Nintendo Okie

Four years have passed since the entire gaming world pinched itself, as Mario and Sonic put aside their differences and joined forces in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Since then, the once rivals have appeared together in two further games, and four years on from the original game, seeing them together now seems no stranger than a Metroid in a Metroid game. With the shock factor gone, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is now relying on its gameplay as the key selling point, but does it do enough to justify another return to the Summer Olympics?

The answer unfortunately is not really, especially if you own the original game or are interested in it as a solo experience. The biggest problem that can be attributed to Mario & Sonic 2012 is that it hasn’t developed at all over the past four years, with some areas actually regressing slightly. What was originally a game for everyone is now a game skewed heavily towards party groups, and perhaps more prominently, towards groups who typically do not play games.

What You Need To Know
Mario & Sonic 2012 is an Olympic themed compilation, featuring the mascots from the two iconic series going head-to-head in real-life Olympic events, ranging from sprints to equestrian. If you played the original, then you already know what this is about.

Making things too simple

That’s not to say that the game isn’t fun of course, it’s just lacking in certain areas that will become all too apparent for anyone who played the original. Mario & Sonic 2012 features a total of 31 events, with 10 being themed Dream Events, leaving 21 main Olympic events, many of which have simply been transferred over from the original game, albeit in a simpler form. Most events now only demand a Wii remote to play, potentially allowing more players and simplifying the controls considerably. Series mainstays such as 100m sprint and long jump have lost nunchuck support, leaving you simply waggling the Wii remote to build up speed rather than alternating between the two. While this is certainly a positive for simplicity, it emphasises the waggle-heavy nature of the game and it is disappointing not to be given the option of the classic control scheme.

A lot of the skill has also been taken out of the game, with events such as archery and triple jump absent, replaced instead by uninspired trap shooting and discus throw events. Beyond losing nunchuck support, the events that transferred over are also sans the skill factor the original had, levelling the playing field to make for a more party-themed game. The swimming event for example is now just a case of waggling just below a pre-defined top speed, rather than the clever breathing mechanic the original had, creating a somewhat trivial race to the line as players are speed capped. Losing the skill factor is hugely disappointing, but it does allow for a more level playing field, and it is clear that a level multiplayer competition is what this game is aiming for this time around.

Nothing proves that more than the London Party mode, which is the only way to play events in succession thanks to the removal of circuit mode and the criminally missing Olympic Games mode that was featured in Winter Olympics. To have no clear single player mode and to only have a party mode sends a clear message to the consumer – this is a party game. Single players need not apply.

London Party is great

The party mode itself is actually a lot of fun, and is perhaps the biggest vindicator of SEGA’s decision to focus on multiplayer this time around. London Party allows you and three friends to explore London much like a Mario Party board, walking up and down streets and interacting with NPCs, be it Toads or Espio the Chameleon, who will challenge you to complete mini-games for them. These range from chasing a Shy Guy around London’s Hyde Park to simpler tasks of covering the top-down board looking for coins, all of which are reasonably quick and fun. The mini-games are half the attraction though, as every time Big Ben strikes, you and your friends enter into a randomly chosen Olympic event, with the victor winning stickers; the overall winner is the first to fill up their sticker book, giving the events a bit more of a competitive edge. In the absence of a true Olympics mode and given that most people will tire of sticking with traditional Olympic events, it is nice to see an alternative, albeit one that is almost entirely focussed on multiplayer.

Mario & Sonic 2012 does bring more new features to the table, although not many of them actually work. New events such as football and equestrian are just plain boring, with football in particular being a lethargic affair even when compared to Winter Olympics’ Ice Hockey, and the addition of Beach Volleyball also fails thanks to it lacking the depth Mario Sports Mix had. Badminton is too slow and cumbersome to even be slightly enjoyable, and other events such as rhythmic ribbon feel too much like carbon copies of Winter Olympics events, creating a lazy feel to the new additions. Mario & Sonic 2012 also tries to freshen up existing events by adding in character specific special moves, but rather than being fun, it creates an archaic feel to the game, especially in 100m sprint where characters ultimately end up dancing across the line.

Dream Events

The saving grace is in the Dream Events, which finally make use of the Mario & Sonic license to good effect. The Dream Events allow SEGA to be creative, unlike the Olympic events which are naturally stuck in tradition, and see you taking part in events set in iconic series locations, ranging from Mario Galaxy’s Battlerock Galaxy to Sonic Adventure 2’s Crazy Gadget. The events are on the whole fun to play, with the creativity allowing for much more fun-focussed events; Dream Hurdles is brilliant with four players as everyone scrambles to jump over each other, and even events such as Dream Uneven Bars prove to be enjoyable. After playing through a lot of similarity it is great to see that SEGA do still have ideas for the series rather than this just being a re-release.

Poor Presentation

Unfortunately, the other aspects of the game did not receive the care and attention that the Dream Events have, with the graphics in particular failing to impress. The characters models themselves are looking as sharp as they did in Winter Olympics, and the stadiums look bright and vibrant, if not too akin to their real-life counterparts, but as with the original game, the crowds and support characters are animated in a style that would make a Game Boy Advance blush. Crowd characters are entirely flat, and can be viewed from any angle and still face the same way, and are so pixellated that you can actually count the pixels. Clearly the Wii isn’t the most powerful console but lazy low-fidelity 2D images just do not cut it anymore, and it is really sad to see SEGA trying to get away with it.

This laziness continues into the presentation of the game, which is missing all the slick menus that Winter Olympics featured. Customisables are now purchased via menus or through a boring scratch card game, completely removing the Olympic village introduced 2 years ago. Alternate music tracks can also no longer be selected pre-event, and must now be selected in a menu prior to even choosing an event. While the default music for events is sufficient, although somewhat repetitive for longer ones, it is hard to understand why the simple change track button from Winter Olympics is missing, only to be replaced by a menu. Quite simply, the presentation lacks any charm or intuitive features, and ends up being a poor menu-driven experience.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate to say it but the bubble really has burst for the Mario & Sonic Olympics series. The 2012 edition is a somewhat lazy and rushed re-release of the original game, with very few of the complaints about the 2007 title having been addressed. The biggest question that must be raised is why is there no MotionPlus support? Releasing in tandem with Skyward Sword means that MotionPlus has reached a critical mass, and seeing as how Zelda has shown us how motion control should work, it is jarring to go back to a waggle-heavy game when times have moved on. What shouldn’t be ignored though is that this is still a very fun party game, and it will prove to be a hit with the family this Christmas; just don’t expect anything else. It is a game that four years ago would have been heralded as a fine example of motion control; in 2011 it just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Final Score:

Review copy of the game provided by SEGA
All events and modes completed