The official video game of the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, which were held in Athens in August 2004, Athens 2004 features 25 events that are spread out across 8 different sports, the authentic stadiums and arenas such as the state-of-the-art Olympic Stadium that was built for the competition, and the Panathinaiko, venue of the first modern Olympics, as well as 64 nations from all over the world.
While most of the action is still influenced by the old button-mashers of the early 1980s, some events include fascinating twists. This is despite new developers Eurocom (after two games from ATD) keeping most of the gameplay the same. Two medium-distance races (the 800m and the 1500m) demand the player to regulate their pace to approach the last curve fresh enough to have a second wind and sprint toward the finish. Sprinting events, on the other hand, do not require any introductions. Further advancements have been made in the field events, such as the high jump having the alternate player buttons not as quickly as possible but timing them as well as possible to the athlete’s steps possible, and the discus requiring the player to circle the analog knobs to build up power, amongst other advancements.
There are four different swimming events, each played out in the same manner as a sprinting event, except that the athlete must breathe as quickly as possible at intervals. If they don’t, they risk losing valuable speed throughout the race.
In gymnastics, the floor exercises vary depending on the player’s gender. Men’s floor exercises are primarily based on power, with mashing button sequences followed by timed button presses. Women’s floor exercises, like Dance Dance Revolution, require the player to follow on-screen cues. Rings need the player to use both analogs to match the on-screen alerts, and the vault requires the player to button mash before following an on-screen alert to perform the routine. In specific competitions, the participant must select a pattern from those predetermined. This decision will impact both the difficulty level and the maximum score the judges assign.
The equestrian individual jump competition is debuting in an official video game for the first time. This competition requires the player to guide the horse through the course, jumping over obstacles while maintaining a consistent pace. The winner is determined by who completed the system in the least time while accruing the fewest penalties from colliding with obstacles.
Skeet replaces the free-aim gameplay of Sydney 2000 with one in which the player must follow a predefined course to progress through the game. Archery has only been significantly altered from earlier titles in the genre.
The first game mode is an arcade, which includes practice, single competitions, and a special mode designed with dance mats in mind. The second game mode is competition, in which the player can customize their Olympics to play in just one final, compete in the decathlon or heptathlon, all pool or gymnastics events, or become one in the Champion mode, which features all 25 events, with the winner being the one who accumulates the most points.
