Mario and
Sonic at the Olympic Games
By Dustin Chapas
Title: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Consoles: Nintendo Wii
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E
Developer: Sega in cooperation with Nintendo
Online: Sort of...
The gameplay of Mario and Sonic at
the Olympics is very good but is lacking in
areas. The standard gameplay element of this
game is made up of 24 Olympic events. These
events are categorized into sections. These
sections are Track and field, aquatics,
gymnastics, shooting, archery, fencing, rowing,
table tennis, and dream events. These games are
indeed very fun, and are very entertaining if
playing multiplayer. Some of these events make
you feel sort of been there done that with
previous titles such as warioware, rayman, and
Mario party. However, this is rarely the case.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympics brings lots of
fresh and new gameplay to the table. One cool
feature is dream events. These are events that
are not real Olympic events, but are things that
could happen in dreams. For instance, in dream
race you race on a Mario themed dessert course
while jumping over quicksand, running,
collection item blocks, and shooting items.
These new ideas are very fun indeed. A very
important part about the gameplay is characters.
Nintendo and Sega did a very good job at evening
out the characters. Before this game released, a
lot of people were saying stuff like "Well, how
can some chubby plumber expect to beat a super
fast hedgehog in a race?" The games characters
are categorized into skill sets of power, all
around, speed, and skill. In each skill set,
there are two sonic characters, and two Mario
characters.
A majority of people, including myself, expected this to be just another mini game game that wouldn't be good at all. Surprisingly enough, this game really delivered in the gameplay category and was much more deep and pure than many thought it to be. There are great camera angles during gameplay such as photo finishes, but at times there can be a bad frame rate. One last thing is that it's very unorganized when it comes to unlocking new events. You have no idea what you need to complete in order to unlock a new one. Once when I unlocked a new event, it was when I totally lost in shooting. I was very surprised when it said "Congratulations! You unlocked a new event!"
The games controls are truly
amazing. Whether it is the javelin throw or
running the 100 meter dash, these controls never
fail to impress. Lets take running for
example.At the beginning you can clap the
wiimote and nunchuk together to get the crowd
going. Once the race starts, you move the
wiimote and nucnhuk up and down as if running as
fast as you can. At the end of the race, you
will probably be tired, but it is very fun.
It is also very accurate. I've noticed that while running, the faster you shake the wiimote and nunchuk, the faster you go. I was very surprised at the accuracy of this. In almost every event of the game, the controls are completely flawless. The only real complaint I have on the controls are during high jump, far jump, and other jumping events. When you go to jump, you would think that you pull up the wiimote and nunchuk as if jumping as high as possible. However, that is not the case. If you pull up to high, then it says jump failed and you will barely jump. You have to pull up not too softly, but not too hard either. This gets very difficult trying to perfect your jumps. Fortunately this is the only control aspect that I disliked about the game. In just about every other area, the controls are near perfect.
Unlike the gameplay and controls,
the graphics of this game are not superb. They
are not the worst graphics we have seen on the
Wii, but they definitely aren't the best. The
characters look very good, but the environments
and crowds are just decent. The Wii is not very
far in its lifespan, but I know that it can
handle way better graphics than what are in this
game. This game's graphics really aren't that
bad, but they are just average.
This game does have replay value
and it is very good. The game has a standard
multiplayer mode in which you can compete with
up to three other people in any event. This is
very fun, and in my opinion, much more fun than
playing an event all by yourself. Now, this is
where online comes in. I was very disappointed
that the game lacks online multiplayer. The way
the wi-fi does work is that you are able to view
other peoples rankings around the world.
Everyone that is connected to the internet and
has played this game gets their event records
put on the list. Whether it's good or bad. For
example, you can view who has the best time in
swimming 100 meters, and you can see where you
are on the list. Some online multiplayer would
be very nice and would add lots of depth to the
game and make it more fun.
Great gameplay
Great character implementation
Great controls
Fun Events
So-so graphics
lack of online multiplayer
Don't know when you will unlock something new
Title: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Consoles: Nintendo Wii
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E
Developer: Sega in cooperation with Nintendo
Online: Sort of...
The gameplay of Mario and Sonic at
the Olympics is very good but is lacking in
areas. The standard gameplay element of this
game is made up of 24 Olympic events. These
events are categorized into sections. These
sections are Track and field, aquatics,
gymnastics, shooting, archery, fencing, rowing,
table tennis, and dream events. These games are
indeed very fun, and are very entertaining if
playing multiplayer. Some of these events make
you feel sort of been there done that with
previous titles such as warioware, rayman, and
Mario party. However, this is rarely the case.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympics brings lots of
fresh and new gameplay to the table. One cool
feature is dream events. These are events that
are not real Olympic events, but are things that
could happen in dreams. For instance, in dream
race you race on a Mario themed dessert course
while jumping over quicksand, running,
collection item blocks, and shooting items.
These new ideas are very fun indeed. A very
important part about the gameplay is characters.
Nintendo and Sega did a very good job at evening
out the characters. Before this game released, a
lot of people were saying stuff like "Well, how
can some chubby plumber expect to beat a super
fast hedgehog in a race?" The games characters
are categorized into skill sets of power, all
around, speed, and skill. In each skill set,
there are two sonic characters, and two Mario
characters.
A majority of people, including myself, expected this to be just another mini game game that wouldn't be good at all. Surprisingly enough, this game really delivered in the gameplay category and was much more deep and pure than many thought it to be. There are great camera angles during gameplay such as photo finishes, but at times there can be a bad frame rate. One last thing is that it's very unorganized when it comes to unlocking new events. You have no idea what you need to complete in order to unlock a new one. Once when I unlocked a new event, it was when I totally lost in shooting. I was very surprised when it said "Congratulations! You unlocked a new event!"
The games controls are truly
amazing. Whether it is the javelin throw or
running the 100 meter dash, these controls never
fail to impress. Lets take running for
example.At the beginning you can clap the
wiimote and nunchuk together to get the crowd
going. Once the race starts, you move the
wiimote and nucnhuk up and down as if running as
fast as you can. At the end of the race, you
will probably be tired, but it is very fun.
It is also very accurate. I've noticed that while running, the faster you shake the wiimote and nunchuk, the faster you go. I was very surprised at the accuracy of this. In almost every event of the game, the controls are completely flawless. The only real complaint I have on the controls are during high jump, far jump, and other jumping events. When you go to jump, you would think that you pull up the wiimote and nunchuk as if jumping as high as possible. However, that is not the case. If you pull up to high, then it says jump failed and you will barely jump. You have to pull up not too softly, but not too hard either. This gets very difficult trying to perfect your jumps. Fortunately this is the only control aspect that I disliked about the game. In just about every other area, the controls are near perfect.
Unlike the gameplay and controls,
the graphics of this game are not superb. They
are not the worst graphics we have seen on the
Wii, but they definitely aren't the best. The
characters look very good, but the environments
and crowds are just decent. The Wii is not very
far in its lifespan, but I know that it can
handle way better graphics than what are in this
game. This game's graphics really aren't that
bad, but they are just average.
This game does have replay value
and it is very good. The game has a standard
multiplayer mode in which you can compete with
up to three other people in any event. This is
very fun, and in my opinion, much more fun than
playing an event all by yourself. Now, this is
where online comes in. I was very disappointed
that the game lacks online multiplayer. The way
the wi-fi does work is that you are able to view
other peoples rankings around the world.
Everyone that is connected to the internet and
has played this game gets their event records
put on the list. Whether it's good or bad. For
example, you can view who has the best time in
swimming 100 meters, and you can see where you
are on the list. Some online multiplayer would
be very nice and would add lots of depth to the
game and make it more fun.
Great gameplay
Great character implementation
Great controls
Fun Events
So-so graphics
lack of online multiplayer
Don't know when you will unlock something new
