Published: Wednesday, 27th February, 2008 12:00
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
By Narin Bahar
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When are you going to have a chance to try your hand at all the events set for this year's Beijing Olympics, without breaking a sweat?
And that's even before you factor in that you can compete against a kleptomaniac squirrel and a dinosaur with attitude. And the fact you can do all this on the move thanks to the game's eventual transition to the DS.
If you've played the Wii version of this, which hit the shelves just before Christmas then you know how much fun Mario & Sonic at the Olympics is. Packed full of minigames to unlock and achievements to get, this has a longer shelf life than you'd imagine - and if you've suffered from Wii Olympic Tennis elbow or the sheer exhaustion of doing the 100m relay then settling back with your stylus is pleasingly more sedate although the scribbling is still frenetic.
The design of the game is simply stunning. Nintendo's poster boy and Sega's hedgehog in the same game? For games geeks it's the dream team and the colourful graphics and catchy music are as retro cool as you'd expect.
All the Mario and Sonic characters are there - including Knuckles, Yoshi, Tails, Luigi and my personal favourite WaLuigi - ready to go for gold, whether in track, field, fencing, gymnastics, or a plethora of other events.
Much like the actual Olympics, there's something here for everyone. You're not going to enjoy every minigame, but there's so many of them that odds are high there will still be a fair few that will become new obsessions. In a lot of ways it's a better multiplayer game than one to play solo, as the competitive edge makes up for the similarities between some of the events and the slightly clunky controls of others.
Don't let that put you off though. While this probably won't have the longevity to be a gold medal winning game in single player, it's still in medal position.
Four out of five stars.
* Available now on the Nintendo DS and Wii, RRP from £29.99.
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