Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

As a result of Michael Phelps' astounding eight gold medals at this year's Olympic Games, many adults (and thus likely a fair amount of children) have been glued to their television sets night after night, cheering for the United States (or country of choice) to win a medal.

Thus, if your children (or you yourself!) were swept away by Olympic fever, and you happen to own a Wii, then this game will entertain you to your wits end! Much like the U.S. competing against other countries in the real Games, this game pits classic Nintendo characters (Mario, DK, Peach, Link, etc.) against characters from the Sega brand (Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Eggman, etc.). Much like Super Smash Bros. "determines" who could beat up who, this game establishes victory based on athletic achievements in such events as swimming, track, and field.

The controls are easy to pick up, taking full advantage of the Wii nunchuk format, yet challenging enough to keep you raring to drop that last .10 of a second to win first place.

Overall, this is a great game for those who have caught Olympic fever, or just are intrigued by seeing the Nintendo and Sega franchises combine.

"FINALLY, A GAME WITH MARIO AND SONIC! THE WHOLE WORLD COULD EXPLODE! THIS IS AWESOME!"

That is everyone's first impression, but when they play the game.....

"Er..... the graphics are great and you get the play as all the Mario and Sonic characters......but the gameplay......"

Yes, the gameplay sucks. It's just a sports game with the Mario and Sonic characters in it.

That's it.

There's no story, no reason for them being there. It was just to get the Mario and Sonic characters together for the first time.

You know when you go to a party because your friends that you haven't seen in a long time are going to be there. You meet them, banter a bit, it all seems good and then 30 minutes later........

"So er, what else have you've been up to?"

"Me? Oh erm....... nothing really?"

And you stand there awkwardly trying to think of something to say and you can't understand why this moment isn't working.

The excitement wears off faster than you know it.

That's this game. Just because it has your fave characters, doesn't mean it's that great.

It's also a very complex game to play. The controls are tough and very young players would be frustrated. So will older players.

It doesn't have much of a replay value. You have no desire to play this game ever again after playing it.

Most of the budget was spent on the opening cut scene, which is great, but no effort was put in the gameplay itself.

It's not as fun as Mario Party, which is what they should have done. A Mario Party game crossing over with Sonic.

That's what Nintendo and Sega should do instead of the next Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games..... game.