Play Stadium Events Online

Stadium Events came out for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, published by Bandai. It was part of that early wave of games built around the Power Pad, a large plastic mat you put on the floor. While other games used the standard controller, this one demanded you get up and move, making it a distinctly physical, and often exhausting, part of the NES library.

You control a runner competing in a series of track and field events against animal opponents, from a turtle to a cheetah. The main objective is to complete each event faster or with a better score than your rivals to win medals. The signature mechanic is, of course, running in place on the Power Pad's pressure-sensitive buttons to make your athlete move forward on screen. Other events, like the long jump, require a well-timed leap off the pad. The pacing is frantic, and the difficulty comes from the sheer physical coordination needed to accurately stomp on the correct panels. It feels less like playing a video game and more like trying to win a race while standing on a confusing, oversized calculator.