This year NBC spent more than a billion dollars securing the rights to the 2012 London Summer Games. Although that's a new record for money spent on licensing the Olympics, ratings show that fewer people are engaged with the bi-annual competition. That makes me wonder how expensive the Olympics will be in the summer of 2044. Will there still be anybody around to watch the Olympics?


Alien Olympics 2044 AD doesn't care about NBC's licensing fees, it just wants to deliver a fun mini-game collection featuring a bunch of cartoon aliens. It mostly succeeds, offering fifteen inspired events and a number of multiplayer options. Even though the game is derivative of a dozen other Olympics-based games (both official and not), the sense of humor and silly games are charming enough to make up for some questionable design decisions.

Alien Olympics is to Caveman Games what The Jetsons was to The Flintstones. Here we're given a glimpse at a future full of alien creatures competing for gold. The aliens are appropriately creepy and crawly, but surprisingly each has a lot of athletic talent. Despite some icky aliens, the art design does an excellent job setting up the admittedly goofy atmosphere.


With the possible exception of one or two, the fifteen different events are all based on real world Olympics games. You have the 100 Qbits Sprint, which is nothing more than you mashing the "A" and "B" buttons. Laser Leapin' involves electrified hurdles. Laser Skeet involves shooter laser guns, Alien Hurl is shot put and Sabre Sling is archery. If that wasn't enough, you'll also go swimming and hurl yourself into a wall.

Instead of just throwing you into the action (like so many Track & Field clones), Alien Olympics makes it a point to teach you how to control each event. There's a visual tutorial before each game, plus a practice option if you're looking to perfect your skills. Many of the games simply use the face buttons, while a few incorporate the D-pad for jumping and aiming shots.


The visuals are sharp, offering a different location for all fifteen events. The aliens are cool looking and the animation, while simple, is appropriately cute. The game does suffer from repetition problems, but that can be fixed with the two-player mode. Not all of the events are worth playing more than once, but I had a good time throwing aliens against walls.

In a lot of ways this is nothing more than Track & Field in alien skin. You're doing a lot of the same types of events and sports, only this time with aliens in space. Even if there is some truth to that comparison, Alien Olympics 2044 AD offers enough fun mini-games to warrant a look. The graphics are cute and the two-player mode can be addictive. The only thing missing from this game is a reanimated Bob Costas.