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Mario & Sonic at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games


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So... guess what I've been playing for the last couple of hours!

 

mc4zr9.jpg

 

First impressions? It's... actually not that terrible. It's your standard Mario & Sonic fare though, so if you didn't like the other ones you're not going to like this one. There's definitely a lot of improvements the jump to Wii U has brought though - notably, the visuals are a lot nicer and the interface feels a lot less clunky than in previous games. Oh, and Wii MotionPlus really does make quite a difference. I played the original Winter Olympics game the other day for comparison purposes and this one definitely feels more precise. The GamePad has its uses too (some better than others) and I found it came in handy for curling because you can actually see where your throws are going to end up.

 

I haven't played all of the events yet but from the ones I have, some are good fun (Bullet Bill Sleigh comes to mind) and others are a bit more cumbersome like Bobsleigh. But nothing outright unplayable yet.

 

One thing that absolutely must be said about the game - the music. Oh my freaking lord, the music. It's incredible. There's a Windy Hill Zone 1 remix as part of the standard Figure Skating event (alongside a Super Mario World remix) and you unlock countless other music as the game goes on - there's even a rockin' remix of the Super Mario 64 slide music! So, so good. And lots of other unremixed classics too, like Escape From The City.

 

Also, for those wondering how the scenarios go in the Dream Figure Skating events, they are as follows...

 

Mario:

3D Land Overworld -> Magikoopa appears, boss music -> "Bowser" battle -> more 3D Land Overworld

 

Sonic:

Planet Wisp (complete with Yacker looking for his friends) -> Starlight Carnival -> Big Boy boss (you destroy him using Unlimited Colours!) -> Tropical Resort

 

I'll post up more impressions later. For now though, it's an alright game, nothing special but not the complete trainwreck some seem to be saying it is. But then again I kinda liked the previous games, so that probably helps.

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So... guess what I've been playing for the last couple of hours!

 

mc4zr9.jpg

 

First impressions? It's... actually not that terrible. It's your standard Mario & Sonic fare though, so if you didn't like the other ones you're not going to like this one. There's definitely a lot of improvements the jump to Wii U has brought though - notably, the visuals are a lot nicer and the interface feels a lot less clunky than in previous games. Oh, and Wii MotionPlus really does make quite a difference. I played the original Winter Olympics game the other day for comparison purposes and this one definitely feels more precise. The GamePad has its uses too (some better than others) and I found it came in handy for curling because you can actually see where your throws are going to end up.

 

I haven't played all of the events yet but from the ones I have, some are good fun (Bullet Bill Sleigh comes to mind) and others are a bit more cumbersome like Bobsleigh. But nothing outright unplayable yet.

 

One thing that absolutely must be said about the game - the music. Oh my freaking lord, the music. It's incredible. There's a Windy Hill Zone 1 remix as part of the standard Figure Skating event (alongside a Super Mario World remix) and you unlock countless other music as the game goes on - there's even a rockin' remix of the Super Mario 64 slide music! So, so good. And lots of other unremixed classics too, like Escape From The City.

 

Also, for those wondering how the scenarios go in the Dream Figure Skating events, they are as follows...

 

Mario:

3D Land Overworld -> Magikoopa appears, boss music -> "Bowser" battle -> more 3D Land Overworld

 

Sonic:

Planet Wisp (complete with Yacker looking for his friends) -> Starlight Carnival -> Big Boy boss (you destroy him using Unlimited Colours!) -> Tropical Resort

 

I'll post up more impressions later. For now though, it's an alright game, nothing special but not the complete trainwreck some seem to be saying it is. But then again I kinda liked the previous games, so that probably helps.

How would it be for someone playing a console M&S for the first time?

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How would it be for someone playing a console M&S for the first time?

 

It's probably not a bad entry point actually, seeing as you won't get the same feeling of deja vu that those who've played previous entries will undoubtedly get. As long as you don't go into it expecting anything more than an average minigame collection with some neat Mario & Sonic fanservice thrown in, then it probably won't disappoint.

 

I'll see if that opinion changes after spending some more time with it though. My first impressions might be misleading.

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It's probably not a bad entry point actually, seeing as you won't get the same feeling of deja vu that those who've played previous entries will undoubtedly get. As long as you don't go into it expecting anything more than an average minigame collection with some neat Mario & Sonic fanservice thrown in, then it probably won't disappoint.

 

I'll see if that opinion changes after spending some more time with it though. My first impressions might be misleading.

I have 3 sisters who love the classic mario party games, and are major minigame people,and I enjoy decent Sonic games no matter how mediocre, and it comes with a wii-mote, I think I will be fine

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So, a few more impressions...

 

Unsurprisingly, the Dream Events are the highlight of the game. Rollercoaster Bobsleigh around Speed Highway is a real thrill and actually feels like something ripped straight out of Sonic Generations - it has the highway sections, going down the side of the building... it even has 2D sections, of all things! Very impressive. The Groove Pipe Snowboard event around Mushroom Bridge is pretty neat as well.

 

Hole-in-One Curling is... interesting. It plays perfectly fine, and Green Hill Zone is again ripped straight out of Generations aesthetically (alongside some Splash Hill Zone remixes), but it's a very odd concept, more akin to golf than curling. One person pushes the giant stone, the other steers it. You keep going until you reach the "hole" at the end of the course.

 

I can see Ice Hockey (both Olympic and Dream) becoming a firm favourite due to its accessible yet competitive nature. Think Mario Strikers but much more simplistic. Plus it's the only game aside from Snowball Scrimmage that fully uses traditional controls (well, aside from the "slide to shoot" power shots, but they're hardly that taxing).

 

Erm... what else to say... oh yes! Winter Sports Champion Race. Very fun event and glad to see something like this in the game, walking the line between a normal and Dream event. You'll likely have your own favourite form of racing though - bobsleigh picks up some insane speed once you get it going on the ice, whereas snowboards can grind along rails for shortcuts and skis are the all-round ones... and ice skates just kinda suck, really. Has a nice bit of variety to it anyway, and it's not over in a flash either - each race lasts a good couple of minutes.

 

Oh, and I suppose I should discuss the "story" mode, Legends Showdown. If you're hoping for something akin to the Adventure Tours in Winter Olympics DS or the whole fog mystery thing in London 2012 3DS... prepare to be disappointed. The mode literally involves 5 different sets of 4 characters facing off with shadowy versions of themselves for no apparent reason other than to show off all of the game's events one by one. And some *ahem* "legends" show up at the end of each area, though I'd hardly describe Jet the Hawk or Birdo in such a way. There's only about 3 actual cutscenes and they contain no dialogue, they're just your typical opening and ending scenes. A missed opportunity overall, but a good enough way to see everything the game has to offer - and it only lasts a couple of hours at most.

 

That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has any questions in the meantime, feel free to fire away!

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So, who are the rivals this time around and where do you face them? Besides Birdo, King Boo and Jet. I read somewhere Gamma would be a rival, but I suppose they mistook him for Omega.

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I got the game as well today. I’ve played a good few hours of it so here are my impressions so far. Minus the online mode since I haven’t tried it yet.

 

 

I’m having a lot of fun so far! The main events themselves for the most part are what we have played before in the previous Winter Olympics but the added Motion Plus (Finally) and tweaked controls make the difference. For example the speed skating event in the last game had you swing the remote in rhythm once you got a pattern down. This time you have arrows on screen indicating when to swing. So this will please some who found it as little hard before.

 

 

The new main sports added are pretty fun. Snowboard Slopestyle is my favourite of the new ones and others like Figure Skating Pairs, oh man that’ll be hilariously awkward when playing with friends and family.

 

 

The Dream Events as usual steal the show. Each one is great fun to play and the representations of both Mario and Sonic worlds are a blast. Winter Sports Champion Race is a great new addition that’s going to make replaying it a fun experience. I love the idea of combining 4 styles of sports into one race, it’s really entertaining stuff. Another one of my favorites is Roller Coaster Bobsleigh. It’s fast, it’s fun, it’s Speed Highway so hell yeah it’s fun.

 

 

The Rival Showdown was a fun little mode to introduce you to all the games events. I do wish there was more to it though. You’ll beat it in about an hour and a half and unless you want to aim for a higher score and beat the A.I at a higher difficulty then you may not come back to this one a lot. Festival Mode from the previous Winter Olympics was a lot better.

 

 

Medley Mania is basically where you play four mini games of the same type ranging from jumping medley to Sonic Medley and so on. You can even create your own medleys should you wish. I really like this feature myself. It’s great for those who want to play a certain set of games in whatever way they want. It’ll be great when playing with others.

 

 

The Action & Answer Tour is another one of the newest modes added to this year’s game. It’s a decent mode that has you playing altered versions of the mini games where you have to answer questions while playing them. I’m not sure which I prefer from the London Party Mode in the last game compared to Action & Answer Tour so I’ll probably have to play it more to have an opinion on that.

 

 

 

If there’s one thing this game does very well it’s the presentation. The graphics look brill bringing each world to life. The HD makeover really makes this stand out. Seeing Mario and Sonic levels in HD is eye meltingly awesome. The audience is still paper thin but it’s a very minor thing compared to the graphics overall. Then there’s the music. Oh my god the music in this game is simply amazing! If you like remixes then you’re going to love what’s been done here. Even the normal events sound really good so I don’t see myself changing the music on them a lot. I think this entry in the series may have the best soundtrack to date.

 

 

In terms of issues there are a few. While the controls have vastly improved thanks to Wii Motion Plus, in some events I did lose control of my character only a few times. This doesn’t happen in every event thankfully but you’ll be able to re-calibrate the motion plus should it mess up. Figure Skating has moments when you move the remote up, down, left and right in time with the arrows on screen. It works for the most part but I could never get the down motion to work. Am I doing something wrong? The gamepad has some good uses in some events and kind of unnecessary ones in others. The ones that feel like the gamepad is not really needed will be able to use the Wii Remote Plus instead.

 

 

For those who played the previous Winter Olympics before then it’s pretty much more of the same here. There isn’t a lot of new stuff so you may want to keep that in mind before you decide to purchase it unless you really enjoyed the last Winter Olympics. There are also fewer events than previous games so that may put some people off. Also when are we going to get new characters and rivals? The character selection I'm still happy with but man three games now and still no new ones. Please Sega add new ones in the next game.

 

 

 

 

So yeah I’m really enjoying this game. It may be more of the same but I’m having way too much fun to really care. The mini games have better control methods, the presentation is solid and having an online mode only sweetens the deal. It’s not as bad as people are making it out to be but I can totally understand if others aren’t too keen. I’m not sure if this title can beat the previous Winter Games for me but man it’s looking close.


So, who are the rivals this time around and where do you face them? Besides Birdo, King Boo and Jet. I read somewhere Gamma would be a rival, but I suppose they mistook him for Omega.

No new rivals. Same as the last ones. You face them in Rival Showdown.

Edited by BlueTidalGamer
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Launch Trailer:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V24kJ7qVTl8

 

It's officially out in Europe today! Yay! Anyone going to get it?

 

...anyone?

 

Apart from me of course because I am a glutton for punishment

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SPOILERS! LEAGUES SHOWDOWN ENDING VIDEO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U0pgFWxMQE

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So, the games out today here in Australia sadly, I can't get it :( But i've been watching gameplay, and all I can say so far is that the Speed highway remix is amazing! It's basically a modern version of the classic remix :D The Sonic figure skating is good too I couldn't help but sing that 1 line of reach for the stars that played ("Not letting go, I'll keep on running!"). I'm probably gonna get the game for Christmas, or if i'm lucky, I might get it earlier than that

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Say a question, you already said it would be pretty good for a newcomer, though lets phrase it this way, if its the wii-mote that you are mainly after is it worth getting the game(though I do want the game as welll

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Say a question, you already said it would be pretty good for a newcomer, though lets phrase it this way, if its the wii-mote that you are mainly after is it worth getting the game(though I do want the game as welll

If you're after a Wii Remote Plus then this is as good a bundle as any to get one, sure it's not the most exciting game ever but if you plan to buy it anyway then you may as well go for it, seeing as you need a Wii Remote Plus to play the majority of events in the first place.

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If you're after a Wii Remote Plus then this is as good a bundle as any to get one, sure it's not the most exciting game ever but if you plan to buy it anyway then you may as well go for it, seeing as you need a Wii Remote Plus to play the majority of events in the first place.

well, I have one, but I could use another, I am also a major M&S fan, and me and my sisters love a good minigame collection, and I dont think that wii party u alone would work

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well, I have one, but I could use another, I am also a major M&S fan, and me and my sisters love a good minigame collection, and I dont think that wii party u alone would work

I say go for it then! Definitely sounds like you'll find enough enjoyment to warrant a purchase.

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No new rivals. Same as the last ones. You face them in Rival Showdown.

Actually, isn't Kamek new as a rival? He appeared in London 2012 in the Dream Equestrian Event, but this time you actually have to face him in a race. So with Birdo being new in London 2012, at least they keep adding rivals to the series...one per game.

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I have to say after playing this game for a day, it's now my favorite game in the series. The graphics are beautiful, the music is fantastic, and I have yet too have any issue with the controls scheme. I really enjoy all the events this game has to offer, with pair figure skating and dream figure skating being some of my favorites! One thing that is kinda lame is that there are barely any events to play online (that and its difficult to find people globally), but getting in a skype call with 3 other people all over the world and playing all the online events back to back is a lot fun (and hardly no lag at all!). Hopefully in the next game they can continue improving on the online and make more events playable. But I think the real selling point for me in this game is the charm. I freaking love that certain pair of characters have different win animations. It's really cute to see Mario twirl around as he lands on Yoshi back and does a pose, same goes too Amy and she grabs onto Sonic hands, jumping up and down with excitement after dancing with her blue hero. It's something I really been dying too see as I felt all the characters in the previous games were so lifeless, not even acknowledging the other characters existence. If you are a fan of any of the previous games in the series I defiantly say you should give it a try. There are a lot things that have been just ported over from the last winter olympics, but I think there will be enough new content to hold you over!

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Why is this game getting bad reviews again, I mean I know its basically the same as its wii counterpart with some good improvements to it but all and all it looks like a pretty solid game, only problem I am really seeing right now (judging on videos) is that the tutorial is now shown in a slower fashion instead of just all being there on the screen.

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Seen most tunes have been uploaded on to YouTube. Now all we need is a download for the Ripped OST.

 

Anyone up to it?

 

...

 

Anyone? 

 

7IMS3hS.jpg

Edited by Red
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Methinks we'll be waiting a little while before we see a ripped OST, but as you say, some of the soundtrack is on YouTube now at least. Here's the Figure Skating Windy Hill remix for everyone who wants to have a listen in the meantime!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv9SaOcKJaY

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Is there an equivalent to London Party in this?

 

There's a mode called Action & Answer tour which is a quiz show hosted by everyone's favourite robot duo Orbot and Cubot. It's definitely the closest to a "party" mode as it focuses on smaller minigames and scoring points. From what I remember of London Party, this one isn't quite as in-depth as that was, but it's a reasonable enough distraction if you're after that sorta thing.

 

In other news, word on the street is Mario & Sonic 2014 completely bombed in the UK charts its opening weekend. It failed to enter the Individual or All Formats Top 40, and ranked only #10 in the Wii U chart (while Sonic Lost World dropped from #3 to #9). Not looking good for Sonic at the moment.

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Apparently there's some sort of quiz thing that covers the party side, and Legacy mode covers the mini-game playing side. 

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