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ESPN INTERNATIONAL WINTER SPORTS
FAQ AND WALKTHROUGH
VERSION 1.0
(C) David Ashton ([email protected])

CONTENTS
1. Copyright and stuff
2. Review
3. Versions
4. Character Guide
5. Walkthrough
6. FAQ
7. Records
8. Unlockables
9. Contact Me

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1. COPYRIGHT

This guide was made by and is property of David
Ashton. This guide is currently found on:
# GameFAQS (www.gamefaqs.com)
and cannot be found anywhere else without my
permission. You are not to change this guide and make
it as your own or take claim for this guide in anyway
at all. If you want to reproduce this guide onto your
site then please e-mail me ([email protected]) and
I am sure we can come to some agreement. I will add
your site to the list if we arrange something and you
will get credit for spreading the love. It's the going
behind people's backs that I don't like.

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2.REVIEW

This game was a game that was to catch buyers into
buying it, after watching Salt Lake. True, it didn't
sell as well as the official game, Salt Lake 2002, but
the game is a whole lot more rewarding. As well as the
game having 10 events to Salt Lake's 6, the whole
premise of the game wipes Salt Lake off the ice.

If you stare at the graphics of ESPN you could well be
watching the real - dull and white - thing. The
graphics rock and this adds to the realism. The faces
on the people actually look like real people unlike
Salt Lake. Also on ESPN you take roles of different
people eg. 'Bridget Rance' instead of 'that girl from
Great Britain who you obscurely gave your own
initials.' Each character has strong points and weak
points so when you complete an event and think that
you have mastered the alpine slalom, you can try to do
the events with the people that are crap at the event.
This just adds to the longetivity of the game as
beating events with characters that are poor at the
event just adds up as an extra challenge.

But the events aren't simple. Some are relatively easy
to complete like the Downhill whilst others like the
Figure Skating and Freestyle Moguls you have to get
inch perfect runs to stand a chance of gold. Other
events have been reduced to a curious stabbing of
buttons, which is ESPN's downfall. The snowboarding
has been reduced to benami-esque button taps, which
not without fun, feels nothing like snowboarding. The
same can be said about moguls which has been reduced
to a curious frenzy of tapping L1 and R1 buttons
simultaneously and winding the analogue sticks round
and round.

Then there's the two-player. There's nothing more
rewarding / frustrating than winning / losing to your
best mate in a bobsleigh match to the death. The fact
of the matter is, if you're going to buy a winter
sports sim, choose this over Salt Lake. It's more fun,
more playable, more longetivity and even though it's
more arcadey than it's wet and windy counterpart more
realistic. It's a fantastic compilation of benami,
button-bashing, steering and other stuff. It will take
you an age to complete all the events and get gold on
all of them, especially on Moguls and Curling (I've
been trying for too long and I still can't get them)
and it's two player rewards like any other. It's a
great sports sim. Have fun!

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3.VERSIONS
1.0 = finished guide.

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4. CHARACTER GUIDE

MEN
MARTIN BAKER
ESPN:He's the strongest of the atheletes, but he
performs poorly in events that require quickness and
technique.
Me:I prefer Klaus Gross to him. Even though they have
the same stats they are different. Martin Baker isn't
particularly good at anything.
What I use him for:Nothing.

KLAUS GROSS
ESPN:Don't let his looks fool you: he's an extremely
powerful athelete unparalleled in bobsleigh and alpine
events.
Me:Klaus Gross in unrivalled in the bobsleigh (even
though my record is with Heinz Stranzl my average with
Klaus is always better) and he is good at skiing and
other stuff. One cool guy!
What I use him for:Bobsleigh.

JULES BELMONDO
ESPN:Possessing speed, power and quickness, he has
what it takes to win the alpine events. He is skilled
enough to go toe-to-toe with Austrian atheletes.
Me:Jules is great at all the ones that require speed
but someone always beats him, eg. Heinz Stranzl in the
alpine. A fantastic competitor nevertheless.
What I use him for:Nothing.

FILIPPO BASSO
ESPN:A good all-around athelete, he has balanced but
high overall stats.
Me:Stay clear!
What I use him for:Nothing.

HEINZ STRANZL
ESPN:Hailing from a nation than consistently wins in
the winter games, he combines speed power and
quickness. He is extremely good in alpine events.
Me:He is my favourite character. Great and alpine and
bobsleigh, he's the best male, definately.
What I use him for:Downhill, Slalom and Speed Skating.

RIC GORDON
ESPN:An athelete with an extremely good technique. He
has his own special techniques for the halfpipe and
other events, and is a league above the competition.
Me:Good at jumping and tricks, whatever it is.
What I use him for:Half pipe, K90 and K120.

EDWARD BISHOP:
ESPN:An athelete with extremely refined techniques.
His fortes are ski jumping and the mogul.
Me:Very similar to Rick.
What I use him for:Moguls

TAKEO JINNAI
ESPN:A well-balanced athelete who tough to beat in any
event.
Me:Similar to Filippo. I don't like these 'utility'
men.
What I use him for:Nothing.
---

WOMEN
BRIGID RANCE
ESPN:She's a powerful athelete who is highly talented.
Me:She's powerful, and good at speed events.
What I use her for:Nothing.

KERSTIN STEINER
ESPN:She is the fastest of the female atheletes, and
also boasts great power. She is strong in alpine
events.
Me:Too true. She and Sally Evans are top dogs for
alpine, bobsleigh, speed skating and others.
What I use her for:Nothing.

NATHALIE DUCHAMP
ESPN:Pretty much good in everything, she is a very
balanced athelete.
Me:Another'utility' girl. I use her for the figure
skating because she looks good but she wouldn't be my
choice in the competition.
What I use her for:Nothing.

ISABELLA RIVERA
ESPN:She is known to out-power even the male atheletes
with her dynamic techniques.
Me:Another strong girl. I don't use her much though.
What I use her for:Nothing.

STEPHANIE RILKE
ESPN:Very balanced, she is a good all-around athelete.
Me: Grrr.
What I use her for:Nothing.

KAREN TURNER
ESPN:She is the queen of the skating events. In terms
of technique, she is the best among the female
atheletes. Her speciality is figure skating.
Me:The best at figure skating, bar none. I don't use
her for anything else though.
What I use her for:Figure Skating.

SALLY EVANS
ESPN:Although short in stature she has good speed and
power. She shines in downhill events, where she is in
the top class in terms of speed.
Me:My favourite girl athelete. Very strong in the
alpine, bobsleigh, speed skating. Great athelete.
What I use her for:Downhill, Slalom, Bobsleigh and
Figure Skating.

MIYUKI AIKAWA
ESPN:She has good technique, often better than her
male counterparts.
Me: The only one to rival Karen in the figure skating,
also the best at the half-pipe and moguls.
What I use her for:Half-pipe and Moguls.

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5.WALKTHROUGH
This is to help you get asll the gold medals. This is
only a guide, you don't have to select who I
reccomend, it's only my viewpoint. Have fun!

ALPINE SKIING DOWNHILL
Male:Heinz Stranzl (AUS)
Female:Sally Evans (CAN)
Tip: An easy one as long as you don't try the weaker
players. Try the course out and work out where to go.
You will get disqualified a few times first but once
you've mastered the course it's a doddle.

ALPINE SKIING SLALOM
Male:Heinz Stranzl (AUS)
Female:Sally Evans (CAN)
Tip:It is very tricky to complete the course, and the
second run through the course is reversed. Just use
the sharp turn (square by default) and don't crouch
for most of the run through. When you've mastered the
tricky art of tight turning you'll do it as long as
you don't hit a flag and go flying.

K90 INDIVIDUAL SKI JUMPING
Male:Ric Gordon (USA)
Female:N/A
Tip:When selecting wind try to get it as close to the
middle of the white strip as possible. Hold one
anologue stick down and press the other down when it
reaches the middle. Hold them down the run-way and
pull them up when you reach the end, good timing is
essential. You will then see a gauge. Try to get the
green bar on line with the yellow line as much as
possible (this'll get you further) and press L1 when
the two bars are the same to get a good landing. You
have to beat 187.0pts over two jumps. Not too hard.

K120 INDIVIDUAL SKI JUMPING
Male:Ric Gordon (USA)
Female:N/A
Tip:When selecting wind try to get it as close to the
middle of the white strip as possible. Then start
tapping. See the FAQ for a good way to tap. Press L1
to take off at the end of the run way and continue to
tap whilst the skiier is in the air. Press L1 to land.
The key here is a good take-off and a good landing
provided you tap fast.

MOGULS
Male:Eddie Bishop (CAN)
Female:Miyuki Aikawa (JPN)
Tip: Tap as close to the end of the bar as possible
and then pull tricks with the anologue sticks over
jumps (press triangle button for trick list). This is
the trickiest event to get gold in and there is no set
way of going about it. Just get the best runs you can,
persevere all you can and you'll (eventually) get it.

HALFPIPE SNOW BOARDING
Male:Ric Gordon (USA)
Female:Miyuki Aikawa (JPN)
Tip:You have to press either o, x, squ or tri in the
section that flashes. Each section/button pressed
combo makes different tricks. Work out which opnes
score highest and remember never to repeat tricks.
When you press your button in the right section you'll
have to press either up, down, left or right in a
combo. Key it in correctly to complete your trick. To
get gold you must have that perfect run, never
repeating a trick, always in right zone, never missing
a trick etc. The best way to not repeat a trick is the
start or x say and go clockwise around to squ, then
tri, then o and back around. As long as you stop it in
the correct section you can bet you haven't repeated a
trick. Whatever you do, (it may seem like the sensible
thing) but never skip out sections and land the bar in
D all the time. You lose mega points! It'll come...

SPEED SKATING 500M
Male:Heinz Stranzl (AUS)
Female:Sally Evans (CAN)
Tip:When he shouts go start tapping. Go to the FAQ for
a great way to tap. When the radar glints yellow
(going round a corner) stop tapping for a second and
then start again. Every time it goes yellow slow down
to prevent from slipping. As long as you can tap fast
you should be able to do it.

BOBSLEIGH
Male:Klaus Gross (GER)
Female:Sally Evans (CAN)
Tip: Tap to get power up, and make sure ride is full
too. Then press L1. Do this for all four people. For a
great wap to tap see my FAQ. Steer it down the course
without touching the walls. A lot of time is made and
lost in the tunnel. If you don't touch all the way
down the course and you have a reasonably good start
then you should do it.

FIGURE SKATING
Male:N/A
Female:Karen Turner (USA)
Tip: Pick 'bomber night' dance and dance without
missing one, it's essential. The chorus buttons, as
long as you use Karen or Miyuki are o, tri, squ, x, x,
tri, tri, tri in order. As long as you keep your combo
all the way through you should do it.

CURLING
Male:Doesn't matter
Female:Dosen't matter
Tip:I haven't found out an advantage with characters
here. All I know is the first team you play, they play
conservative, the second team play aggresive and the
third team a mixture of both. For the second one you
have to make his strength, his weakness and trip over
his own feet by driving out his own out of the house
or something like that. The team you play in the final
is tricky. You'll have to struggle that out yourself.
It's a tricky event, keep trying and it'll come to
you.

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6.FAQ

Q. How does that code thing work?
A. When you finish championship mode, men or womens,
you get a code. Go and post that at
http://www.konamijpn.com and it'll     give you a
ranking of where you are in the world.

Q. On the ski jumps how does the wind meter work?
A. The nearer to the white stripe you get it the
further you fly.

Q. How can you tap fast?
A. Try cloaking your thumb under a t-shirt and then
scrub up and down between o and x. It lessens the
friction between your    thumb and the pad so you can
tap faster and get better results.

Q. I can't get gold on moguls and curling. How do I do
it?
A. Perseverence is the key.

Q. What is there to unlock on this game.
A. See section 8, Unlockables.

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7.RECORDS

If you have a record that beats mine on this list
e-mail me ([email protected]) and I'll do my best
to get it on.

ALPINE SKIING DOWNHILL
Mens: 1.46.96 heinz stranzl (aus)
Womens: 1.49.88 sally evans (can)

ALPINE SKIING SLALOM
Mens: 1.03.53 jules belmondo (fra)
Womens: 1.05.22 isabella rivera (ita)

K90
Mens: 206.0 ric gordon (usa)

K120
Mens: 289.5 ric gordon (usa)

MOGULS
Mens: 7212 eddie bishop (can)
Womens: 6125 miyuki aikawa (jap)

HALFPIPE
Mens: 5940 ric gordon (usa)
Womens: 5600 miyuki aikawa (jap)

SPEED SKATING 500M
Mens: 34.22 klaus gross (ger)
Womens: 36.67 sally evans (can)

BOBSLEIGH
Mens: 1.09.32 heinz stranzl (aus)
Womens: 1.10.38 sally evans (can)

FIGURE SKATING
Womens: 5114 karen turner (usa)

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8.UNLOCKABLES

You can unlock these costumes when you do different
cahllenges in the game.
Bear -  win in mens championship.
Penguin - win in womens championship.
Robot - get all golds in mens and womens events.

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9. CONTACT ME

Thanks for reading my guide and I hoped it helped you
get those medal that you were chasing. If you want to
e-mail me about anything about the guide,
improvements, or the records feel free to e-mail
[email protected].

Thank you! Goodnight!