Game: Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics
Platform: Nintendo DS/DSi
Publisher: SEGA
Price: $34.99
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: Buy it, if you love Mario, Sonic, and Olympics
Pros: Well designed adventure mode, characters are spot on
Cons: Events can get repetitive
I didn’t grow up with Mario or Sonic. I’m of the age where arcades housing Donkey Kong and Pac Man were commonplace, and I didn’t have a home console until I was out of college (it was a PS1 I stole from my brother when he went off to college). I’m not a Sega or Nintendo fanboy, either. I have to admit, though, to a certain attraction to the icons of these venerable companies. Mario and Sonic each define their respective platforms and each have a rabid fan base. It’s exciting, from my non-fannish perspective, to have them both in the same game, playing for the same team. Equally fun is having all their evil nemeses and friendly posses involved. Having Tails and Knuckles compete in the same events as Yoshi and Luigi has a specific, nostalgic charm that, in this game at least, doesn’t fail to please.
Starting the game up, there are options. There is no long, drawn out story set up like many current generation “icon” games. You can choose to compete in events right from the start. They’re all available for play; unlocking is a thing of the past. I’m assuming this is a conscious decision, and partly in response to folks like myself who really just want to experience the various events and mini games, but don’t really have the time or motivation to play through a full storyline-based game with unlocked levels contingent on playing earlier levels. So, this is a nice move toward making folks happy.
The events themselves are split into two categories: actual olympic events and dream events. Each set of events has its own set of mechanics: events like the ski jump are stylus and touch/gesture based while events like speed skating are button and D-Pad based. The dream events put a funky, cartoony spin on things, like rocket skis or battle bobsleds. It’s all in good fun, and each event has a tutorial and practice system built in, to allow players of all levels play at their best. As a parent, I appreciate this; as a gamer, I tend to skip on by and learn as I go. My children start out checking the tutorials and practicing, and spend a little time in the practice areas if an event or game is confusing at first.
Ultimately, though, the events themselves have enough written and pictorial hints that even younger players will get comfortable and proficient early on. In an interesting move that I found to be exceptionally helpful in enjoying the game on a personal level is Adventure mode. This is the story-based game that I deride above. But wait, I can hear readers saying, “didn’t you just deride that type of story based game above?” Yes, indeed, dear reader, I did. But I found out something about myself while playing this game. While I tend to dislike button mashing my way through several layers of kid-centric dialog to get to the actual game when I’m FORCED to do so by developers, I do find that if it’s an option, I enjoy the heck out of it. In addition, it’s such a contrast to the Event, menu, Event, menu gameplay of the main mode that I found myself delighted with the story, which includes collecting all the equipment needed for the event, talking to a cast of fun characters, and gathering crystals to get past ice walls and move to the next city or town. Great fun, and it allows the developers to play to the characters themselves in dialog and mini games (Luigi gets to find a key by avoiding Boos, collecting batteries for a flashlight, and grabbing the key itself).
Overall, I found this game to be clever and charming, even though the Olympic events and venues, while enjoyable, were not particularly motivating to replay. With the combination of iconic gaming characters, fun gaming mechanics, interesting events and an an engaging storyline, I think all gamers, young and young at heart, will appreciate having this in their DS arsenal.
Popularity: unranked [?]
