ESPN International Track & Field: The Unlicensed Olympic Game Released A Month Too Late

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There were 29 games to be released alongside the PlayStation 2 when it debuted stateside on October 26, 2000. One game, however, felt as if it was about a month too late. That being ESPN International Track & Field.

You see, the Sydney Games wrapped up on October 1st. Usually, it is the few months in the build-up to the Olympics that you’d want to have your track & field game available. ESPN International Track & Field, under various other names, had been on the market for PS1, N64, and Sega Dreamcast for nearly a year.

Of course, the PS2 didn't hit shelves until after the Olympics, so there wasn’t much that could be done. I actually remember seeing screenshots in GamePro at some point in the early 2000s and being blown away.

Let’s start with this, the game is fantastic to look at. Even today, this is a pretty damn good-looking game. I mean, there is certainly an over-the-top appearance to the character models. But when you compare this to some of the other launch titles of PS2, especially sports-related, this is graphically the best in view.

Also, the ESPN graphical overlays and menus here are outstanding. As a sports fan growing up during this time, there will always be an infinity for this ESPN style and Konami did a great job of incorporating these through the game. Of course, track and field isn’t the first sport you think of when you think of the Worldwide Leader in Sports.

Perhaps so much time was spent making the game look good in hopes people wouldn’t notice the fatal flaw of ESPN International Track & Field: There are ten events, and only five are related to track and field. 50% of the game is dedicated to things that are neither track nor field.

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