Top Five Olympic Video Game Moments: #5 Nordic Hijinks

Moment: “Nordic Hijinks”
Where/When: Lillehammer '94 (Sega Genesis)
Event: Four-man Bobsleigh, Short-track Speedskating, Ski Jumping

Some of the best moments in Olympic videogames come from making up your own fun during the events. I'm all for excelling at sports games — and I, strangely, like the warped challenge of absurd button mashing required for Olympic videogames — but in the past button mashing just got so obtuse that you sometimes had to play by your own rules to create enjoyment.

For Lillehammer '94 on the Sega Genesis, my friend Nick and I tried to honor the Olympic spirit by blasting around corners on the bobsleigh run and having spectacular crashes by riding too high up the wall. There was an art to how high you could go up the wall and keep the vehicle going, but occasionally you could even go all the way up really quickly and still complete the run. This was a mandatory risk for us. Just the same, we tried to achieve the longest distance in the ski jump while also spectacularly crashing, and we also tried for quickest takeout and number of takeouts in the short-track speedskating — a personal favorite. If only we could've had an event for botching the torch-lighting ceremony....