Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Although the initial pairing of two of gaming's most iconic characters wasn't exactly what gamers had hoped for, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games went on to fly off of the shelves, racking up sales in the millions worldwide. So successful was the first pairing that a sequel was inevitable and so once again, Sega are bringing back the two characters and their cohorts to battle it out for another round, this time leaving the running track behind in favour of the slopes above Vancouver, in anticipation for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Does this one have the legs to make it to the bottom of the hill or does it simply crash out of the gate?

Gameplay

Just like the original title, the second coming together of Mario, Sonic and crew takes place at an Olympic Games, this time the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Running shoes have been swapped for skis, skates and other sporting apparatus as the characters take part in a variety of winter related sports to better suit their new environment. The likes of alpine skiing, figure skating, luge and ice hockey are but a few of the sports of offer for you to enjoy, with all available to play through either in single player or in multiplayer, with the game again supporting up to 4 players.

From the main menu, you have the option to play through a single sporting event as it was meant to be played, play through an event in party mode, which adds some extra criteria to the events, or play through an Olympics styled Festival Mode where, after the opening ceremony, you'll compete in 17 days of competition covering every single one of the sports included in the title, with training events being offered to acclimatise you to them before you head into the real event and aim for the gold. All of these options are playable in single or multi player and while simple playing through the single events will provide short term fun for those with little time, it is through the Festival Mode where the meat of the game is found.

As mentioned, you'll compete over 17 days of competition in all of the game's sports, taking on training days and moving on to the true event later during the Festival in the hope of gaining a gold medal. As you take part in these events, you'll gain points, with more points for winning a gold medal in an event, and the overall winner at the end of the Festival is the character with the highest points total. It's certainly the most substantial mode offering in the game, also giving you star points for completing certain challenges which can be used to customise characters, but the sports themselves lack any true depth to hold your attention, especially when playing in single player. The game's AI seems to lack the competence to put up any fight for the medals and as such, you'll find it difficult to not win them all on your first go. As such, the game is better played in multiplayer.

Dream Events return again in this game, becoming available to play separately after you have cleared them successfully in the Festival mode. Taking on the guise of various games, from Mario Kart to Sonic Adventure to Super Mario Galaxy, they offer a slight deviation on the sports, with alternate goals that make for a more enjoyable experience than the standard games. Similarly, the inclusion of rival battles this time round ups the enjoyment level, providing, for the most part, some truly competent competition from the game's AI.

Online leaderboards make an appearance, allowing you to check and compare your times for events with players from all around the world, which is a nice touch but the average gamer, whom the title is aimed at, simply won't be bothered with this inclusion. The lack of fully online multiplayer is still a disappointment but the local multiplayer is good enough to sustain play for the weeks ahead. Yet for all the inclusions that the game has this time around, the gameplay feels decidedly disappointing, failing to take much of a step up from the previous title and at times feeling slightly lacklustre in comparison to other mini-game collections that have included some of the sports here. It'll still provide hours of fun but you'll just feel like you've played it all before.

Controls

The default setup for the game comes in the form of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk attachment and this is used throughout the entirety of the events on offer, some of which make use of both controllers while others simply make use of one. The game, just as the previous, is very heavily gesture based, having you shake, twist and flick your Wii-mote and Nunchuk to carry out the necessary actions to compete and complete the game's various sports. Each of the sports has a specific control method assigned to them and bar a few occurrences of the controllers not recognising your gestures or motions, they work extremely well allowing for ease of progress through the sports. Some tightening of the basic gestures would have been nice as they do feel slightly under sensitive but it's manageable.

Support for the Wii Balance Board is also included in the game yet the options for use of the peripheral are limited to a few instances, such as skiing or the bobsleigh sports. While it certainly gives an alternative method of control for some of the sports, many of them are played out well enough with the default setup and the use of a Balance Board means that multiplayer is out of the question until it is disconnected.

Graphics

Continuing the same bright and cheerful look of its predecessor, this game once again brings in elements of both the Mario and Sonic universes and mixes them with the locations for where the real sports will take place in Vancouver, with a few slight changes to the layouts. For the most part, the game does an amicable job of looking good but a general lack of detail and polish to many of the textures, objects and structures as well as a 2d crowd detract from the experience somewhat and those who took time to play the first game will on occasion note some similarities between the two visually. Similarly, while the characters are animated extremely well throughout all of the sports they take part in, they too show a lack of detail to stand against their current generation counterparts outside of the mini-game compilation.

The game's best moments visually come through the Dream Events peppered throughout the Festival mode. Each of these events takes on a visual style that links back to prior titles in both of the main characters' franchises, such as representations of tracks from Mario Kart and levels from the Sonic Adventure and Super Mario Galaxy titles. It provides a level of nostalgia for long time fans but again, issues of polish plague certain areas with some of the levels failing to truly recapture the visual essence of the originals.

Sound

Although throwing a small collection of purpose made tracks at you, the majority of the game's musical library is made up of tracks from games in both the Mario and Sonic franchises, some of which have been remixed for this game. Again, they help to add a layer of nostalgia to the proceedings and are a pleasure to listen to, once purchased from the in game music shop, if you're a fan of the two respective franchises. It's the original tracks however that feel slightly out of place, being more laidback than perhaps they should be given the style of the game and the competitive nature of the Games.

Final comments

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games continues the same ethos that its predecessor carried and provides some good natured and clean fun that if perfect for multiplayer play when friends or family are around. It remains easily accessible and the wide variety of sports ensures that there's something for everyone to enjoy. Yet, small issues which really should have been ironed out in this sequel persist and hold back the experience slightly. Most will easily overlook these issues and find a thoroughly enjoyable title, but those who can't forgive occasional control issues, some poor attention to detail in the presentation and a feeling that you've seen and done it all before, but to a better degree, will find better ways to spend their money with a multitude of better mini-game collections.

Pro: Wide variety of sports covered, rival battles are a nice touch, Dream Events are the best of what's on offer, controls remain easily accessible and work well
Con: Some occasional control frustrations, lack of polish graphically, never-ending feeling of having played it all before
Final score: 7.3

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