Konami's Track & Field opened in Japanese arcades in September 1983 as Hyper Olympic, officially licensed for the 1984 Summer Olympics. In North America, Atari held the Olympic video game sponsorship, so distributor Centuri could not use the Hyper Olympic name and released it as Track & Field. European arcades switched to the new name in early 1984.
The six arcade events are the 100 m dash, long jump, javelin, 110 m hurdles, hammer throw and high jump. Running and throwing depend on pressing buttons as fast as possible, and the frantic mashing wore out arcade buttons and gave rise to tricks like rubbing them with a ruler or a fingernail. The javelin was a late addition, because the developers were taken with Finnish javelin thrower Tiina Lillak, and a dedicated sound chip was added just to play the Chariots of Fire theme on the ranking screen.
The 1984 Konami/Centuri Track & Field Challenge drew over a million players and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest organized video game competition.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Track & Field | Arcade | Oct 17, 1983 | Centuri | 1 |
| NA | Track & Fieldcombines events from the Famicom Hyper Olympic and Hyper Sports; standard controller | NES | April 1987 | Konami | 3 |
| JP | Hyper Olympic | Arcade | September 1983 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Hyper Olympicrenamed Track & Field in early 1984 | Arcade | 1983 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Track & Fieldreleased alongside the Apple II version; Atarisoft published in North America | Commodore 64 | July 1984 | Atarisoft | 1 |
| JP | Hyper Olympic | MSX | 1984 | Konami | 1 |
| JP | ハイパーオリンピックHaipā OrinpikkuFamicom; four events, bundled with the Hyper Shot controller | NES | Jun 21, 1985 | Konami | 1 |
| EU | Track & FieldUK; only on the compilation Game, Set and Match II (Amstrad CPC version likewise) | ZX Spectrum | 1988 | Ocean Software | 1 |
| EU | Track & Field in Barcelonatimed to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics | NES | Feb 20, 1992 | Kemco | 3 |
| WW | Track & FieldXbox Live Arcade, updated graphics and online play | Xbox 360 | Aug 8, 2007 | Konami | 1 |
| WW | Arcade Archives TRACK & FIELDuses the overseas ROM | PlayStation 4 | Sep 12, 2019 | Hamster | 4 |
| WW | Arcade Archives TRACK & FIELDuses the overseas ROM | Switch | Sep 12, 2019 | Hamster | 4 |
Also known as: Hyper Olympic JP1ハイパーオリンピック JP2Haipā Orinpikku JP2Track & Field in Barcelona EU3Track and Field WW2
Box art by region
NA Track & Field
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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ContentFamicom (JP)
The Famicom Hyper Olympic keeps only four of the six arcade events; the hammer throw and high jump were left out.2
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ContentNES (NA)
The North American NES Track & Field merges the Famicom Hyper Olympic and Hyper Sports into one cartridge with eight events: the hammer throw is gone, while skeet shooting, archery and triple jump are added.1
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GameplayFamicom (JP)NES
The Famicom game came with a dedicated Hyper Shot button controller; the NES release is played with the standard controller.3
Where to play legally today
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Arcade Archives Purchase
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PlayStation Store Purchase
Reception
Konami sold 38,000 arcade units in Japan by the end of 1983. In 1984 the game was the highest-grossing arcade game in the UK and the third-highest in the US, and the 2007 Xbox Live Arcade version sold 297,307 copies by 2011.1
In lists
Sources
- 1en.wikipedia.org
- 2ja.wikipedia.org
- 3tcrf.net
- 4arcadearchives.com
- 5nintendo.com
- 6store.playstation.com
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.