What just happened? To celebrate the Tokyo Olympics opening, Google has launched a 16-bit game called Doodle Champion Island Games. Featuring a "cathlete" named Lucky, you'll explore the island to find and collect the seven sacred scrolls to restore balance. The game is now accessible via Google.com.
Since Japan was appointed as the host for the 2020 Summer Olympics, it's been clear that video games would feature a major role in the event's theme. The Land of the Rising Sun has always had a close relationship with gaming culture, creating some of the most popular consoles, including the PlayStation, all Nintendo consoles, and mega franchises like Super Mario, Pokémon, Sonic, among many others.
To keep the video game theme, Google commemorated the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 by releasing Doodle Champion Island Games, an interactive doodle made in partnership with Tokyo-based Studio 4ºC. In this game, you play with the calico "cathlete" Lucky that has to defeat the seven sport Champions and retrieve all sacred scrolls.
Each sacred scroll is associated with one of seven sports: table tennis, skateboarding, archery, rugby, artistic swimming, climbing, and marathon. All these sports are featured in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, of course.
Studio 4ºC commented about the creative process behind the characters, which started by identifying "stories and folktales from all over the country with characters that are highly recognized." Then, the team "connected those folktales and characters with each of the sport events included in the game," hoping to "convey the rich and diverse natural beauty of the country, including underwater, sandy tropical beaches, forests, and snowy mountains."
To play the game, visit Google.com and press the play button on Doodle Champion Island Games' sprite.
After the intro, you'll have an introduction area presenting you to the seven sports and the four teams, Blue Ushi, Red Karasu, Yellow Inari, Green Kappa. Choose one and help it reach first place on the leaderboard by playing the game.
In related news, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony was filled with original soundtracks from video games. Songs like the Final Fantasy main theme, Kingdom Hearts Mount Olympus theme, and Nier's Song of the Ancients played in the background as the national Olympic teams were introduced.