Play XVII Olympic Winter Games Online

I picked up XVII Olympic Winter Games on the Game Boy back in 1994, a time when portable sports games were mostly simple affairs. It was developed by Bullet-Proof Software, the same folks who brought some other quirky titles to Nintendo's handheld. This one tried to capture the feel of the Lillehammer games, offering a condensed winter sports experience you could take anywhere, though it definitely had the limitations of its hardware.

You control an athlete across several events like skiing, speed skating, and figure skating, each with its own control scheme. The main objective is to perform well enough to earn medals across the different competitions. Signature mechanics include timing button presses for jumps and tricks in the skiing events, building and maintaining speed with rapid taps in the skating races, and inputting sequences for the figure skating routines. The pacing is quick, jumping from event to event, but the difficulty can spike unexpectedly, especially in the precision based events. It feels like a charming, slightly clumsy attempt to fit the scope of the Olympics into your pocket.