If the player fails to beat the target, they can choose to continue with the targets relaxed.
Following we have Individual Match, where players can freely play the different events. This acts as a practice mode, so players will be able to freely play the events as much as they want in this mode. Last is Custom Heat, which allows the player to create their own event blocks. This mode is perfect for playing in groups, as it lets everyone pick the events they want to play. All of these modes share rankings, where the best scores will be recorded.
When the player sets a score on the rankings, they will be able to add their name to the leaderboard. The top score for each event is the SEGA Sports World Record, which will appear at the top of the screen, with the player name attached. This gives a lot of replay value to the game, as players can keep replaying the game to get the best score possible. If there is a battery in the system, or a memory cart, the scores will be saved.
Personal Thoughts
When I first saw this, I was a kid that wasn’t aware that the Winter Olympics were a thing, thinking it was just like the track and field games, but with snow everywhere. I would play this game a lot, but I wasn’t very good at it, not having the skill to mash buttons to the level needed. But as I got older and returned to the game over the years, I have gotten much better, regularly breaking the in game records when the data gets reset.
There is a lot of fun to have with this game, and it is fun to break out when there are others around, with the rush and excitement of competition adds to it. That feeling when you just beat your opponent at the last second, or are just short of the goal can be a hell of a ride. All of the events share mechanics, but there is enough diversity for them to feel unique, even if most of them require the player to mash buttons like a lunatic.
While it may just look like a basic arcade game, with little more than press button to do thing, there is a surprising amount of depth to the game. The characters that have their own style will feel different in events, making all of the characters viable to play. I have a lot of appreciation for this game, as it really pushed the genre ahead, as SEGA AM3 took the basics and expanded it. I would say this is quite possibly the best of the genre for its time.
This game performs very well and is a near one to one conversion of the game, as the arcade board that the game is based on is close to the Saturn hardware. This highlights the power of the SEGA Saturn, which was known as an arcade port powerhouse at the time. While there was a port of this, which was bundled with DecAthlete for the PS2 as a Japanese exclusive, I don’t feel that it has the same charm that the original version holds.
From what I have seen, there is little in terms of a following for this release, which is unsurprising as SEGA haven’t made mention of it in the years since. Thankfully this hasn’t impacted the value of the game, as it is fairly affordable on the secondary market. If you want to pick it up, you can get a European or Japanese release for a good price. However, if you are looking for a North American release, you will be paying a higher price.
I would love to see Winter Heat and the summer game Athlete Kings be re-released, which would be possible through the Zebra Engine or the company M2. But sadly I don’t think this will be the case, as SEGA seem to have forgotten about the series. They also appear to have abandoned their SEGA Sports brand, which died out during the 2000s. It would be nice to see these games again and others from the brand, I sadly don’t see it happening.
If you have enjoyed this feature, then please stick around and see what else catches your eye. I cover a wide range of games in reviews, get special previews and put out regular features. I have Lost Gems, Retro Revival where I discuss re-releases and the occasional Gaming Oddities piece, where I cover weird and wacky titles. So stay a while and have a look around.
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