Some stupid trivia for you. Between the original's arcade release, and the release of the trackball "fix", Konami also recommended placing garden hose washers inside the buttons to cushion the pounding. My late best friend was an arcade mechanic, and I assisted in installing these washers on their games.
There was also a ridge placed around the buttons to block the pencil technique. My friend & I defeated that by attaching the tops from gallon milk jugs to a carpenter's pencil (flat). The milk caps fit perfectly over but inside the guards.
@@bofletcher3212 That wasn't to block the pencil technique! It was another attempted fix to stop people from pounding their hands/fists on the buttons! My bud's company didn't care about the pencil technique, as that was a finesse strategy. You guys weren't breaking buttons, just records! :-)
@@bofletcher3212 Good idea! We cut a wire hanger and bent it to go over the side shields. Before the side shields on buttons, the black pocket comb worked best for me, lol!
Nice that somebody mentioned the "broken pencil between your fingers" technique to rapidly press the buttons faster. You placed it in such a way that you put them across your knuckles, weaving your fingers over and under, perpendicular to your fingers so that it acted like a teeter totter mechanism to keep the rhythm steady and fast. You held it in one hand so that the pencil would also assist your other hand. When one finger lifts up it would help push the other down. Kind of one of the first "hacks" I remember as a kid watching my older friends and cousins in the arcade.
You're absolutely right about the buttons getting worn out. I've seen more of these machines out of order (or worse and more frequent, still "in order" but with screwed up buttons) than any other arcade machine I can remember. Something about this game really appealed to me though. You're also right about breaking 2600 controllers. I can't remember if it was this game or some other game (I don't remember owning Track & Field for the 2600), but you had to wiggle the controller left and right as fast as you could, and I do remember breaking controllers doing that.
I love this game. In Canada, we were lucky enough to get it in the original "Hyper Olympic" title. I can play this game pretty much all day on one quarter. I eventually just get too tired, and walk away from it. When you get past level 9, the level number has a bug in it, and just starts showing ASCII characters.
this was one of my favorites. I was all about track & field in real life at that point, so was through the roof when this showed up (arcade? PX? Diner?). I'm retroactively jealous of the hyper version. That would have taken it to the next level...but wow what a hit to the coin pocket. lol, maybe I'm the lucky one after all?
International Track And Field on PSX/PS1 was awesome me and my friends spent most of our late teenage lives playing this I even went out and bought a multi-tap so we could 4 player it. Then ITAF II was released and although good it was no where near as fun to play as the original. Great video brings back so many memories thank you
Funny childhood story about the arcade version. Here in Springfield, there used to be a Sheraton hotel on South Glenstone, and in one of the side rooms near the lobby, they had some arcade cabinets, that they would rotate from time to time. Track and Field was one of the games they had during one of the times my grandma and I were staying there. Now, I was a kid, so I didn't understand "Free play" or dip switches. All I knew is that this game was letting me play, as often as I wanted, for free! You can bet I kept my mouth shut, as I didn't want someone from the hotel to come and "fix" it after all.
LOL, that's a great story. You bet your butt I would keep my mouth shut toO. At our local bowling alley growing up I used to play Mario Brothers a lot. Some kids discovered that if he held the coin slot lever up and put in a nickel then it would give you a credit.After a couple of months they took the machine out. BTW are you in the Springfield that's near Shelbyville?
A thumbs up from the UK. Love your work. The hard drivin video made go and buy midway treasures 2 for my ps2. Cant wait to play that again. Thanks. Keep up he good and informative work.
I haven't pounded on a real T&F cabinet since my youth, sadly. And you really sold me on those sequels and spinoffs. I never gave them much thought originally.
Thanks for another great vid that shows the evolution and variations of a fun classic game. I actually own the 4-player cocktail with both T'n'F and Hyper Sports boards. But my 'run' buttons actually have anti-cheat guards!
Awesome, glad you liked it. It's funny you mentioned the anti-cheat guards because I just learned of them earlier today. I remember seeing them when I was a kid back in 83 or 84 but I never knew what they were for until today. Had I known you can bet your butt I would've put that in the video. Thanks for the comments
Nice video! In addition to Track & Field and Hyper Sports games, I also enjoyed Decathlon on the Atari 2600 (that was a real workout!) and the Summer/Winter Games series from Epyx on the Commodore 64.
Thank you. I like decathlon as well on the 2600 because that was the closest we had at the time to a home version of track and field. Decathlon was a real workout. There was one event I think the 500 m dash which was ridiculously long. Summer and winter games were Some of my favorite games on the Commodore 64. That's a good idea for a video covering those.
Loved this game. I think my highest high jump was 2.46..maybe 2.47, i know it was much higher than the 2.35 to quailfy. My technique was a little unique...I would kneel to get my hands up higher and it seemed to work better than most. Hated the cocktail version though, because with my technique, could never see the screen!!! had to haver people hit the jump button for me! Thanks for bringing back the memories!
We had Track and Field in Saskatchewan. We used 2 people to play I'd do the run buttons (by hand) and my friend would do the jumping. Once you get to a certain level it wouldn't get any harder. Also, it would change from numbered levels to lettered. (A-Z then it went to AA-ZZ not sure after that... AAA?). We made it to level PP (something like that hey, it's been 36ish years) and quit. Somewhere our record is written on the back of a machine.
Great vid - thanks . You must be the same age as me - we are the vanguard of gamers - right there at the start ! . I loved those games and the arcades - especially the high end ones - clean with nice carpets and the lights down low plus a nice row of pin tables ! I loved this game - my pal had a triple finger technique - when he got it in the groove it was amazing . I had no idea they brought in a trackball later on . The follow-up - Hyper Sports was an even better game imho - with more variety .
Never knew about the triple finger technique although I'm sure my wife wished I did. Hyper sports is definitely right up there with the original in my opinion. Thanks
Well that’s me subscribed. I watched a few of your videos and loved them and I find your voice very calming. I just saw your Q&A and WOW what a guy ! Look forwards to many more videos ahead. Cheers from the UK 🇬🇧
Great intro and restrospective on T & F,really enjoyed it!....would love to see one on Alien vs Predator,Street Fighter and Street Fighter 2 as well as Samurai Shodown!
The streetfighter series will happen eventually but not for quite a while. I try to cover games that haven't been done to death. Thanks for the nice words, Alien vs. Predator would be a good one :-)
Thanks, both of those games are really popular where I grew up as well. Our local skating rink had both titles and I can recall playing those when they first came out
In actuality, you didn't have to hit the run buttons as fast as possible, so long as you had precise rhythm, you can get to good speeds (3 blocks short of full speed on the speed bar) just alternating 3 times per second. In my most recent plays (recent upload a couple months ago on an actual machine) I wasn't fast, but kept the rhythm constant, getting up there in speed (at times, just 2 blocks short of full).
Loved this game in the arcade , was called Hyper Olympics here in bc canada was aways lineup of 4 people to play everytime, I used an extra foozball man across buttons to run ,or a bic lighter ,great vid
You called the Vault event the Triple Jump on the Hyper Sports piece at the 9 min mark, but other than that small hiccup, it was a really enjoyable video.
We used the pencil method briefly, then discovered by moving left of the controls, crouching over a bit, and with your dominant hand, alternate hitting the run buttons individually with your thumb and the finger next to your pinky in a rapid, shakey motion; it would max out the energy graph consistently if you were quick enough!
Great video! I have one of the Track & Field cabinets sold to me back in the 80s from a local arcade. It still have the early button set up though l MUCH prefer the Track ball!
i remember this arcade game...it was all buttons and no joy stick😅 i remember hitting the bird with the javelin, falling down if you don't hit the jump button fast enough and ppl getting thrown out for beating the run buttons too hard on the game 😅
International Track & Field was one of our favourite multiplayer games on the Playstation. Everybody hated swimming, so we did it all the time :D I also had a friend, who was so good at button mashing, that none of the usual tricks (lighter, turbo function) could keep up with him - sadly, that also resulted in one of my controllers being broken, because his tapping was so insane it broke the rubber pads :D #I also had Track & Field for the Game Boy and needless to say, i handed it once to him, he mashed the buttons so hard, he didn't even know what was going on on the screen (neither did we) but of course still broke most records.
We used to get kicked out of arcades. We used a can of full coke to help with speed, while another person did the jumping. We broke all records until we got kicked out!
hey patman! THATS YOU! Glad to finally see your face after hearing your voice for so long! Wondered what you looked like. Thanks for coming on camera. do it again, ok?
We used a coin and moved it from left to right. we always searched for arcade halls that had the game a while so the buttons had developed a deep groove from the coin so it wouldnt slip during the game!
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries your videos on arcade games are fantastic !! Got lots to watch.... Played alot of arcade games from 1980 - 1987 in Melbourne Australia. Favourite games include Kung Fu Master , Sega Ninja Princess , Hyper Olympics , Scramble , Bad Dudes , Double Dragon , Galaga and Yie Ar Kung Fu !!!!!!
3:15 Starts saying three events wherein if you do something special you'll be rewarded 1,000 points. Shows in-game scenes of being rewarded 3,000 points.
I remember when the game first came out, people were us quarters to push the buttons at crazy speeds. They would scrape the quarter against the buttons!!
There was a kid from Japan that was living in the us with his family that went to my summer camp. He had a LCD game that was like track & field but I think it only had the 100yard dash & hurdles. Same button masking style however. It was pre-NES era I believe but definitely influenced by the Nintendo game & watch series. No idea who made it & as far as I know it was Japan only.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries I recally friends being smaller thinner & possibly having 2 sets of buttons for head to head play. But my memory may be wrong & one of the following may be what am remembering.. www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/174055536767_/Rare-3-x-Track-Field-Vintage.jpg www.handheldmuseum.com/Bandai/Bandai-HyperOlympicChallenge5BoxFront.jpg thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/360/0914/29/big-athlete-bandai-triple-screen-lcd_360_6a4e4450de742dd122fbc69dcf3f9cef.jpg This one is a variation of the Bandai ones sold by Radio Shack under the Randy brand lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/07yhcYQE3sxPWnZXkdA7dKe136O0tkf4SvnT_jX2rKBgyq1SUOyLFjHCmsI4oSBKY4tvne502EP1DxicKArdIcZmpp_vTGRQZL_l1tMFll2U9ehddSjuuTAB7d4IRlUuSgsclQs
The world champion of the arcade game, was "DOF", doing it, without any cheats, tools, just fast hands, no pencils or vibration equipment. 4,776,000 - points turning the machine over 13 times! Could have been more, but hands can only last so long, as my hands were hamburger, after 3 hours!!
I really love this video series, your voice is perfect for narration, and the information is invaluable. But I'm really wanting someone to develop a crackhead racing video game now. 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
My local arcade had a great T&F console with perfect loose buttons. There was no need to use any gimmicks like pencils or electric fishing knives(??) The buttons were loose and had really light springs inside and they were very easy to tap with just one finger covering each button. I've played some other consoles where the springs in the buttons were so stiff that the game was completely unplayable.
3:10 this is the NES version being shown. Info on the Easter egg is correct though. 3:17 is also the NES version but there is no mole on arcade Long Jump. The mole on arcade is on High Jump. That NES version mole is triggered by having 3 zeros at the end of the measurement in 10.00. you also get it from 9.99, 8.88 etc. The 1000 pts on Arcade is done by getting all 3 jumps to be the same distance. So much cringe in this vid to list.
My name is Alexander Stuart Stevenson, it’s nice to see a game like the Atari 2600 version at 4:34 let people like myself enter our initials when we get a high score.
We used to take the ball part of those lol toys that you shake your hands and it makes noise (I think they were called clackers are some shit like that) and rub it across the buttons to get the best times ever
Predating this for the Apple II was a game called Olympic Decathlon that had similar button pounding gameplay to run. I ruined ma few home keyboards that way...
I also I guess wasn't Track and Field but the racing game Nintendo used with their power pad was different. Although I dont think I used the pads too long as I went back to normal controlled games like RBI baseball.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries yeah I agree now in hindsight but I was only 10 at the time so anything game related seem to catch my eye. Even saved allowances up for the power glove . My first game system was the Calico system though .
I played it with my bro and mum's friends for she had it as a arcade in the pub my mum was a manger for We also had hunchback hypersports an the odd pinball table
This was in a pizza place near me as a teen. We used to dump ooodles of cash there. The two finger one buttin technique was best, but man eas this a loud game in terms of player controls.
