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Name: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

When Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was released back in 2007, it was the first title to include the rival lead characters for SEGA and Nintendo and while it had its share of criticisms, it was a good party game which everyone could enjoy. Now they're back in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. The two characters have once again joined forces to tackle the Olympic games, but they aren't doing the Beijing Olympics, this time it's the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

For those not familiar with the previous game or this one, both include various events from the Olympics which you participate in with your favourite characters from both the Mario and Sonic franchises or even your Mii. There are 20 characters for you to choose from in the Olympic Winter Games and 27 events which include various sports such as Skiing and Snowboarding to Figure Skating and Bobsleigh. The events themselves are split into two categories: the Olympic events and Dream Events, the Olympic events are of course true to real life in the sports which you play in, where as the Dream Events are similar but with a Mario Kart style game mode thrown in, big jumps, Mario Kart style pick-ups and ridiculous speeds are what the Dream Events are all about.

The events themselves are fairly varied in what they offer, however, the main criticism here is that most feel the same in the way they control, variety seems to be lacking in what could have been done to increase the players input in the event. The Dream Events themselves are probably the most fun, simply because they offer a varied take on the Mario Kart game, allowing you to pick up items and use them against your competitors, it can be great fun knocking each other out of a race. You do however have to unlock the Dream Event mode by playing through the single player game. At the end of each event you are scored on your performance and then given coins which can be used to purchase extra items within the shop. New items such as additional Mii gear, logos, extra music and history on the Olympics through the inclusion of the library are present, while the items are a great thing to work towards, the library isn't particularly intriguing.

With 27 events to choose from it would be quite a long review to go through each but there are only a select few which are fun and keep you interested once the novelty factor wears off. Skiing is controlled by holding the Wii Remote, similar to how you would hold a Ski Pole, turning, tilting and flicking are the aim of the game, allowing you to turn, crouch and jump. The Nunchuk can be used as well should you so desire but isn't a requirement, the controls for Skiing and likewise the Snowboarding which is equally as entertaining make playing the events a pleasure, they are both intuitive and easy to get to grips with.

Bobsleighing is one of the events which some will like while others will hate, with this being a bobsleigh, your course is pre-determined and you can't deviate from it, you control the bobsleigh by simply tilting the Wii Remote to keep the best line as you head down the course which is marked on screen. For owners of the Wii Fit Balance Board however, that can also be used, which involves you sitting on it and leaning to control the bobsleigh, it certainly makes the event a lot more fun using the balance board since you're leaning your whole body into a corner. Where the event really shines however is in its multiplayer, up to four players can jump into the bobsleigh and coordinate their efforts in an attempt to keep on track all the way down, if you have four Balance Boards, all the better, but the event itself is a little too easy. While the controls for bobsleighing are simple and easy to use, they can make the event dull after a period of time, especially if you have played it yourself many times over.

Curling is also one of the great events you'll find while playing. Curling involves you throwing rocks down the ice while trying to get closest to the bulls-eye target, the closer to the middle, the higher the score. Your team mates help you as it slides towards its intended target by sweeping to change the speed and thus helping you get the better score, or even hitting the opposing teams out of the target all together. The event itself is a little more in depth because you have to take into consideration the strength of the slide, the curvature of your throw and the sweeping which can literally make a terrible shot a particularly good one or vice versa.

Among other games, Figure Skating is an event that's more of a viewing affair than playing, the on screen characters perform routines around the ice while you have to either twist or flick the remote at certain times to perform jumps or spins. Ice Hockey isn't really true to its real life counterpart, the game revolves more around bodychecking your opponents to take the puck away from them, it's also too short, only lasting two periods. Speed Skating is one of the worst events, not because of its gameplay, but simply its control scheme. Speed Skating involves you shaking the remote as fast as you can to get around the course while trying to beat the other players, as you can imagine, unless you have the wrists of an Olympic athlete, you aren't going to get very far before they start to get tired and then put you off playing the rest of the game. Most of these events are available in other games such as the Snowboarding in Wii Fit Plus, unfortunately these aren't nearly as good in Olympic Winter Games as they are in Wii Fit Plus, even if they are two different genres which is disappointing to say the least.

The events themselves can either be selected as single events to play through or in the Festival mode which lasts 17 days, (not real life days of course...) the Festival mode is a culmination of the Olympic events, very similar to the real Olympics and winners are awarded for getting the highest overall score, so losing the odd few shouldn't turn the odds against you. Your computer controlled opposition on the other hand is fairly easy to beat on most of the events, given you can keep your dexterity up and not lose your hands. The game is void of any sort of difficulty setting so the only real challenge is against your fellow human players which makes the game more of a multiplayer only experience, negating the challenge of playing alone to practice and the replayability factor.

Visual and audio wise the game isn't particularly bad, but it's far from being a spectacular showpiece that some might think. The interface itself is intuitive and easy to use in some places, but while some parts look clean and sharp, others do not and can become confusing. The characters do look good however and show a lot of personality in their actions. The environments use simple textures for representation and even though you're more often than not going through them at break neck speeds, they lack the detail you would expect from such a title, the crowd also suffers from such, having some ugly animations when viewed up close. With the audio, you'll find both licensed and public domain music tracks which aren't necessarily bad, but they don't exude any sort of depth to the gameplay, more than what the game does without it. It seems like the polish has been lost somewhere along the line during production and while it isn't the worst you'll come across on the Wii, it certainly could of been much, much better.

Overall, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games isn't anything groundbreaking. Most of what it does has already been done in other games for better and for worse, while it can make for some interesting party game moments with furious gameplay and competitiveness among players, the novelty factor soon wears off once the game has sunk in and you notice the faults up close. It isn't something easily recommendable, if however you find it going cheap and need a game to play among friends, then it is worth considering if nothing else.