Wii's 'Olympic Games' not going to win any medals

Oakland Tribune, Jan 25, 2008

BACK IN THE 8-BIT DAYS, Konami's "Track & Field II" epitomized competition at our family get-togethers. My brother, cousins and I would spend afternoons competing in pixilated versions of the Olympics. In the process, we would turn our thumbs into hamburger.

The gameplay itself was simple. "Track & Field II" had a collection of events such as the hammer throw, hurdles and arm wrestling. Most of the time, competitions weren't based on skill. Instead, they were determined by how fast you pressed the A or B buttons.

Sheer will, not gaming aptitude, decided the winner.

But despite the pain, I do remember "Track & Field II" as one of the best multiplayer experiences on the original Nintendo.

Now, years later, months before the big bash in Beijing, Sega has released "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games." Like "Track & Field II," it has the standard gold-medal events -- the 100-meter dash, swimming and the javelin throw. Overall, players can compete in 20 events that cover eight sports.

But the biggest differences between yesteryear's sports game and this one is in the characters and the control. In this project, players don't represent different countries in the Olympics; instead, they pick among their Miis and two casts of characters. One set comes from Sega's Sonic universe -- Knuckles, Tails and Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik). On the other side of the fence, they get to choose from a stable of Mario sidekicks. This is the first time that both mascots have competed head to head in a game.

In this crossover title, fans from the 1990s get to see their childhood arguments play out onscreen. They get to answer questions like: Is Mario or Sonic faster? Who can jump higher? Who can leap the farthest? To help settle these issues, each character has a different set of traits. Competitors such as Sonic specialize in speed. Mario is an all-around athlete who is a jack-of-all-trades. But, ultimately, it's the players' skill that decides which character wins.

Another change is the evolution of controls in this genre of sports games. Using the Wii's motion controls, players will be gesticulating wildly rather than mashing buttons during races.

Sprinting means shaking both the Wii remote and nunchuk up and down frantically. To jump on a trampoline, players will have to flick the controller up, press buttons and twist the remote quickly before the character falls down to earth.

As for table tennis, Sega does an awful job translating the sport with the controller. It's a shame that after a year, the best racket game on the system is the tennis title included in "Wii Sports." Later on, players will have an opportunity to unlock other events, such as archery, rowing and dream races, but these fun options are fairly difficult to attain.

Although the controls may be different, the pain from tense competition remains the same. After going through the night competing in the 100-meter dash, hurdles, swimming and the hammer throw, my arms felt like spaghetti. And going through and doing the repetitive competitions in the Circuit Mode the following night was draining.

Playing "Mario & Sonic" by myself felt as physically exhausting as a trip to the gym. This game benefits immensely from having a buddy to compete against.

With all the activity, it's too bad that Sega didn't include a calorie tracker a la "Dance Dance Revolution." Even if it isn't too accurate, it would be nice to know how much of that ice cream I was burning as Sonic the Hedgehog.