California Games

Atari 2600 0 subscribers

91K plays 1987 #Action#Sport

California Games is a 1987 sports video game developed and published by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64. Branching from their Summer Games and Winter Games series, it is a collection of outdoor sports purportedly popular in California. The game was successful and was soon ported to other home computers and video game consoles, and was the pack-in game for the Atari Lynx when that system launched in September 1989. It was followed by the sequel California Games II in 1990.

The events vary slightly per platform, but include half-pipe, footbag, surfing (starring Rippin' Rick), roller skating, BMX, and flying disc.

From Wikipedia's article California Games, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Keyboard controls

Atari 2600Player 1Player 2
D-pad↑↓←→IKJL
FireZN
Game SelectShift
Game ResetEnter

Hotkeys

  • 1 Quick save state
  • 2 Quick load state
  • 3 Change save slot

Most games start with Game Reset. Paddle games (Breakout, Kaboom!…) need a gamepad stick.

Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).

Emulator help & troubleshooting

Comments

Live chat

Connecting…

Chatting as a guest · Sign in to use your name
0/300

Keyboard controls

Atari 2600Player 1Player 2
D-pad↑↓←→IKJL
FireZN
Game SelectShift
Game ResetEnter

Hotkeys

  • 1 Quick save state
  • 2 Quick load state
  • 3 Change save slot

Most games start with Game Reset. Paddle games (Breakout, Kaboom!…) need a gamepad stick.

Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).

Emulator help & troubleshooting

Go live

Let anyone watch you play, live in their browser. They see your game as you play it.

Press Start Game first.

Winter Games Atari 2600 25K plays • 1985
Summer Games Atari 2600 25K plays • 1984
Track & Field Atari 2600 407K plays • 1984
The Activision Decathlon Atari 2600 825K plays • 1983
Pete Rose Baseball Atari 2600 37K plays • 1988
Fishing Derby Atari 2600 41K plays • 1980
Super Football Atari 2600 14K plays • 1989
RealSports Tennis Atari 2600 37K plays • 1983
BMX Air Master Atari 2600 38K plays • 1989
Arch Rivals Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) 29K plays • 1989
RealSports Volleyball Atari 2600 31K plays • 1982
International Soccer Atari 2600 37K plays • 1982
RealSports Football Atari 2600 64K plays • 1982
RealSports Soccer Atari 2600 28K plays • 1982
RealSports Baseball Atari 2600 21K plays • 1982
Super Challenge Football Atari 2600 30K plays • 1982
Super Challenge Baseball Atari 2600 28K plays • 1982
Tennis Atari 2600 67K plays • 1981
Ice Hockey Atari 2600 46K plays • 1981
Racquetball Atari 2600 28K plays • 1981

Pixel Verdict

California GamesAtari 2600

4.0 Great job!

CVG 82% · 1 review

What the reviews talk about

Key wordsinventivecharmingoutstandingfrustratingrealisticfun

What the critics said

  • Compute! called California Games "both inventive and charming".

    — Compute!, 1987

  • "Epyx Software gives us a refreshing treat", PC Magazine said of the PC version, citing the surfing game's "outstanding animation and realistic graphics".

    — PC Magazine, 1988· about another version

From the Reception section of Wikipedia's California Games article, under CC BY-SA 4.0. The words are the critics'; their full reviews are on the publishers' pages.

Scores

  • ACE 1989 930/1000 (other versions)
  • Crash 2017 36% (other versions)
  • Computer and Video Games 1989 37/40; 82%; 95% ; 94%
  • Dragon 4.5/5 (other versions)
  • Electronic Gaming Monthly 1992 5/10, 4/10, 4/10, 5/10 (other versions)
  • Sinclair User 2017 8/10 (other versions)
  • The Games Machine (UK) 2019 92% (other versions)
  • Your Sinclair 7/10 (other versions)
  • Zzap!64 97% (other versions)

From the review table of Wikipedia's article. The face takes, first that applies: the Metascore for this platform, GameRankings' archived average, our average of the critics (one number per publication, a panel averaged), one review alone, the players' rating. Critics and players are never mixed.

Players' rating: 73/100 · 210 votes

Full reviews

Face key

  1. 1.00+
  2. 1.540+
  3. 2.050+
  4. 2.560+
  5. 3.068+
  6. 3.575+
  7. 4.080+
  8. 4.585+
  9. 5.090+

5.0 Outstanding! · 4.0 Great job! · 3.0 Good job · 2.0 Could be better · 1.0 Wake me up when it's over · A thumbs-up adds half a point. Our own drawings, in the spirit of the faces GamePro magazine used in the '90s.

Save to...