Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (3DS)

 MARIO AND SONIC AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Today, let's cover the Rio games' handheld version. This one is a bit less unique to the previous handheld, but it does feature more playable rivals than in the console version, has a story mode, and has a rather interesting gimmick of all characters (excluding Mario and Sonic) being only available for certain events. We have our full twenty standard here, on top of Birdo, Rosalina, Diddy Kong, Nabbit, Dry Bones, Dry Bowser, and the Koopalings Ludwig, Wendy, Larry, and Roy for the Mario side and Rouge, Espio, Cream, Sticks, E-123 Omega, Eggman Nega, Jet and Wave, and the Zeti Zavok and Zazz. All of the events return from either the console Rio game or previous games in the series.

Let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: power-ups, pipes

Luigi

Princess Peach

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Waluigi

Bowser

Bowser Jr.

Sonic: spin dash, home attack

Tails

Knuckles

Amy Rose

Shadow

Silver

Blaze

Vector

Doctor Eggman

Metal Sonic

Toad

King Boo

Kamek

Dry Bowser

Boo

Shy Guy

Dry Bones

Lakitu

Rouge

Jet

Eggman Nega

Espio

Charmy

Cream and Cheese

Big

E-123 Omega

Omochao

Orbot and Cubot

Birdo

Rosalina

Diddy Kong

Nabbit

Ludwig

Wendy

Larry

Roy

Sticks

Wave

Zavok

Zazz

Snow Spirits: snow

Phantasmal Clones

Stages:

Same Events from Before

steeplechase

marathon

race walk

shot put

backstroke

breaststroke

marathon swim

platform diving

water polo

tennis

handball

taekwondo

horizontal bar

balance beam

floor

sprint

omnium

keirin

show jumping

sailing

double trap

rapid fire pistol

weightlifting

modern pentathlon

Thanks for reading! Now, let's finish up and go over all of the characters again.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS)

MARIO AND SONIC AT THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

Today, let's cover the first game in the series for the Nintendo 3DS and, by far, probably the most unique from its console counterpart. The game brings back all of the twenty main characters standard for this series, but has a slightly different set of events, most of which are the same but we do see a few unique ones, like the steeplechase, marathon, race walk, shot put, backstroke, breaststroke, marathon swim, platform diving, water polo, tennis, handball, taekwondo, horizontal bar, balance beam, floor, sprint, omnium, keirin, show jumping, sailing, double trap, rapid fire pistol, weightlifting, and a modern pentathlon. All of these were likely included to make good use of the touch screen.

The game, much like other handhelds, features a story mode, which, in my personal opinion is the best story mode in the Mario and Sonic series. It features a fairly compelling mystery, some solid character moments, and gives most of the characters involved, even the rivals and secondary characters, importance outside of the event they were challengers for. As a fan of both franchises and their characters, I appreciate that level of care from the writing team. The story covers a mysterious fog covering London the night before the Olympics, spawning phantom clones of the heroes intent on preventing them from competing in the games. Boo, King Boo, Dry Bones, Dry Bowser, Eggman Nega, Jet, Rouge, and E-123 Omega appear as rivals, while Big the Cat, Charmy Bee, Cream the Rabbit and her Chao Cheese, Orbot and Cubot, Espio, Lakitu, Kamek, Omochao, Shy Guy, and Toad all play a significant role in the plot.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: power-ups, pipes

Luigi

Princess Peach

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Waluigi

Bowser

Bowser Jr.

Sonic: spin dash, home attack

Tails

Knuckles

Amy Rose

Shadow

Silver

Blaze

Vector

Doctor Eggman

Metal Sonic

Toad

King Boo

Kamek

Dry Bowser

Boo

Shy Guy

Dry Bones

Lakitu

Rouge

Jet

Eggman Nega

Espio

Charmy

Cream and Cheese

Big

E-123 Omega

Omochao

Orbot and Cubot

Snow Spirits: snow

Phantasmal Clones

Stages:

Same Events from Before

steeplechase

marathon

race walk

shot put

backstroke

breaststroke

marathon swim

platform diving

water polo

tennis

handball

taekwondo

horizontal bar

balance beam

floor

sprint

omnium

keirin

show jumping

sailing

double trap

rapid fire pistol

weightlifting

modern pentathlon

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover the handheld version of the Rio Games! (Sorry, nothing for Sochi)

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS)

 MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES

Today, let's cover the DS version of the Vancouver winter games. This game, much like the previous handheld, is more or less the same as its console counterpart, with the same characters and events, but this time it involves a story mode. It follows Mario and Sonic as they arrive in Vancouver to find that all the snow has melted because Bowser and Dr. Eggman have captured the Snow Spirits that cause the snowfall. You then travel around various locations of Vancouver, meeting up with the other competitors who you need to beat at one event or another in order to progress. In the hubworld, Mario can travel through pipes and use various power-ups while Sonic can spin dash and home attack, both to help open various routes along their quests. Really that's about it.

Let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Mario: power-ups, pipes

Luigi

Princess Peach

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Wario

Waluigi

Bowser

Sonic: spin dash, home attack

Tails

Knuckles

Amy Rose

Shadow

Blaze

Vector

Doctor Eggman

Snow Spirits: snow

Stages:

Same Events from Before

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover the handheld version of the London games!

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)

 MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Now, let's cover the handheld versions of all the Olympics games, starting with the DS version of the original Beijing games. There's not too much to say for this one. In most respects, it is virtually the same game, just with lower graphics and such. All sixteen characters from the original game appear here and most events are more or less the same (just with different controls to suit the DS better). Most of the games here, the story mode is the biggest difference, as, being a handheld, the games require a more fleshed-out single-player feature, but this one didn't really have one. Shame, really.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario

Luigi

Princess Peach

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Wario

Waluigi

Bowser

Sonic

Tails

Knuckles

Amy Rose

Shadow

Blaze

Vector

Doctor Eggman

Stages:

Same Events from Before

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover the handheld version of the Vancouver games!

Smash Character Review: Mario & Sonic Olympics

 MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPICS SERIES

Alright, let's go over all of the characters who appeared in all the console versions of the Mario & Sonic series and update them if at all possible. This one is a bit tough, as, just like with all of the previous sports series, almost nothing that any of the characters do is unique to them, but simply casts them in the role of competitor in the sports being played.

Across the six games, there are twenty characters fully playable in all events every single time, and outside of the second game, where four characters were added to the previous sixteen, this never changed. On the Mario side, this was Mario and Luigi, Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario and Waluigi, and Bowser and his kid Bowser Jr. On the Sonic side, this was Sonic, his best friends Tails and Knuckles, high queen stalker Amy Rose, his rivals Shadow and Silver, interdimensional princess Blaze the Cat, Chaotix Detective Agency leader Vector the Crocodile, and the mad scientist Dr. Eggman and his robotic clone Metal Sonic. These are all pretty standard faces I'd expect to see in a game like this, so I can't complain.

Honestly, the characters we can possible pull something from is the rivals, who appear as contenders in certain events and, in the last two games, can be played on those events only. On the Mario side, Birdo appears often, competing in team sports like badminton and hockey, likely due to her . . . possible status as a character as well as a species a la Yoshi and Toad. Rosalina is common as well, competing in rhythmic gymnastics and surfing, both likely due to her graceful nature. King Boo is also common, almost always in speed events like the sprint, skiing, and speed skating, which is kind of odd, as speed has never been the first trait I think of regarding the character. Diddy Kong frequently appears playing rugby specifically, while Dry Bowser has competed in several events like javelin throw, long jump, and hockey with a team of Dry Bones. Toad is almost always a support role, like referee, but he has competed in a relay race before, while Toadette has competed in hurdles. Ludwig, Larry, and Wendy (likely singled out from their siblings because, well, oldest, youngest, and . . .girl) competed in fencing, equestrian, and swimming respectively. Finally, we have seen Nabbit competing in a 100m race, Kamek competing in a sledge race, and a Banzai Bill of all this in a bobsleigh race.

Over on the Sonic side, Rouge the Bat, Shadow's friend and Knuckles' rival, appeared almost every single time but always in different events, including figure skating, hurdles, volleyball, and wall climbing, all of which I can't help but notice seem tailor-made to accentuate her notable . . . um, figure. I mean, I'm not saying that's necessarily what the developers were going for, but I can't really say it wasn't what they were going for. Outside of her, we frequently saw Dr. Eggman's alternate universe counterpart Eggman Nega competing in events like skiing, fencing, and karate, all of which lend to a more graceful, poised combatant. We also saw Jet the Hawk, Sonic's rival in the Riders games, competing in snowboarding, discus, and football, all heavily athletic events, as well as his teammate Wave the Swallow competing in a BMX tournament. Espio the Chameleon of Team Chaotix frequently acted as referee alongside Cream the Rabbit and his teammate Charmy Bee, but in the later games, he also competed in the triple jump event specifically. Sticks the Badger from Sonic Boom appeared in the Rio games, competing in archery, but did not return for the Tokyo games (most likely due to Boom's poor reception), while Zavok and Zazz, two Zeti from Sonic: Lost World, appear in boxing and table tennis events respectively.

As my standard has always been to save guest characters from other series until I actually cover those series, none of the Sonic characters' information really matters here, but I'll put a pin on it to revisit later. As for the Mario characters, most of it is stuff we have already included in their theoretical character designs, or traits like speed or grace that would probably be a part of their stats in the game as it is.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's start going over the four handheld versions of the Mario & Sonic games, which, while being largely the same games, have a few differences worth noting.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020

So . . . let me get this straight. This series' developers opted not to make a game to line up with the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea, but did opt to make a game to line up with the 2020 games in Tokyo. The ones that were postponed to a year later. Hmmm, methinks that may have been a bit of an oops.

All ten characters from each side return, as expected. As with the Rio games, the rival characters can be unlocked as playable in their respective events only. This time they include: Rosalina for surfing, Diddy Kong for rugby, and Toadette for hurdles (with those little legs?), the Koopalings Ludwig, Wendy, and Larry for fencing, swimming, and equestrian respectively, Rouge for wall climbing, Espio for triple jump, Jet for football, Eggman Nega for karate (f**king what?), and the Zeti Zavok and Zazz for boxing and table tennis respectively.

As this game was released for the Switch, a handheld and console in one, the game came with a story mode, something normally reserved for the handheld versions only (for the same reasons the Tennis and Golf games had RPG elements, most likely). The story involved Mario, Sonic, Toad, Bowser, and Eggman getting sucked into a device that transported them into an 8-bit world (the main gimmick of this game being that it had standard 3D Olympic events and retro 8-bit events). The game then followed Mario and Sonic through the 8-bit events as they tried to get out, and Luigi and Tails in the real world competing in the regular events trying to help them escape.

The real world events for this game include: 100m, hurdles, relay, javelin throw, triple jump, discus throw, wall climbing, surfing, skateboarding, boxing, karate, football, rugby, canoeing, swimming, gymnastics, equestrian, badminton, table tennis, fencing, and archery. The 8-bit events (called Tokyo 1964, the last time the Olympics was held there) include: 100m, hurdles, long jump, marathon, platform, vault, kayak, judo, volleyball, and trap shooting. The game also featured three Dream Events, including: Dream Racing on hoverboards, Dream Shooting using acorns as projectiles, and Dream Karate with super moves and items such as the POW Block, Chaos Emerald, Super Star, and Spring.

That's pretty much it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario

Luigi

Amy Rose

Blaze the Cat

Bowser Jr.

Sonic

Shadow

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Metal Sonic

Princess Peach

Waluigi

Tails

Dr. Eggman

Silver

Knuckles

Vector

Wario

Bowser

Donkey Kong

Banzai Bill: bobsleigh

King Boo: ski, sprint, speed skating

Dry Bowser: hockey, long jump, Champion Race, javelin

Dry Bones: curling, table tennis

Rouge: figure skating, hurdles, Champion Race, volleyball, wall climbing

E-123 Omega: speed skating, 100m, bobsleigh

Jet: snowboarding, discus, football

Eggman Nega: ski, fencing, Champion Race, karate

Birdo: badminton, hockey

Kamek: sledge race

Toad: relay race

Rosalina: rhythmic gymnastics, surfing

Diddy Kong: rugby

Toadette: hurdles

Ludwig: fencing

Wendy: swimming

Larry: equestrian

Nabbit: 100m

Espio: triple jump

Sticks: archery

Wave: BMX

Zavok: boxing

Zazz: table tennis

Lakitu

Cream

Charmy

Stages:

100m freestyle

4x100m freestyle

100m

400m run

4x100m relay

110m hurdles

400m hurdles

long jump

triple jump

high jump

pole vault

hammer throw

javelin throw

fencing

trampoline

hurdles

rowing

skeet shooting

table tennis

Dream Race

Dream Platform

Dream Fencing

Dream Table Tennis

downhill skiing

giant slalom

ski jumping

team ski jumping

moguls

ski cross

halfpipe

snowboard cross

500m speed skating

100m short track

short track relay

figure skating

skeleton

bobsleigh

ice hockey

curling

Dream Alpine

Dream Ski Jumping

Dream Ski Cross

Dream Snowboard Cross

Dream Short Track

Dream Figure Skating

Dream Bobsleigh

Dream Ice Hockey

Dream Curling

Dream Snowball Fight

Dream Gliding

long jump

hammer throw

discus throw

uneven bars

rhythmic ribbon

synchronized swimming

canoeing

equestrian

badminton

volleyball

football

Dream long jump

Dream rafting

Dream discus

Dream uneven bars

Dream hurdles

Dream equestrian

Dream sprint

Dream trampoline

Dream space walk

biathlon

figure skating doubles

skeleton

Champion Race

Roller Coaster Bobsleigh

Groove Pipe Snowboarding

Street Hockey

Hole-in-One Curling

Bullet Bill Sledge Race

boxing

BMX

football

rugby

wall climbing

surfing

skateboarding

karate

1964 100m

1964 hurdles

1964 long jump

1964 marathon

1964 platform

1964 vault

1964 kayak

1964 judo

1964 volleyball

1964 trap shooting

Dream Racing

Dream Shooting

Dream Karate

Items:

POW Block

Chaos Emerald

Super Star

Spring

Thanks for reading! Now, let's go over any major character updates!

Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

MARIO AND SONIC AT THE SOCHI 2014 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES

Today, let's cover the fourth Mario and Sonic Olympics game, set during the 2014 Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia. Also, notably, the only one of the games I have ever owned personally. All ten characters from both sides all return with no other new (as we should be used to at this point). Birdo acts as your rival in Hockey, Kamek in a sledge race, Jet in snowboarding, King Boo in speed skating, E-123 Omega in bobsleigh, and Eggman Nega, Dry Bowser, and Rouge in a championship race. Most of our referees and our background characters also return (a bit updated with newer characters like the Wisps from Sonic Colors).

As this game is a winter game, the sports include: snowboard cross, bobsleigh, biathlon, snowboard slopes, speed skating, alpine skiing, ski jumping, moguls, ski cross, slalom, figure skating singles and doubles, curling, hockey, skeleton, and short track speed skating. The dream events include a Champion Race combining four events, a Roller Coaster Bobsleigh, Snowboarding inside a pipe, Street Hockey on Isle Delfino, Curling but also basically golf, Figure Skating Spectaculars highlighting both series, a Snowball Fight, and a Bullet Bill Sledge Race.

That's it! Let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Mario

Luigi

Amy Rose

Blaze the Cat

Bowser Jr.

Sonic

Shadow

Princess Daisy

Yoshi

Metal Sonic

Princess Peach

Waluigi

Tails

Dr. Eggman

Silver

Knuckles

Vector

Wario

Bowser

Donkey Kong

Banzai Bill: bobsleigh

King Boo: ski, sprint, speed skating

Dry Bowser: hockey, long jump, Champion Race

Dry Bones: curling, table tennis

Rouge: figure skating, hurdles, Champion Race

E-123 Omega: speed skating, 100m, bobsleigh

Jet: snowboarding, discus

Eggman Nega: ski, fencing, Champion Race

Birdo: badminton, hockey

Kamek: sledge race

Toad

Lakitu

Cream

Espio

Charmy

Stages:

100m freestyle

4x100m freestyle

100m

400m run

4x100m relay

110m hurdles

400m hurdles

long jump

triple jump

high jump

pole vault

hammer throw

javelin throw

fencing

trampoline

hurdles

rowing

skeet shooting

table tennis

Dream Race

Dream Platform

Dream Fencing

Dream Table Tennis

downhill skiing

giant slalom

ski jumping

team ski jumping

moguls

ski cross

halfpipe

snowboard cross

500m speed skating

100m short track

short track relay

figure skating

skeleton

bobsleigh

ice hockey

curling

Dream Alpine

Dream Ski Jumping

Dream Ski Cross

Dream Snowboard Cross

Dream Short Track

Dream Figure Skating

Dream Bobsleigh

Dream Ice Hockey

Dream Curling

Dream Snowball Fight

Dream Gliding

long jump

hammer throw

discus throw

uneven bars

rhythmic ribbon

synchronized swimming

canoeing

equestrian

badminton

volleyball

football

Dream long jump

Dream rafting

Dream discus

Dream uneven bars

Dream hurdles

Dream equestrian

Dream sprint

Dream trampoline

Dream space walk

biathlon

figure skating doubles

skeleton

Champion Race

Roller Coaster Bobsleigh

Groove Pipe Snowboarding

Street Hockey

Hole-in-One Curling

Bullet Bill Sledge Race

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the 2016 games set in Rio!