Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games

Finally a multiplayer game with decent graphics and lots of fun activities. Also, in keeping with one of the ideas of the Wii, this one will certainly cause you to break out in a sweat. There are lots of options, and ways to play, although there isn't an option to play through all the sports one at a time. As well as all the Mario and Sonic characters you can even play with your Mii, and this time they have arms. The only real criticism is that some sports require the nunchuck and some can't be played with it, so you may find you're constantly sticking it in and out between games.

Now, Had you told an avid gamer in the early 1990's that Mario and Sonic would team up in a videogame sometime in the future you would have most likely got a healthy slap in the jaw, be told to stop telling outrageous lies and be told to be on your merry way. And yet here they are, competing against each other in a vast range of events for the gold medal in an Olympic setting. I received this game as a gift at Christmas time and couldn't wait to try it out as it looked great in some of the trailers that I saw.

Thankfully Mario & Sonic offers some of the best and most enjoyable multiplayer action you'll find on the Wii, with 24 (yes 24) unique and exciting events designed to all test your gaming abilities, from hand speed (Example: Frantically moving the remote and nunchuk up and down in the 100 metre dash) to accuracy (aiming by pointing the remote in the skeet shooting event). There is also handicap settings which changes the sensitivity, so young energetic children can play against their eighty year old grandparents and it would still be a fair contest- making this a game really for all ages.

Despite the fact the core Mario & Sonic is no different from 20-year-old games like track and field I can safely say that Mario & Sonic is one of the best athletic games I have ever played. There are bundles and bundles of extras like the Dream Events and Mission Modes and the fact that it's packed with characters from the two biggest franchises in gaming also doesn't hurt. Dream Events are where they have taken table tennis and fencing and made them even better, all they have really done is given you a special move which will either blast your opponent off in fencing or blast the table tennis ball past your opponent in table tennis. They have also given you Dream Race, which is where you race around a track (like in the 100 meters) using weapons to knock your opponents off coarse and win the race. Mission Mode is just missions using the 24 events.

Mario & Sonic At The Olympic games is both an ideal family game (there are handicap options in case your nan or granddad wants a go) or as a great post- pub fun and I really recommend it. I was pleasantly surprised. Sega really has come up trumps with this one.

Pros:
- A vast variety of games.
- Great fun in multiplayer.
- Excellent Graphics.
- It is both Mario and Sonic!!

Cons:
- Playing can tyre you out especially in swimming (hence why it didn't get the full 5 stars here).

Overall: 9/10.
Gameplay: 9/10.
Graphics: 10/10.
Character Selection: 9/10.

With games that are actually GOOD on Wii, like Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Galaxy for goodness sake, i really don't think that this can be called the best Wii game. It's YET another poor minigame compilation (something the Wii is overstuffed with), with realy bad usage of two really great licences. And because it's an official Olympics game, the real-world audience and stadiums are just weird with the mario/sonic characters in them. Please God buy something decent instead.

I've waited sooo long for this!!
Mario and Sonic finally face off in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, the only game that gives us players the chance to compete in events that take place in scenes based on the official venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

You can pick from a list of Mario and Sonic characters including Mario and Sonic (of course) plus Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi, Tails et al, in a long-awaited blast of a game that has me playing for hours at a stretch. The interactive Wii controls include actions like swinging the Wii remote to simulate a hammer throw, notching the Nunchuk to shoot arrows, and replicating swimming strokes.We can also discover the best way to win a game by making different movements to discover secret boosts to push us forward to win.

With four playing styles to choose from, you can decide your game strategy: all-around, technical, speed, and power - you can choose and try out, in both single and multiplayer mode, each event individually with Single Match mode (where you can choose your event and play until you score top marks). You can also compete for the highest overall score in a series of events in Circuit mode (where you can either create your own circuit by choosing the individual events, choose a pre-determined circuit, or randomly generate a circuit).AND gamers can learn about the history of the Olympic Games through trivia, quizzes, and mini-games and unlock all-new facts and figures from past Olympic Games in the Gallery.

Events Include:

Fencing - Individual epée
Archery
Shooting - Skeet
Gymnastics - Trampoline
Gymnastics - Vault
Field - High Jump
Field - Pole Vault
Field - Long Jump
Field - Triple Jump
Field - Javelin Throw
Field - Hammer Throw
Rowing - Single Sculls
Table Tennis - Singles
Aquatics - 100m Freestyle
Aquatics - 4x100m Freestyle
Track - 110m and 400m Hurdles
Track - 4x100m Relay
Track -100m and 400m
I love this and will get it for my DS too - please santa!!

Mario and Sonic, what a pair they match up to be, and it proves that in this game. It's plenty of nunchuk-moving fun as it tackles almost every event in the Olympic games. It's also very entertaining, watching and playing, especially with friends it's absolutely awesome and hours of fun. You have to buy this one.