Another finished game that ended up getting cancelled on the N64. Sydney 2000 released on PlayStation, PC, and Dreamcast, and was due to be released on N64, but cancelled at the last minute before ordering cartridges. This is very similar to International Track & Field 2000, just nowhere near as polished.

The biggest issue in Sydney 2000 is the controls. In the options, there are a few different control options with different button combinations, but none of them are intuitive in any way. The default is pressing C-Down and C-Right to run (at least they’re together), then A and B for performing an action, but it feels like it should be the other way round. The brief text explaining controls for each event just refer to “power buttons” and “action buttons”, and it just seems off.

With only 12 events, there’s also not a lot here, either, and the arcade mode (where you select single events with 1-4 players) is rather strange in that, once you’ve done an event, you can’t select it again unless you restart the console or re-enable it from the menu. The other main mode is Olympic mode.

Here, you can improve your athletes in various events by completing training minigames – like a treadmill or sit-ups. Some again have odd controls, such as having to tap the action buttons as you’re running on the treadmill, but at least the mode is a bit more involved than just playing all the main events.

The whole of Sydney 2000 feels off, from the awkward controls to the naff presentation that were both done much better in International Track & Field.

Poor

Sydney 2000 isn’t the basic button-basher you would normally expect. Unlike Konami’s excellent International Track & Field, the key to success is rhythm rather than speed. You have to tap the buttons in time with your athlete’s movements, building up momentum by hitting sweet spots such as footfalls or other actions. It’s a similar system to the one used in the classic Commodore 64 Games series by Epyx.

N64 Magazine #44.

Should it be finished?

Well, it seemingly was, and there’s not a lot to show for it.