Summary
With the majority of the games published by Sega,Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Gamesbegan life on the Nintendo Wii. The iconic characters, together with many familiar faces from both series, could participate in multiple sporting events tied closely with real-life Olympic events. The franchise also had its “Dream Events”, wacky and immersive versions of sports taking place in iconic settings from either franchise.
For many players, these games remain iconic and beloved for their accessibility, multiplayer and overall highly enjoyable engaging events with a large cast of well-loved characters. On home-consoles, six games make up the series and were released from 2007 - 2019, linking into the Olympic Games that took place the following years. Each unique yet enjoyable in their own way, theseMario & Sonicgames are still fun to pick up and play with friends today.
The very first installment in theMario & Sonicfranchise came as somewhat of a surprise to many fans, who at first considered it an April Fool’s joke. However, it turned out to be a real deal, starting a new spin-off franchise with the beloved casts of two of video gaming’s most iconic characters. The iconic opening cutscene, something which continued in most entries in the franchise, introduced what this game was all about: Mario, Sonic and their many friends compete in a large array of Olympic events. Featuring 16 characters plus the ability to play with Miis, this game had many fun events for players to try their hand at, including never-again-seen events like Pole Vault, High Jump, and 400m Hurdles.
Dream Events appeared in their earliest form, albeit only four of them, which are not set in the worlds of Mario or Sonic. There were also ‘Circuit’ and ‘Mission’ modes offering players additional challenges, the first of which is required to unlock the Dream Events. However, this first game does feel much slower-paced than its following entries in the series, and as with all the titles on the Wii, uses the motion controls heavily.
Tokyo 2020 was the series' last installment, and as such played with the formula set out by its predecessors, whilst remaining faithful to what fans have known as theMario & Sonicseries. Uniquely, Tokyo 2020 offered two primary game modes for the Single Matches: the traditional 3D events, and 8-bit events tied into the Olympics held in Tokyo back in 1964. With a large choice of events, this game even lets players select their options for controls, meaning one can utilize the traditional Wii-era Motion controls, or stick with button controls. As a first for a home console release in the series, there is a Story Mode seeing Luigi and Tails take the lead to rescue Mario and Sonic, who exist back in their 8-bit and 16-bit looks respectively.
Though it did receive a higher Metascore than other titles in the franchise,Tokyo 2020 does feel a tad underwhelmingcompared with many of its predecessors. Whilst there are some fun Dream Events, they’re much more limited and aren’t set in a location from either franchise. Similarly, players cannot add a nice touch of music from Mario or Sonic as the events' BGM. The Story Mode can be very slow-paced, whilst the events don’t last that long. Despite difficult controls for certain events in particular, Tokyo 2020 still gave players engaging Olympic sporting events to enjoy, fantastic multiplayer options, and ultimately fun with so many beloved video game characters from two massive franchises.
The first HDMario & Sonicgame had some exclusive features and a solid roster of events, though many are similar to the original 2010 Winter Olympics outing. InSochi 2014, new events included Biathlon, Figure Skating Pairs, and Snowboard Slopestyle. Exciting Dream Events such as “Roller Coaster Bobsleigh” and “Groove Pipe Snowboard” took place inbeloved franchise locations at super speed.Other Dream Events such as “Bullet Bill Sledge Race” saw a nice crossover of the two franchises, but the unique highlight would be the “Winter Sports Champion Race”, letting players compete on snowboard, skis, skates, or bobsleigh, or even all four.
Aside from the single matches,Sochi 2014had four other game modes, though the highly enjoyable Online mode is now defunct. Taking place in the iconic Sonic setting of Soleanna, “Legends Showdown” puts players through every event, competing against shadow clones of each character and tackling guest bosses to win a trophy. In the “Action and Answer Tour” hosted by Dr. Eggman’s hench-bots, Orbot and Cubot, players compete in a modified puzzle-based version of Olympic events to win the most points. “Medley Mania” lets players choose a selection of events based on a certain theme, or even make their own. Though it does offer a lot of fun, Sochi 2014 is hampered by its controls, that being not just the Wii U GamePad, but that the Wiimotes also require Motion Plus, an accessory needed for each remote or one cannot play the game.
The second Summer Olympics in the series really raised the bar from the original outing in 2007. As established in the preceding title, Vancouver 2010, theLondon 2012entry offered players more sports, more characters, and four-player activities aside from the Single Matches, and the beloved Dream Events were in full swing. There was a healthy selection of both Olympic and Dream events and saw exclusive events like Synchronized Swimming, Track Cycling, and Uneven Bars, as well as debut events like Volleyball and Equestrian.
“London Party” is the secondary activity this time, sending players across the City of London to meet various Mario and Sonic characters, and compete in events and mini-games to fill their sticker sheet first. Rival players can sabotage another’s sheet, or even take their hard-earned stickers, making for a fun yet highly competitive event. Just like in the Vancouver 2010 installment, players can win items for their Miis, such as the outfits of many beloved Mario and Sonic characters,or even great music from both series.Some classic tunes received remixes, such as “Angel Island Zone” fromSonic 3 and Knucklesto the many “Overworld Themes” from various Mario games of the NES era.
The secondMario & Sonictitle for the Wii U tied into the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. This time, there was lots more focus on Team Mario vs Team Sonic, hearkening back to the mascots' old rivalry in the early 1990s. From the Mario and Sonic ‘Leagues’, an amiibo exclusive feature, to ‘Heroes Showdown’, players can choose one side and battle the other to victory. Even the cover art depicts the two sides against each other. This game doesn’t rely on motion controls, unlike previous games, which was welcomed by many.
As well as the standard roster of 20 characters, this game included new ‘Guest characters’ who would specialize in a certain event.Fan favorite Sonic character Rouge the Batcan only play Beach Volleyball and Nabbit can play the 100m sprint. As for the events, there may be fewer than in previous games, but ‘Duel Events’ were introduced instead of the beloved Dream Events. However, as the name implies, the three Duel sports: Football, Volleyball, and Rugby, focus greatly on combat and offer very competitive gameplay. This was the only game to have a small Hub world instead of a static menu screen, on Copacabana Beach, where players can walk around and see the events on offer. Players can partake in the frequent ‘Tournaments’ and Rio Carnival Challenges, the latter in which they can try and win items for Miis, such as a character costume.
Vancouver 2010is often considered the best entry in theMario & Sonicseries. It set the formula for future games by introducing the Dream Events: modified versions of Olympic sports set in different locations from across the Mario and Sonic franchises. Players could take Ski Jumping to Mario’s ‘Good Egg Galaxy’, or Snowboard Cross to the streets of Sonic’s ‘Radical Highway’, to name a couple. The roster was increased to 20 characters with the addition of Bowser Jr, Donkey Kong, Metal Sonic, and Silver the Hedgehog, and maintained in future entries. Being the first Winter Olympics title, players were introduced to a thrilling and competitive array of new sports, from high-speed Skeleton and Bobsleigh to elegant Figure Skating or the technical Halfpipe and Moguls.
This game has even more to offer players aside from the large collection of sporting events, which makes this the most replayable of all theOlympicsseries. “Festival Mode” lets players select their own team and name, and run through all the events over a set number of days, competing against iconic Mario and Sonic rivals to win the most points. There are three games to choose from in “Party Mode” which further extends this game’s multiplayer options. Even when taking a break from the events, players can navigate the Shopping Hub and customize gear, buy and change Mii outfits, and unlock music from both the Marioand Sonic series to set as BGM for events.The game also includes trivia for each character as well as about the Olympics and the city of Vancouver as a whole. Many of these things continued in further installments in the series. As such, theVancouver 2010installment was theMario & Sonicseries at its height, offering immersion and fun without the events feeling tedious, and laid the groundwork for future entries.
