A few years ago, the unthinkable happened – Sega appear that Mario and Sonic were to put bated their xvi-fleck rivalry and join forces in an officially licensed Olympic game. Clocks ran backwards, dogs barked uncontrollably in the street and the whole world lay in danger.

Then we played it, and saw that it was skillful, and the dogs did terminate barking and the clocks did render to their regular rotation. It also turned out to be Sega's biggest-selling title since 1992's Sonic the Hedgehog 2, selling over eight million copies on Wii and iv meg on DS in two years. So this time, when Sega announced the follow-up to be based on the Olympic Winter Games, everyone accustomed it like the 1990s never happened. Despite this seemingly unstable universal residuum, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Wintertime Games is proof that, like peanut butter and jam, some unnatural combinations tin can be outstanding.

The principal criticism that could be aimed at the first title was the affluence of waggle controls. Granted, track and field events require a great deal of running, but afterward an 60 minutes near gamers were left sweaty and sore from the Remote exertion. Thankfully the nature of the Wintertime Olympics reduces much of the need for waggle – in most events you're going downhill fast with something strapped to your anxiety, or are otherwise on an icy class with skates, runners or other friction-limiting apparatus. What this translates to is a bare minimum of waggling, other than for brief periods at the kickoff of some events (Bobsleigh, for example) or to gain speed on short runway events. The conclusion to skin down the waggle means you can now play comfortably for as long as you like, without suffering from Pole Vault Arm in the morning, and that'due south i of the biggest boosts to this second sporting outing.

As a rule, the controls rely a lot more on tilting and turning rather than shaking. Like the showtime game, Nunchuks are completely optional, although they practise seem to help in some of the skiing events by giving the feeling of property both poles. To steer your character in any of the downhill events, yous hold the controllers vertically and tilt them from side to side to steer, tilt forward to advance and pull them back to brake. It's a control scheme capable of the required subtlety in some of the harder courses, although it is sometimes difficult to pull off big turns and brake at the same time. For the skeleton and bobsleigh yous're supposed to hold the Remote to your chest and tilt your body left and right to steer around the course, and although it'southward unnecessary it certainly gets yous "in the zone" for these events.

The controls are pretty good overall, lending a pleasing effeminateness to some of the race events, although in that location are some problems when it comes to performing some of the advanced tricks that ask y'all to depict circles, spirals and hearts in the air – it'south sometimes tough to tell when the input catamenia starts, leaving you frantically drawing multiple shapes in an attempt to pull it off. Failing an avant-garde trick on the snowboard and ski cantankerous courses costs precious fourth dimension, and although attempting them is past no means compulsory it's all the same disappointing to neglect due to inconsistent controls.

Each sport normally only needs a few inputs, making them as user-friendly equally possible, although they each take their own quirks. Figure Skating asks you to motion picture the Remote upwards, down or twirl it around to perform tricks, Crimper gets yous frantically brushing the ice and Water ice Hockey can exist played with the Remote side-on, with (2) to pass and a milk shake of the Remote to shoot. You're never overwhelmed by the controls and if you play through the Festival Mode you lot'll go introduced to the different setups before you lot're thrown into competition.

One of the main draws for the Winter version is the vastly improved number of Dream Events, which put a Mario and Sonic spin on some traditional (ski cross and snowboard cross) and non-traditional (snowball fight and hang gliding!) sports. On the whole these events are excellent, with virtually of the race-based modes playing out like Mario Kart on Ice, complete with red shells, lightning and fake item boxes. With only 4 competitors the races aren't quite every bit intense as Mario Kart, but skiing along Seaside Colina or brusk-rail skating in Eggman'due south manufacturing plant is enjoyable in its own correct. Information technology's safe to say there'southward plenty to find for ardent Mario and Sonic fans, and more casual gamers are likely to find the variation plenty engaging also.

Bizarrely, the about exciting Dream Upshot past far is the Dream Figure Skating. Picking Mario Globe or Sonic Globe, y'all take a team of four skaters onto the ice to play through classic scenes from both games: Mario Earth sees y'all stomping Goombas and collecting Stars, whereas Sonic'southward phase begins in a 3D Dark-green Hill Zone before moving through Sonic the Hedgehog two'due south Decease Egg Zone (its first new appearance in nigh twenty years!) and onto Perfect Anarchy from Sonic Chance. It'due south simultaneously exciting and baffling to see these classic moments played out in an ice skating setting, but somehow information technology absolutely works and creates a classic gameplay mode that you simply accept to play.

Rather than reproduce the get-go game's Circuit mode, that offered diverse combinations of events over a short period, the Winter Olympics gives y'all Festival mode, a recreation of the whole Olympic spectacle. Between the opening and closing ceremonies you train and compete in a range of events, earning points based on your positions and overall accomplishments. Every few days a rival volition appear and challenge you to an upshot, and you have to defeat them to proceed – if you lose, it'due south back to the rival intro screen to accept them on once again. Not that you'll need to retry that often, as most of the rivals are pretty easy to overcome, a fault that could exist levelled at the Festival mode in general, to be honest – you will win it on your commencement effort if you've ever so much every bit picked upwardly a Wii Remote earlier.

In that location'south plenty to do after conquering the Festival mode though; in fact, that's where the real challenges commence. By spending your Star Tokens in the Shopping mode yous can unlock King Ghosts (call back staff ghosts, only wearing crowns), Blue Coin challenges and more, and completing these unlocks even more content. Sega has conspicuously learnt from the lack of longevity that dragged down the original Mario and Sonic Olympics, calculation layer upon layer to the sequel to bring it more in line with Nintendo'southward best output. In fact, all through you'll spot elements of Nintendo's design ideas: when you unlock an emblem, you gain a hint for the ii emblems next to information technology like the bays room in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the King Ghosts are direct out of Mario Kart. It's a much more collaborative title than the start, and information technology elevates the game far above its predecessor.

There'due south likewise stacks of extra content to buy with your virtual dollars, with Olympic trivia, classic and remixed Mario and Sonic tunes and decals to customise your bobsleigh, skiis and snowboards. You can also purchase a huge range of dress to customise your Miis, with pumpkin heads, Goomba t-shirts and Santa suits on offering, but the existent depict is the full body suits that let you dress your Mii every bit Bowser, Sonic, Dr Robotnik and many more. Because there are no unlockable characters, information technology'southward a great idea to exist able to put a accommodate on your Mii and take on new abilities – your Mii in a Sonic suit runs every bit quickly as Sonic himself, for instance – to broaden the character listing, so if you're upset your favourite graphic symbol isn't on the main list you may be pleasantly surprised at who's available in the Boutique.

Presentation-wise, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is caput and shoulders above 90% of Wii titles. Information technology may not have the graphical variation of the Summertime Olympics, but the snow effects are nicely realised and all the characters are well modelled and animate brilliantly. Seeing some of your favourite Mario and Sonic moments alive in 3D in the Dream Events is well worth cost lonely, and the music is similarly first-class throughout – archetype Nintendo tunes are remixed, some for the amend (Super Mario World'south basis theme sounds great) and some for the worse, with Good Egg Galaxy receiving a cotton-eared re-recording. The main theme may be uncannily similar to Sonic Unleashed'due south theme melody, but the recordings on the whole are outstanding and the variety is 2d-to-none. Hearing your favourite classic tunes in the Figure Skating is a genuinely blithesome moment, and the audio effects and voices are every scrap as good.

Sadly there are a few problems that forbid Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games from existence the merely must-have sports championship on Wii. Pulling off the more advanced tricks is sometimes more a matter of luck than skill, and although the controls on the whole do a fine job you do find yourself wishing for MotionPlus in some events. The Balance Lath controls tin also exist a little hit-and-miss – the ski jump isn't as responsive as Wii Fit'south version, and if anything the board's utilize is ofttimes less accurate than the standard Remote and Nunchuk ready-up, which does a fine job of controlling the sports in general.

The lack of WiFi Connection play is also a bit of a letdown, and although this is 1 championship you'll happily play with your friends and family unit a flake of Cyberspace-based rivalry would accept spiced information technology up still. You can all the same share records and times with other players online, but the implementation is disappointingly dull compared to the online leaderboards in Mario Kart Wii – each event must be downloaded individually, sometimes taking twenty or 30 seconds to load upwards a single page of times, and if you want to see where you're placed it's another thirty seconds to download your information. What should have been a quick and engaging style to keep yous bettering your scores turns into a bit of a chore. That's actually all the criticism you lot can fling at Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Wintertime Games, though.

Decision

Sega has truly listened to the feedback nearly the first game and slimmed down the waggle controls, beefed upwardly the lastability with a ton of actress content and managed to plow even the seemingly dull events of Curling and Figure Skating into engaging and varied games. With over xx characters, twenty-five events and hundreds of unlockable items, y'all'll be playing this game well into the New Year, and the added subtlety of the controls makes playing it a far less tiring experience. It may not have the control genius of Wii Sports Resort simply it's every bit as good in terms of content, presentation and pure, distilled fun.