Olympic Games Rio 2016: 7 sports games to get you in the mood

It's summer, and a one that lies an arbitrary four years since some big sporting event. You know what that means? That's right, it's….

The European Championships!

Oh wait, that already happened. I mean it's…

The Olympics!

But what games are out there to quench your sporting thirst, and get you in the mood for the Olympics? Well just like a good limbo-er, we've got the lowdown. Take a look!

Where else to start, other than the official Rio 2016 game? Like a good old gymnast, this one snuck up on us (is that what gymnasts do? I've never been to a 'gym' and I'm not a 'nast' so I'm not quite sure).

Either way, this is a decent little mini game compilation, and in the absence of a fully-fledged console Olympics title this year, this becomes the flagship Olympic game for Rio 2016.

If you love the Olympics, but hate sport, then what the hell is wrong with you?

Also, there's a game just for you!

Rio 2016: Vinicius Run follows the journey of the official Olympic mascot, Vinicius, through the jungles of Rio. Just don't expect there to be any actual, you know, sport. It's all birds and gems and snails, for some reason.

What even is Vinicius, anyway? A fox? A bandicoot? A typically terrible sporting mascot designed by committee? Only time will tell.

If you fancy another autorunner but hate the sound of the aforementioned mammalian monster, then you may like a little known game called Temple Run 2.

I've never heard of it, but apparently Usain Bolt is an unlockable character in it, so you can finally live your dream of being an Olympic sprinter running away from a giant boulder creature.

Basketball Stars

In doing actual research for this feature, I discovered that basketball is a sport in the Olympic Games!

I thought it was just what you played at school if it was too rainy to play football.

If you fancy trotting like the Harlems, or Shaqueillin' like O'Neil, or… Jamesing, like LeBron, then check out Basketball Stars - it's good, even if you're short!

Pixel Cup Soccer may not have all the official player licences, or the Olympic branding, or even the offside rule, but the lovely pixelly graphics mean if you squint, you can imagine they're your favourite players.

And what's better than your own imagination?

In fact, put down your iPad, and go outside and just imagine playing a game instead.

No, you can't get a new phone for Christmas, you can have an orange and just use your own imagination to have fun, like we used to do when we were kids. Hooray!

Have you ever watched Olympic table tennis? It's insane. They move their hands faster than I move to the fridge at lunchtime (and break time) (and all the time).

Now you can move like this, with Table Tennis Touch! You'll be swiping faster than a shoplifter in no time.

Just don't get yourself tennis elbow, like our reviewer did. Ouch.

Didn't you hear? They're allowing monkey climbing into the next Olympic games. I know! It's gonna be great.

Training is needed if you want to compete in 2020, though. You've got four years, so get your gorilla suit on and let's go!