I have finally bought Mario & Sonic at the Olimpic Games after weeks of going over should I or Should I Not well I did so here’s my review. ( I know long over due)

I’m a huge fan of Mario and Sonic games (as most are. less sonic though) so with the star studed epic in mind, I did it I purchased Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.

The basic premise of the game is that you select a character to compete against other people or AI characters in various Olympic events. You have your choice of 8 classic Mario characters, 8 Sonic characters (Ohh doesn’t it scearm fan fare), or anyone from your Mii population. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses, though what those precisely are is revealed only through game play. Out of the box, you know which characters are generally more speedy, powerful, skilled, or all around talented.

The events include several variations meter dashes and relays, long, triple and high jumps, swimming races and the list goes on. All of the activities are not immediately available for play but become unlocked through game play and success. I can’t give more specifics becouse I don’t want to ruin the fun (Though you should of played it by now). Some of the activities like the trampoline and triple jump require precise control and timing and other activities like running and swimming are larger, more generic movements.

There is also something called “Dream Events” that are awarded on a merit basis so play and you’ll find the suprize. The game does allow for 4 separate saved profiles so you can save your progress as you work through the game. Additionally, you can constantly vary the type of game and number of players within 1 profile, which is a nice feature.

Straight out of the box, the unlocked activities are: Trampoline, Javelin Throw, Fencing, Hammer Throw, Long Jump, Triple Jump, 100m Dash, 110m Hurdles, 100m Freestyle and 4×100m Freestyle Swimming, Skeet Shooting and Table Tennis.

At First, I enjoyed the game. I found it interactive (with each other), challenging, and fun. Some of the activities require quite a lot of steps and coordination so I enjoyed that even as an realitvely Hardcore Gamer, I was challenged. I think some of the activities would be too difficult for children and others would be just fine. There is a handicap setting that I suppose you could adjust for children. My favorite events are swimming and trampoline.

The graphics are better than most Wii games I currently own or have seen. However, this comes at a price. The time to reload between rounds or between circuits is 5-10 seconds long. The graphics are not competitive with other systems that specialize more in graphics, but they’re great in comparison to other Wii games. Characters have full bodies and move more fluidly than in previous games. Backgrounds are detailed and complex. Attention has been paid to detail such as reflections, shadows, sparks under feet to indicate speed, skids, etc.

The sound is clear. A human voice welcomes the player to the Olympics. Each player makes its own character-specific sounds and utterances in response to success, failure and exertion. The accompanying music is clear and appropriate for the Olympic theme.

I also noticed that Sega did a better job of programming when it comes to panning and keeping up with the avatar movement. With Wii Sports and Wii play, I noticed that sometimes, especially in a game like tennis, the ball would go off the side of the screen and the “pan” feature wouldn’t catch up in time to actually return the ball so the play would be dead before the camera ever moved over to where the ball was. That was improved in the sports in this game, leading to much less frustration!

This game experienced is enhanced if you have the nun-chucks. All of the games have an option to play without a nun-chuck so they are not “required” but some of the movements such as swimming and fencing have more options with the nun-chuck (ie different swimming strokes, etc). I found myself always opting to use the nun-chucks because of the expanded capacity.

This game truly does use the Wii as it was designed to be used. None of the games are played by using the Wiimote as a traditional controller (unless you don’t have a nun-chucks). The Wiimotes are used to run, jump, throw, lunge, swing, swim (6 different strokes, each performed by using the Wiimotes a different way), twist and clap, depending on the event. Moves are executed through a precise sequence of Wiimote manipulation.

One significant oversight on the part of Sega is the failure to include an option to set a player as left handed. My brother is left-handed and in the games where the movement was conducted with both the Wiimote and the nun-chuck simultaneously in a specific sequence, he found himself handicapped because he was not able to use his dominant hand for the dominant movement. He still enjoyed and was able to play the game, but did find that aspect frustrating and disappointing.

One significant improvement is the ability to skip through the extra animations, replays, computer movements, etc. One thing I’ve always hated about Mario Party is the amount of down time as you listen to the narrator, watch the AIs move, etc. This game allows you to skip through all narration and replays, and there is no watching of the AIs at all so there is a lot less down time overall.

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Visuals = 243
The game is eye candy no doubt, very sweet cartooney visuals it’s fairly good and the water in the game looks amazing which is hard to do if you didn’t know. I say one of the best Wii games visualy
Sound =305
It has good voice acting and a fairly decent sounds.
Fun Factor = 300
With friends and family it’s good for awhile there is no doubt that you’ll have a good time.
Mechanics = 215
The controls aren’t the most innovative and there’s also a good bit of useless waggle controls. The worst part of the game for me.
Replay Value = 233
The game has long lasting gameplay with the multiplayer, though, eventually you might get a little bored after days/hours of playing single player which is why you must have some buddies around.Total =   1296

Grade = B-

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