Mario and Sonic have flown into Beijing for the 2998 Olympics, and boy are my arms tired.Sorry, really. Excuse the lame pun, but I’ve rarely felt it more appropriate to make a joke like that than in relation to a game. I like to think of myself as a reasonably healthy person, but Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games makes me question that assumption: am I, in fact, something of a weakling? Am I a shut-in, closeted games reviewer with a body that screams this fact to the world? Am I really that lacking in upper body strength? Because Sonic and Mario makes my arms hurt, a lot, and that makes me feel somewhat self-conscious about this.
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| Cream the Rabbit: tiny and cute, but rigidly unbribable |
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Yoshi’s rowing sound effect is inarguably the most irritating sound in gaming for 2007 |
Oh, I know what you’re saying – clearly, it’s because I’m trying very, very hard to be the best I can at this game, and being the best take a lot of effort. It’s true: I do put my all into playing through games like this, for vaguely obsessive compulsive reasons that aren’t really worth going into here. But that doesn’t explain the arm ache. Even the first set of events in the game – 100m sprint, long jump and hammer throw – put a little twinge into the old shoulder, and a little niggle into the elbow.
When people complained about arm ache after first playing Wii Sports, oh, didn’t we laugh? Did you see the nerds? Complaining about having to do physical exercise in order to play a game – hah!
Well, the Wii-Mote is in the other hand now, believe me. Even the most physically active gamer will tremble after playing through a couple of fencing matches. It’s punishing.
Different events require different types of movement to compete. Some will require the use off the remote and the nunchuk, while other can be played using just the remote, and it’s with this that the game falls apart a little. While events like the 100m sprint are fairly obvious – move the remote and nunchuk in a running motion – the swimming, for example, is far too obtuse, requiring players to move the remote back and forwards while keeping an eye on a stamina meter and then hitting a button when it gets low but not too low but making sure that you’re still swinging it back and forth. Or something like that: it’s never really clear, until you’ve played it through a few times, which puts new players at a real disadvantage.
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| Let’s not get into the Sonic’s speed versus Mario’s speed argument here |
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The character selection screen holds plenty of familiar faces. And Blaze the Cat |
Then there are events, like the aforementioned fencing, that just illustrate problems with the Wii controllers in general. It can be crisp and thrilling at times, but when done wrong, it can feel slow and clumsy, and the impreciseness is jarring
Similarly, the difficulty is out of balance in a number of events – the skeet and archery, in particular. With Wii Play’s shooting competition and the amusing 8-bit style shooting gallery from Wario Ware, it’s been shown that the Wii can not only do that kind of thing, but that it can excel at it. Mario and Sonic’s shooting events pile on the difficulty, but leave out the fun. A perfect score isn’t entirely out of reach, but it’s something that won’t happen until you’ve memorised the locations that the skeets fly from. Even then, it’s all down to whether or not you can make the heart meter – presumably representing nervousness – to stop in the middle before each round of shooting, otherwise your crosshairs will shrink.
It’s often frantic, but there’s a rarely a feeling of complete control, unfortunately. It’s just a little sloppy. The beauty of Wii Sports was that it was immediately playable by anyone – for the most part, anyway – and had that added degree of skill hidden if you cared to look. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games certainly has some wonderfully simple events, but it puts new players at a disadvantage for too much of the time: it’s too easy to walk right over your friends if you know how hard to raise the remote in jumping events to get a perfect leap, or when to release the hammer to get it perfectly straight.
There’s plenty of fun to be had with playing the events with friends, but having to pull punches in order to let inexperienced players have a chance – or, conversely, being walked all over by someone who has been playing the game for a while – isn’t a great way to spend your time.
And as for the fact that it’s the first (legally produced) game ever to feature both Mario and Sonic? Honestly, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal, even as someone who grew up in a time where you were either a fan of one or the other. Maybe it’s because the Sonic franchise has been watered down to such a degree lately, but it really does feel like a Mario sports game with an expanded line-up.
That said, there are undoubtedly people who will take an interest in the game from that perspective. Noted extreme Sonic fanboy and friend of the author Matt Hestill would be one of these people, though his interest probably takes the form of what some people would refer to as a rather unhealthy obsession with minute details. “As if Sonic, who can run at documented speeds in excess of 761.2 miles per hour, couldn’t beat Mario in a race over land,” he exclaimed upon first hearing about the game’s premise. “Let alone allowing Bowser or Eggman to beat him. As if!”
Fair points from Mr. Hestill, no doubt, but probably ones that miss the overall aim of the game for most people. It’s about cramming recognisable characters into one game. And not so recognisable too, it seems – who actually knows anything about Blaze the Cat? For anyone not interested in a constant stream of repetitive banter from these characters, however, you can choose to play as a mercifully silent Mii, which generally render quite nicely next to the Sonic and Mario figures without looking too out of place.
Your enjoyment of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is going to come down a few things – firstly, whether or not you’ll be playing it on your own or not. Like Wii Sports, it’s not really designed with single player mode in mind, despite the frustrating fact that you have to unlock events by going through said mode. Secondly, it obviously helps to have some kind of connection with the characters. If seeing Cream and Cheese as referees doesn’t make you squeal with glee, this might not quite be the game for you. Finally, be prepared for the ache. Oh, the ache.
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| Amy truly is a champion role model to pink female hedgehogs around the world |
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Fencing: sport of kings, nadir of this game |
In the end, it misses a number of chances to put itself out there as a really successful multiplayer game able to capture the ideals of the Wii in the same way Wii Sports did, which is a real pity. It should have been a successor, but in the end Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is only barely a contender.
Top Game Moment: Frantic four player 100m dashes with friends are where this game really shines – it’s simple enough for everyone to work it out right away.
