Customer Reviews

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games has many games (listed below) and play options so there's something for everyone. It also has variety for different situations, such as playing alone, as a team or against others, which make it a great all-around game.

Initial events:
Alpine Skiing (Downhill and Giant Slalom)
Ski Jumping (Individual and Team Large Hill)
Freestyle Skiing (Moguls and Ski Cross)
Snowboard (Halfpipe and Snowboard Cross)
Speed Skating (500m, Short Track 1000m, Short Track Relay)
Figure Skating
Skeleton
Bobsleigh
Ice Hockey
Curling
Dream Ski Cross
Dream Snowboard Cross

Other "Dream" events are unlocked as you play. These involve variations on the main events and some new ones. In the Dream versions you collect and use items, face obstacles, use different tracks, etc.

There are also 3 "Party Games" that seem silly when playing them on your own but should be a fun way to play many events quickly with a group of people.

Pros:
Multiple modes--Single Match allows you to select your events and choose Versus, Team Versus, or Co-op Play. Festival allows an individual or team of up to 4 players to take on events and rival challenges as assigned over 16 "days" of the Olympic games. This is like arcade mode. You can also check your records against others' on WFC.

Balance board option--you don't have to use the Wii Fit balance board but, if you have one, you can do 1-player games with it. It changes the game play and provides additional variety. (It's harder than the regular controls though!)

Multiple characters--the characters all have different attributes and special moves so it keeps the play interesting.

Many games--as mentioned there is something for everyone due to nice breadth and depth--and all ages should enjoy it. It's easier to unlock things than in Mario Kart. It even lets you accumulate points and "shop" for decals so you can customize your skis, bobsleighs and snowboard, outfits for your Mii, etc.

Cons:
Controls--if you want to play something that actually simulates hockey moves, skating, etc. this isn't it. The controls are fun and pretty responsive but not similar to Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort (although using the balance board helps.) Also, the instructions for Curling tell you to use a bowling swing but neither my boyfriend nor I can get it to work that way consistently. We've found that you have to snap your wrist and then it works fine.

Balance board option--a pro but a con too as you can only use it for 1-player games.

No Wii Motion Plus option--it would be fun if WM+ worked with this.

Kids - if you're looking for a game that has a lot of action, this is it. Parents - if you're looking for a clean game that you can even occasionally play with the kids, this is it. Some of you may be returning to this title after playing the Mario/Sonic Beijing 2008 game. Although that game was good in its own right, this one is even better. There is no violence in this game, and it introduces you to the world of the Olympic Winter Games using the familiarity of your favorite characters from two of the most popular frachises in the industry. I would suggest that this game is probably even better if you are new to the Wii.

The best part of this game is that there are challenges for players of every skill level. Certain events are easy enough for inexperienced gamers (such as very young children or non-gamer parents), while other events may challenge even the more experienced gamer. The gameplay is organized very well; you can either play Olympic events freely or aim for a high score in a structured "Festival Mode". As for the Olypmic events, this game includes a wealth of favorite sports - some of which will be new to the Olympics in real life, appearing for the first time in Vancouver this winter. There are familiar events such as Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, and Ice Hockey; and there are some fantasy events that you can unlock, as well. If you have a Wii Balance Board, you can use that as a controller for certain events - but the game does not require it. Many of the events in this game do not even require the Nunchuk accessory (though I would highly recommend purchasing one if you plan to buy this game).

Just as in Mario & Sonic at the Beijing Olympics, this game allows you to use your Mii in the different events. As an added bonus in this game, however, you can customize your Mii by "purchasing" items in the shop (you purchase these items using points you earn by completing events - giving you yet another way to structure your gameplay). You can also unlock books at the library, where you can learn about different aspects of the real Olympic Games. I, myself, never knew how Curling was played until I played this game. The multiplayer in this game, by the sheer nature of the type of game it is, is excellent. You can play cooperatively or competetively with friends and/or family. If you like to use the online features of the Wii, you can connect this game and check your high scores against those of other players all over the world. The background and theme music is outstanding, and the graphics are simply gorgeous. This game is a must-have for any die-hard sports fan, but especially for fans of the Olympic Games.

What more can I say when I bought this game my kids played it for the whole day! They had a blast with this game and loved the interaction together playing it! Its def. a family game and a very fun one for everyone! All aspects of the winter games was well received. I would YES recommend this game and be prepared to play it all day long!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had high hopes for this game and my hopes were exceeded. If you liked Mario and sonic at the Summer Games, trust me, you will like this on ten times more.


Pros
-This game has superb graphics that really get you into the winter feel
-It is not as strenuos as the first one which leaves more playing time and less rest time
-The wii motion controls are excellent whether it is skiing or speed skating you feel like you are sonic or mario
-Some of the games aren't even in the winter olymics. You may think this is a bab thing but having a snow ball fight is one of my favorite things to do in this game. use thhe nunchuck to build a snowball nd flick the wii remote to throw it
-excellent replay value unlike the previous mario and sonic game that had no replay value this game you can paly over and over and still break new records


Cons
-just like last game multy player is very unfair like , whoever has the fatest or strongest guy wins




All in all this is a great game for wii players of all ages and i highly recommend it to anybody who wants to have a good time

There was something about the first Mario and Sonic Olympics that was just perfect. Nobody had ever seen Mario and Sonic characters compete in the same game before. Even better, they were doing Olympic events! The game was fun, it released in time to advertise the 2008 Olympics, and it sold very well. However, Super Smash Bros. Brawl came along and you could do as many Mario-Sonic brawls as you wanted. That is the first negative of this game.

Nobody could say this game is not dramatic. Just listen to the music and watch the opening cutscene and you will see what I mean. The graphics are not that great either, even for a Wii game. The problem is there are no new features, this game might be worse than the first game. There are only four new characters, and not many people care about playing as Bowser Jr. or Metal Sonic. There is a new shopping plaza that you can buy music, snowboard stickers, etc., but you can not buy anything fun like an event.

In a videogame, it is always harder to make the Winter Olympics than the Summer Olympics. This might be because all the events are similar. Sega and Nintendo saw this, and they leaped to the conclusion of not making the ordinary events fun, they just made as many dream events as possible. In the end, you will get about thirty events, more than half of them are dream events, and that is it.

You must have multiplayer to play this game. If you do not, you are stuck playing through the entire Olympics, which are not fun at all. This is the only way to unlock dream events, and you have to play every event in the game. It does not matter if you win or lose until the end.

If you are thinking about using the Wii Balance Board to play some of this game, forget it. The controls are so bad anyway, the Balance Board makes them even worse. This game only breaks through with it's dramatic theme and a few of the dream events are actually (gasp!) a little bit fun. I recommend buying the DS game a little more if you loved the first one, because this game deserves little more than a free rental.

My family enjoyed the original summer games version. I was a little pessimistic going into this Olympic Winter Games since, in general, I am not a big fan of the winter olympic events. But I was happily surprised to see the great improvements made to gameplay from the previous summer olympics release. After playing this game, I am hoping the they release the next summer olympic game and incorporate the improvements made for this Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. In the summer games, you could play in a season-like mode, but only as an individual. The Winter Games allows multiple players, as a team or vs., to go through an entire 16(?) day campaign, full of unlockable features. The other great new addition are the "Dream" events. They are kind of silly at times, but if you're a fan of the Mario and Sonic series, you'll really appreciate the features built into these events. The other key addition for this game release is support for the Wii Balance Board in several events, but I have not tried using the board yet. The only negative comment I have is that going into the Dream Events for the first time, there is no real direction, explanation of what to expect or how to accomplish the goals- which can be very tricky for some of the events that are really quite different from the standard events.

Having recently acquired the balance board with WiiFit, my family has been eager to try other titles incorporating this device. Reading the reviews on this, it sounded like a no-brainer, however the $47 price has prevented us from buying the title, so we decided to rent the game first to try it out. We were so excited to have this game and we couldn't wait to play it. Everything on this indicates it should be a 5 star game, but unfortunately it is not.

The number of games are great and the graphics are decent (it's a Wii), For us, the game failed in too many key areas.

The balance board - the reason we wanted the game is the main reason it fails. The balance is a complete afterthought. It works much like the "left-right" that can be done any number of different ways. Worst of all, the balance board option is for ONE PLAYER only. If you want to play multi-player, you have to go through a myriad of menus and waiting to change characters. We just ended up using the same character which is no fun since my family likes to play for high scores.

The core part of the game - training to compete in the events does not allow for balance board integration. The balance board really is only available in single player Free Play.

User controls - Nintendo is starting to stray from it's original concept. The original Wii sports really showed off the physical interaction between the player and the game. It started to go a slightly different direction with Sports Resort, but there was enough of the original feeling to keep it true. Winter Olympics is the worst yet. I can do most of the events very well sitting comfortably on the couch. The original Sports made you get up if you wanted to do well, as well as the majority of the games on Sports Resort. This is very, very basic - left----right----flick. The emphasis with the game is on timing, which would have made MUCH more sense if it used Wii Motion Plus, which it does not so the flicking part of the controls feel very sloppy and rely on a good amount of luck. Why require the technology for other games if the star titles ignore it? Thanks for nothing Nintendo.

The music and audio are annoying. There is very little audio feedback you get from the game at all. It's mostly just a dull, 80's reminisc, techno sounding video game track that fits well if you're going for a classic Mario vibe. The game makers should have put much more thought here. One thing I distinctly remember about the Olympics is the dramatic, rich, full music which is completely absent here.

Every player must have their own remote. We play four people at once and we only own two remotes. There is no option for remote sharing so there are always two people left out of the game.

The game is terribly slow between changing events. I could see if it was loading a fast paced, or high resolution game, but it's not. The game is very basic and should not take so long to load between events. Especially if you are trying to use the balance board and switch off between characters between turns - lots and lots and lots of waiting. LOTS.

The Miis. First - each player has to reselect their Mii every time you change events. Second - the personal Miis we created on our Wii feel like an afterthought. I was glad we are able to use our own Miis, but it feels unnatural to the game as if it was never designed that way. Almost like someone came along at the last minute and said, "we better figure out how to incorporate the custom Miis into this." The background and audience are pre-programmed. You will never see your own Miis watching from the sidelines.

No staying power. There are many examples, but I will use figure skating since it is the best. With figure skating, your skater plods along a pre-programmed track with no user involvement for speed or balance or controls. Your skater always stays up and always travels the same speed along the same path. When you get to your "mark" you flick the remote to do a preprogrammed trick. You do not get to pick your trick. You're then back on the track headed via autopilot to the next mark where you already know what the next preprogrammed trick/flick is going to be. And there's ONLY ONE TRACK. It doesn't matter how well you do or how high your score is or how many times you play, it's always the same track with the same routine - booorrrriiinnnngggg.

I recommend this game as a rental, and would probably give it four stars as a rental. As a $47 purchase - no way. Go back to the drawing board and give us something more presentable. What a disappointment.

After owning and loving the Sonic and Mario at the Olympic games (the summer games) we were very excited to purchase this. We personally prefer the winter games over summer, and there was genuine interest with my kids (7 and 9) in playing the various games in this title.

However, I'd say this game was a bit of a letdown. While it was fun, the various events were simply not that challenging. Most of the events require the same sort of "skill", that being simply tilting the remote while you try to stay on a path (i.e. skiing, bob-sledding, etc.).

We made it through the "Festival" in a matter of hours and earned Gold in every event (setting WRs in most of them). While the kids enjoyed how much they dominated there was little drama in the events and soon it became a little tiresome.

I almost feel the designers hurried to get something out and creativity was affected.

I'd recommend waiting a few months to purchase this for less than $20.00, but anything more spent would not be a good investment, in my opinion.

I was a huge fan of Mario and Sonic at the Summer Olympic Games. Now, I can't play that game without comparing it to this one. I'm assuming that you have played the first game, but you don't need to have played it to enjoy this one in anyway. There are new characters, one in every skill type. They are Metal Sonic for speed, Bowser Jr. for all around, D.K for power, and Silver for skill. Also, there are more dream events, which are (thankfully) nothing like the glitching four dream events in the last. It has great graphics, and is much more easier to navigate. From here, I will give you a run down of some of the events and my opinions. You can, but don't have to, use your wii balance board for some events, including bobsleigh, my favorite.

FIGURE SKATING: All about timing. You pick your own musical choice from a selection provided (Some of the songs include Ave Maria, waltz of the flowers, etc.) and make motions with the wii mote in time to the music. It is one of my and my friends favorite, though it sounds and looks much harder than it is. Don't let that discourage you!
HOCKY: This is best with more than one person. It is the best multiplayer event in the game. My friends and i had so much fun. The directions, however, are very unclear.
THE MULTIPLE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING EVENTS: these are the most disappointing. They all seem the same, and are hard to control.
BOBSLEIGH/SKELETON: these are very fun and realistic. you have the option of using the Wii balance board, where you can steer the sled with your weight by swaying back and forth. It almost seems real. Or you could play the normal way, which is just as fun.
CURLING: Bocci on Ice. My only complaint with this is that its the longest event by far. It takes from 15-20 minutes to complete a tournament. As oposed to the usually 2-5 minute events.
SPEED SKATING: All about timeing. It can be kind of frustrating, but I find it very fun.

Overall, this a very fun game. It's alot better with more than one person, though. For one player, there is festival mode, which is a one player adventure mode. It is not too tough, nor too easy. I found it to be very enjoyable. Another thing is... do not purchase this game if you are troubled with rythems. this game is all about timing, swinging the wiimote down at the right time. It can be VERY frustrating at times. I'd recommend this from ages 8 to 15 or adult.
So, here I am telling you more bad things than good about the game, and I'm rating it 5 stars. Truly, please believe me when i say this is the good game. I just have an annoying habit of being negative. This is well worth the price.

This was a gift for my 11 yr. old son. It turned out to be as much a gift for the whole family..with the wii balance board we have family game night more often!