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

The 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is jam-packed full of brand new Olympic events, with over 50 mini-games in total. The same array of 20 playable characters present in the Wii version has made its trek to the small screen too, with each being categorised based on their traits, such as speed and power. Events are organised into separate groups, including Athletics, Boat Games and Aquatics, whereby each individual contest puts many of the unique aspects of the 3DS system to use.

The built-in gyroscope comes into play in games like Archery, where moving the system allows for precise aiming, and Rowing, where moving back and forth emulates push and pull motions to gain speed. Shout into the microphone at the right time to find that extra bit of strength in Weight-lifting or blow into it as your character’s head bobs above the water to take a breath in 100m Breaststroke. The touch-screen once again gets a lot of use as you tap and slide your way to victory in many contests, as well as quick inputting of button commands to get the edge in such interesting events as Judo.

Olympic Mode allows players to compete in any events individually, but it is now possible to create a Medley Match consisting of more than one event. Players can create custom Medleys in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and share them with friends wirelessly. Up to four players can compete with each other in multiplayer events. As with the Wii version, online leader-boards allow you to check how you fare with the rest of the world’s players in all events, which will provide a fair chunk of replay value. A new story mode adventure has also been introduced, with evil duo Bowser and Dr. Eggman typically joining forces and wreaking havoc. Aim for gold in Olympic events to put an end to their unpleasant means.

Dream Events have been a much-loved feature of the Mario & Sonic games, where the developers get a chance to let loose a little bit and create some more wacky unrealistic events that you would expect in Mario Party. These will be returning in this 3DS iteration too, so expect some rather amusing competitions featuring unique uses of the system in familiar locations from Mario and Sonic worlds. The music in particular has been a highlight in the past, with some brilliant remixes of famous tunes, so you can be sure to hear a lot of your favourites playing in the Dream Events especially. The development team have also gone all out to ensure Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games looks good also, with what we have seen so far looking at least on par with the Wii version.