It would be unreasonable to expect a major breakthrough with Summer Athletics 2009, since the athletics didn't chance a bit since the latest release, but at least in terms of visual effects one is entitled to hope for a boost. Taking into account the way its predecessor looked like, this seems like an easy task, but from the very beginning I was clearly unimpressed. You can fine tune your athlete, choosing his race, nationality, hair color, facial features and so on, but the result is downright demoralizing. There is no chance he will ever resemble a human being, and trying to make him look like a certain person is futile.

It is of course possible to choose from a predefined list, but since World Championships are mostly about countries competing against other countries it's unlikely one will resist the temptation of customizing his athlete. For most of the time though, you'll be watching him from behind as he competes in various races and you'll be too busy pressing buttons at a frantic pace to admire your creation. Winning a race or an event will result in a sudden display of joy, but unfortunately the same animations are used over and over again for celebration and disappointment.

Once you're done with customizing your contestant you'll be ready to compete in one of the 28 disciplines included in Summer Athletics 2009, either as a solo event or in a specified or custom competition made up of any combination of events. I would strongly advice against jumping into a major contest, because the weak tutorials will leave you puzzled and it's most likely that the result will be catastrophic. It is basically a trial and error endeavor, trying to find the appropriate rotation in most of the events, since the  instructions given before each race are not very accurate and will frequently leave you guessing about what to do next.

There are two ways this game can be played, Arcade and Pure, providing you with the option of choosing between a more dynamic style or the conservative way, preserving the essence of the discipline. Skills are slightly boosted in the Arcade mode and in theory this should make each race more exciting, while the Pure mode relies heavily on skill and coordination. I must confess my preference goes for the latter, since the game itself vaguely resemblance the real thing and I've tried hard to preserve the spirit of the actual discipline.

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Summer Athletics 2009 features nine types of sporting events: running, jumping, throwing, swimming, diving, cycling, archery and skeet shooting with the latter being the most appealing. Each major branch is divided into three or four events, more or less similar to each other and revolving around the same tedious game mechanics. Some of these are easy to pick up but most have fail written all over them, due to the hazy instructions, forcing you to repeat them once or twice before getting the motions down. It's not the end of the world of course, but they quickly knock the fun out of playing.

Running and swimming are so similar in terms of gameplay that if you make abstraction of the water, the differences dissipate into near irrelevance. Basically you're supposed to press two or three buttons as fast as you can, for a shorter or longer period of time depending on the race's length. Endurance running requires more focus on pacing and trying to stay in the pack, waiting for the final sprint, while swimming for 400 meters is just a good test for your will power. The best choice if you go for a single event is without a doubt the 100m hurdle, because those puny obstacles make the race a bit more challenging and exciting.

Jumping mechanics are pretty  difficult to pick up, but once you master them you'll be setting new records each round and medals will pile up fast. Long jumps and triple jumps are very similar and focus on tapping two keys, then press space and release at the right moment to maximize speed and keep a good posture. The high jump is a worthy addition and it presents you with the chance of aiming higher each time you compete, by gradually raising the bar. Diving on the other hand is frustrating from the beginning and by the time you get the moves down you're already fed up with this discipline.

Archery is perhaps the easiest competition and probably the most enjoyable, having to take just the wind speed into account before releasing the arrow.  You are only supposed to aim for the target while pressing a key and then release it when you've got the mark locked on. Skeet shooting is a bit more difficult, especially when you're supposed to hit two discs flying in opposite directions but somehow it never becomes annoying, even though you'll probably fail a lot here. In theory you can lead the target like in real life, but it usually pays off to simply wait for the clay disks to enter your line of sight and then swing it while you fire.

On the opposite side of fun is of course cycling, which pretty much like the real thing is as boring as it gets for most of the race and the final seconds are deciding the winner. It's nothing remotely exciting to focus solely on keeping up with the pack and preserve stamina for the last hundred meters, to launch the deciding sprint. Throwing events are luckily much better, pitting you against multiple challenges such as building up speed, finding the perfect angle and moment to release the disc, hammer or javelin. Records will be set and broken just as fast, but this discipline is fun just as long as you hit perfect in every aspect, which is not that hard to achieve in a few tries.

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Conclusion:

Granted the game features better graphics and sound effects than its 2008 counterpart, it is still miles away from the way you'd expect a videogame to look like these days. Game mechanics are downright annoying and unappealing, shifting between button mashing and dull key tapping, that quickly wear out the less dedicated players. Overall this is not a terrible game but it is simply too shallow and repetitive to feel like a decent step forward from Summer Athletics 2008; it's pretty much a cheap rip-off that you shouldn't purchase unless you don't have anything better to do during this summer.

Gameplay: 64

Summer Athletics 2009 is challenging for all the wrong reasons and definitely the one that stands out from the crowd is the pressure it puts on your fingers and wrists. Essentially the entire gameplay revolves around button mashing, or just tapping two button for a few seconds as fast as you can. The insultingly easy mechanics are having a deterring effect on most players and make the whole gaming experience an exhausting one, pretty much like competing in the real thing.

Graphics: 71

I can't deny that Summer Athletics 2009 looks better than its predecessor, but this is not an accomplishment in itself as the latest addition pays little or no attention to details. Animations are unconvincing and no matter how hard you try to customize your athlete, in the end he/she will still be nothing more than a walking advertisement for misery. The environments are decent, although nothing to shout about, with just a few models populating the public, sharing the same outdated animations.

Sounds: 64

Except for the opening theme which is enjoyable, the music is missing altogether in game and the crowd lack both the enthusiasm and passion characteristic to sport events of this magnitude. The announcer tries to compensate for the speechless athletes, but unfortunately they've got just a few lines they'll constantly utter.

Multiplayer: 73

Four players can join a multiplayer game on either split screen or in hot seat, trying to outplay the opposition and put their skills to test or they can team up in a 4x100m relay. Summer Athletics 2009 was intended as a competition so if you plan to buy it and dwell on it during the summer drought, it's much better to find someone willing to share the load.

Hardware: 74

Except for the frequent static loading screens you've got to put up between each even, this game runs smoothly on nowadays computers. Just don't tempt fate with too many alt+tab maneuvers, especially when you are engaged in a prestigious cup, were you've got to compete in all 28 disciplines.