Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS)

...who remembers the days when mario was the king of all nintendo games and sonic sometimes came built in with the master system will know that both of them are classics in there own right.
I was a little more excited than a mum of 2 soon to be 3 should be over a computer game when i heard this was coming out..

GAME MODES~
Theres a good choice when it comes to the different types of modes to play in.
You can play ...
...to play them but if mario bro's minigames are anything to go by then they should be great fun. What i do know is that when playing minigames you get rewards of music for the jukebox, these are saved and you can play them via your jukebox, again not yet had a look at this but sounds like a nice extra to me

The price ranges on these games from £24.97 in sainsburys to about £30 in game station and its widely availible in most places.
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Anyone who remembers the days when mario was the king of all nintendo games and sonic sometimes came built in with the master system will know that both of them are classics in there own right.
I was a little more excited than a mum of 2 soon to be 3 should be over a computer game when i heard this was coming out..

GAME MODES~
Theres a good choice when it comes to the different types of modes to play in.
You can play in single match mode, this allows you to play one event at a time and you can pick and choose what you want to play.There are 8 sports and a total of 16 events to play when in single match mode some of these events/sports will be locked at first but will become unlocked after you have completed whats required to unlock them.
Or for the more competitive people you can play in Circuit Mode, this lets you play a series of events where you aim to get the highest overall score. You need to choose a class to play in but when you first get the game the only class to play is beginners class or free the difference between the two being that in beginners class the events are chosen for you and are based on a theme, where as in free you can select your own line up of events.
If thats not your style then you can play in Mission Mode, each character has certain missions to complete that have been specifically picked for whatever character you decided to play. there are several events for each character to complete but at first some will be locked you can unlock these by fulfilling certain conditions.Once all of the missions are complete for your character they will recive a prize.

The other way to play is via wireless connection this game allows up to 4 players and you can battle it out with one another on certain events. This game will allow single card wireless play or multicard wireless play, its great i always find its a pain when you need 2 games to play the same thing so i think thats a plus.
When in multiplayer mode it will allow you to play Single Event Mode where you are able to pick and choose what you wish to play or you can play in Circuit Mode again trying to get the overall high score but now against your friends.

CHARACTERS~
This game has a bit of a famous cast with the classics from both games in there.
They fall into different skill types, all-around, technical, speed, and power, for example obviously the players that fall under the speed catagory are going to be better at the runing events but that being said it depends on what else may be needed in the same event so you need to pick your player carefully.
There is a long list of characters so i will list them under what skill catagory they fall into.

ALL AROUND SKILL
Mario,Luigi,Amy and Blaze
SPEED SKILL.
Daisy,Sonic,Yoshi and shadow
POWER SKILL
Knuckles,Wario,Bowser and vector
TECHNICAL SKILL
Peach,Tails,Waluigi,Dr eggman

EVENTS~
100/400m
both are vevry much the same, at the start of the race you touch the touch screen and keep the stylus on the screen untill its time to run, this helps to power your character up for a speedy start. you then rub the stylus side to side to make them run the only difference between the 100m and the 400m is that you need to watch your characters energy in the 400m as its a longer race, you can see how its doing on the top screen where there is a little heart next to your character that emptys of colour the less energy they have, you can refill it by pushing the L or R button. Be warned the less energy they have the slower they go. I found this event really easy to do at fIrst on the 400m its a little tricky to run and keep your energy up but once you get used to it its pretty easy.

400m hurdles
Almost the same as the 400m but with jumps, the same rules apply, as its over a longer distance you need to keep the energy leval topped right up or you will lose speed. Again at the start of the race you touch the bottom screen to power your player up for a speddy start and again you rub the screen to run. When it comes to jumping the hurdles you have to give the bottom screen a touch when you feel its the right time to jump, if you knock down the hurdles you wont get a penalty but it will slow you down. Timing the jump just right will stop that from happening. again like the 400m its pretty easy to do and after a jump or two it becomes easy to judge when you need to make the jump.

Long jump
Just like in real life you sprint down the run way and jump when you reach the board and hope you get a good distance. Its all about the angle that you jump, you do this by using the stylus and flicking a line in the angle you want them to jump at, in this event you need to get it just right but you also need to make sure your foot does not step over that board, if iam honest i found this event a little difficult. it was trying to get the right angle and making sure you jumped at the right time that i found akward but its still good fun.

Triple jump
Same concept as the long jump but you need to give a 3 step action for the jump, a take off jump then another hop then into the last jump again you need to get the angle just right to make the distance and i was a nightmare on just the long jump so this for me is not one that i found easy at all!!.

Javelin throw
Here you find yourself on a runway where you then sprint (by rubing the stylus side to side) towards the end of the runway when you feel the time is right you give the touch screen a little flick in the angle you want the javlin to go be warned you need to throw it before you reach the white line at the bottom of the runway. Again the angle is key the better you get it the further the javlin will go. I found this event pretty easy to do and it was good fun.

Hammer throw
You will find your character stood in a circle holding a hammer, using the stylus spin the player round by going round in a circle on the touch screen then when you feel the time is good to throw give the touch screen a little flick in the right direction .
You then hope your hammer lands in the landing area if not the throw does not count. You are given 3 attempts on this game and the best of 3 is taken as your throw. Again i found this one easy to do once you sussed out what needed to be done.

100m Freestyle
Ahhh the swiming! my enemy lol.
with this it starts with you stood at the side of the pool ready to dive in, you then touch the bottom screen and hold using the stylus to give the character a little charge up for a speedy start. When the signal goes off you dive in and depending on what kind of stroke you are doing you follow the required "shape" on the touch screen for example to swim normally you just rub side to side but to do the butterfly stroke you do a figure of 8 shape on the touch screen, trust me that sounds easy.......but its not. Again you need to watch your energy and like in the 400m the little heart can be seen on the top screen. The lower your energy the slower you swim so keep it topped up by tapping the L or R buttons at the top of the DS. When you reach one end of the poo you need to flip over and swim the other way to do this you just give the touch screen a quick tap and your character should flip and then you need to carry on swiming. I found this a pain in my neck lol this is the one that beats me everytime. I will get it one day i will lol.

Trampoline
This is one of my faves! its good fun and easy to do. you start with your character on the trampoline you then start to jump by making a straight line upwards with the stylus after about 3 jumps it then shows arrows on the top screen youthen have to copy the shape of the arrows onto the bottom screen to perform certain moves al the time remembering to jump still when you come back down. The further you get the harder it becomes for examle at the start it may give you two arrows to follow in one jump but near the end you can get say 5 to fit in one jump. i loved this event its really good fun.

10m platform
You will start this stood on the borad, you then use the stylus to jump as you would on the trampoline. When in the air the top screen then shows you a sequence of buttons to push for example it may say A+B+Y+X+Y+B you have to push the buttons to perform the somersaults. After you have done this you will start to fall towards the water and on the bottom sceen a horseshoe like shape will appear with a line going across it, you then have to use the stylus to stop the line as close to the center as possible, this is where your character will land so the closer to the center the better the landing .You can earn up to 10 points for one jump and you get 3 goes and they add the score up for your overall points.
I found this one quite fun to do but you need to be quick to keep up with the button sequence.

Archery
You find your character facing a target board using the stylus when promted you pull down on the touch screen in a straight line and hold you now have an up close view of the target board aim your black marker where you would like the arrow to hit while watching a white marker move about on the bored, it will at some point match up with the place you have your black marker and thats when you need to let go of your arrow (you do this by simply taking the stylus of the screen) but you need to keep an eye on the wind conditions and how strong it is and what direction its blowing in because it all makes a differnce to where you need to aim. I liked this one its not to tricky but not really easy because of the wind its not as easy as you first think.

Vault
Ahhh this is a tricky one! rub the stylus side to side to run down the runway with your character, as you reach the springboard you jump into the air, while in the air the bottom screen will show a dot to dot like shape you need to follow the shape in order with the stylus to make the somersaults. As your character starts to come down they will appear on the bottom screen, now in an ideal world you would tap there feet just as they hit the floor for a perfect landing but failing that just like the 10m platform a horseshoe like shape will come onto the bottom screen where you then need to try and stop it dead center for your character to get a good landing, if not they will have a little wobble and this will reflect in your points. Again another one thats tricky to do but the more you do it the better you become unless of course you are annoying like my partner and happen to be fantastic at it straight away!!! lol

Table tennis
This is a fun one, you find your character on the bottom screen and your opponent on the top screen with a table between you there is no stylus in this event you simply use the direction pad and the A button to hit the ball, the points are normal table tennis points ( 1 point everytime your opponent misses the ball) Each player gets 2 turns to serve the ball and you are in a four player tournament with the winners of each game facing each other in the final unless you are a loser and then you play the other loser of the first round for 3rd place. You also have the option of selecting ho many points it takes to win a game. Again this is one of my faves its great fun.

Fencing
Here you find your character facing there opponent when the signal goes off you then start to play the aim is to try and touch your opponent with the tip of the blade anywhere on there body by doing this you get 1 point but remember they are trying to do the same so you need to use your skills to block them, you can do this by getting the stylus and doing a number of movements with it on the touch screen for example you can draw a line straight up to block higher body shots, before you play you will have a run through of all the moves, they are pretty hard to remember at first but eventually you get it and you can start winning some matches. Again like the table tennis its a 4 player tournament and the winners of the first to games go on to play for 1st place while the losers battle it out for 3rd. A good game and its fun to do but its not one of my faves.

Shooting
Well this is an aim ready fire sort of game. An airborne target comes into view on the top screen, you then have to aim and hit it with your shot. Not to hard you may think, well think again its all very quick and you only get enough amo for one shot per target so you have to make sure your shot is right on target.
To start the game you touch the screen with the stylus and hold it there, you will then see the targets and this is when you move the stylus about on the screen to try and match up the target . To shoot once you think its on target you push the L or R button at the top of the DS. You then make your way through 8 stations trying to hit as many things as you can at the end the person with the most hits is the winner not a great fave of mine but in all fairness ive only played this one once. To be honest its not that tricky to control just akward to match up the target put then thats the point of the game lol.

Cycling
This is a good fun game and its pretty simple rules are first across the line is the winner at the start of the race you will touch the screen to power the character up then when its time to go you use the L and R buttons one after the other to pedal the bike, the faster you push them the faster you go. but watch out because once again you have got to watch the heart on the top screen the lower it goes the slower you go so keep it topped up, but unlike other events where you push the button to top your energy up this one you collect little hearts from the track on your way round. Its all pretty fun and easy to do i like this one!!

Dream events~
You get these as a sort of bonus you will after completing certain things get them unlocked, they are basicly normal events with a twist i cannot tell you what because we have not unlocked them yet lol give us a chance we have not long had it.

Extras~you can keep all of your records and view them when you wish or if your better than me you can go on wifi and add your scores to nintendo wfc rankings and see where you come in the world. In the gallery you have minigames i can't go into detail because iam yet to play them but if mario bro's minigames are anything to go by then they should be great fun. What i do know is that when playing minigames you get rewards of music for the jukebox, these are saved and you can play them via your jukebox, again not yet had a look at this but sounds like a nice extra to me

The price ranges on these games from £24.97 in sainsburys to about £30 in game station and its widely availible in most places.
Overall i love this game the only fault is it takes ages to load between events and on wirelss play but thats about it really the rest is all plus points. Its easy and fun to use even my 4 yr old son can play it!! i also love the fact the use the touch screen alot i find it makes the games that little bit more fun. I recomend it to anyone who likes good fun DS games or anyone whos a fan of the classics that are Mario and Sonic. 

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