Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) Review

Mario and Sonic write a new chapter in videogame history by teaming up together for the first time in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. At a glance the game has amazing potential to attract people of all cultures, ages and gaming skill and control possibilities only limited by the imagination. So does this game steal the party crown from Wii sports or do Mario and Sonic make a terrible duo?

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has the typical structure concurrent with past official Olympic video games, which is a large list of mini-game structured events played in either Circuits or Single Matches. In addition, there are objective based Missions for each of the 16 characters in the game along with an impressive but short lived Gallery where trivia, unlockable tunes and even more mini-games await. The game boasts 20 authentic Olympic events, plus a handful of ’dream’ events which are fantasy themed events related to either Mario or Sonic. The title is easily forgiven for being just a collection of mini-games due to the context and the amount of unlockable content to see and achievement awards to be won. Individual circuits involve playing through multiple events, with your point total at the end of the series determining whether or not the attempt was victorious. Upon completion of a circuit the player may unlock new content including trophies, additional events and other circuits. Circuits can also be played with multiple players and with specific custom events, however while playing with friends the ability to unlock additional trophies and circuits is removed.

Mission mode is divided into six individual missions for each character where you must accomplish a certain task, such as achieving a target distance or time in a specific event. Single Match mode allows you to go straight to any unlocked event you wish to play. The Gallery is a fantastic part of the game for the short time it lasts. There are five categories of Olympic related trivia with matching mini-games. Complete these mini-games and you unlock the answer to trivia questions. Completion of all levels in a category will unlock classic Mario and Sonic music for exclusive use in the gallery. The most promise Mario & Sonic showed prior to release was the potential for innovative and intuitive controls. Unfortunately this actually proves to be the game’s largest problem.

The controls are not only unintuitive but unimaginative as well with barely any resemblance to real life actions. Half of the events in the game use one of two terrible control methods; either manic shaking of the Wii remote and Nunchuck or single flicks of the Wii remote. The shaking controls may be rather novel at first but in successive play sessions when the difficulty undergoes a rather sudden steep increase the replay value of such games drops dramatically due to physical exhaustion and aches. The remote flick is unreliable at best and I personally do not know anyone able to explain the difference between what determines a good performance and what determines a bad one. The other half of the events do not use either the shake nor flick control methods and instead opt for other combinations that are generally a blend of good and bad controls themselves.

Even so, such methods never feel natural. More seasoned gamers will come to terms with the controls rather easily, but for the casual crowd and non-gamers they prove to be rather discouraging. For someone who would rarely pick up a controller it simply doesn’t compare to a game such as Wii Sports that mimics real-life actions to a relative extent. Motivation will certainly be key for newcomers. Herein we see the fundamental flaw in Mario & Sonic’s design. The mini-games are simply too shallow to entertain those who play long enough to overcome the controls and others will be scared off by the non-practical nature of the majority of the control mechanisms. Gamers particularly will grow tired of the game, with any attempts to seek redemption by beating high scores or rapid play being discouraged rather effectively by arm aches.

There is a niche crowd who will love this game, but Mario & Sonic will not replace Wii Sports. If there is one positive thing to say about the controls it is that the majority of the events requesting use of the Nunchuck attachment don’t necessarily require it. However the events that don’t require Nunchuck at all still require you to remove the thing before playing, which proves to be potentially annoying in its own right. In a more positive light Mario & Sonic’s graphics are bright and vibrant, with a rock solid frame rate. There are some oddities like blocky 2D bystanders but overall the game maintains a top level of presentation, higher than that of the majority of existing Wii titles. Loading times are short but one wonders why they exist at all.

Additionally, pointless cut-scenes between the players’ turns slow down the game’s pace significantly. Music is adequate, comfortably accompanying events although sound effects and voices are a tad generic. Still the production values here prove to be much higher than any other mini-game title on the Wii, even though areas requiring attention and improvement are a tad obvious. The game has many nice touches of love and care from its developer. Unlockable emblems, crowns and medals give an Xbox Live achievement vibe and in addition emblems can be added next to your name and score on the online leader boards. Real Olympic and World Records are used in the game and the events strike the right balance between realism and fantasy when relating to these records. Mii integration, Olympic trivia and the occasional inventive control scheme all give Mario & Sonic a certain charm.

The combination of intellectual properties and targeted demographics allowed Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to stand out from the pack of mini-game compilations on the Wii. It is the best Olympic Games video game to date and as a collection of mini-games it does a very good job of distancing itself from the otherwise sour genre, a fact which makes it so unfortunate the game shoots itself in the foot with fundamentals. Unclear and unintuitive controls plague early experiences and discourage non-gamers from sticking around for the long haul. At the same time repetitive gameplay and the exhausting nature of certain events make for a poor extended player experience. Although the game can be both highly entertaining and enjoyable, Mario & Sonic ultimately fails to provide either in any form of consistency.