Gamertell Review: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for Wii
by at December 16, 2009 9:43 am
Sections: 3D, Casual, Consoles, Developers, Exclusives, Game-Companies, Genres, Originals, Publishers, Reviews, Sports, Wii
|
Sign up for the FREE Tell Membership and receive benefits that include the digital edition of Tell Magazine sent straight to your inbox, product giveaways, coupons and much more!
On November 6, 2007, Mario, Sonic and their friends and foes from their respective games teamed up to head to the Olympic Games. Sega created Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for both the Wii and DS. It was a hit, despite some issues with motion controls, complicated instructions and the blandness of the original events for the Wii version. Since it was a huge hit though, it meant that a sequel was practically guaranteed. Sure enough, on October 13, 2009 Sega once again pitted iconic Nintendo and Sega characters against one another in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
Heading to the Winter Olympics with famous video game friends.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is a mini-game collection. You can either play games one at a time alone or with up to three other players, or go through a Festival Mode, that’s supposed to mirror the real Olympics, where you go through all the events alone or with up to three other players.
There’s no story to follow, but there are 16 main events and 11 dream events you can play:
Main Events
Dream Events
Controls better, but events are repetitive and there’s lots of unlocking.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games fixes what was a major issue in the original game, the controls and pre-game instructions. They are greatly improved. The instructions that appear before an event begins are clear, well written and easy to understand. They also usually are only two to five steps long, so they’re easy to remember as well. Controls no longer require as much frantic waving and shaking of the remote once you start playing as well. That isn’t to say the waving and shaking are nonexistant, but they’re greatly reduced. Some controls are still hit and miss, but that’s to be expected in any mini-game collection that relies solely on motion controls.
Unfortunately, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games deals with my biggest peeve in mini-game collections – unlocking. You’re purchasing a mini-game collection so you can enjoy the games with friends and family, not so you can spend hours on your own trying to unlock all of the games so two weeks later you can have everyone over to play the full game. Sega should have known better with a game like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, as their target audiences for the game are casual gamers who want to just pick up a game and play it and child gamers who often don’t possess the patience or skill to unlock event. Instead you must unlock most of the dream events, which are the best part of the game.
Unlocking wouldn’t be so bad, if the events were more varied and unique, like they were in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. But things end up feeling incredibly repetitive in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. Main events may differ, but when you look at it, you’re either skiing, sledding, snowboarding or skating for most of the game. While the events are different, they all feel the same. The only exceptions are Ice Hockey, Curling and Figure Skating. Thankfully, the dream events feel a bit more varied, especially since they include the delightful Snowball Fight event.
If you’re looking for a sports themed, mini-game collection, then Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is certainly a viable option. However, the original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is still better, even with the smaller character roster and occasionally complicated controls. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games feels boring, easy and repetitive when compared to the original. Rent it first, and only buy it if you loved the first game and want more of the same.
Site [Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games]
Related Posts