Others say...

"Waste of money!"
Bought this game with my Wii 3 months ago have hardly played since. Just not a fun game in mmy opinion. I thought it would give my kids more exercise like Wii sports but it's just a lot of little repetitive motions.

"Good game"
Bought this game for the youth center where my husband works. The kids love it.

"fun!!"
This game is so much fun that it gets everyone in the family involved..... so much fun it's incredibe!!!!

"A Game that Settles for the Silver Medal Instead of Going for the Gold"
Pros:

+Plenty of games to play
+Makes good use of the Wii Controls
+Tons of characters to play as
+Mario and Sonic finally in direct competition

Cons:

-Not all the games are fun
-Some games have problems with the controls
-Bland Presentation, though this won't hamper your decision to purchase it too much
-Some characters from the Sonic Universe aren't nearly as well known as the characters from the Mario Universe

Ever since the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games, Mario and Sonic have been rivals. For better or for worse, it was this generation that gave birth to the fanboy. Several who grew up with these two consoles usually had a preference of mascots. To this day, both mascots have a devoted fanbase. Mario and Sonic never starred in a game together, though. Now they do. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. The idea itself isn't too bad. The problem with the game is its execution.

There are twenty four characters from the Sonic and Mario franchise. While all of them have shown up in some way throughout both franchises, the edge is obviously given to Mario in terms of familiar faces. You'll see plenty of characters from Sonic, but some have played such a small role in the Sonic Universe that you may have forgotten who they are, or you probably never even heard of them. This is in part because Mario has a ton of mini-game compilations and Spin offs. And Sonic does not. Nevertheless, I'm sure most people won't care. In terms of the characters, it does a great job of separating them into different groups: Power Type, Speed Type, Skill Type, and characters that well developed all around. Even better is that using certain characters for certain events makes a difference. So even if you have a favorite character, using that same character for every event isn't always a good idea.

Another thing that Mario and Sonic should be complimented for, is having a lot of games. There are 24 events in all and even mini games you can play to unlock some Olympic Trivia. However, it's with these events that the game begins to suffer. While there are some awesome events here, such as track, table tennis, swimming, etc., the game doesn't always utilize the controls to the best of their abilities.

Some controls do work rather well. Track and Table Tennis are two examples of games that are easy to play. On the other hand there are a couple of events that just feel similar to others. You'll frantically shake the Wii Remote and Nunchuck to run in Track, but you'll see that are plenty of events that'll do the exact same thing. You'll be able to deal with this, however. There are some events that are a bit more frustrating though. Events where you'll have to shake the Wii Remote and Press certain buttons at the same time that can be frustrating. Or when you need to be very precise. You'll see the words "FOUL" pop up a lot as a result. This is hampered even more when you take into account that some games just don't provide instructions clearly enough and so you're reduced to trial and error moments. There are a ton of fun events, though, and you're bound to find a few fun ones. The problem is that some controls just aren't that great.

Nintendo has never been one to put much effort into the visuals of their mini-game compilations. This is no different. There are some really colorful visuals, but a lot of things look as basic as ever. It's not bad looking, though. But we know the Wii can take some things much further than this. At the very least, the graphics aren't ugly and the game doesn't sound bad either. The only problem is that it's just generic like several other Mini-Game compilations.

The biggest problem facing Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games is that it's a mini-game compilation that does neither of them justice. Not a bad idea, but a game with a much more intense competition would've been better. Something along the lines of a racing game or fighting game would've been a much better start. In the end, however, Mario and Sonic isn't a bad game, but it could've done both franchises more justice.

"A great buy for the wii."
Mario and Sonic at the olympic games is a game based on Olympic games. You can compete in sports such Swimming, Track and Field, Archery, Shooting, Rowing, Fencing and so on. It requires a nunchuk.

Pros: You can play as characters such as Sonic, Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, Peach, Shadow, Knuckles, Tails and other video game icons. Also it records your best times, so you can always strive to do better and if you have wi-fi internet you can post and compare your scores to people across the world. You can use 1-4 players.

Cons: If play on multiplayer mode you cannot get at new world record.

Overall, this game is very good exersize and fun too.