phungus's Full Review: Mario & Sonic: At The Olympic Games for Nintendo W...
There are way too many games for the Nintendo Wii that are just a collection of lame mini-games, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is one of them. Out of all the different Olympic events you can play in this game, many of them play just the same as the other, and only a few of them are actually fun. Combine that with long waiting times and far too many screens to go through, I am truly mad that I wasted my money on this game.
Content is a problem with this game, because there's not enough of it. If you were to strip away the countless repetitive scenes that come before and after every event, the actual part of the game where you get to play something would make up only about a third of what you see. The rest is a bunch of filler and fluff that I very quickly got tired of watching. I shouldn't have to click through four or five screens in between each event. Just let me play!
One good example of frustrating gameplay is the skeet shooting event. You start the event with this little heartbeat timed thing that determines the size of the crosshairs. If you get this part just right, you can forget it. Even with the crosshairs at maximum size, the game gives you a split second to react. To get past this part, you just have to memorize where the skeet is going instead of using skill. I don't like that.
Several of the other games, from the javelin throw to the hurdles to the swimming, all involve you making basically the same movements. You have to shake the controllers up and down real fast to build up speed, then lift up one controller at a precise moment to either jump, throw a javelin, or dive into the water. On most of these ‘events' you are only playing for maybe 30 seconds or less. The on-screen instructions don't help all that much in some events, such as the long jump. It tells me I jumped at a bad time, then I still set a new game record.
The graphics are the best thing going for this game, because I thought it looked better than any Wii title I've seen. It features the bright and colorful scheme used for all the Mario titles, plus there's characters from the Sonic games, which is cool. All of the Olympic events are depicted in a semi-realistic style, which is kind of cool. Too bad the games themselves aren't so great. The sound is pretty decent in that you get little familiar effects from the Sonic and Mario games, plus the crowd will react to your performance.
In the end, I was very disappointed with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Other than having great graphics, this game is all hype and not enough fun. I think it has way more filler than real content, and despite having multiple Olympics events to play, too many of them played the same way.
Marking the historic first time these two renowned stars have appeared together in a game, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games has players competing ...More at eBay
Two of the most beloved icons in the world, Mario and Sonic, are joining forces to star in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Developed exclusively f...More at J&R Music and Computer World
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