Zzap 64 have certainly posed many mysteries over the years, and now we present yet another one thanks to the eagle eyes of Martin/Stadium 64.
Winter Games was a fantastic release on the C64, racking up a great 94% in November 1985 in the great magazine. However, take a closer look at the review screenshots and then compare against the actual screenshots in the actual game (See the Shots section for a direct comparison).
In the same way that the likes of Street Fighter 2 and Xybots changed their shape and form, Winter Games joined that list by looking different on its actual release.
It could be that Zzap had to be quick, and used promotional screenshots sent by Epyx which happened to be much earlier. The earlier shots seem to have extra details included in the graphics, the scoreboard in the bobsleigh part is also completely different and with a much more detailed map. But *DID* Zzap just use sent shots, or did they take these themselves from an earlier version?
We know that the screens are not likely to just be mockups, as the Biathlon section features a similiar hi-res character. So it seems there could be a version with much different graphics out there somewhere.
Compared to Xybots and Street Fighter 2, the comparisons are very slight – but its a worthwhile entry as who knows what else is different in this earlier version. Maybe there are events which were unused in the final game?
We’ll see what we can dig up in time… A big thanks to Martin / Stadium 64 (http://s64.emuunlim.com/) for bringing this one to our attention and for the screenshots we have borrowed!…
More to come soon on this one we hope…
Contributions: Martin/Stadium 64
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