Jump to content
Awoo.
  • TSS REVIEW: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games


    When word first got round that two of video gaming's biggest names were going to co-star in a game together, tongues were waggling. Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, two bitter rivals, were to settle their differences on a global platform. Literally, as it turns out the location in question is the Beijing Olympics! ... Er, OK.

    Regardless of what you may think about the two juggernauts facing off for the first time in a sports arena, Mario & Sonic does make you feel a little bit tingly inside when you first see it. What's Eggman doing with Bowser? How can Wario run that fast against Sonic? How come Charmy (who cameos as a referee) has no speaking lines? We don't know the answers to any of these questions, but we certainly like it!

    mario__sonic_at_the_olympic_games-nintendo_wiiscreenshots10087fencing_knuck_son2-copy.jpg

    Developed by SEGA's Sports division, it's odd to see that a studio other than Sonic Team has managed to make their flagship characters look and sound better than they have in years. The character animations are spot-on, dropping any of the false pretentiousness they might have had in Sonic 06 or Secret Rings - and dare we say it, they're full of charm. Watching Eggman or Knuckles show off after winning an event is a joy to see, while Shadow leaves the emo at the door and returns to his cocky, stuck-up self from Sonic Adventure 2 ("Hmph, I let you win!").

    Of course, the characters also look great simply because the graphics are great. We've only seen one or two Wii games that look better than Mario & Sonic (one of them being Super Mario Galaxy) and from a console owner's perspective it's good to see a developer actually use some of the graphical power that the Wii has.

    mario__sonic_at_the_olympic_games-nintendo_wiiscreenshots11342cap129.jpg

    As it's based off the real-life Olympic Games, Mario & Sonic is exclusively set in the Beijing national stadium, with all the running, rowing and athletic events taking place within its walls. It's a bit disappointing for a franchise as creatively diverse as Mario or Sonic to be taking a 'real world' approach to things, but this is what you get if you make an official Olympics game.

    Sadly, although there are 'Dream Events' - remixed sporting events touted to be bringing some level of Mario/Sonic franchise familiarity - the locations for these are very drab and boring. Dream Race, for all its premise, is set in what can only be referred to as a cut down Dusty Desert from Sonic 06. Dream Table Tennis and Fencing are just in different 'realistic' venues, and Freefalling reminds us slightly of Knuckles' Chaotix' special stage, but that's about it.

    mario__sonic_at_the_olympic_games-nintendo_wiiscreenshots10030luigi_hammer2.jpg

    That doesn't mean to say you won't have fun with the events themselves. There are roughly nine or ten categories of sports to choose from, each having a special method of control. The 100m race involves shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk up and down alternately to win, while the Trampoline uses only the Remote's motion sensing function to bounce up and down while pressing buttons in time with cues.

    You get some really inventive uses of the Wii Remote here, such as in our favourite event Archery, where the Wii Remote takes the part of the arrow and the Nunchuk the front of the bow. Others make less sense, such as rowing - rather than making consistent rowing motions, players must press two buttons while pulling the Remote and Nunchuk backwards. And some controls, like Fencing, were just overly-complex and confusing to understand.

    mario__sonic_at_the_olympic_games-nintendo_wiiscreenshots11350cap171.jpg

    Despite its enduring single player mode, it does all get slightly tedious on your own - the game is made with friends in mind, which doesn't seem to add up when you realise that you can't actually complete the Circuit Modes with a buddy. That aside, Mario & Sonic is great with three other mates as you all try to throw that javelin further than anyone has before - either locally or even globally.

    You can connect to the Nintendo WiFi to upload your best times, jumps and lengths (oh, matron) on the international leaderboard. While it's not exactly an online multiplayer, it's a start, and it's otherwise a good use of the WiFi Connection. People have some ungodly times out there.

    mario__sonic_at_the_olympic_games-nintendo_wiiscreenshots11612cap260.jpg

    The thing we can't get over is that the World Records from WiFi are not displayed on your console as you're playing the events, meaning you can't effectively challenge the top of the world in real time. Having to manually go into the WiFi option menu just to upload your time is a bit of a pain as well, but the thought of inclusion either way is nice.

    In Closing

    Mario and Sonic's first appearance together makes for a rather subdued experience. The game itself is solid, although there are a few spots of tedium and a few of the events aren't really that satisfying to play.

    As far as franchise representation goes, the character personalities and animations are absolutely perfect, but besides that there's nothing here that would really warrant it as either a 'Mario' or 'Sonic' game. This is 'Wii Sports featuring anthros' deal, but despite this and its other faults you'll still get plenty of fun out of it. Which is sort of the point really, isn't it?


    NOTE: This was given a score of 7/10 at time of original publication. We have converted its score to the below 5-star rating based on this score, and adjusted to best represent the original intent and sentiment of the overall article. This is not a re-scoring of this review.



    The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way. All proceeds will go to supporting our community and continued coverage of Sonic the Hedgehog. Thank you in advance for your kind support!

    Sonic Wiki Database: Related Entries


    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Guest
    This is now closed for further comments



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.