Mario and Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games

As one might expect, there are similarities between this game and the original 2008 version of this game set in Beijing and the 2010 Winter version set in Vancouver. First, this version of the game is timed to coincide with next year's Summer Olympics in London, so expect to see a lot of references, venues, and trivia to the UK throughout the game. Second, like those games, this is essentially a set of mini-games where you can compete against the computer or each other in various events. Third, you get to choose players from both the Sonic and the Mario worlds to compete, or use your own Mii.

In all honesty, I came in with tepid expectations. After all, these same games have been done already many times by many publishers by now. So with each new mini-game I tried, I braced myself for the same-old, same-old.

But time and time again I was surprised at how fun and fresh each game was to play. Sega has taken an aging franchise and managed to breathe some new life into it.

Here's a list of the traditional mini-games:

Aquatics: There are two events under aquatics. You can compete in a traditional swim meet, where you wave your Wii remote and nunchuk to various swimming strokes. Or, you can compete in "synchronized swimming", where you (and any teammates) need to move your remotes in sync with each other.

Badminton: In this game, you basically whack a shuttlecock back and forth. This is not a very realistic simulation; you can't really aim your shot or do many specialized shots. As you play each side will build up energy which can be used to employ "power shots" that are difficult (but not impossible) to return.

Canoeing: In this game, you wag the remote forward and back to the proper timing to coincide with your canoers' strokes.

Cycling: This one is a pretty accurate simulation of Olympic team cycling. You pump the Wii remote up and down to make your cyclist pedal. Once your cyclist runs out of steam, you move your cyclist to the end of the line to drift off your line of cyclists (making sure you stay aligned). As your cyclist builds up more energy you'll move your way back to the front of the line, and then everyone will sprint at the end. The details on this are impressive; like in the Olympic telecasts, you'll see a line depicting your competitors' time. This was definitely one of my favorites.

Equestrian: This was another favorite. In it, you ride your horse through an equestrian track by moving your Wii remote and nunchuk up and down like a bridle. As you approach obstacles, you need to press "A" with the correct timing to jump, and as you turn curves, you need to twist your Wii remote and nunchuk to keep you and your horse's balance. This was a new take on a concept that's been tried many times, and it works.

Fencing: A pretty standard fencing simulation where you need to parry and thrust, getting points when you strike your opponent or knock him or her out of the lines.

Football: This is a great soccer simulation where each side has four players (you can control 1 or 2 by yourself, or play with a friend to control all four). Again, controls are very intuitive; you move with the nunchuk joystick, press the A button to pass and the B button to shoot (on offense) and press the A button to intercept (on defense). It plays a lot like ice hockey in the Vancouver version.

Gymnastics: Events here include rhythmic ribbon (inspired by Isaac Perry's review, I decided to choose Bowser to dance to the Blue Danube), where you dance around and have to move the remote or press buttons in time to on-screen cues. Uneven bars is a fun activity where you have to time your character as he or she spins and jumps from bar to bar. Trampoline is different from the original version in that you don't need to press a specific set of keys to earn points, but rather create your own routines by shifting the Wii remote in certain ways with the right timing.

Shooting: This was another game I thought had been done to death, but it turned out to be surprisingly fun. You have a limited amount of time to point your Wii remote at the target and shoot it. The targets get increasingly smaller, so it's not as easy as you might think to get a straight shot in. If you happen to have a gun attachment, this one is actually pretty realistic.

Table Tennis: This was another one like badminton. It's not close to a realistic simulation like the Wii Sports Resort version. Instead, it's more a game of timing, where you need to swipe at the ball at the right time. As in badminton, the "power shot" feature makes gameplay a lot shorter.

Track and Field: There are a number of events within track and field. Of course there are the races where you need to waggle your remote fast to win, as well as a realistic relay race. For the field events, there's the discus, the javelin, the hammer throw, and the long jump, which all involve a variation of moving the Wii remote in the right way and then pressing a button to release with proper timing.

Volleyball: This was another of my favorites. It's a great simulation of beach volleyball where you use your Nunchuk to direct one of two team members to the middle of a round target and the A button to hit the ball. The closer you get to the center of the target the more powerful your hit will be. As with badminton and table tennis, you can build up energy to do "power spikes".

You can play each event individually, or compete in a adventure mode called "London Party Mode" where you play a series of events and collect in-game stickers.

In addition, there are a number of "dream events" which are basically mini-games loosely based on Olympic events and taking place in environments familiar to anyone who's played games like Super Mario Galaxy or Super Mario Kart. One particularly fun one has up to four people trying to control a team of horses as they ride through Moo Moo Meadows. Another has you bouncing on clouds trying to be the last one standing. Overall, these mini-games were a lot of fun, if not a little disjointed from the rest of the experience.

All of these games had a couple things in common. First of all, the controls were extremely intuitive; someone who's new to the game can easily pick up a Wii remote and start playing competitively after only one or two tries. Second, the games for the most part supported either competitive or co-op play from 2 to 4 players, which can be a lot of fun in a party setting. As much hype as the PS3 and the Xbox have gotten, the Wii still reigns supreme for any game that requires more than 2 players, as you don't need to squeeze everyone into a limited camera shot. Third, the motion control responsiveness is superb. This is something not a lot of game publishers outside of Nintendo have done very well after all these years, but Sega has done a pretty good job. You're focusing on playing the sports, not figuring out the controls.

The negatives about the game are ones we've seen in many Wii games before. There are many activities where it's easy to get tangled in the Nunchuk and Wii Remote wires. I've already mentioned that a few of the games aren't realistic, but having said that, as long as you go in with the right expectations they're still pretty enjoyable. And from an aesthetic point of view, the game is a lot like the 2008 version; there are only so many ways to draw graphics on the Wii screen. Also, there's no online multiplayer play, which would have been interesting as the real Olympics came around.

But overall, I found this game to be refreshingly enjoyable, especially when playing with multiple people.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, news of the Wii's demise have been greatly exaggerated. For months since the Xbox Kinect and the Playstation Move were announced, many people have been predicting the end of the Wii. But as long as companies like Sega continue to put out inventive games like this one that maximize the platform with both creativity and good execution, I'd say the Wii still has plenty of life in it.

Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics is great family friendly game. I was reluctant to get this game at first because I usually play games alone.It is a 4 player "party" type game full of mini events from the Olympics as well as "Dream events" that take place in mario and sonic based levels.The game has a great cast of mario and sonic characters as well as the use of your Mii's.After doing events you get scratch cards that you can win music from Mario and sonic games as well as costumes for your Mii, the costumes add Stats to you me such as Speed and Power that will applay to your mii in events.
On top of all the great fun events There is London party mode where you can travel around the city playing mini games like Find Espio ,and Olympic trivia to collect stickers.
The game has great controls and is challenging enough for an experienced gammer.The game also has online leaderbourds so you can see how good you are vs players from around the world in some events.

I've been having soo much fun playing this alone and can't wait to play with frinds it has a great amount of content, this was a excellent purchase. Highly recomend for your self or family.

Seeing Dr. Eggman do the rhythmic ribbon alone will justify buying this game

I love this game. You can have up to 4 players or play with the computer. These are the games you can play on it:
1. Aquatics: There are 2 different types of swimming
2. Badminton
3. Canoeing
4. Cycling
5. Equestrian~in it, you ride your horse through an equestrian track by moving your Wii remote and nunchuk up and down like a bridle
6. Fencing
7. Football
8. Gymnastics
9. Shooting
10. Table Tennis
11. Track and Field:
12. Volleyball.

This really is great and fun game for the whole family. My kids love competing with each other. This one has more games that they like on it.

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