Check out Mario and Sonic ... they're at the Olympics! Isn't that grand?
Even though Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Wii was not playable, it was demoed by Sega behind closed doors. Quite honestly, I think that's probably enough for me. The title (almost too predictably) appears to be nothing more than a mini-game fest, filled to the brim with waggle and shake controls worthy of any game that's going to sell ten million copies on the name alone.
Hit the jump for full impressions.
Visually, the game is up to par with other Nintendo all-star orgy titles. The characters are large and colorful, with the Sonic cast looking right at home next to the likes of Mario and Bowser. The stadium environments shown were full of small nods to both the Mario and the Sonic series; the audience members were made up of infinitely repeating Chaos and toadstools.
While the game will feature 20 or so official Olympic events, only two were shown -- the shot put and the 100 meter dash. If appears as if Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbids might have been the inspiration for Sonic and Mario at the Olympics. The shot put involved swinging the controller around to gain speed, and pressing a button at the precise time. The dash basically involved "pumping" the controllers up and down to gain speed.
As for the questions as to how anyone is going to best Sonic in anything involving dashing, Sega is answering that by giving each character his or her own attributes. Sonic for instance, is fast but has low acceleration. In an event like the 100m dash, this could leave him at a disadvantage unless he takes the lead early.
The game will support 1-4 players, and in addition to official Olympic events, will have unlockable events based on themes of both the Mario and Sonic universes. With simple controls, this is clearly aimed at extremely casual players and children, which should surprise no one. The simple button mashing of previous Olympic games have been replaced with high intensity, simple waggle.
But so what? This game is going to be a huge seller for Sega when it hits the Nintendo Wii, along with a DS version, this holiday.
Contest:
8:00 PM on 07.15.2007
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2. ???
3. Profit!
Aren't all Olympics games "mini game fests"? What did y'all expect?
I personally have high hopes for this one. The 100 Yard dash and Hurdles will be boring as always, but Fencing and Teo Quan Do could be awesome.
Gymnastics as well.
The potnetial is there for this one. In Japan, where Wii Sports and Wii Play are still the Wii's best sellers, it will likely sell over 2mil in 6 months.
Well Nintendo... I guess if it ain't broken...
The depth of the game is what's disappointing ... but not surprising. Yes, they're all mini-games, but they don't have to be as simple as those found in something like Mario Party.
And there's no doubt the game is going to sell like crazy.
You don't see sonic going round the mushroom kingdom trying to unblock toilets?!
This game should be the greatest team up ever, but they should be in like a real game.
*crosses fingers*
Which games did you play, and in what way was there a lack of depth? What level of complexity were you looking for?
I'm still not understanding what the complaining is about.
In my opinion, the complaining is about two phenominal icons coming together to form, as we see THUS FAR (game ain't done yet), another Mario Party. Yes, the games sells, but gamers want more than a game that parents will buy their little kids... and with what we've seen so far you can't say that isn't the main target.
Key word is thus far. It's amazing seeing as many Mario Parties as there is Pokemon games since they're all THE SAME EXACT GAME... but Mario coming together with Sonic being a party game as well? We have to do better than that... it's like bringing all the hottest models (male and female) to a special event just to talk behind closed doors... it's a waste of their looks. Mario and Sonic being together deserves more than what we're seeing... again... thus far.
Maybe this is a warm-up... or maybe the game will be much more. But Tron, even you have to admit, all the complaining and disappointment can be justefied with these two characters being used in a Mario Party rehash.
And Altair, complaining was justified when the title was announced, but not now. We knew what we were getting when we heard the title.
What do I expect from the Wii (or any other system for that matter)? I don't know, something new and interesting. The Wii is supposed to change the way we play games, and it has. It's just unfortunate when button pressing is simply replaced by shaking my hand repeatedly.
And I'm not complaining now, I'm confirming -- from what I saw demonstrated, they didn't do anything more with the title than we had expected. That's what I said. I wasn't complaining. There's no need for Nintendo fanboys to jump all over me for this.
Relax.
The game you're thinking of on the NES was Track & Field II, and it was indeed awesome.
@800lbGorilla: This is made to coinside with the beijing games, so it will mostlikely be summer events only.
2. lack of social life
3. ???
4. virgin for life!