I have always found these Mario & Sonic mashups to be a load of fun for a weekend, and never really past that. Unfortunately the Rio 2016 Games are no different, and really offer fun and enjoyment for a few hours before boredom and the dull repetition begins set in. Combine that with the lack of a dedicated online multiplayer mode, and the overall experience just falls apart. The included 14 Olympic events are hit-or-miss, and many of the playable characters feel completely same-y. It’s quite unfortunate that a game from Nintendo featuring their greatest characters feels so empty, even though many of the Olympic games offer so much promise.
Some of the Olympic events were fun and engaging, albeit only for the first few times playing them. Football (or Soccer in the US) and Golf are the two main events the game provides, and actually provide the most engaging gameplay. It’s no surprise that the Golf event (a sport that was actually reinstated for the 2016 Olympic games) is the highlight of Mario & Sonic, as Nintendo has had very recent success with their Mario Golf titles on 3DS. Football was also fun and exciting, and offers a pseudo-Fifa experience on a handheld featuring Mario and Sonic characters.
However, here is where the game seems to fall flat on it’s face. In all of the events, save Football and Golf, I could not find any difference between characters in the other events. For example, I never found the difference between Mario and Wario when it came to the Archery event. Other events, such as swimming and BMX felt more reliant on player skill rather than each individual character’s skills.
Which leads into my next note: the game never allows players to choose who they want to play as in an event, as it’s always a preset set of characters to choose from in various events. Why can I not play as Luigi in the Long Jump event, an event seemingly made for that character? I found it entirely frustrating that I could not play my favorite Mario character, Yoshi, in all of the Olympic events. Another example is the Boxing event, where you have the usual suspects you’d expect (Donkey Kong, Knuckles, Bowser), but again players aren’t able to pick and choose which characters participate in the events.
The side story mode for the game is also lackluster, and offers no major rewards for a players efforts. Throughout the story, players will compete and train in various events to level up and boost the skills of their Mii character. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including using the “Pocket Marathon” feature which encourages players to take their 3DS on the go to boost their Mii. Even though I spent several hours training my Mii, I only ever received several costumes that boosted my Mii’s stats. And without a dedicated online multiplayer, I never felt motivated to go out of my way to level up my Mii, as it was more fun and rewarding to play as some of my favorite Mario characters in the Quick Play events mode.
