Sonic and Mario Winter Games

[VideoGameCritic]

Just announced: Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games will be released before the end of the year.  The summer version has clocked a lot of time on my Wii, so I'm looking forward to this one.  Looks like the timing will be right too.

[snakeboy1]

I really hope that this game turns out well. Ever since Winter Games on the Atari 2600, I have liked Winter Olympic-type games. Hopefully there will be balance board support for any skiing/snowboarding events.

[Atarifever1]

I hope Sega donates some money to Vancouver from the sales.  They might avoid being turned into the equivalent of a third World city that way (for non Canadians, the recession is killing them while they try to basically build a new city for the Olympics). 

[NAC1]

According to Wikipedia, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is coming out October 13, 2009. There are already some reviews on it from Nintendo Power and Official Nintendo Magazine UK, and the game isn't even released yet! Does that mean that these people haven't even played it, or did they some how get a copy from Sega before it was released? Anyway, the DS version appears to have gotten better review scores than the Wii version. Interesting.

[Michael D]

Well NAC, the reason that early reviews are out for the game already is because in the game reviewing world, publishers often send out finished (or near finished) copies of the game to the press so that they can be played, a review can be written up, and the review can pop up right alongside the game's release date.  In the case of a print publication like Nintendo Power, they put the review out in the issue that's as close to the game's release date as possible. 

Sometimes, however, game companies will not provide reviewable copies to the press, either because they want to have the press get the game when the players do, as opposed to having the review pop up on day one, or because they're afraid that the reviews may cut into the sales for the game. 

As far as publishers fearing the worst with same day reviews, this is especially true with games that publishers think are bad, have little faith in, or feel are review proof (which may explain why Activision does this with the Guitar Hero series), and in that way, it's just like how movie studios refuse to screen movies to critics.  A couple of games off the top of my head that didn't get copies sent to the press included Turok Evolution, Enter the Matrix, Driver 3, and Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness.

In this case, Sega let Nintendo's two official magazines have it early for review and although it can't really be proven, they may have been selective in doing so, especially when you consider how kind Nintendo's magazines have been to recent Sega games (Nintendo Power gave Sonic Unleashed for Wii an 8 out of 10; nuff said).

[chickenwarrior1]

I'm a little disappointed that the ridiculous looking mascots for the 2010 games won't be included in this. They'd look right at home alongside sonic & co.

[Adamant1]

Picked it up today, and it's pretty good. The events are different enough from each other that they don't feel like repeats, and the inclusion of Ice Hockey as an event is pretty impressive. The "main mode" of the game is the so-called Festival Mode, where you play through the Olympics doing events in order, with "training" minigames in between, and the occasional "boss" (pretty much a one-on-one competition against some not-too-hard opponent in a certain event).

Most events are relatively entertaining, Skeleton is my favorite so far, in it you control the board by holding the Wiimote against your chest and leaning right and left. Works surprisingly well. Other events are more troublesome, though, Short Distance Skating I found had ridiculously loose controls making it near-impossible to go where you wanted.

Also annoying is that the individual character stats are rather vague, and it's not really explained what effect they really have on events. The "speed" stat obviously determines how fast you go in skating, but does it also have an impact of Downhill Skiing? How about Bobsled? What events do "power" make a difference in? None of these events involve hitting, tossing or lifting, so what does it do? Quite an annoying exclusion. 

[NAC1]

You can download a demo of the DS version of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games onto your DS off of the Wii's Nintendo Channel. I tried it, and it is actually plenty of fun. It is the Bobsleigh mini game, and it is very fast and it controls suprisingly well, although you will have to watch the in game instructions to adjust to them. Tackling the tight turns is challenging and, when you do complete them, it is very satisfying. The most satisfying part, however, is when you achieve the best time. You people should really check it out if you have the time and the right systems. From what I've played, I would probably give it a B- or a B, although I've only played the demo, and there is more to the game. Distribution ends on 11/21/09, so play while you have the chance.
Here is my best time:00:53:104.

[Nicholas Pozega]

Nah, i'd rather your spend your cash on a solid side scrolling platformer for the Wii, Critic. Specifically, Klonoa, which is a really solid (albiet short and easy) platformer that can be found for well under it's original 30$ price tag. Too bad it sold so poorly...(thanks in part to Namco making little to no attempt to market it) Trust me, it's a greater value than a not so great tie in/crossover sports game.

[steer]

I played this game over the Christmas Holiday and it is prety much unspectacular junk.

In a nut shell - uninspired, repetitive motion gameplay.

I wish SEGA would try a little harder considering the first game was such a hit, but maybe because of that they figured they did not have to try so hard afterall.

Anyone have high hopes for SEGA all star racing?