This past year, however, I have fallen in love with the Game Boy Advance. And, as others who have been in love can attest, it has a way of making you do things you wouldn't ordinarily do.

The first time I snapped International Winter Sports 2002 into my GBA, I didn't expect to be dazzled. Of course, it was developed by Konami, which is also responsible for the other two games I mentioned above, so I didn't expect a total dud, either. What I got was a nice surprise, but still not enough to sell me on this type of game.

Smooth going

ESPN IWS 2002 offers a great deal to be considered a recommended investment. The graphics and sound are better than they were in analogous titles on the 16-bit machines, in terms of impact and adding to the experience. Animations are smooth, characters are well-defined, and there is plenty of detail in the backgrounds and character mannerisms. The variety of events is laudable. There are ten trials here, some of which are similar to one another, but only two of which are really the same. The controls vary among the events to a great degree, unlike other games I have played in this genre. Whereas skiing in one competition is achieved by rapidly pressing the A button (ugh), in other places, it is accomplished by timing alternating button presses or by simply holding down a button or two.

The ten events are available outside the main play mode, so you don't have to plod through trials you have already mastered just to get the opportunity to fail at something you are not so good at.

When you do become adept at a contest, you can look forward to winning a bronze, silver, or gold medal. Medals are presented in a brief ceremony on the winners' platform. Eventually, you will start breaking some world records. The game dutifully autosaves your high scores to the cartridge and keeps track of the number of each type of medal won in each individual event.

Upon beginning the game, whether in Trial or Championship Mode, you are prompted to choose from one of eight countries then enter a short name. You will only have to do this once per gaming session, but you can modify your choice prior to any subsequent event.

Before a trial begins, the screen displays a helpful rundown of the controls, then the broadcaster officially announces the start of the competition. Mess up badly, and you can hit Start and retry without having to go all the way through (not that I am condoning that as a normal course of action - but it is handy once in a while if one values one's sanity).

The crowd will coo and whoop over a well-executed move, and in one event, stylish cut scenes reward tightly timed maneuvers.

Multiplayer, called Excite Mode, allows you to select the event and the number of rounds. Once the event is over, of course, the GBA boots Player Two, and the connection has to be made all over again.

Difficult? Well, its snow walk in the park!

Since there is not terribly much to accomplish in IWS, the difficulty is necessarily high. After all, if it took longer to purchase the game and get it home than it did to get a gold medal in every event, you wouldn't be a happy buyer, now would you?

The question is, what makes it difficult?

Refreshingly, the challenge here is due mostly to design and not to cheapness. You are up against some formidable competition, and you have many different techniques to master to beat them.

Games are won and lost on timing and the ability to read and react to teensy gauges on the GBA screen (or the TV screen, if you play that way). In one of the ski jump events, for instance, the first course of action is to set wind direction. This is done by stopping an arrow as it sweeps across the arc of a circle. The skier starts down the slope, with a second gauge displaying the distance left before he has to lift off. Once the arrow has reached the end of that meter, and the athlete is airborne, he has to keep his skis parallel to the ground. "How?" you ask? "With the help of a third gauge," answer the developers, with the subtle beginnings of madness a-glint in their eyes. As the jump nears its finale, a fourth gauge, similar to the lift-off indicator appears. That's a lot of moving arrows.

Fortunately, the gauges either take on different forms or are altogether absent in other events, so you should never feel like your eyes are about to glaze over. In a couple of challenges, such as the Snowboarding Halfpipe, stopping arrows at the right times is followed by tapping out an on-screen command with the directional pad and two face buttons. In the Figure Skating competition, commands are inputted as they stream down the screen DDR-style as the onscreen athlete leaps and twirls (and/or stumbles and falls) with the music.

Rating on a curve

Giving this game a final grade is not as easy as it is with most other titles. The gameplay, graphics, and sound are all top-notch in every one of the events. Once you are playing, you will probably keep happily at it until your bus ride or lunch break is over. Nevertheless, the game is just those ten events. There is no career mode to speak of, no stat building, no sense of character development. It is almost like a collection of minigames with no main attraction. If that doesn't matter to you, and you are just looking for some fun Olympic events, change my rating to an A. ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 is about as good as I have seen this type of game get without those extra elements, and it is a superb pick-up-and-play game that can occupy whatever break time you have to fill.

· · · Nick