N +

Alright, I will say right off the bat that I have never been big into the games that represent the Olympics. But this one is actually pretty dang fun! Lets start off with the controls!

CONTROLS: If you are not a fan of games with Motion Control, you will most likely not like this game. Most of the games you will be playing will require you have a Nunchuck and Wii Remote and you moving your arms to reenact the event you are playing. For example, when you are skiing, you will hold both the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck in front of you and you will move them to control your character going down the slope. For the most part, the controls are pretty good. I never really ran into a problem with getting the controls to work or had to fight with them in any of the Olympic Events. I think it would have been awesome if they added Motion-Plus to have more precise control but for whatever reason, they didn't include it. This game also lets you use your Wii Balance Board if you have one. I personally don't like using the Balance Board because I am lazy and don't want to get up and move. But it worked pretty well in the one time I tried using it.

EVENTS: There are about 27 events that you can play in. They are all based on actual Olympic Events, such as Skiing, Snowboarding, Figure Skating, Bobsled and Ice Hockey. The meat and bones of the game though are the Dream Events. These are events that will put you into Mario and Sonic levels instead of in the real world. You start off the game with Radical Raceway from Sonic Adventure 2 and Mario Circuit from Mario Kart. As you progress through the game, you can unlock more levels to play on, such as Seaside Hill from Sonic Heroes and Bowser's Castle. In these events, you can pick up Mario Kart items, such as Green Shells, Fake Item box, and Stars. They also added in some Sonic items, such as the Green Shield and the Speed Shoes. I think the Dream Events totally make the game worthy of purchase. It reminds me a lot of Mario Kart, but with skis and snowboards instead of go-karts.

Festival Mode is the new addition to the game this year. You start out at Day One of the Olympics, and Toad and Omnochao will train you everyday in all the events. Your goal to get the highest number of points out of all the competitors and win it all. At various points during Festival Mode, a random boss character (such as King Boo) will appear and will challenge you to a event you have previously trained for in the Festival Mode. As you progress through your training, you will have the ability to unlock more Dream Events. Just don't expect to unlock them all in one sitting, as the mode is time consuming. One downside to this mode is the lack of ability to choose what difficulty you are playing. A small gripe, but it would have been nice to have the option to make the game harder or easier depending on the skill of the player. While this is a pretty fun mode, I think the DS got the better end of the deal with their Adventure Mode. But a definite improvement over last year for the console version.

GRAPHICS: The graphics are okay. Not the best looking Wii game, but not the worst either. I think the worst part of the graphics has to be the audience. The Shy Guys and the Chao/Sonic animals just look muddy and not very good IMO. Other then that, the graphics are colorful and do their job.

SOUND: Top-Notch. Its really hard for me to play a game where the music is bad. Luckily, this game's soundtrack is amazing! They totally blew my mind with the music selection. They included many great remixes from both universes. If you are a fan of either game's soundtrack, you will not be let down. The non-Sonic or Mario music is just as good too. Each event has a different song, and they will get you pumped while you are playing. The voice acting is just as you would expect it to be. I will say that the Sonic voice actors have improved greatly since the first time I heard them in Sonic Riders. My only gripe is that during some of the games, the computer for whatever reason will keep taunting. I don't know why the computer decides to do this, but hearing Waluigi yell "Yeah! Yeah!" like 20 times during one round of fencing gets old pretty quick -.-

MULTIPLAYER: The best part of the game. Up to four players can play against each other to go for the gold! I played with my sister, and me and her had a blast challenging each other in Figure Skating and Ice Hockey. If you got a few buddies, it is a great party game if everyone into motion control mini-games.

Overall, I personally think this game is great! It’s not perfect, but it is definitely better then last year's game. If you are a fan of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games or are a fan mini-game compilation games, then this is a good purchase. If not, I would probably rent it before you buy it.



N+ Summary

Game: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Developed by: Sega of Japan
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-4
Rating:ERSB - E for Everyone
Supports WFC: Yes

N+ Points
N+ Motion Controls work well.
N+ All-star cast of Characters from both universes.
N+ Dream Events.
N+ The Soundtrack.

N- Points
N- Unlocking the Dream Events can be time consuming and tedious.
N- Festival Mode is not as deep as the Adventure Mode offered in the DS version.
N- The game has no difficulty settings so there is no way to make it easier or more difficult.

JudgmeN+: 8