Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii) (Hands-On) (Wii) Preview

The demo allowed us to get to grips with four of the proper sports. Canoeing has players gripping the Wii Remote in both hands, sweeping backwards on alternate sides of their body as if rowing, culminating with a vigorous shake-off as you reach the finishing line. The strokes require you to put some effort in it; it won’t let you just get away with lazily wiggling the Remote. As with the other games in the package, this can be played co-operatively with up to four players, which should lead to some fun as people try to stick with the rhythm.

Beach Volleyball is the least substantial event, a three-on-three contest that became very predictable and repetitive quickly. The ball is served, then bumped around a bit before being sent back, and there is little change of pace other than the super shot powers that build up as the rallies get longer. These abilities can be unleashed to try and score a cheap point, but it proves less easy than you would expect - the flashy attacks can still be returned.

Spinning the controller around is the norm in acrobatic event Uneven Bars, where your chosen character hangs on with their arms and attempts to spectacularly leap between the two sets of said bars. Pace is built up by moving in time to the visual marker, and the Z / B buttons are hit to release your grip, tapped once more to grab on again when coming into contact with the adjacent bars. While repetitive, this worked well.

Football boasts the deepest gameplay so far, and it appears to share inspiration with Next Level Games’ Mario Smash Football series. After selecting three characters from a choice of 16, some focused on speed, others strength, others all-rounders, you are thrown on to the pitch before a crowd of various minor Mario and Sonic characters to play a fairly standard game of football. As in Beach Volleyball and Mario Smash Football, however, with successful passes and persistent possession your power meter builds. When it is filled you can launch a ludicrous power shot on the opponent’s goal to gain the advantage.

The Dream Events are more surreal, taking place in familiar settings from the Mario and Sonic franchises. Dream Long Jump is back-dropped by the patchwork sky of Yoshi’s Story. The 2D game has four characters leaping as far as they can, flutter jumping to stay afloat, bouncing off the clouds. Opponents can be impeded by jumping on them, and the winner is whoever gets the furthest before falling. Dream Equestrian is a real highlight where four characters sit in a cart pulled along by horse, dodging obstacles as they race through Mario Kart’s Moo Moo Farm. Each character must turn in tandem to avoid collisions, with each miss resulting in damage, and jump from ledges along the course. Occasionally the camera will flip around in front of the horses in a style similar to Sonic Adventure’s Emerald Coast whale chase, allowing larger dangers to loom from behind.