Hyper Sports, known in Japan as Hyper Olympic '84, (ハイパーオリンピック'84) is an Olympic-themed sports video game released by Konami for arcades in 1984. It is the sequel to 1983's Track & Field and features seven new Olympic events. Like its predecessor, Hyper Sports has two run buttons and one action button per player. The Japanese release of the game sported an official license for the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Gameplay

The gameplay is much the same as Track & Field in that the player competes in an event and tries to score the most points based on performance criteria, and also by beating the computer entrants in that event. Also, the player tries to exceed a qualification time, distance, or score to advance to the next event. In Hyper Sports, if all of the events are passed successfully, the player advances to the next round of the same events which are faster and harder to qualify for. The events changed to include these new sports:

Reception

Arcade

In Japan, Game Machine listed Hyper Sports on their August 1, 1984 issue as being the sixth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. The following month, it was one of the top five table arcade cabinets on the Game Machine charts. In North America, it appeared in the Play Meter arcade charts for several months through November 1984, when it was one of the top four dedicated arcade cabinets at amusement arcade locations and one of the top three at street locations. However, it was not as successful as its predecessor in North America. In Europe, it became the number-one game arcade game in the United Kingdom. The arcade game was reviewed by Gene Lewin of Play Meter in late 1984, rating the game 9 out of 10. Roger C. Sharpe of Play Meter called it an "exceptional follow-up" to Track & Field.

Ports

Upon release of the home computer conversions, the ZX Spectrum version was the biggest-selling Spectrum game on the monthly UK Gallup charts. The home computer conversions of Hyper Sports went on to top the UK all-formats chart for two months in the summer of 1985, from July to August. The Commodore 64 version was reviewed by Zzap!64 who said that it was "a first rate conversion" and praised graphics, sound and presentation and received a 90% rating overall. The ZX Spectrum version won the award for best sports simulation of the year from Crash magazine, and was later voted number 59 in the Your Sinclair "Top 100 Games of All Time" list. David M. Wilson and Johnny L. Wilson of Computer Gaming World reviewed the game for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1988, stating that "the game is a fast-paced joystick buster which will delight arcade fanatics".

Legacy

Two events from the game, skeet shooting and vault, featured on the BBC television programme First Class. In 2018, Konami announced a reimagining of the game, Hyper Sports R, for Nintendo Switch, but the game was cancelled two years later.