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review :: mario and sonic at the olympic games
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Reviewed on: WiiAvailable on: Wii
Mario and Sonic together in the one game for the first time EVER! Is it the epic event we've anticipated, or an epic letdown?
Players: 1 - 4 Players
Genre:
Release: 2007-11-22
Genre:
Release: 2007-11-22
Developer: Sega
Distributor: Sega
Distributor: Sega
The year was 1991.
I was in grade 5 at a public primary school in this year, and was already by that stage a seasoned gaming connoisseur. I was also, unashamedly, a Nintendo fanboy, having owned my NES for many years and was waiting with desperate anticipation for the Australian launch of the SNES (yes, even back then Australia got shafted with release dates).
Back then Mario was an invincible figure, and even among the non-gamers there was an almost reverent respect, they could call you names and a geek for playing PC’s, but Mario was different. The Fred Savage movie ‘The Wizard’ solidified that.
Sega was around of course, and I enjoyed the Master System enough, it had some entertaining games but nothing that really grabbed me the same way Mario, Metroid or Zelda had. Even the launch of the Sega Megadrive didn’t really interest me, I hired it from the local video store a few times but found most of the games were pretty, but rather hollow and lacking substance.
I distinctly remember reading a copy of EGM (Electronic Gamers Monthly) and seeing screenshots of a new game being heralded as the next big thing, and this blue hedgehog character being Sega’s ‘Mario killer’. I was intrigued, but not concerned. After all, how could another game possibly hope to achieve what Nintendo had built up in such a short time.
The next year, I bought a Sega Megadrive with Sonic the Hedgehog on it.
Since then, I’ve never been an ‘exclusive’ fanboy of any system, although I can’t say the same for the majority of my gaming friends over the last 15 or so years. Sega vs Nintendo, Mario vs Sonic. No video game rivalry was ever this big, and I doubt any will ever rival it ever again.
So here we are, now in the year 2007 (2008 now), and for the first time EVER, Mario and Sonic are in the same game.
I want you to take a moment to realise how epic this event ACTUALLY is. Even if you were never around back in the golden era of video games, even if you never played the original games, you NEED to know how important those two mascots helped shape and define the gaming companies they represented. Mario and Sonic have been in over a hundred games EACH over the many years, on every console and electronic device capable of displaying graphics. And this is the first time they have ever been together!
Seriously ... to me, this is an epic and huge event.
So the fact that it’s a kids game set to the background of the Olympic games was initially a little disappointing.
Sure, it makes a bit of sense. You wouldn’t want the first meeting to be Sonic appearing in a ‘Mario’ game, or vice versa. It needed to be on neutral ground. And sure, the Olympic games is about as far removed from EITHER franchise to make it a bizarre choice for BOTH of them.
Of course, it’s not JUST Mario and Sonic. They both bring with them a wealth of other characters from their extensive history of gaming. Mario brings his brother, the princess, bowser, yoshi, and all his cheap rip-off ‘doppelgangers’ like Wario. Sonic has a much smaller and therefore obscure collection, containing series regulars Tails, Knuckles and Dr Eggman, but also others that I have never seen before. And this coming from a guy who owned and played Chaotix on the 32X.
There's a difference between Peach and Daisy?
The game itself ... well ... I don’t know really. I just feel there’s not really that much to talk about. It’s an Olympic game that split up into different events, like track & field, rowing, trampoline, javelin, hammer throw, swimming, etc.
The game is designed to be playable with 4 people, and initially I thought it may make it a good party game. However, it doesn’t give a really good impression of skill when playing it. It tends to either be a case of ‘shake the controller as fast as you can in a certain direction’ or ‘move the controller and press a button in line with the on screen prompts’. I’m not nesscarily saying it’s a bad control scheme, but it is so simplistic that it’s frustrating when playing against other people because it feels the winner is entirely determined on factors that are beyond your own control.
Not to mention the fact that – let’s be honest, in a track and field event, Sonic is going to be the winner, hands down.
There are some exceptions. The hammer throw is very similar to the ‘cow tossing’ in Rayman Raving Rabbids, and is good fun. The trampoline section is entertaining, requiring you to ‘jump’ with the controller and while in the air being prompted to twist the controller and press the correct buttons. It’s just annoying when you consider they could have made the movements free roaming, letting people make up their OWN movements while in the air, and generated scores that way. However, it’s a good example of who the game is aimed at – kids.
Where's Ian Thorpe when you need him?
And really, the Mario and Sonic games have ALWAYS kind of been marketed and aimed at a younger market. It’s just frustrating because that younger market 15 years ago is now all grown up, and yet the franchises are the same.
There are moments of greatness though, but you need to go unlock a whole bunch of events to get to them (serious, enough with having to play through a mini-game based game to unlock them all ... it’s cheap and unnecessary). There are certain ‘special events’ that feel and play more like glorified versions of Mario Kart, which is not a bad thing at all. Including special power boxes and obstacles, you race in a 3rd person view, and it’s AWESOME.
Mario & Sonic Racing? Mario in the go-kart, Sonic just running? Seems to make more sense to me.
The only other thing worthy of note on the game is the unlockables, of which there are plenty. I actually got caught up in beating even smaller mini-games than the main events in order to find out more useless trivia about the Olympics, or unlock music from the original Mario and Sonic games. Did you know the last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely of gold were awarded in 1912? Or that the 1960 Olympic games opening was organised by Walt Disney?
Not really the epic showdown any of us expected, is it?
Ultimately it’s hard to recommend this title to the die hard gamers anticipating the epic clash of franchises – wait until Super Smash Bros. For now, this title is one that will appeal to a younger audience, offers a few challenges for experienced gamers, and brings a few smiles to the faces for those of us who remember a time where you would get punched in the face if you ever suggested Mario and Sonics’ first in game pairing would someday be in a sports game.
I was in grade 5 at a public primary school in this year, and was already by that stage a seasoned gaming connoisseur. I was also, unashamedly, a Nintendo fanboy, having owned my NES for many years and was waiting with desperate anticipation for the Australian launch of the SNES (yes, even back then Australia got shafted with release dates).
Back then Mario was an invincible figure, and even among the non-gamers there was an almost reverent respect, they could call you names and a geek for playing PC’s, but Mario was different. The Fred Savage movie ‘The Wizard’ solidified that.
Sega was around of course, and I enjoyed the Master System enough, it had some entertaining games but nothing that really grabbed me the same way Mario, Metroid or Zelda had. Even the launch of the Sega Megadrive didn’t really interest me, I hired it from the local video store a few times but found most of the games were pretty, but rather hollow and lacking substance.
I distinctly remember reading a copy of EGM (Electronic Gamers Monthly) and seeing screenshots of a new game being heralded as the next big thing, and this blue hedgehog character being Sega’s ‘Mario killer’. I was intrigued, but not concerned. After all, how could another game possibly hope to achieve what Nintendo had built up in such a short time.
The next year, I bought a Sega Megadrive with Sonic the Hedgehog on it.
Since then, I’ve never been an ‘exclusive’ fanboy of any system, although I can’t say the same for the majority of my gaming friends over the last 15 or so years. Sega vs Nintendo, Mario vs Sonic. No video game rivalry was ever this big, and I doubt any will ever rival it ever again.
So here we are, now in the year 2007 (2008 now), and for the first time EVER, Mario and Sonic are in the same game.
I want you to take a moment to realise how epic this event ACTUALLY is. Even if you were never around back in the golden era of video games, even if you never played the original games, you NEED to know how important those two mascots helped shape and define the gaming companies they represented. Mario and Sonic have been in over a hundred games EACH over the many years, on every console and electronic device capable of displaying graphics. And this is the first time they have ever been together!
Seriously ... to me, this is an epic and huge event.
So the fact that it’s a kids game set to the background of the Olympic games was initially a little disappointing.
Sure, it makes a bit of sense. You wouldn’t want the first meeting to be Sonic appearing in a ‘Mario’ game, or vice versa. It needed to be on neutral ground. And sure, the Olympic games is about as far removed from EITHER franchise to make it a bizarre choice for BOTH of them.
Of course, it’s not JUST Mario and Sonic. They both bring with them a wealth of other characters from their extensive history of gaming. Mario brings his brother, the princess, bowser, yoshi, and all his cheap rip-off ‘doppelgangers’ like Wario. Sonic has a much smaller and therefore obscure collection, containing series regulars Tails, Knuckles and Dr Eggman, but also others that I have never seen before. And this coming from a guy who owned and played Chaotix on the 32X.
There's a difference between Peach and Daisy?
The game itself ... well ... I don’t know really. I just feel there’s not really that much to talk about. It’s an Olympic game that split up into different events, like track & field, rowing, trampoline, javelin, hammer throw, swimming, etc.
The game is designed to be playable with 4 people, and initially I thought it may make it a good party game. However, it doesn’t give a really good impression of skill when playing it. It tends to either be a case of ‘shake the controller as fast as you can in a certain direction’ or ‘move the controller and press a button in line with the on screen prompts’. I’m not nesscarily saying it’s a bad control scheme, but it is so simplistic that it’s frustrating when playing against other people because it feels the winner is entirely determined on factors that are beyond your own control.
Not to mention the fact that – let’s be honest, in a track and field event, Sonic is going to be the winner, hands down.
There are some exceptions. The hammer throw is very similar to the ‘cow tossing’ in Rayman Raving Rabbids, and is good fun. The trampoline section is entertaining, requiring you to ‘jump’ with the controller and while in the air being prompted to twist the controller and press the correct buttons. It’s just annoying when you consider they could have made the movements free roaming, letting people make up their OWN movements while in the air, and generated scores that way. However, it’s a good example of who the game is aimed at – kids.
Where's Ian Thorpe when you need him?
And really, the Mario and Sonic games have ALWAYS kind of been marketed and aimed at a younger market. It’s just frustrating because that younger market 15 years ago is now all grown up, and yet the franchises are the same.
There are moments of greatness though, but you need to go unlock a whole bunch of events to get to them (serious, enough with having to play through a mini-game based game to unlock them all ... it’s cheap and unnecessary). There are certain ‘special events’ that feel and play more like glorified versions of Mario Kart, which is not a bad thing at all. Including special power boxes and obstacles, you race in a 3rd person view, and it’s AWESOME.
Mario & Sonic Racing? Mario in the go-kart, Sonic just running? Seems to make more sense to me.
The only other thing worthy of note on the game is the unlockables, of which there are plenty. I actually got caught up in beating even smaller mini-games than the main events in order to find out more useless trivia about the Olympics, or unlock music from the original Mario and Sonic games. Did you know the last Olympic gold medals that were made entirely of gold were awarded in 1912? Or that the 1960 Olympic games opening was organised by Walt Disney?
Not really the epic showdown any of us expected, is it?
Ultimately it’s hard to recommend this title to the die hard gamers anticipating the epic clash of franchises – wait until Super Smash Bros. For now, this title is one that will appeal to a younger audience, offers a few challenges for experienced gamers, and brings a few smiles to the faces for those of us who remember a time where you would get punched in the face if you ever suggested Mario and Sonics’ first in game pairing would someday be in a sports game.
Final Verdict
Not the epic showdown expected by gamers from the golden era of gaming, however a fun title aimed at a much younger demographic.Pros
It's Mario and Sonic together at last! Play as almost any character from both franchises, some of the mini-games are fun, the unlockable special events are great fun, good multiplayer title for younger gamers, useless trivia.
Cons
Not the epic showdown expected, mini-games are really basic and not very deep.