Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is a collection of numerous events based on the Olympic Games.[5] Mario & Sonic brings together the two title 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[6] A recent interview revealed that the same characters are playable as the previous game, with more focus being put on the events and gameplay.[7]

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.[6][8] 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.[9] The Wii version also introduces new cooperative mechanics and a Party mode.[6]

The 3DS version has 57 Olympic-based events in single-player and multiplayer.[8] 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.

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 franchises.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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?"[13]

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.[8] 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.[8] Early in its software developmental stages, a peripheral was considered to launch alongside the game.[14] Both versions were developed by Sega Sports Japan and are published by Nintendo for Japan and by Sega for North America, and Europe. According to gaming magazine CVG, over 100 people developed the game.[15] 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.[16][17] A demo of the 3DS version was made available for download on the Nintendo eShop on January 26, 2012.

Nintendo re-released the Nintendo 3DS version of the game as a downloadable title via Nintendo eShop, available on November 1, 2012 in Japan,[18] on May 30, 2013 in the PAL regions,[19] and on June 20, 2013 in North America.[20] It was later removed from the eShop in all regions.

The game received mixed reception, with Metacritic giving both versions 66/100.[21][22] IGN gave the Wii version 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."[23] They gave the 3DS version, which did not contain the "London Party" mode, a lower 6.5 score.[24] Nintendo Power gave the 3DS version a 7.[21]

• Official website