Seriously, hedgehogs competing at the Olympics? Are you sure? Only the combined forces of Nintendo and Sonic could persuade the Beijing government and the National Olympic Committee to let that one go. I guess they would have had a problem if Sonic wore a mini-skirt.
That's right, you might not have seen them at the opening ceremony, but the Mushroom Kingdom and the planet Mobius are both represented at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It's the first time in a near 20 year rivalry that the worlds of Mario and Sonic have gone face to face, and it’s only a monumental event like the Olympics that could contain these two titans. But who’s going to win, the fat bloke in the dungarees or the weird blue cat thing?
To be honest, it doesn’t really matter, because this isn’t an epic video game athletic war, but rather a collection of Olympic-based mini-games starring some very familiar characters. Yes, the usual line-up are all here, from Tails to Luigi, Wario to Blaze. That’s right, folks – you can finally live out your childhood dream of fencing with Vector the Crocodile. All of the characters look lovely, by the way – probably the best 3D models you can reasonably expect the DS to provide. They’re split up into four groups based on their attributes – All-Round, Speed, Power and Skill types – and this impacts how well a character can perform in the different events, although it won’t hinder anyone that much.
Did I hear someone say ‘events’? Oh yeah, that was me. Well, someone had to say it, otherwise this review was going nowhere. While the big ol’ home console Wii version offers 20 events, the poor little DS has to settle with 16. However, 10m Diving and Cycling are exclusive to the handheld version, and there are a bonus 5 unlockable Dream events (more on them later), so that should help you out in any playground fights. All of the events are nice and quick to play, with nothing requiring too much time or effort, and of course they are all based on the touchscreen controls. In the single player mode, challenges are issued and records need to be broken, which can provide some difficulty. In the multiplayer modes, most of the games leave you to do the event alone and then compare results with your opponents at the end. I’ve never felt so lonely playing multiplayer.
I’ve chosen five events at random to give you a feel of how it goes down.
100m Dash
This is what the Olympics should really be about to you – the running. Unless you’re one of them crazy dudes that really, really likes discus or something. Like its real world counterpart, sprinting on the DS is quick, basic, exhausting and pumped full of steroids. Before you start, you must hype up the crowd by clapping into the microphone. This isn’t very effective though, and you’re much better off blowing into the damn thing. When the race begins, rub your stylus across the screen as hard as you can, damaging your screen and self-esteem in the process.
400m Dash
Like the above, but you have to do it for even longer. As if you weren’t having enough fun already!
Rowing
If I was a kind man, I would call this “Mario Kart in boats”. However, I am not. Your job here is to collect coins while using the touchscreen to row, and if any of your competition rows their boat too closely, you can utilize Kart-style weapons like Bo-Bombs and red shells. What could have been a smashing competitive experience is instead a confounding task hampered by a worthless control system.
Archery
My favourite event, Archery asks you to pull back your bowstring, then use the stylus to aim at two targets weaving in and out of each other. As soon as they overlap, let your arrow fly. One of the few events that actually demands some sort of actual skill from the player, Archery tests your timing, accuracy and ability to work out what kind of effect the wind would have on an arrow. You don’t get that from stupid ol’ clap-clap-rub-rub 100m Dash up there. Mostly because there aren’t any arrows.
Cycling
This DS-exclusive event is a lot better than the other racing events because it relies on strategy and stamina rather than sheer gusto. Success will rely on your ability to manage your pacing and the controls rather than scratch up your lower screen.
Amongst the others, there is the rhythm game style Trampolining, a little bit of Table Tennis and some shooting games, amongst others. There is plenty to do here, which kind of makes up for the fact that none of the games are difficult in the slightest and you will grow tired of them as quickly as the first Emerald Hill Zone level flies by. That’s not really good news, is it?
There are some unlockables and a bonus trivia game that add some extra life onto this flagging product. The unlockables are the Dream Events - sports that have been mashed up with the Mario and Sonic worlds, meaning that there are more power-ups and bizarre things to do. Try a Basketball dunking game with invincibility stars and Chaos Emeralds. The programmers have had fun with these, taking liberties with what constitutes an Olympic sport and painting them thick with the worlds of the two legends.
Sigh… do you remember when Mario and Sonic really were legends? Had their first collaboration taken place in the Nineties, who knows what kind of gaming history they would have made? Sadly though, the time has definitely passed for Sonic, and Mario has overdone the mini-game thing already. Besides, I don’t know how many people out there still want to be rubbing their stylus like crazy on the screen or clapping into the microphone rather than actually testing their skill.
While there are some fun games here, you won't be missing out on anything if you overlook this title. This is brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fun, perfect for a rental but you’re hurting yourself if you invest good money here. I will say that I imagine young children would have a lot of fun with Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games, given its funny, colourful characters and unchallenging tasks.
It’s sad, because the characters are so beautifully and faithfully rendered, each with excellent animation and victory poses. There’s some classic Mario and Sonic music hidden away too. Shame there’s no classic Mario and Sonic gameplay to go with it.