Once upon a time, a long time ago, two giants of the videogame industry were locked in a constant battle with one another. Two of the biggest mascots in history were being compared directly, and each company’s fans would attack one another. Not forgetting the advertising, which was a direct attack on the other’s system and verging on libellous.
Fast-forward to today and these two mascots and companies now inhabit very different worlds. Nintendo have managed to go from strength to strength with a few blips along the way, whilst poor Sega managed to create one of the best systems and some of the most amazing games only to fail and become a widely recognised and appreciated software developer. What was once unthinkable – Mario and Sonic in the same game, has now happened. There was a cameo in Super Smash Bros Brawl and then there was the first game that mixed Sonic and Mario characters – Mario and Sonic At The Olympic Games.
Two years ago when the original title was released to the masses, there was mixed reviews in the industry. So a title that divided the fans, the community and even the reviewers would naturally need to do the same with its sequel.
When Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games is first loaded into the system, it’s clear that presentation is key with this title. The cut scenes are brilliantly animated, the textures are smooth, flow well and the colours are vibrant and distinct. The menu screens are well planned and very easy to use, which is important for a “family friendly” game.
A lot of the criticism surrounding Winter Olympic Games was aimed at the amount of Wii Waggle that was required to perform even the most basic of mini-games. Wii Waggle is all well and good, especially when it adds to the title, but when it requires inordinate amounts of Waggle, it becomes tiresome. In Winter Olympic Games Sega have listened to the feedback and in the new mini-games, there is far less Wii Waggle.
There are various new mini-games, such as skiing, tobogganing and snowboarding, which only require the Wii Remote, although most games are compatible with the Nunchcuk as well. Most of the events require a tilt or the remote, rather than Waggling and waving of arms. This new way of working could easily be a disaster, with many of the Wii games having very laggy and unresponsive controls.
Mario and Sonic At the Winter Olympic Games does not have this issue. The controls are responsive, a slight movement is registered and the controls are not over sensitive. So when the character is veering off track, it’s very easy to move the character back on path. This level of sensitivity and responsiveness comes without any addons such as the Wii MotionPlus, making Winter Olympic Games even more family friendly and cost effective. Some of the mini-games, mostly the ones on snow, allow the user to connect their Wii Balance Board, should they own one but they do not require the use of this peripheral.
With plenty of modes to choose from such as Festival Mode, Circuit Mode and Dream Event, there’s no shortage of things to do in Winter Olympic Games. There are also various unlockable levels, which tend to be better than the standard mini-games that are available from the off.
Although, there’s no real WiFi Connection available on Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, which in this day and age is almost unforgivable – even Animal Crossing achieved a real WiFi Connection. There’s the standard token online gesture, leaderboards and alike, but they are slow and each must be downloaded individually after each event – significantly slowing down playing time.
