This article uses content from Wikipedia (view authors), and falls under the compatible Creative Commons license.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Japanese: マリオ&ソニック' in 北京オリンピック, Mario & Sonikku in Pekin Orinpikku, lit. "Mario & Sonic in the Beijing Olympics" in Japan), is a sports game developed and published by Sega for North America and Europe and published by Nintendo for Japan. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee through exclusive licensee International Sports Multimedia. It is the first official video game of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to be released, with a more realistic sports game released by Sega in 2008. The idea of an Olympic setting for Mario and Sonic has been around for a few years prior to 2007, while casual discussions of a game in general existed for some time beforehand. The two publishers were looking for a proper setting that would give the game "an exclamation mark". In combination with the atmosphere of competitive sportsmanship the Olympics had to offer and making the transition from hardware development to producing third-party software in 2001, Sega received approval by Nintendo to include Mario in the game. It was released on the Nintendo Wii in November of 2007 and the Nintendo DS handheld in early 2008.
The game is known for being the first official crossover title to feature both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, Nintendo and Sega's former rival mascots, along with other characters from their respective series. The player can assume the role as one of these characters while competing against the others in numerous Olympic events as well as fantasy events. The Wii version was awarded as the best game of 2007 on its platform at the Games Convention in Leipzig. Overall, critics had mixed perceptions of Mario & Sonic's gameplay with the variety of events singled out as a strong feature. The title has undergone scrutiny for having the mascots starring in a casual game based on the Beijing Olympics as their first official title together instead of a platform game. Both versions have sold a total of 5 million units combined as of March 31, 2008.
Gameplay[]
Mario & Sonic brings together the title characters and 14 more from both franchises to participate in environments based on the official venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. These environments are stylized to fit the art styles of the Mario and Sonic video games. Besides the characters from the Mario and Sonic games, Miis can also be used in the Wii version. There are also a few randomly selected non-playable characters acting as referees or the audience for certain events. Each playable character has their own statistics which can serve as an advantage or disadvantage depending on the event. They are divided into four categories: all-around, speed, power, and skill. All-Around isn't really its own skill, but more of just being good enough in the other categories. There is also a statistic for stamina.
The gameplay involves utilizing either or a combination of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk on the Wii or stylus and button controls on the DS in various ways to complete each event. The events can require a combination of speed, timing, and some strategy. Each competition offers a slight degree of difference. In the running events, for example, getting a starting boost in the 100 m dash will either make or break the player's place, while in a relay race, which can last for well over a minute, this may not determine place as effectively. The game also has leaderboards that make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to show the best times and scores.
Mario & Sonic features a gallery mode, where brief facts of the Olympics can be found. There are five categories of trivia with matching mini-games that, once completed, will unlock the answer to trivia questions. Classic music from both series is available for use in the gallery once all levels in a category are cleared. There is also a standard gallery theme.
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Trivia[]
- All Mario female contestants wear clothing from sports games they've been in as Peach and Daisy from Mario sports games, however Amy and Blaze wear new sporting gear similar to what they wore in Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity.
- This is Vector's first playable appearance since the Shadow the Hedgehog game.
- This is also the debut of Team Chaotix on the Wii and DS.
- This is also Charmy's first appearance on a handheld console.
- This is also Vector's first time being the only playable Team Chaotix member.
- The only Mario characters with new artwork are Mario (cover & special posters), Luigi (poster), Peach, Daisy, & Bowser (Poster).
- In the aquatic events, Sonic wears a lifejacket, since he can't swim.
- Silver the Hedgehog, Jet the Hawk, Cream the Rabbit, Big the Cat, Espio the Chameleon, Rouge the Bat, Donkey Kong, Birdo, and a Goomba were all supposed to be playable characters in this game, but got deleted. They are still in the beta and are only available by hacking the game.
- Donkey Kong and Silver are playable in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games though.
- In the track and field events, you can see Big the Cat in the entrance to the stadium. He is also seen being the referee of the Single Sculls event.
- The Dream Race event can be seen as an on-foot version of Mario Kart.
- There is a Co-Op event in Super Smash Bros. Brawl called "Sonic and Mario". That event may have referenced this game.
- In the USA Wii commercial of the game, the song that it was hearing is "The Final Countdown" by the Swedish hard rock, heavy metal and glam metal band Europe, that it was released in 1986.
- In Shadow's artwork for this game, he's missing his tail.
- Shadow's artwork also has him doing the same pose as one of the Japanese artwork of Sonic for Sonic CD.
- It appears Blaze was a last-minute character, as her model appears unfinished in Pole Vault. It looks as if she only moves one leg at the start. This may just be the angle of the camera, though.
- In this game, Dr. Eggman and Bowser are rivals, yet in Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, they work together.