Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Review_ Going Through the Motions
By Dr. Eleanor Vance | Published on January 01, 0001
There’s something to be said for a game that has Bowser performing a triple Salchow in figure skating or Dr. Eggman sweeping the ice in curling. I’m just not sure what that something is, though. Exciting? Surreal? Blasphemous? Whatever the case, such sights are possible in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, a title that’s notable for a couple reasons: It again pairs two of the most iconic characters in video games (and their supporting casts), and its juxtaposition of the words “Olympic” and “winter” seems strangely off-putting (why not Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, hmm?). Regardless, the premise, which builds on 2007’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, remains simple: Take ten characters from Mario’s world and ten from Sonic’s and let them compete in two dozen or so events from the Winter Games. Players can take part in a Festival mode–-either alone or with up to three others—that walks you through two “weeks” of events (two or three per “day”), or they can compete in stand-alone single-player or group matches.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); And now, the judges’ scores. Loved Dream Events: While progressing through Festival mode, every so often you’ll have to participate in a Dream Event, which takes one of the main events, puts an arcade spin on it and transports it to a Mario- or Sonic-themed environment. In Dream Ski Jump, for example, you glide on [[link]] skis through the Good Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, collecting goodies for points along the way. They’re nice diversions, especially when you nail a triple axel while leaping a Goomba, as in Dream Figure Skating. I found many of the dream events to be preferable to their reality-based counterparts. More than Mini-Games: Though some events got annoyingly repetitive, there were a few worth the extra play-throughs. Hockey, with its one-minute halves (they’re called “periods,” but there are only two of them) was face-paced and fun, as you control the four-on-four action by pressing the A button to pass and flicking the Remote forward to shoot or body-check. Another was curling, which was surprisingly intricate and made for a decent primer on a sport I knew little about. Balance Board: Unlike the previous Mario & Sonic title, which was released before Wii Fit came out, this game supports the Wii Balance Board. I included it here simply because it makes the sledding events more enjoyable, allowing you to [[link]] sit to steer. (Hey, when they’re appropriate, I’m a sucker for alternative control schemes.) However, the Balance Board is not without its drawbacks. It’s compatible only with a handful of events, and it’s debatable whether it makes those sports – skiing, snowboarding – more enjoyable. Moreover, anyone with a Balance Board should also have Wii Fit, which also includes ski slalom and ski jump games. Finally, the Balance Board is not supported in Festival mode; it’s a separate option, alongside Single Match, Festival and Training. Hated Rival Challenges: In Festival mode, after about every other day, a rival will challenge you in one of the events, which you must win in order to advance to the next day. Some rivals are ridiculously easy; others are more difficult. (Of the latter category, I seem to recall jotting something down in my notes … oh, yes, here it is: KING BOO – GIANT SLALOM – DIE! DIE! DIE! This was in reference to how, in order to beat King Boo, you must ski a nearly flawless giant slalom race while surviving the multiple times that the grinning bastard bumps you on the way down the course, including the many instances when he would knock me off balance a few feet before the finish line, causing me to lose and igniting an overwhelming desire to rip that flailing red tongue out of his ghostly freakin’ throat. See also: BIG
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