California Games 2 is a sports game released by Epyx

Epyx

Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...

 for the Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

, MS-DOS

MS-DOS

MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...

, Sega Master System

Sega Master System

The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....

, and Super NES

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 in 1993. This game is a sequel to California Games

California Games

California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller...

.

The five sports events consisted of:

• Hang gliding
  Hang gliding
  Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider ....
  
  
• Jet ski
  Jet ski
  Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The name is sometimes mistakenly used by those unfamiliar with the personal watercraft industry to refer to any type of personal watercraft; however, the name is a valid trademark registered with the...
  
  
• Snowboarding
  Snowboarding
  Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set onto mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing and skiing. It was developed in the U.S.A...
  
  
• Bodysurfing
  Bodysurfing
  Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers typically equip themselves only with a pair of specialized swimfins that stay on during turbulent conditions and optimize propulsion.-Technique:To get on the...
  
  
• Skateboarding
  Skateboarding
  Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
  
  

The object of the game was to score as many points as possible by performing stunts and surviving the event. Each event had different play mechanics and physics as well.

The DOS version of the game made comical references to death and even some animated gore. For example:

• Hang Gliding: In the instances where the game's female character falls off the cliff (although comical), the game player views her falling off the cliff on to the beach. When she hang glides into the side of the cliff, her front is flattened on the side of the cliff and falls to the beach below. Every so often, if she is unable to make it up the cliff and bails in the water, the dorsal fin of a shark will emerge where she bailed, circle around her, while bubbles (from her breath) float up from the water. Some comments from the score board would read, "Cliff 1, Glider 0" and, "Shark food, dude!"

• Snowboarding: Before the event takes place, the player has to control the helicopter to bring its male character up to the top of the mountain, where he must be dropped to start the event. If his point of descent is not high enough to deploy the parachute, or not low enough that he can safely hit the snow, the character (in the form of a dot) will bounce from the mountain and roll all the way back to the beach. If the helicopter is not piloted correctly, you are able to crash the helicopter.

• Body Surfing: During practice mode, the first practice run's wipe-out and every odd numbered wipe-out shows the character washing up on the beach. The second practice run's wipe-out and its subsequent even numbered failure results in the surfboard washing up on the beach, with dirge music playing in the background. The game over screen says, "Get a virtual life, dude."

• Skate Boarding: By far, this is the most comically morbid event. If the player loses the event, either through bailing 5 times, failure to complete a pipe jump or slamming into the side of the tunnel before entering, a picture is shown of the character looking up from his unfilled grave, seeing friends and family in mourning, and your skateboard as a tombstone. Chopin's "Funeral March" plays as this image is shown. The next screen comments, "Death, where is thy sting? Game over, man!" Also, particular to the DOS version, when the player's unseen face and body slam into the tunnel, the impact is so hard that blood is spattered on the area of impact and trails down as his body goes limp from instant death. This happens no matter how fast the character is traveling. In the subsequent console ports, they keep the character animation, but eliminate the blood.

External links

• California Games 2 on the Amiga at The Hall of Light (HOL)