Video Game Olympics 2012
Feature
Everyone is gearing up for the London Olympics, but little do they know that the video game world is holding their own games!
Raphael from Soul Calibur carries his rapier around pretty much everywhere he goes, and is likely to be unmatched in the fencing event, bringing the gold medal home to France. His speed in both his attacks and dodges are unrivalled, and although not likely to be a crowd favourite due to his relentless mocking of his opponent, no one will really be able to put up much of a fight.
Gymnastics
There are all manner of acrobatic ninjas up for the gold here, but none are as popular as Ryu Hayabusa out of Ninja Gaiden. Well known for his flips and tricks, he’ll be hotly tipped for the title. His name literally means Dragon Falcon for goodness sake, how can you go wrong with that? Hopefully he’ll be able to avoid accidentally murdering everyone in sight, but he has made no promises.
Shooting
The class I played throughout the Mass Effect series was a sniper, which is unfortunate as that meant it was infeasible to bring one of my favourite characters, Garrus, along with me. It would be cheating to put “My Shepard” here, so we’ll go with Garrus instead, as he’s pretty handy with a scoped weapon. His accuracy should be enough to win him the gold (unless he died in your game of course).
Swimming
If you are looking for an all-round swimming performer, proficient in both speed for the races and technique for the more artistic events, then look no further than Naija from Aquaria. You know that she’s been practicing a lot in the water for these events because, well, she lives there. Expect to find her in ‘beast form’ for much of the time, as it allows her to move faster. The ranged projectiles she acquires from being in energy form could make for some exciting flourishes in the synchronised swimming.
Taekwondo
The final of the Taekwondo event will undoubtedly be a classic tale of teacher versus student with Hwoarang taking on Baek Doo San - both of Tekken fame. They are masters of the martial art and even though Baek Doo San taught and mentored Hwoarang, it’s likely that the age difference could be a factor here. Baek is getting on a bit at 49, while Hwoarang is still a spritely 22. Despite being known for his arrogance, Baek is one of the few people Hwoarang has great respect for. However, it’s unlikely that this will get in the way of his dazzling combos, and the cheers of the crowd should be able to pull him through the fight since he is one of the more popular characters of the series.
Weightlifting
This one is tough to call, as there are a lot of strong characters in video games throughout history. Asura from Asura’s Wrath and Kratos from God of War will be taking time out of their regular schedules of brutal murder and incredible feats to battle it out for the gold here. Both happen to be Demigods, both are known for their raging fury and both happen to be very, very strong. Kratos has defeated more than his fair share of Gods in his time, but Asura’s feats outweigh those of Kratos just on sheer scale. During a duel with the transforming Wyzen, his enemy takes the form of a planet-sized titanic being. Even one of his fingers towers far above Asura, but rather than being crushed, he simply releases the wrath of his entire past to obliterate him. The only problem with this event is that the organisers probably don’t have anything heavy enough planned for the two to have a real contest, possibly resulting in a draw, or a fight to the death, who knows?