Preview: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Mascot relations have become frosty in SEGAs sequel to their hit Wii game. We go hands on with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

When winter descends and universes crossover, it’s gotta suck to be the mascot without pants. Think about it. During the summer Olympics those shameless, streaking, SEGA nudists ran rings around the competition thanks to their greatly reduced wind-resistance and their comfortable, non-chafed nether regions. But now, as per her bitch status, karma has up and turned the tables, thanks to sub-zero, hobo-culling temperatures.

Pay attention, sports fans. Because if you like winning events – or even basic survival – then you like blood circulation, and wearing a big-arsed plumbers hat and thick, dorky overalls is going to pay dividends. Conversely, the ’ultra cool’ hedgehogs of the world are likely to freeze their decidedly blue (spin)balls right the hell off. Yes sir, apparently revenge IS a dish best served cold (with a side order of teste hypothermia).

For those of you who never shook hands with it, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was one of the biggest selling third-party Wii titles ever made, with the Wii and DS versions combined have shifted a mind-boggling 10 million units. There are many reasons why the original experience was so successful; it was officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it had global selling appeal, and it marked the very first time Mario and Sonic squared off against each other in a game. In fact, it would have taken a lot of effort to purposefully that game up.

Well, the earth has fully rotated twice since then, and SEGA and Nintendo have once more joined forces – like some sort of corporate Voltron robot – for yet another bash at the sales world record. In preparation for this momentous event we decided to replay the original Olympic odyssey, and unfortunately it quickly reminded us that it was not quite a solid gold medal experience. To be brutally honest, it lacked both polish and the pick-up-and-play simplicity that makes a party game both accessible and fun. Instead, the controls in some mini-games ranged from good to non-intuitive, and even, in some cases, downright frustrating. That said, we were only cautiously optimistic when we went to check out this sporting sequel…

First on the checklist; characters. You’re only looking at a handful of newcomers this time around, and they’re all divided up into four specific types, Speed Type: Metal Sonic, Yoshi, Shadow, Daisy and Sonic. Power Type: D.K., Wario, Vector, Bowser, Knuckles. Skill Type: Peach, Tails, Waluigi, Eggman, and Silver. Last but not least, you have All-Rounders: Mario, Amy, Luigi. Blaze, Bowser Jr.

Despite which one you choose (and the added chill-factor), this sequel retains the same basic idea of its predecessor; you control your favourite mascot through various authentic Olympic events that each have their own specifically tailored mechanics. The events we can tell you about include Alpine Skiing (Downhill, Slalom), Snowboarding (Halfpipe), Speed Skating (500m, 1000m, relay), Figure skating, and Bobsleigh (either solo, or with a sexually questionable four man team). Obviously there are more events (we counted spots for fourteen, or so), but we’ve promised SEGA not to let the hedgehog out of the hessian bag just yet.

How did they play? Well, here’s the basic gist. Alpine Ski involves timing a downward stroke to a quick ‘3,2,1’ countdown and then you’ll need to hold the Wii Remote like a rudder stick to steer through the flags. Snowboarding involves making timed, gesture-based, Wii Remote movements to execute jumps and tricks. Speed Skating had a great sense of speed and involves timing left and right flicks to match the increasing rhythm of the onscreen character’s legs. Figure Skating involves selecting Wario, and having his fat arse dance to The Nutcracker (the less said about this grotesque-yet-fun display, the better). Finally, Bobsleigh brings back a flood of Cool Runnings flashbacks, by thrashing the Wii-mote to run-launch the sleigh, and then doing more ‘rudder stick steering’ to get around the course.

While it’s still early days yet, we’re happy to say that M&S Winter Olympics is definitely steering in the right direction. It has slick ‘Olympic quality’ presentation, a decent selection of events, and it features Waluigi (Waluigi is the freakin’ MAN). We only have minor concerns at this point, and these all have to do with the controls. Winter Olympics is in the precarious position where it has to straddle the fine line between having controls and mechanics accessible enough to let ‘anyone’ pick it up and join in on the multiplayer – plus, it needs to have enough nuance and depth to it to keep the Nigel-no-friends single-player happy.

From what we’ve seen thus far, it’s leaning towards the former, sure you can hook in a Nunchuk, or a Balance Board to make the controls a little more responsive, a little deeper – but that may not be enough to keep the hardcore happy. What WILL keep that grumpy, single-playing old guard happy are the Dream events. There are eleven or so available (to be unlocked by achieving certain criteria) and they seem to be mostly about reimagining the main events – but with some good old fashioned butt-stomping competitiveness in them. For example, Dream Snowboard Cross features jumps that would kill and ordinary man, Sonic-esque speed pads, and randomized weapon boxes a’la Mario Kart.

When you take those diversions into account, M&S Winter Olympics really does seem to be offering something for everyone. It has a tonne of events to attempt and perfect, there are plenty of medals and Mii fashion accessories to and collect, and it went off like a hog in a sack during our four person multiplayer sessions. After sampling just a portion of this sporting extravaganza, we’ve got the chills – and they’re multiplyin’.

Thanks to Adam for being awesome and previewing the game for us, and for SEGA Australia for letting us have a go.