100 Meter Dash

• Release Date: 1988
• Genre: Sports
• Style: Track & Field
• Similar Games: Decathlon (Commodore 64/128)

Game Description

100 Meter Dash for the Commodore 64 simulates a track race between two contestants. Two human players, using the same keyboard for control, race against each other on a track consisting of two lanes shown in 2D perspective, one above the other, though not a split screen.

The runners move left to right across the screen and the track scroll toward the left edge giving the illusion of running. As the runner races down the track, each ten meter block is marked by a line labeled 10, 20, 30 and so forth. Each player's time is individually recorded in minutes and seconds and the player whose runner reaches the 100-meter marker first is the winner.

The simple control system requires each player to repeatedly press two buttons on the keyboard as quickly as possible, with two adjacent buttons assigned to each. The faster the rhythm a player can build up with the key presses, the faster the sprinter will move across the screen.

100 Meter Dash does not feature solo play against the computer and requires two humans for competitive gameplay. In single player mode, only the top runner will race while the other remains at the starting line.

Roots & Influences

100 Meter Dash's gameplay system is very similar to the 100 meter dash portion of Decathlon, an earlier sports game.

Review: Overall

The purpose behind the design of 100 Meter Dash seems nebulous at best. If two people want to race against one another over 100 meters, why not pick an indoor or outdoor track and just do it? If the game included some configurable options to customize the runners, a raison d'être for the game might be understandable. Yet the gameplay mechanics in 100 Meter Dash fail miserably.

In order to get your runner moving, you must press two keys repeatedly. It's not a simple matter of just mashing the keys or holding them down -- you have to alternate keystrokes between them. The faster rhythm you manage while pressing the keys, the faster your runner moves. That's the full extent of gameplay in 100 Meter Dash.

Aside from the action described above, no other interaction with the game is required. With so little actual interaction involved, it's difficult to call 100 Meter Dash a valid game. In effect, competition between two players boils down to who can develop the smoothest and fastest rhythm for pressing two keys.

Other games have made use of the alternating two-button press system as a way to resolve races or other competitive events. The game Decathlon, for example, includes a race that's resolved in exactly the same way. But these games only implement the system as one small part of overall gameplay and have other aspects where the player actually responds to in-game events in some way. Creating a game with this single element of gameplay is at best, a bad design choice.

To speak of 100 Meter Dash's graphics as less than good is to give it too much credit. There is no actual background, just a solid yellow screen with two horizontal red strips for tracks, each with some lines and numbers indicating progress as the runners move down the track.

The sprinters, quite average in appearance when compared to similar games, are the best part of the graphics with some decent coloring and three frames of animation for their running motion. 100 Meter Dash is poorly designed and offers little or no gameplay. Even worse, there is no solo player option so you must have another person to play against to take advantage of what little gameplay is available.

Review: Enjoyment

At its best, 100 Meter Dash is the quintessential button masher. To play it, you simply alternate button pressing and don't even have to watch the screen in order to finish the race. It's just not fun.

Review: Graphics

The graphics are rudimentary at best with the highlight being the runners' animation.

Review: Sound

The game has no sound.

Review: Replay Value

There's no reason to play the game more than once.

Review: Documentation

There is no documentation