Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Australian Wii box art
Developer(s) Sega
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Eigo Kasahara
Producer(s) Nobuya Ohashi
Hiroshi Sato
Artist(s) Hiroshi Kanazawa
Series Mario & Sonic
Platform(s) Wii, Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s) Wii
EU November 13, 2011
NA November 15, 2011
AUS November 17, 2011
JP December 8, 2011
Nintendo 3DS
EU February 9, 2012
AUS February 10, 2012
NA February 14, 2012
JP March 1, 2012
Nintendo eShop
JP November 1, 2012[1]
PAL May 30, 2013[2]
NA June 20, 2013[3]
Genre(s) Sports, party
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution Wii Optical Disc, 3DS Game Card

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (マリオ&ソニック AT ロンドンオリンピック Mario ando Sonikku atto Rondon Orinpikku, lit. "Mario & Sonic at the London Olympics") is a 2011 sports and party game developed by Sega Japan. It was published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega in all other regions. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee International Sports Multimedia. It is the third installment in the Mario & Sonic series after the commercial success of its predecessors and is an official video game of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The game was released on the Wii on November 13, 2011 in Europe, November 15, 2011 in North America, November 17, 2011 in Australia, and December 8, 2011 in Japan. It was also released for the Nintendo 3DS in February 2012.[4] The game is the first to come in a yellow keep case instead of a standard white case,[5] similar to how New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was the only game to have a red keep case.

Mario & Sonic on the Wii and 3DS is a collection of numerous events based on the Olympic Games. Players can assume the role of a Mario or Sonic character while competing against the others in these events.

A fourth installment in the series, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, was released in November 2013 for the Wii U.

Gameplay

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is a collection of numerous events based on the Olympic Games.[6] Mario & Sonic brings together the two titular characters and eighteen more from both franchises to participate in environments based on the official venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The characters are divided into four categories: all-around, speed, power, and skill[7] A recent interview revealed that the same characters are playable as the previous game, with more focus being put on the events and gameplay.[8]

Several Olympic events on the Wii, including football (soccer), badminton, and equestrian will debut alongside improved versions of previously existing events such as athletics, aquatics, and table tennis.[7][9] The Wii game introduced new "Dream Events", which are alternate versions of Olympic events taking place in locations from older games of the Mario and Sonic series.[10] The Wii version also introduces new cooperative mechanics and a Party mode.[7]

The 3DS version has 57 Olympic-based events in single-player and multiplayer.[9] It also contains an exclusive "Story Mode" which entails the characters from Mario and Sonic's worlds working against the antagonists, who are trying to use fog machines to prevent the games from being held.

Development

The first game in the series, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, is the first official crossover title to feature characters from both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog's respective franchises.[11] The Olympic Games were chosen as a setting since Sega and Nintendo felt its competitive sportsmanship was ideal for the once-rival mascots Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario.[12] Sonic the Hedgehog is the protagonist of the video game series released by Sega in order to provide the company with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario in the early 1990s.[13] Sean Ratcliffe, vice president of marketing at Sega of America commented on whether the Mario & Sonic series had a future past its second installment, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. He said, "I think the key factor that decides the ongoing building of this franchise is basically success. Is the game successful? Are consumers happy with it?"[14]

A sequel was officially announced with a joint press release by Sega and Nintendo on April 21, 2011, after its predecessors sold over 19 million units combined.[9] It is an official video game of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and is licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee International Sports Multimedia.[9] Early in its software developmental stages, a peripheral was considered to launch alongside the game.[15] Both versions was developed by Sega Sports Japan and is published by Nintendo for Japan and by Sega for North America, and Europe. According to gaming magazine CVG, over 100 people developed the game.[16] It was released on the Wii on November 15, 2011 in North America, November 17, 2011 in Australia and New Zealand, November 18, 2011 in Europe and December 8, 2011 in Japan; and was released on the Nintendo 3DS handheld system in February 2012 in North America and PAL Regions and March 2012 in Japan.[17][18] A demo of the 3DS version was made available for download on the Nintendo eShop on January 26, 2012.

Nintendo announced they will re-release the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, as a downloadable title via Nintendo eShop. The downloadable version was available on November 1, 2012 in Japan,[1] on May 30, 2013 in the PAL regions,[2] and on June 20, 2013 in North America.[3] It was later pulled from the eShop in all regions.

Soundtrack

Both versions of the game feature various musical tracks from the Mario and Sonic franchises arranged by Sega's Wave Master. The game also features original music written for the game, with both versions mostly sharing the same soundtrack.

Reception and sales

Critical reaction

The game received mostly positive reception. IGN gave the Wii version a 7.5, stating "The only great parts of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games are the parts that have nothing to do with the Olympics. The new reality-ignoring Dream Events, the multiplayer London Party mode and the presentation of London itself are all wonderful here -- pick up a copy of the game if one of those items catches your eye. But the actual sports? They're the same here as they were four years ago, and anyone who's already got a copy of the first Mario & Sonic Olympic game sitting on the shelf doesn't need to double-dip."[19] They gave the 3DS version, which did not contain the "London Party" mode, a lower 6.5 score.[20]Nintendo Power gave the 3DS version a 7.[21]

Sales

The Wii version sold 2.4 million copies in North America and Europe in its first two months of release.[22]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McFerran, Damien (2012-10-03). "More 3DS Download Titles Coming To Japan's eShop". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Whitehead, Thomas (2013-05-27). "Nintendo Download: 30th May (Europe)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2013-05-27.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Whitehead, Thomas (2013-06-20). "Nintendo Download: 20th June (North America)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  4. ↑ "Mario and Sonic Have a Valentine's Day Date - 3DS News @ Nintendo Life". 3ds.nintendolife.com. 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  5. ↑ Fletcher, JC. "Mario & Sonic at the London Olympics' release dates, yellow box revealed". Joystiq.
  6. ↑ Zivalich, Nikole (2011-05-20). "Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games Hands-on Preview". G4 (TV channel). Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Davison, Pete (2011-05-16). "Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Preview". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  8. ↑ "E3 2011 Preview: Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games". The Sonic Stadium. 2011-06-20. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "London's Calling Mario & Sonic" (Press release). Sega/Nintendo. 2011-04-21. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  10. ↑ East, Thomas (2011-05-16). "Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympics: Will you live the Dream?". Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  11. ↑ Fitch, Andrew (November 6, 2007). "Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games (Wii)". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  12. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (2007-03-29). "Q&A: Sega, Nintendo on the first Sonic-Mario game". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-09-14. Scott Steinberg: It's the perfect backdrop, since Olympics being synonymous with the spirit of sportsmanship. It's a great context for Mario and Sonic to come together in their first game. So it couldn't have been written in a better script.
  13. ↑ Kennedy, Sam. "The Essential 50: Sonic the Hedgehog". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2006-06-03.
  14. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (2009-04-06). "Sega shows off next big Olympics game, targets Wii and DSi". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  15. ↑ Smith, Jamin (2011-05-16). "Peripheral once planned for latest Mario & Sonic game". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  16. ↑ Robinson, Andy (2011-05-16). "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games: Can success strike thrice?". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
  17. ↑ "Release Summary: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  18. ↑ "Release Summary: Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  19. ↑ "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - Wii". IGN. Retrieved April 2012.
  20. ↑ "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - DS". IGN. Retrieved April 2012.
  21. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/mario-sonic-at-the-london-2012-olympic-games/critic-reviews
  22. ↑ Rose, Mike. "Sega Sammy profits hit by weak game sales". Gamasutra.

External links