One sport that should have been good, but isn't, is fencing. You move your character back to dodge an opponent's attack, and then move the stylus forward to stab when he or she misses. You can parry shots, but you'd have to have lightning-quick reflexes to do so, and there's no point in doing so aside from when you have to parry to pass a mission. Another event that fails to be much fun is table tennis. You can at least move your character around (something which you couldn't do on the Wii), but the action isn't all that interesting, and due to the fact that one person is displayed on each screen, you have to imagine where the ball is when it crosses the game between the two screens.
The big problem with Mario & Sonic is that the mechanics for most events just aren't much fun. The game requires some precise timing and movement to pull off certain maneuvers, but the touch-sensing seems to be a bit iffy, so you're never quite sure how your movements will be read. Even if you aren't having trouble with an event, you probably won't have much fun, unless you enjoy scribbling with the stylus to pretend that you're running. A number of events force you to blow or clap into the microphone--a mechanic that's totally played out. There's also very little depth to any of the events. Other than a few sports for which the controls really get in the way, it's not difficult to win gold on your first attempt. In fact, you'll probably set world records on your first go at a sport on more than one occasion. Consequently, though you might have fun for an hour or two, you'd be hard pressed to squeeze much more entertainment out of the game, even when playing with up to three other friends.
The visuals are probably the best thing Mario & Sonic has to offer. The familiar and beloved characters are nicely animated, right down to individualized celebrations. The frame rate is steady, even when eight characters are displayed onscreen at once; it's a very technically solid visual presentation. The audio isn't bad either. If you use the same character over and over, you'll likely grow weary of the repetitious exclamations, but there are plenty of characters available should you tire of one. The music isn't anything exciting, though you can unlock classic Mario and Sonic tunes by playing some of the trivia games, which oddly enough have you do things such as sort goombas or match cards instead of actually answering trivia.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games probably isn't the game you envisioned when you imagined the once-fierce rivals finally getting together, but that's not its biggest problem. Instead, the trouble lies in the often uninteresting and occasionally frustrating controls, combined with some events that are too similar to one another, as well as shallow gameplay that brings the game down.
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- Nintendo Wii
Where to buy
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS):
$33.99 - $51.19
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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eBay
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$51.19 | Yes |
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eCOST.com
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$33.99 |
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