Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

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 I rate this game:8.25

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Japanese: マリオ&ソニック AT バンクーバーオリンピック^? - "Mario & Sonic at the Vancouver Olympics") is a sports game by Sega, published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega in North America and Europe. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee "International Sports Multimedia". The game is the third official crossover title to feature characters from both Mario and Sonic The Hedgehog's respective universes. It's been released on the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS on October 13, 2009, and is the first announced video game based around the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[1]
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games enables players to assume the role of a Mario or Sonic character while competing against the others in Winter Olympic events.^[1] The EU release was on October 16th, 2009.

Gameplay 

Some of the events in the Wii game use the Balance Board accessory. The multiplayer mode offers "co-op and competitive gameplay" whereas the DS version uses its wireless capabilities.^[1]

Adventure mode 

The DS version has also an adventure mode: Eggman and Bowser steal the winter spirits, without them all the snow melts and the Olympic games are spoiled. It's up to Sonic and Mario to save them by retreaving the spirits and save the games. Along the way they will find old friends and Enemies ready to help them or slow them down. Neither Sonic or Mario can talk in the game, their dialogues are spoken by Toad. In the game you'll also find fun notions about the characters.

Development 

In January 2009, an article in the Spanish Nintendo magazine Nintendo Acción mentioned a sequel to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, to be created for the 2010 Winter Olympics.^[2] Both IGN and Eurogamer received confirmation on the games' existence, with IGN stating that game would be officially announced within the following month.^[3][4] Dennis Kim, licensing and merchandising director for the event, stated in February that a Mario & Sonic title "[is] being discussed and planned for Vancouver". Kim also stated that Vancouver 2010 and the IOC will share royalties from this game.^[5]
The official announcement did arrive within the month as predicted, the game's title being given as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games at a joint press release by Sega and Nintendo on February 12, 2009.

Events

All the events of the game include:

Wii Version

Olympic Events

• Alpine Skiing - Downhill
• Alpine Skiing - Giant Slalom
• Ski Jumping - Individual Large Hill
• Ski Jumping - Team Large Hill
• Freestyle Skiing - Moguls
• Freestyle Skiing - Ski Cross
• Snowboard - Halfpipe
• Snowboard - Snowboard Cross
• Skating - Speed Skating 500m
• Skating - Short Track 1000m
• Skating - Short Track Relay
• Figure Skating
• Bobsleigh - Skeleton
• Bobsleigh
• Ice Hockey
• Curling

Dream Events

• Dream Alpine - Individual
• Dream Alpine - Team
• Dream Ski Jumping - Individual
• Dream Ski Jumping - Team
• Dream Ski Cross - Individual
• Dream Ski Cross - Team
• Dream Snowboard Cross - Individual
• Dream Snowboard Cross - Team
• Dream Short Track
• Dream Figure Skating
• Dream Bobsleigh
• Dream Ice Hockey
• Dream Curling
• Dream Snowball Fight
• Dream Gliding - Individual
• Dream Gliding - Team

DS Version 

Olympic Events

• Skiing - Alpine Skiing GS
• Skiing - Moguls
• Skiing - Nordic Combined
• Skiing - Ski Jumping LH
• Skiing - Cross-Country
• Skating - Speed Skating 500m
• Skating - Short Track 500m
• Skating - Figure Skating
• Snowboard - Snowboard Cross
• Bobsleigh
• Bobsleigh - Skeleton
• Ice Hockey
• Curling
• Biathlon
• Luge

Dream Events

Dream Skiing - Ski Cross Racing

• Dream Skiing - Rocket Ski Jumping
• Dream Skiing - Super Sonic Downhill
• Dream Skating - Intense Short Track
• Dream Skating - Ultimate Figure Skating
• Dream Snowboard - Extreme Snow Boarding
• Dream Snowboard - Deluxe Halfpipe
• Dream Bobsleigh - Blazing Bobsleigh
• Dream Ice Hockey - Fever Hockey
• Dream Curling - Curling Bowling
• Dream Biatlon - Ski Shooting
• Dream Snow Machine - Snow Machine Fight

Characters 

The cast consists of the full roster from the previous game, as well as some new characters.

Sonic the Hedgehog series

Playable Characters

Icon	Name	Ability Type	Wii Stats	DS Stats	Special	Emblem
	Sonic the Hedgehog	Speed			Spin Dash
	Miles "Tails" Prower	Skill			Tailspin Flight
	Knuckles the Echidna	Power			Screw Driver
	Amy Rose	All-Around			Pink Typhoon
	Shadow the Hedgehog	Speed			Chaos Boost
	Blaze the Cat	All-Around			Quick Tornado
	Vector the Crocodile	Power			Head Slide
	Dr. Eggman	Skill			Egg Spin
	Metal Sonic	Speed			Air Boost
	Silver the Hedgehog	Skill			Levitate

Rival Characters

Icon	Name	Ability Type	Event
	Jet the Hawk	Speed	Snowboard Cross (Wii) Deluxe Halfpipe (DS)
	E-123 Omega	Power	Speed Skating 500m (Individual Festival) (Wii) Short Track Relay (Team Festival) (Wii) Intense Short Track (DS)
	Eggman Nega	Skill	Ski Cross (Wii) Skeleton & Nordic Combined (DS)
	Rouge the Bat	All-Around	Figure Skating (Wii and DS)

Additional Sonic Characters

Referee Characters	VIP Characters	Audience Characters	In event Characters
Charmy Bee [6] Espio the Chameleon Cream the Rabbit	Big the Cat Chaos Cream the Rabbit	Flicky Chirps Tux Porker Chao Omochao Hero Chao Dark Chao	An Ice version of Perfect Chaos [7] Egg Pawn Egg Flapper Kiki

Mario Series

Playable Characters

Icon	Name	Ability Type	Wii Stats	DS Stats	Special	Emblem
	Mario	All-Around			Spin
	Luigi	All-Around			Luigi Rocket
	Peach	Skill			Mid-Air Float
	Yoshi	Speed			Flutter Jump
	Daisy	Speed			Flower Trampoline
	Wario	Power			Wario Waft
	Waluigi	Skill			Air Swim
	Bowser	Power			Spinning Shell
	Bowser Jr.	All-Around			Back Spin Shell
	Donkey Kong	Power			Hand Slap Dash

Rival Characters

Icon	Name	Ability Type	Event
	Big Bullet Bill[8]	Speed	Skeleton (Individual Festival) Bobsleigh (Team Festival) Blazing Bobsleigh (DS)
	King Boo[8]	Skill	Alpine Skiing(Wii) Giant Slalom (Individual Festival on Wii and DS)
	Dry Bowser[8]	Power	Ice Hockey (Wii) Curling Bowling (DS) Super Sonic Downhill (DS)
	Dry Bones[8]	All-Around	Ice Hockey (alongside Dry Bowser) Curling (Team Festival [Wii] & DS)

Additional Mario Characters

Referee Characters	VIP Characters	Audience Characters	In event Characters
Toad Lakitu	Birdo Pianta Penguin	Koopa Troopa Goomba Dry Bones Toad(multi colored) Shy Guy(multi colored) Penguin (certain events)	Goomba Chain Chomp Bullet Bill [8] Piranha Plant Thwomp

Other

• Mii (Wii version only)
• Santa Claus (only during December as a VIP)

Locations

Sonic Stages

• Radical Highway
• Egg Factory
• Sky Sanctuary Zone
• Seaside Hill
• Nocturne/Special Stage
• Dream Figure Skating features 3 Sonic backgrounds: Green Hill Zone, Death Egg, and destroyed Station Square.

Mario Stages

• Mario Circuit
• Good Egg Galaxy
• Bowser's Castle
• Sherbet Land
• Cool, Cool Mountain
• Dream Figure Skating features 3 Mario backgrounds: World 1, Bowser's Castle, and Peach's Castle. 

Reception

Most of the reviews define it as "much better than the first title". All the events are unlocked from the start which is great news in terms of accessibility. The controls are also tighter and seem less random but this means that sometimes the gameplay can be a bit too simple. An average of the votes it received is 7/10.