Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

When this game was first announced our knee jerk reaction to the story was not to report it on the grounds that it was clearly one of the many internet rumours we receive every day. You can imagine our surprise then when the story was confirmed with press releases from both SEGA and Nintendo detailing this historic pairing on the world's greatest sports stage: The Olympics. Putting the characters to one side for a moment though, they do have rather a lot of competition this year as not only do we have numerous Olympic themed games but also every other developer and publisher appears to have rolled out a sports title of some description. Let's see if Team Sonic/Mario is the right choice for you then shall we'¦

Gameplay

Given the range of events in the Olympic Games the developers have done an impressive job of giving the 'DS Games' a real mix of events and these can be tackled in a number of increasingly more difficult modes. There are 24 main events as well as some 'alternative' events which dabble with the rules and objectives. Opting to play single events is an excellent way to practise and get a feel for the touch-screen interface. A Circuit involves you competing in four events and attempting to finish first so that you can unlock other events, whilst the missions will challenge you to complete events with certain criteria attached so you may have to achieve a particular score or time. Unlike the classic Track and Field most of the games here require a touch-screen approach but you may also have to utilise some of the more traditional controls as well.  The easiest of these is probably the track events which are a simple case of speed although the developers have added an extra element of 'pacing' so simply rubbing the touch screen as fast as possible can result in failure. The Triple and Long Jump are a similar except they prompt you where to jump. 

Moving on from the arena to the more complicated games; the swimming will take some practice as you not only have to swim but also breathe and turn at the end of the pool. This can be mastered, but only after a considerable amount of practise and split second timing. There as even some games which play much better on the DS than the Wii and the Shooting and Archery are events which you'll keep revisiting just to improve your score. Obviously you have a fair few characters to choose from and as all of them have very different skills, it's probably best to select one of the all-rounders. 

Outside of the single player game you can also indulge in the entertaining Multiplayer with only a single copy of the game. Unfortunately the wi-fi support doesn't support this but instead is an opportunity to post your scores on a World Wide Leader Bboard. We can't express just how disappointing this is and just hope future games will take advantage of an obvious oversight here.

Controls

Each of the events demand very different control types, some of which require numerous inputs so you may have to combine touch-screen with shoulder buttons and sometimes even the d-pad just to compete. It can take considerable time and effort before you actually win. Fortunately, each event is preceded by instructional text and visuals and you can always practice them elsewhere as individual events. The only real downside to all this is that some of the touch-screen inputs don't always work or are a little sluggish meaning you will lose, on occasion, through no fault of your own.   

Graphics

Visually, this game is just about as solid as you can get and stands as a testament to the skill of the programmers and the power of the DS. For starters not only are the stadiums detailed but the camera smoothly pans around them with no obvious signs of slow down. In addition you have eight separate, well-animated characters running around the track, each of whom enjoy very different celebrations should they actually win. Elsewhere the overall presentation and interface is excellent and very easy to navigate around making for a very neat and tidy little package.

Sound

Given just how many playable characters you have here it's impressive that the developers have managed to get voice samples and accompanying music for all of them and the quality is rather pleasing too. Elsewhere you'll get the usual sound effects but other aspects, such as the announcer, have been kept to a minimum.

Dual screen

Almost all are played with the touch screen and while most of this is very responsive it will occasionally let you down which is hugely frustrating.  

Final comments

There's no doubt that this will sell due to its two stars on the cover. Refreshingly the game is very entertaining in its own right but like many sports titles it's far more satisfying as a Multiplayer than a solo experience. There are a generous amount of events and many ways in which you can tackle the game in order to become Olympic Champion. There are some drawbacks such as some sloppy touch-screen interface and having to repeat the odd event a few too many times but overall this is an almost perfect companion to the summer's events and as close as most of us will ever come to winning Gold.

Pro: Great Sound and Graphics, Loads of Events. 
Con: Some Games Very Similar, Occasional Problems with the Touch-Screen Input.
Final score: 7.5

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