Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Review

The Mario and Sonic series was one that many thought would never be possible, and yet here we are with yet another installment in the series. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see the appeal of these characters appearing in an Olympic game and didn’t understand why this concept would sell, but it has been a long-lasting series and one that has been great for kids and families alike. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is no different, with challenging and fun mini-games to offset the lackluster Story Mode and Online offerings.

Story Mode

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020‘s bread and butter is its story mode, which lasts about 6 hours. I genuinely had pretty high hopes for this because I thought that if SEGA could tie some career progression to the mini-games, this could become something pretty addictive. The story itself involves Mario, Sonic, Bowser, and Eggman getting trapped in a retro video game and competing in the 1964 Olympics, which is as strange as it sounds. It’s just really out of place in a game like this to me. Everyone else ends up competing in the 3D version of Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics.

I liked the world map, which was a complete recreation of Tokyo, featuring the actual Olympic buildings where these events would be taking place. It’s nice to look at, and it makes it feel like you’re doing a little more than just slogging through mini-games. I was bored to death with all the lines that each character had to say, though. I felt like I was reading, and reading, and reading. It’s not why I play a game like this. I understand it’s a STORY mode, but we don’t need nearly as much banter between characters. A general story is fine, and then we can proceed. I just thought it was a lot of filler to unlock some extra characters and events.

Events

The events themselves are a great mix, with over 40 to choose from. It’s a bit of a hit-or-miss group, with some being completely straightforward while others are challenging to perform correctly. I was pretty terrible at the gymnastics events. I couldn’t seem to get it down fast enough. I also encountered an issue while playing in handheld mode during certain events, where I couldn’t read the button prompts to complete the event. If you plan on playing in handheld mode frequently, this could be a significant issue for you.

3D Mini-Games

The 3D mini-games are pretty diverse, with things like Sport Climbing requiring you to time your button presses to climb up the wall as fast as possible, while Surfing and Skateboarding require you to nail tricks at the right time to get the most points. Karate is a fairly complex thing to get used to, despite its appearance looking fairly simple at first. Table Tennis is painfully basic, and it wasn’t enjoyable to try and play through it. You’re just making sure you hit it and where. There’s no skill in how you move or anything. It just seems like the developers put a lot more thought into some mini-games and barely any into others.

Dream Events

One thing I enjoyed about this game is that it features Dream Events, which are fantasy events based on each of the Mario and Sonic series. There’s Dream Racing, which is kind of like Mario Kart on foot, Dream Shooting, which is just target shooting, and Dream Karate, which requires you to knock your opponents down to fill a board with your colours. I like that these events take you out of the traditional environment and put you in a more Mario Party-type game. I think it helps the game be more accessible and gives it a bit more fun factor than sticking to real events.

Controls

A lot of the 3D events can be played with motion controls, but it feels more gimmicky to me than anything else. I didn’t like using the motion controls at all, so I opted to use the button controls whenever possible. It’s all a matter of preference, but buttons were a lot easier to manage, in my opinion.

2D Events

2D events make their debut in the series in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. It’s a nice change to see the old 2D sprites on the screen, even if there are only a handful of characters available. It looks like they just chose the characters that already had pre-existing sprites, so they didn’t have to do anything extra, which is understandable. These events are pretty enjoyable and bring me back to the old days when button-mashing was the key to success, the difference between winning and losing. They’re not all like that, but they’re all fairly basic. It’s a nice touch, even if the reason for having this mode is a bit strange.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is a mixed bag. Local works as advertised, but online multiplayer with 8 people can get frustrating due to some lag. It’s hard to get through a game that requires you to have timing when you’re having network issues. You also don’t have the choice to use a playlist for events, which means you might be done with an event in 10 seconds and have to go back and choose again. It’s tedious, and it doesn’t have to be that way. I mean, why would you ever want a game to be that way? There should always be a choice.

Conclusion

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is primarily what you’d expect from these games. You have some engaging games and some that barely show any thought. This would be a good one to play with your family, but there isn’t a ton of depth here otherwise.