The Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has been with us for a while now, and it hasn’t been too badly received either amongst the Wii-mote waving, button bashing members of the public out there, so now that the DS version has finally arrived, should these same gamers still be as excited as they were the first time around?
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games on the DS is certainly not short on features, 16 playable characters have all been included, each of which are split into four categories such speed, skill, power and the all rounder’s, therefore you can choose which characters you would prefer to use for each event based on their ability. The game also offers plenty of choice when it comes to events, these range from sprinting, swimming and cycling to more specialist events such as fencing and gymnastics, the developers have certainly managed to cram plenty in, and as a bonus there are also quite a few events to be unlocked, such as the dream events which also appeared on the Wii version.
One of the great things about the game is the incentive to keep playing, first off you want to win the event in itself, and obviously winning brings medals, which is great, but then you start to get greedy and want to break the Olympic and World records and if all that incentive is not enough for you, then how about the fact that the game saves all of your achievements, including medals won, best times etc and then allows you to upload your best times using the WFC connection, to see how you compare against other people from around the world.
Taking part in events is easy thanks to the brilliant DS controls, the game guides you through and lets you know exactly what you need to do, so there becomes no need for flicking through the manual. As you would expect it is all fairly easy to learn, running for example only requires you to rub the stylus from side to side, whereas in the trampoline event arrows appear on screen and you then draw in the direction they are pointing using your stylus. Some events don’t even use the stylus, cycling for example just has you using the shoulder button and D-Pad and although I found this quite awkward at first, you do tend to get used to it after a while.
When turning the game on for the first time and visiting the main menu, you will notice that a few different ways to play, these include Single Player and Versus Play. Within the Single Player mode you have a choice of a single event, circuit mode and mission mode. While the single event mode explains itself the other two are where the fun is to be had. Circuit mode sees you take part in a series of events, while competing for the top score in each, the winner at the end of the circuit will then be awarded with the trophy. The mission mode is different in that you will be given a set task such as winning an event or beating a certain character, winning a mission will light up one of five stars, light up all five and the prize is yours, each character has it’s own missions so it should take you a while to light up all their stars.
Versus play, like most multiplayer games is where the main fun is to be had, should you know at least one other person with a DS then just try to stop playing this, there is noting quite like competing against someone you know to bring out the real competitor in you after all.
As far as the graphics go, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games really is spot on, the development team have done a really good job of making this game look and feel good, it is very colorful, the characters look fantastic and so do each of the events, it certainly would be hard to fault the game in this respect.
While Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games may not be a reason to own a DS, if you already have one then it is certainly a game worth adding to your collection, it is entertaining, looks great and gives you plenty of reason to go back for more, sure it has a few flaws but no game is perfect, right?
