Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is a collection of twenty-four events based on the Olympic Games.[1][2] On the Wii, the events consist of using the motion sensor capabilities of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment to control the actions of the on-screen character. The player moves the remote in a manner similar to the method the separate games are played in real life;[3] for example, swinging the Wii Remote to replicate hammer throw or pulling back the remote and tilting the Nunchuk like a bow and arrow. While the Nunchuk is required for archery, it is optional for most of the events. There are also events that are more physically demanding, such as the five running events which require rapid drumming of the controller.[4] Some aspects of the gameplay are computer controlled. For example, in table tennis the player movement is controlled by the Wii, while the swinging of the racket is controlled by the player.[5] The DS game is the same in design, but due to lack of motion controls, its events are much less physically demanding than those on the Wii. For example, instead of drumming the controller, players have to quickly stroke the touchscreen.[6]
Mario & Sonic brings together the two title characters and fourteen more from both franchises to participate in environments based on the official venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[7] These environments are stylized to fit the futuristic and cartoon-like art styles of the Sonic and Mario franchises respectively.[1][8] Each playable character has his or her own statistics which can serve as an advantage or disadvantage depending on the event. The characters are divided into four categories: all-around, speed, power, and skill.[1] The Wii version has additional in-game characters taken from the console's Mii Channel, which allows the user to create a Mii, a customized avatar, that can be imported into games that support the feature.[4] Both games have non-playable characters who serve as referees for particular events.
"Dream Events" are alternate versions of Olympic events. In the DS-exclusive event "Dream Canoe", players can use items from the Mario Kartgames.
Both versions of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games have three similar modes of gameplay: Circuit mode, Single Match, and Mission mode. Circuit mode is where players compete for the highest overall score in a pre-determined series of events or design their own circuit.[1] In the Single Match, players can choose to compete in each event individually. Mission mode is a single-player option where each of the competitors has six character-specific missions to complete, although the characters' statistics are not as balanced as in the main game, making missions more difficult.[4] The Wii version's Circuit and Single Match can have an additional one to three players competing simultaneously while its DS counterpart has an extra option dedicated to multiplayer called Versus Play.[9][10] Versus supports up to four people to use the wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS to play events. DS Download Play is possible for those without an individual copy of the game, however the number of sports available is limited to six events and circuit mode is not available.[6][11]
Both versions feature a gallery mode where brief facts about the Olympics can be found. There are five categories of Olympics-related trivia organized by history and athletes, with corresponding minigames that will unlock the answer to trivia questions once completed. Classic music from both series is available in the gallery once all levels in a category are cleared.[9][10] The two versions also have leaderboards that uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to display the best times and scores in each event.[4][6]
