Track & Field

Track & Field is Konami's conversion of its arcade athletics game, released in Japan as Hyper Olympic. It is six events - 100m sprint, long jump, javelin, 110m hurdles, hammer throw and high jump - and it is built entirely around one input idea: alternate the two buttons as fast as you can.

That mechanic is why the game is remembered. Running speed is literally the rate of your button presses, so the arcade original was famously played with a pencil rolled across the buttons, and the NES version is just as physical. Each event layers one more input on top: the long jump needs the take-off timed at the board, the javelin needs the release angle, the hurdles need a jump over each one without losing rhythm. Two players alternate and the game tracks personal bests, which is why it survived as a party game long after the arcade cabinets stopped earning.

• ▸Running speed determined directly by button-tap rate
• ▸Six events, each adding a timing input on top of the tapping
• ▸Two-player alternating competition with personal bests recorded
• ▸Early example of a rhythm-as-mechanic sports game