FA+
Shop
"The Jet Gamer" Review: Mario and Sonic 2016 Olympics (3DS)
9 years ago
A brand new game. That’s a change of course. Always good to get on the new game scene occasionally.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games (3DS)
Yet another entry into the Mario and Sonic series has hit the shelves, and once again, we are back to following some of our favorite franchise characters as they hit the Olympic scene once again, this time in Rio. The Olympic games series has always been about mini games and pretty much that. There is nothing wrong with that of course, and the fact that this series has continued so long at this point, it does show that people must either like this series, or that Nintendo and Sega are perfectly happy with working together. Does this new entry in the series bring about a fun time as some of the others have, or has the charm started to fade? Let us take a look shall we?
Gameplay
As always, the Mario and Sonic series has been about nothing but mini games, and that hasn’t changed a bit. You have various Olympic events, as well as plus versions of the same events that are all based on games that are in the actual Olympics. There are such events as the hurdles, volleyball, swimming, and even golf now as examples of some of the events you can play. Then on top of that, as I mentioned, there are plus versions of these events. In the plus versions, non-Olympic things happen to make the games more unique to the series. Such as with the swimming for example, instead of just swimming in the pool, you are instead having to swim in a current that a thomp is making or else you will be stalled and lose time from getting hit by the waves. If you ever get tired of the main way of playing games, then the plus events offer a nice change of pace while still keeping you playing the same events you had been playing before. That’s the good thing, as the plus events are often controlled and played the same as the main events, it is just there are usually new hazards or tasks you need to be aware of while you are playing. I do have to say, the gameplay is sound, but some of the games are definitely better than others. Some of the main reasons for this is that some games controls aren’t the best for one. Another reason is that some games are very repetitive or just honestly aren’t that long, which makes them not want to be replayed as often as others. Certain games like Soccer and Golf, which change a lot when you play them are more repayable than a game of basic swimming where you are just going in a straight line pressing the button over and over again. As I said as well, some of the games are the same ole games again, but there are new games added, such as golf, horse riding, and BMX. It is always nice when new games are added of course, but it is always best to make new games more open ended as I mentioned with golf and soccer. The more straight forward games just get a bit old fast. There is nothing wrong with this gameplay at all, I just feel that some of the games have very little lasting appeal. Then finally, there is one big thing that I feel hurts the gameplay and hurts a few other sections as well. There is the fact that, despite the large roster of characters, you can’t really use them. Other than Mario, Sonic, and your Mii, all other characters can really only be used in two events that are prechosen for you. That means if you want to use a character like Tails, you can only use him in Swimming and Volleyball, and that’s it. Now that’s a big downfall to this game, as it does take a bunch of the strategy of using different characters out of the equation. What is the point of having all these characters if you aren’t even allowed to use them? I feel like I’m getting ripped off here. You buy this game wanting to play as some of your favorite Nintendo and Sega characters, and you are then limited on who you can play as and when you can play as them? I hope you like playing as Mario and Sonic, as they are really the main people you will be playing as in the events mode. I haven’t even talked about the other modes yet either. There is the main events mode where you just play the mini games. There is story mode, which follows a story and gives a bit of a purpose as to why you are playing certain games. There is versus mode that is pretty much the multiplayer online mode. Then finally there is Marathon mode where literally, the entire point is to put your 3DS in your pocket and then go walking with your game and the step meter in your 3DS. Yeah, not the most creative extra modes, but I will talk about them a little more when I get to the replayability of this game. For now, let’s look at the story.
Story
Welcome to Mii’s at the Olympic Games. Wait what the heck!? Isn’t this supposed to be about Mario and Sonic and their friends? Well too bad, you don’t get to play as any of them. You are stuck playing as your Mii throughout the entire story mode. Why the heck would you want to play as your Mii in a game like this when the whole point of the game is to be playing as the characters from these video game series? So pretty much, your Mii has showed up to compete in the Olympic Games and you must pick if you want to follow Mario’s or Sonic’s story and join the gym of the respective character. When you pick a gym, you are stuck with those characters now until you do the story of the other gym. Pretty much, the Olympic medals have all been stolen that Mario and Sonic have earned over the years at the games, and you must help them find it. You do this by competing in the games yourself while the other characters work to try and help find the medals or competing themselves while Sonic or Mario is off helping solve the problems. The games are split into Seven days, and seven events which you have to compete in specifically in order to get a gold medal. You also have a rival, usually one of the main characters from the other gym and you must compete against them for the gold medal. You get better at the events by playing other events to earn points which eventually level you up. You may be thinking you level up and get better stats, but instead you get star points which allow you to wear different outfits which raise your stats. Yes, you raise your stats by changing your clothes…. What the in world? Such an odd choice, but yes, that’s how you get better and compete against the other characters. You advance through the days trying to win the medals, having to go through a prelim before you take on the other character, which lets you practice the event first pretty much. Between the events, you can talk to the other characters and mii’s that are in the area while you are competing and try and figure out what happened to the medals and what else strange may be going on as well. So pretty much, you are trying to become the hero as well. Yet here is the thing, you have to talk to a specific person on one of the days for each character, otherwise, the story is pretty much turned off and you are told not to worry about anything in the end and you don’t get the true ending. What a rip off that the story mode on top of being centered around your Mii, is also easily missable if you miss talking to a certain person on a certain day. I have to say, while they did get a little creative with the story mode, and some of the stuff that happens, is a bit interesting, the story isn’t that exciting, nor unexpected at all. There is also the fact that the story revolves mostly around your Mii instead of the Nintendo and Sega characters. I feel many people are going to be greatly disappointed here in the story of this game. This is not a Mii game. This is a Mario and Sonic game.
Graphics
The game doesn’t look that bad for a 3DS game, as the characters look like who they should look like, and the environments look pretty decent as well. You can tell they were trying to recreate Rio the best they could while making it easily walk aroundable, while also trying to put that spin on it that this is in the Mario and Sonic world and not just our world. All the Mii’s around though do look a little odd, and honestly I feel they are all out of place in this world. I know they are trying to in a way make it like the world of these characters and our world is one, but I’m not sure Mii’s are the best way to do it. While the characters look fine as well, I do tend to think there is the occasionally blurriness that I feel is there. It may just be me, but I do feel there are times that things just look blurry and not fully polished as they could be. While no one looks pixilated or out of place with the graphics style they are going for, I feel it could have been nicer than it turned out in the end. The Mii’s are the odd thing about it all though. Why do the Mii’s just have to look so out of place, and many of them very oddly designed or looking quite scary sometimes with the designs and faces they give? I know some of it is limitation of Mii designs, but I feel that this game would have benefited better with just characters from the set universes more and less of the Mii’s. Other than that, the games do look the way they should, and honestly, there isn’t much confusion about what you are doing either. The graphics are good, but I do feel they are missing that final polish that would have made them great though.
Sound
This is another one of those games where the sound effects are average and just are the sounds of characters working hard and showing exertion as they are competing in the games, with the music being a bit generic, but not bad in any way either. Most of the music is okay, but I can’t remember much of it. Unlike how I remember with some of the other games in this series, with their console version at least, there was a lot of music that was taking from the main games of these series and used quite a bit as you played. Here, there are bits and pieces of that, but for the most part, the music is just generic competition music to me. Once again, I don’t have much to say about the music and sound in a game, because it is neither bad nor really memorable either. It is music. It is there and does the job, and in many cases, I bet you could do without it or have the game muted and not miss much at all. Unless you mind hearing the guy that has been in all the other games telling you when you score a goal yell or telling you to start events, then you have heard it all before.
Control
This is another area where I feel the game is very hit or miss. Games where you can use the control pad I feel work actually quite well. It feels like they took the time to make these better than others as they are easier to control and just feel more fun to control. The games that rely on motion or the stylus pen don’t feel as good, or are very hit and miss. The ones that rely on motion are more about you thrusting your 3DS in various directions to get you to hit pointers in a DDR style, or it is about holding it up like a gun such as in the archery where you hold your 3DS up to aim where you want to aim. Then there are games that use the Pen, such as golf, where you rub the pen across the screen like if you were swinging a golf club. The real problem I feel is that the ones based around motion or the pen are very finicky at times, and are very hit and miss if they work at times. The Basketball mini game that is all about thrusting the 3DS and aiming at the same time I feel is almost unplayable because of its controls. There are games though with the pen, such as with golf that sometimes does work rather well, but other times will go way off target if you are off going straight even just a little bit. This game would have benefited more from just being all about using the control pad and less about using the motion and the pen to play the games. If it wasn’t for the gimmicks messing you up and not being that reliable at times, I feel the controls wouldn’t be that bad. Stick to what works guys, and don’t just try and force motion and the pen in there just to have them in there. They don’t work well with everything, and some of the mini games here are prime examples of that.
Replay Value
Replayability is hit and miss as well with some areas. If you enjoy the mini games, then the main mode where you just play the games, that has been the main focus of most of the games anyway won’t disappoint you that much. IT is the same as in the other games, and lets you play any of the games you want, in any order that you want and as many times as you want. As I mentioned above though, I feel some of this is hindered though by not being able to experiment with the entire cast of characters in any event that you wish to play them in. If you don’t like the characters in certain events, well too bad, you are stuck with them. I feel some people may not play some events just because they can’t use their favorite characters in them. Unless you like playing as Mario, Sonic, or your Mii, that severe limitation on the characters you can use I feel hurts the replayability quite a bit, because not everyone wants to use only certain people in some of the events. The story mode of the game is so limiting being able to only use your Mii as well, and the fact you can miss the story almost all together as well could be very discouraging to some people. I understand that some games have hidden final stories and such, but usually they don’t also then cut the entire story off if you miss that hidden thing though. What’s the point in the story mode, if the characters eventually say don’t worry about it, if you miss one little thing? Then there is the marathon mode that is all about just getting yourself walking with your 3DS to earn rewards. Who thought this was a good idea? You give a mode to people that makes them put the game down? Yeah, not a bright idea there. I can see what they were trying to do here, but the fact all it gives you is usually rewards to buy more outfits for your Mii, there is no difference from this mode and just having a Pedometer on your belt. I don’t see how this is fun at all. While I see some replayability in this game, I just feel the story mode is a bit iffy at times, and the fact you can’t use all the characters will turn some people away very quickly and not make them want to play any more than they have to do so. If you enjoy the mini games, then you get some replayability here, but it isn’t perfect by any means.
Overall, I would say that the new Mario and Sonic game is very average and a bit disappointing to be honest when it comes to the modes that were expected in this game. The story mode is a joke with it being about your Mii’s and not the Mario and Sonic characters. Then there is the fact that the character roster is limited by the game preselecting who you can use where. These are some big downfalls in what could have been a great game. There are some nice things about the game, in that they did keep the gameplay elements of the Mario and Sonic games that we have gotten to know, and the game looks pretty good as well, but with the controls making some of the games more fun than others, and few almost unplayable, I have to say I’m disappointed, that many of the problems from the game, don’t come from the game not being fun, it comes from them getting away from what made the game good in the first place, and that is focusing on the characters of the game series in general, and making sure, that if you use gimmicks to controls the games, that they actually work well and aren’t just there to be there. This game is alright, but I’ve played better games in this series for sure. If you liked some of the other games in the series, I would say check this game out at least, but for everyone else, I would actually say pass and let’s see if the WiiU version that comes out later is better, as this one is a bit disappointing.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for 3DS a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 4
Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Control: 6
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 6.5
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games (3DS)
Yet another entry into the Mario and Sonic series has hit the shelves, and once again, we are back to following some of our favorite franchise characters as they hit the Olympic scene once again, this time in Rio. The Olympic games series has always been about mini games and pretty much that. There is nothing wrong with that of course, and the fact that this series has continued so long at this point, it does show that people must either like this series, or that Nintendo and Sega are perfectly happy with working together. Does this new entry in the series bring about a fun time as some of the others have, or has the charm started to fade? Let us take a look shall we?
Gameplay
As always, the Mario and Sonic series has been about nothing but mini games, and that hasn’t changed a bit. You have various Olympic events, as well as plus versions of the same events that are all based on games that are in the actual Olympics. There are such events as the hurdles, volleyball, swimming, and even golf now as examples of some of the events you can play. Then on top of that, as I mentioned, there are plus versions of these events. In the plus versions, non-Olympic things happen to make the games more unique to the series. Such as with the swimming for example, instead of just swimming in the pool, you are instead having to swim in a current that a thomp is making or else you will be stalled and lose time from getting hit by the waves. If you ever get tired of the main way of playing games, then the plus events offer a nice change of pace while still keeping you playing the same events you had been playing before. That’s the good thing, as the plus events are often controlled and played the same as the main events, it is just there are usually new hazards or tasks you need to be aware of while you are playing. I do have to say, the gameplay is sound, but some of the games are definitely better than others. Some of the main reasons for this is that some games controls aren’t the best for one. Another reason is that some games are very repetitive or just honestly aren’t that long, which makes them not want to be replayed as often as others. Certain games like Soccer and Golf, which change a lot when you play them are more repayable than a game of basic swimming where you are just going in a straight line pressing the button over and over again. As I said as well, some of the games are the same ole games again, but there are new games added, such as golf, horse riding, and BMX. It is always nice when new games are added of course, but it is always best to make new games more open ended as I mentioned with golf and soccer. The more straight forward games just get a bit old fast. There is nothing wrong with this gameplay at all, I just feel that some of the games have very little lasting appeal. Then finally, there is one big thing that I feel hurts the gameplay and hurts a few other sections as well. There is the fact that, despite the large roster of characters, you can’t really use them. Other than Mario, Sonic, and your Mii, all other characters can really only be used in two events that are prechosen for you. That means if you want to use a character like Tails, you can only use him in Swimming and Volleyball, and that’s it. Now that’s a big downfall to this game, as it does take a bunch of the strategy of using different characters out of the equation. What is the point of having all these characters if you aren’t even allowed to use them? I feel like I’m getting ripped off here. You buy this game wanting to play as some of your favorite Nintendo and Sega characters, and you are then limited on who you can play as and when you can play as them? I hope you like playing as Mario and Sonic, as they are really the main people you will be playing as in the events mode. I haven’t even talked about the other modes yet either. There is the main events mode where you just play the mini games. There is story mode, which follows a story and gives a bit of a purpose as to why you are playing certain games. There is versus mode that is pretty much the multiplayer online mode. Then finally there is Marathon mode where literally, the entire point is to put your 3DS in your pocket and then go walking with your game and the step meter in your 3DS. Yeah, not the most creative extra modes, but I will talk about them a little more when I get to the replayability of this game. For now, let’s look at the story.
Story
Welcome to Mii’s at the Olympic Games. Wait what the heck!? Isn’t this supposed to be about Mario and Sonic and their friends? Well too bad, you don’t get to play as any of them. You are stuck playing as your Mii throughout the entire story mode. Why the heck would you want to play as your Mii in a game like this when the whole point of the game is to be playing as the characters from these video game series? So pretty much, your Mii has showed up to compete in the Olympic Games and you must pick if you want to follow Mario’s or Sonic’s story and join the gym of the respective character. When you pick a gym, you are stuck with those characters now until you do the story of the other gym. Pretty much, the Olympic medals have all been stolen that Mario and Sonic have earned over the years at the games, and you must help them find it. You do this by competing in the games yourself while the other characters work to try and help find the medals or competing themselves while Sonic or Mario is off helping solve the problems. The games are split into Seven days, and seven events which you have to compete in specifically in order to get a gold medal. You also have a rival, usually one of the main characters from the other gym and you must compete against them for the gold medal. You get better at the events by playing other events to earn points which eventually level you up. You may be thinking you level up and get better stats, but instead you get star points which allow you to wear different outfits which raise your stats. Yes, you raise your stats by changing your clothes…. What the in world? Such an odd choice, but yes, that’s how you get better and compete against the other characters. You advance through the days trying to win the medals, having to go through a prelim before you take on the other character, which lets you practice the event first pretty much. Between the events, you can talk to the other characters and mii’s that are in the area while you are competing and try and figure out what happened to the medals and what else strange may be going on as well. So pretty much, you are trying to become the hero as well. Yet here is the thing, you have to talk to a specific person on one of the days for each character, otherwise, the story is pretty much turned off and you are told not to worry about anything in the end and you don’t get the true ending. What a rip off that the story mode on top of being centered around your Mii, is also easily missable if you miss talking to a certain person on a certain day. I have to say, while they did get a little creative with the story mode, and some of the stuff that happens, is a bit interesting, the story isn’t that exciting, nor unexpected at all. There is also the fact that the story revolves mostly around your Mii instead of the Nintendo and Sega characters. I feel many people are going to be greatly disappointed here in the story of this game. This is not a Mii game. This is a Mario and Sonic game.
Graphics
The game doesn’t look that bad for a 3DS game, as the characters look like who they should look like, and the environments look pretty decent as well. You can tell they were trying to recreate Rio the best they could while making it easily walk aroundable, while also trying to put that spin on it that this is in the Mario and Sonic world and not just our world. All the Mii’s around though do look a little odd, and honestly I feel they are all out of place in this world. I know they are trying to in a way make it like the world of these characters and our world is one, but I’m not sure Mii’s are the best way to do it. While the characters look fine as well, I do tend to think there is the occasionally blurriness that I feel is there. It may just be me, but I do feel there are times that things just look blurry and not fully polished as they could be. While no one looks pixilated or out of place with the graphics style they are going for, I feel it could have been nicer than it turned out in the end. The Mii’s are the odd thing about it all though. Why do the Mii’s just have to look so out of place, and many of them very oddly designed or looking quite scary sometimes with the designs and faces they give? I know some of it is limitation of Mii designs, but I feel that this game would have benefited better with just characters from the set universes more and less of the Mii’s. Other than that, the games do look the way they should, and honestly, there isn’t much confusion about what you are doing either. The graphics are good, but I do feel they are missing that final polish that would have made them great though.
Sound
This is another one of those games where the sound effects are average and just are the sounds of characters working hard and showing exertion as they are competing in the games, with the music being a bit generic, but not bad in any way either. Most of the music is okay, but I can’t remember much of it. Unlike how I remember with some of the other games in this series, with their console version at least, there was a lot of music that was taking from the main games of these series and used quite a bit as you played. Here, there are bits and pieces of that, but for the most part, the music is just generic competition music to me. Once again, I don’t have much to say about the music and sound in a game, because it is neither bad nor really memorable either. It is music. It is there and does the job, and in many cases, I bet you could do without it or have the game muted and not miss much at all. Unless you mind hearing the guy that has been in all the other games telling you when you score a goal yell or telling you to start events, then you have heard it all before.
Control
This is another area where I feel the game is very hit or miss. Games where you can use the control pad I feel work actually quite well. It feels like they took the time to make these better than others as they are easier to control and just feel more fun to control. The games that rely on motion or the stylus pen don’t feel as good, or are very hit and miss. The ones that rely on motion are more about you thrusting your 3DS in various directions to get you to hit pointers in a DDR style, or it is about holding it up like a gun such as in the archery where you hold your 3DS up to aim where you want to aim. Then there are games that use the Pen, such as golf, where you rub the pen across the screen like if you were swinging a golf club. The real problem I feel is that the ones based around motion or the pen are very finicky at times, and are very hit and miss if they work at times. The Basketball mini game that is all about thrusting the 3DS and aiming at the same time I feel is almost unplayable because of its controls. There are games though with the pen, such as with golf that sometimes does work rather well, but other times will go way off target if you are off going straight even just a little bit. This game would have benefited more from just being all about using the control pad and less about using the motion and the pen to play the games. If it wasn’t for the gimmicks messing you up and not being that reliable at times, I feel the controls wouldn’t be that bad. Stick to what works guys, and don’t just try and force motion and the pen in there just to have them in there. They don’t work well with everything, and some of the mini games here are prime examples of that.
Replay Value
Replayability is hit and miss as well with some areas. If you enjoy the mini games, then the main mode where you just play the games, that has been the main focus of most of the games anyway won’t disappoint you that much. IT is the same as in the other games, and lets you play any of the games you want, in any order that you want and as many times as you want. As I mentioned above though, I feel some of this is hindered though by not being able to experiment with the entire cast of characters in any event that you wish to play them in. If you don’t like the characters in certain events, well too bad, you are stuck with them. I feel some people may not play some events just because they can’t use their favorite characters in them. Unless you like playing as Mario, Sonic, or your Mii, that severe limitation on the characters you can use I feel hurts the replayability quite a bit, because not everyone wants to use only certain people in some of the events. The story mode of the game is so limiting being able to only use your Mii as well, and the fact you can miss the story almost all together as well could be very discouraging to some people. I understand that some games have hidden final stories and such, but usually they don’t also then cut the entire story off if you miss that hidden thing though. What’s the point in the story mode, if the characters eventually say don’t worry about it, if you miss one little thing? Then there is the marathon mode that is all about just getting yourself walking with your 3DS to earn rewards. Who thought this was a good idea? You give a mode to people that makes them put the game down? Yeah, not a bright idea there. I can see what they were trying to do here, but the fact all it gives you is usually rewards to buy more outfits for your Mii, there is no difference from this mode and just having a Pedometer on your belt. I don’t see how this is fun at all. While I see some replayability in this game, I just feel the story mode is a bit iffy at times, and the fact you can’t use all the characters will turn some people away very quickly and not make them want to play any more than they have to do so. If you enjoy the mini games, then you get some replayability here, but it isn’t perfect by any means.
Overall, I would say that the new Mario and Sonic game is very average and a bit disappointing to be honest when it comes to the modes that were expected in this game. The story mode is a joke with it being about your Mii’s and not the Mario and Sonic characters. Then there is the fact that the character roster is limited by the game preselecting who you can use where. These are some big downfalls in what could have been a great game. There are some nice things about the game, in that they did keep the gameplay elements of the Mario and Sonic games that we have gotten to know, and the game looks pretty good as well, but with the controls making some of the games more fun than others, and few almost unplayable, I have to say I’m disappointed, that many of the problems from the game, don’t come from the game not being fun, it comes from them getting away from what made the game good in the first place, and that is focusing on the characters of the game series in general, and making sure, that if you use gimmicks to controls the games, that they actually work well and aren’t just there to be there. This game is alright, but I’ve played better games in this series for sure. If you liked some of the other games in the series, I would say check this game out at least, but for everyone else, I would actually say pass and let’s see if the WiiU version that comes out later is better, as this one is a bit disappointing.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for 3DS a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 7
Story: 4
Graphics: 8
Sound: 7
Control: 6
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 6.5
