My OperaN+ Review: Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Games - Part 5
By seaempty. Friday, November 23, 2007 7:23:36 AM
In celebration of the release of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games on the Wii, N+ are carrying out a special review. Three mods will be battling it out in 15 events over 5 days, to see who will be crowned N+ Olympic Champion. Through the magic of IRC, we'll be playing a selection of events, and awarding medals according to how we fair against each other. The contender with the most gold medals after today's events wins the glory!
We will also be revealing the winner of the copy of the game today! All the details will be at the end of the review.
The Contenders...
G-Off
seaempty
LutherJW
Representing USA
Representing Great Britain
Representing USA
Day 5
It's the final day of the competition.
Event 13 - Archery
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You would think that with the accuracy of the Wii Remote, archery would be pretty simple. SEGA have created a great system that makes it one of the most challenging events. Not only do you have to aim with the Wii Remote, but you also have to move a cursor with the tilt sensors in the Nunchuk. Once these overlap, you can release the arrow. There's also wind to take into consideration, and you have to be pretty steady to get a good score. You have four turns to shot 3 arrows at the target (12 arrows in total). The bull is worth 10 points, and as you move away from this, the points decrease.
All three competitors agree that the Nunchuk cursor is hard to manoeuvre. It doesn't seem sensitive enough, and takes a while to get used to. G-Off has obviously mastered this, and his score with 12 arrows is 105, getting 3 perfect 10s on his second turn. Having won gold in the Skeet shooting, G-Off is obviously a natural marksman.
seaempty thought he had beaten G-Off's score, but his cries of "just call me Robin of Locksley" were premature. He only managed 95. As this is a last day, every result counts, and that may cost him.
LutherJW starts shooting. There is a time limit, and he seems to be taking the full allocation as he takes an eternity to complete the event. There are claims that he is taking the arrows to the target by foot. The methodical approach pays off, however, and he scores 98 points. Not enough to get gold, but he'll be content with silver.
G-Off takes gold, and inches ahead in the competition.
Archery Results
Gold: G-Off
Silver: LutherJW
Bronze: seaempty
Event 14 - 400m
In the 100m sprint you have to waggle Remotes as fast as possible. In the 400m, if you do this, you'll run out of puff pretty quickly. You have to maintain a steady pace or your heart meter empties, and you slow right down. You can sprint in the last 100m, which leads to some frantic finishes.
The 400m races suck. They are hard to get the hang of, and pretty dull. G-Off seems to have mastered the technique, however, and gets a good time of 42.726 seconds.
seaempty's off, and is really bad at this race. He only manages a time of 45.868 seconds, and his chances of winning the competition are all but over. Like the England football team, he's cracked under pressure, and thrown it away.
If LutherJW gets gold, the the last event will decide the competition. Anything else, and G-Off wins. All attention is on LutherJW as he sets off. He seems to struggle with this race, like seaempty, but not as badly. He clocks a time of 44.948 seconds and takes silver. G-Off has already started celebrating.
400m Results
Gold: G-Off
Silver: LutherJW
Bronze: seaempty
Event 15 - 400m Hurdles
400m hurdles uses the same stamina system of the 400m race, but you have to press the B Button to jump the hurdles. Timing is crucial, as well as keeping your eye on the heart meter.
This is a bit of a nothing event, as G-Off has already won. You can't fault his dedication, however, as he posts a time of 48.299 seconds. He's looking for another gold, and may just get it with that time.
seaempty still hates 400m events, and this shows in his time. It's 52.229 seconds, but's it's not as bad as it could have been.
LutherJW gets going. He can only finish bottom, and maybe his disappointment affects his performance. He only gets a time of 54.642 seconds. Maybe he thought the person with the most bronze medals won?
400m Hurdles Results
Gold: G-Off
Silver: seaempty
Bronze: LutherJW
That's the end of the N+ Olympics! Let's have a look at the final medal table:
Medal Table
G-Off: 8G-4S-3B (35 points)
seaempty: 5G-6S-4B (31 points)
LutherJW: 2G-5S-8B (24 points)
Congratulations to G-Off who wins the N+ Olympics! It was a close competition, but he came through under pressure on the final day, with 3 gold medals. It was a well-fought competition, and a great laugh.
Competition Winner!
The correct answer to the question was Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who designed the Olympic logo in 1913. Congratulations to guyernest who won the copy of Mario and Sonic at the Olympics! We'll be in touch soon to get your shipping details! Thanks to all those who entered, and commiserations if you didn't win. We'll hopefully be running more and more competitions, so there will be more opportunities to win in the future.
N+ Summary
seaempty's thoughts: I think M&S is a great little game. The fact that Mario and Sonic are in the same game for the first time will help it sell, but it's a worthy purchase without that. The events are well designed, but above all fun to play. There's a good variety with over 20 events, and lots to unlock to keep you playing. We haven't even touched on the mini-games that you can play to unlock Olympic Trivia, and the dream events which add a new level of fun to some of the existing events. The game is most fun as a party game, and much like Wii Sports will get you huffing and puffing while playing, and you'll ache in the morning. It won't last for long if you play it on your own, and being able to challenge people over Wi-Fi would have been a welcome addition. Overall it's a good game that's a lot of fun.
G-Off (AKA THE WINNER)'s thoughts: What can I really say about this game? Oh, I know. It is a steaming pile of shabby workmanship. The controls are hard to use, the difficulty is immense, the voice over work is bloody annoying, and they make you watch too many cut-scenes. Really, the only time I enjoyed playing the game was during this competition. It may not have been in person, but playing with other people is so much fun! If you liked Wii Sports, get the game. If you host a lot of parties but are an incredibly boring person, get the game. But if you just want a game that has two gaming legends meeting up for the first time, wait for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In the end, it does fall on personal preference. And this person preferred something else.
LutherJW (AKA LoserJW)'s thoughts: Unfortunately, Mario and Sonic fails miserably without online play. SEGA really missed a golden opportunity there. I suppose you could always hold IRC tournaments. Voice work is repetitive and annoying and controls can be annoying at times (the parts where you have to be just right, not too hard or too soft.) I suppose you could say there's a learning curve ... I just haven't learned them yet. Single player mode can only go so far; this game was meant for multiplayer. That's where the game really shines - providing an experience near to that of Wii Sports.
Game: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games
Developed by: SEGA
Genre: Party
Players: 1-4
Release Date: November 6, 2007 (NA) November 23, 2007 (EU)
Rating: PEGI: 3+, ESRB: E (Everyone)
Supports WFC: Yes
Video available: N+ Video vault
N+ Points
N+ Good variety of games
N+ Nice graphics
N+ Great fun to play
N+ A decent work out!
N+ The WFC leaderboards
N+ A good learning curve
N- Points
N- No onine play
N- If party games aren't your thing, this probably isn't for you
N- You will ache after playing!
JudgmeN+: 7.0
(42%)
Geoff GirardinG-off # Friday, November 23, 2007 2:56:49 PM
Ace Jon # Friday, November 23, 2007 4:18:29 PM
What a terrible day, sea! 2 bronzes and a silver? Bah.
Joeshadow boy # Friday, November 23, 2007 6:37:08 PM
UltimateGamer # Friday, November 23, 2007 7:58:17 PM
yeeliberto # Friday, November 23, 2007 8:39:10 PM
Congrats to the 3. Thanks for those exciting moments.
Pikachu Electronkawaiipikachu # Friday, November 23, 2007 11:41:38 PM
Well you don't have to answer that one .
The question i want an answer for is “Wheres Tails ?”.
Hes the cutest 2 tailed fox .
Tamil # Sunday, November 25, 2007 11:20:54 AM
JosiahJoeMama0708 # Monday, November 26, 2007 2:13:50 AM
joseGOOFYSTAR # Saturday, December 15, 2007 7:04:54 PM