Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"All flash, no substance"

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games wasn't really the hit. It was a neat idea to put Mario and Sonic together to let them compete against each other in multiple olympic events, but the game just didn't lead to it's potential. The same now can be said about Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. It does have its fun moments, but the simple, shallow events aren't there to hold your attention for long. Mario and Sonic fails once again to deliver a fully enjoyable game.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games has alot going for it. There are about 20 events to play, which is the main fixating of the game. Those events range from ice hockey to skiing and back to bobsleigh and skeleton. Sadly, almost all of those lack real depth. The controls are the first thing that get between you and the fun. It's mostly just you shaking the Wii-remote like a maniac. Events like speed skating and figure skating suffer especially much because of this problem. In speed skating you are only skating around the tracks by shaking the Wii-remote wildly and then tilting the Wii remote in the direction you want your character to skate.
Figure skating is even worse, though. Here you are only required to shake the Wii-remote at the right time to perform a lovely trick, though these tricks don't actually look lovely or good. But the gameplay is so simple and there is so little to do in figure skating, that it almost feels like you are just watching the game playing itself.
Events like skiing are kinda fun, here you are only tilting your character in the direction he is supposed to ski, but it is entertaining to take part in a race while skiing down a track.
Ski flying on the other hand again is pretty simple and not to interesting. Ice Hockey is also pretty bad. It's simple, and gets boring very fast even when playing with a friend, and on top of that the controls feel very stiff.

Luckily, there are the dream events. Those are the same sports like those in the normal events, but this time they have some nice and crazy, imaginative ideas and tracks to play on. Events like ice hockey or figure skating still aren't very interesting, but the events like skiing or ski flying are pretty entertaining.
Even speed skating is kinda fun because the track is kinda cool. It's just a shame that every dream event only gets one track to play on.

To add more length to the game, Sega also added a festival modes, where you go through most of the events by first learning them and then participating in a match. It has the potential to be good, but with the simplistic events, it isn't. Worst of all though is the AI, which is laughable easy to beat. They aren't only easy during the festival mode though, the whole entire package suffers from the pathetic AI.

There is also a balance board mode where you can play most of these events on the balance board. It works just fine, but seriously, if it's that your looking forward to, then by Wii Fit or even better, Wii Fit Plus. Those games are way more fun and work even better with the Wii balance board than this game does. Also, it would have been nice to see an option between using the balance board or the actual controller for like festival mode.
There are also a few party games to be found, but they are just as passable as everything else in the game.

Luckily, there is multiplayer, which does saves the game from being mediocre. The events get way more competitive when playing with friends because you aren't playing with the AI that doesn't give any challenge or competition away.
Also, even events like speed skating are a bit fun, though events like skiing, snow board cross or bobsleigh and skeleton are especially fun and competitive when playing with friends.
The dream events take the cake though, playing those with friends is a blast for the first couple of times, believe it or not.

All in all Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games isn't a bad game. It's a great offering for casuals and the dream events do prove to be fun for a while, and the multiplayer can extend the length another bit. However, the events are way to simple, and the controls are generic and shallow.
The AI also hurts this game a lot. So much that I would have to say that this game isn't worth only for the single player. If you have friends over on the other hand then the game is probably worth a rental, but when we come to it, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games fails to reach its full potential.

THE GOOD
+ great for casuals
+ dream events mix things up
+ lots of content with multiple events
+ multiplayer can get competitive

THE BAD
- simplified, shallow game events
- generic, shallow controls
- simple, uninspired visuals
- lots of annoying loading times
- AI is pathetic


Review Score: 6/10