For those who don't know about the Mario and Sonic Olympic pair-ups, basically both franchises team up for a fun Olympic-based game filled with events to compete in, using characters from the famous Mario franchise AND Sonic franchise as well. The first installment was Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which was based off of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, in 2008. This game, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is based off of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver 2010, and so far is the only installment in this series based off of the Winter Olympics. The third installment is Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, which by the title, is based off of the Summer Olympic Games in London 2012. 

Graphics: 10/10

A game fairly new and not too old, one would definitely hold high standards for excellent graphics, and this game most definitely fulfills that. Graphics are excellent, no blunders, mishaps, or any other errors. This is the age of gaming, so graphics are bound to be up to par and basically, near-perfect. 
Each action the many characters used in the game flow very smoothly and easily, no lagging issues or anything of that sort. 
There are some parts in Adventure Tours (which is basically the Story mode) that showcase the artwork of the character, rather than the 3D character itself. It is just professional artwork, so there is not much difference between the 3D and picture of the character, which shows consistency and a little diversity.

Sound: 10/10

Games these days, especially ones coming out from Sega and/or Nintendo, will no doubt have a wonderful game sound track. Take Super Mario Galaxy for example. The music is melodious and has a righteous and grand feeling to it. The same may be said here...maybe a little less righteous, but rather actually energetic, and simple but complex. There are certain events where a righteous sound track would not fit properly...take Luge for example. Luge is an extremely fast sport, and would usually be complimented with fast and very energetic music. Overall, sound is most definitely not a bad issue at all, and is rather just there...you expect high quality, so there is nothing out of the ordinary...Nintendo and Sega have done their jobs regarding the sound track. 

Addictiveness: 10/10

Addictiveness plays a HUGE role in this game. Something introduced to this game that was not present in the first installment was the idea of Adventure Tours. Adventure Tours is basically a story mode. Now, why would there be a story mode in a game about the Olympics? Well, this story actually fits well into a game, a sporting game to be more precise, and as most of us, if not all, sports games usually have little to no stories, except for a few. Well, without giving too many spoilers, Adventure Tours is basically Mario and Sonic trying to rescue the Snow Spirits, which allow there to be snow, which in turn allow there to be an Olympic Winter games. Bowser and Eggman are working in cahoots to stop the games, and have a few helpers as well, some you may recognize as rivals and enemies in games you may have played with Mario or Sonic. The Adventure Tours is rightfully a bit long, which is good, because if it were too short, there really wouldn't be much of a game besides a few missions and some events...that isn't addictive, is it? The Adventure Tours incorporates all events, from regular Olympic sporting events to Dream events (basically, Dream events are fun variations of the regular Olympic events...you'll find out when you play the game), and many characters from both franchises compete against you. 
There is also the aspect of record breaking. Each event is obviously timed, and from personal experience, I have spent a LOT of time trying to beat my records, such as fastest time in the snowboarding event (mine was 31 or 32 seconds....which was probably around 400th in the world lol)...and usually that's where you strategize a bit. You would try to break your records with characters who excell in the Speed category, like Sonic, Metal Sonic, Shadow, Daisy, and Yoshi, instead of just using personal preference, like Bowser or Waluigi, who both are really bad in the Speed category. 
In the end, Addictiveness will definitely impact you when playing this game. 

Story: 9/10

Now, the story of the game, or Adventure Tours, is pretty long. It will take a majority of your time, but it plays a part in unlocking characters and events not only to use in the story, but the game itself. In the Adventure Tours, you will go across each map, overcoming MANY challenges, and unlocking and playing new events in each map. 
The reason story is not a ten out of ten is basically the idea of repetition. The story is just repetition really...a diverse repetition. If you have not played before, then all the new events that you unlock and play throughout the story will be new to you, and not repetition. The only repetition is by just competing in events in itself...that's basically how you progress through the story. Of course, the idea of Dream events spices things up, since they are fun variations of the regular events that one might see when watching the real Olympics on television. 
There are mini challenges to overcome as well, each corresponding to a certain character you may gain throughout the story line. 
Overall, the story is actually pretty exciting, but just a tad bit repetitive. 

Depth: 10/10

The depth of this game is TREMENDOUS. As you read in the sound section, the sound tracks is excellent, and for it to be excellent, a lot of time must have been spent creating and playing the music. 
The addictiveness is another supporting cause for depth...the creators spent a LOT of time trying to make this game fun and diverse in every way possible so that it wouldn't die out after the first few days. You will want to keep coming back and playing the game. There are cool hidden items and puzzles to solve that really grab the player's attention...it would be hard to rip your eyes off the screen, and even harder for the player to put down the DS.
As far as the story, there is a LOT of depth in it. I mentioned that there are certain challenges to overcome, corresponding to each character. Each character you may gain on your team throughout the story will have certain abilities. Those of you who know about Sonic, you know Amy has her Piko Piko hammer, which is used for one of the challenges. There are many more character abilities, but you just have to play to find out. 
In the end, depth is always the major point in a game, and depth certainly is very impressive in this game. 

Difficulty: 7/10

This game is actually a little bit challenging for a first-time player. I myself have played and beaten the game multiple times, so it is very easy for me. However, for the new players, it may be a little overwhelming getting used to each event and finding strategies to use against opponents. There is also the pressure of hearts, or lives. Each time you fail an event, you will lose a heart. That may be a little pressuring, but there are many hearts scattered around each map, and you can even replay certain events, ones that you excel in, and you can earn hearts from that. There are difficulties as well, Easy, Normal, and Hard. I play on Hard now, because I easily win in Easy and Normal levels. Hard is...well, hard. At one point, my skill level was about equal to the skill level of Hard mode, which was pretty sad, but as you progress, like in any game, you will certainly get better (hopefully). 
Overall, difficulty gets a high score mostly for new players. As you go on, the game will be much more easier to handle, and you'll find yourself crushing opponents and breaking records in no time.

Overall, this game was much too fun. It was a LOT to offer, and will keep you up playing for the majority of your time.

Thanks for reading. Cheers.

Sidewinder : Hey, what a nice review!  I love this game as well as the Mario and Sonic Summer Olympics games   I like how you give a little background information about the Mario and Sonic games
for players that might not know about this game series.  Great job

Nice job man, this is a really lengthy and descriptive review you have here, just what i like to see. You broke it down and organized it well and I think that you did a really great job reviewing this game.


Like Kramer said, you did provide good background information to those who may not have played the game before which is good. Overall, you have good detail distributed through all of your categories and I think you did an excellent job reviewing this game. There is nothing I would really fix about it, it is already really good. Keep up the great work man  and i encourage you to keep making more reviews!