Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games[lower-alpha 1] is a crossover sports and party game in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, released for the Nintendo 3DS in February 2016 in Japan, March 2016 in North America, and in April 2016 for Europe and Australia, and for the Wii U worldwide in June 2016.[1] The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee, as have the other games in the series.[2] It was developed by Sega, with assistance from Arzest and Spike Chunsoft, and published by Nintendo. It is the fifth title in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.[3] The game is a collection of Olympic sports themed mini-games featuring characters from the Mario series and the Sonic the Hedgehog series.[4]

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
North American Wii U cover art
Developer(s)Sega Sports R&D
Arzest/Spike Chunsoft (3DS)
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Hiroshi Miyamoto (3DS)
Eigo Kasahara (Wii U)
Producer(s)Nobuya Ohashi
Designer(s)Harumasa Nakajima (3DS)
Shingo Kawakami (Wii U)
Programmer(s)Keiichi Noda (3DS)
Kouichi Nomura (Wii U)
Artist(s)Hiroshi Kanazawa (3DS)
Hitoshi Furukubo (Wii U)
Composer(s)
SeriesMario & Sonic
EngineHedgehog Engine (Wii U)
Platform(s)Arcade, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U
ReleaseArcade
  • WW: February 2016
Nintendo 3DS
  • JP: February 18, 2016
  • NA: March 18, 2016
  • EU: April 8, 2016
  • AU: April 9, 2016
Wii U
  • JP: June 23, 2016
  • NA/EU: June 24, 2016
  • AU: June 25, 2016
Genre(s)Sports, party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game received generally mixed reviews upon release. A sixth game in the series, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, was released in November 2019 for the Nintendo Switch.[5]

Gameplay

The game features thirty-four playable characters from Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises, as well as the option to use a previously made Mii character in-game. New playable characters (or 'guests') to the series include Diddy Kong, Nabbit, Wendy O. Koopa, Larry Koopa, Rosalina, Toad, Dry Bowser, Jet the Hawk, Rouge the Bat, Wave the Swallow, Espio the Chameleon, Zavok, Sticks the Badger and Zazz. Each character has their own individual statistics for 'power', 'speed' and 'technique', which affect the player's performance depending on the variables of the minigame. Boxing, rugby sevens and football debut in the game alongside refined versions of returning events, such as athletics, volleyball, archery, swimming and equestrian.[6] In the Wii U version, some of the minigames have motion control functionality using the Wii Remote controller.

Each minigame is held in a re-creation of its corresponding venue in the actual 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.[6]

Development

The game was first revealed on the Japanese Nintendo Direct website on May 30, 2015.[7] Like the previous games, the game was officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee.[2] Both versions of the game released worldwide in 2016.[8] An arcade edition of the game was also announced by Sega, which was released in Japan in 2016.[9][10] It was released in North America and Europe on June 24, 2016 alongside the Wii U version.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator Metacritic, both the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game received "mixed or average" scores of 60 (based on 30 critics) and 65 (based on 26 critics) respectively.[12][13] The game was criticised for being too similar to past installments of the Mario & Sonic series. Nintendo World Report gave the Wii U version a 7/10, stating "While the limited amount of events are the major downer here, I had fun playing them alone or with friends".[14]

Stuart Andrews of TrustedReviews gave the Wii U version a 7/10, stating, "It’s every bit as shallow and silly as previous titles, taking on a broad range of disciplines without ever really mastering any. Yet, if you’re looking for a fun game to play with the family then it’s one of the most enjoyable I’ve played this year."[15]

Notes
  1. Japanese: マリオ&ソニック AT リオオリンピック Hepburn: Mario ando Sonikku atto Rio Orinpikku, lit. 'Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympics'

References
  1. Futter, Mike (June 1, 2015). "Nintendo Confirms 3DS Chibi Robo, Doctor Mario, Bravely Second, More For North America". Game Informer. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  2. Whitehead, Thomas. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is Dashing to Wii U and 3DS". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  3. "Sonic at the Olympic Games". Archived from the original on November 20, 2008.
  4. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games". Nintendo. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  5. Wong, Alistair (March 30, 2019). "Sega Celebrates Tokyo Olympics With Four Different Games, Including Sonic Smartphone Game". Siliconera. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  6. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U) - Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia". www.mariowiki.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  7. "Nintendo - MARIO & SONIC AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES E3 2015 Trailer". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 1, 2015.
  8. "MARIO & SONIC AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES - Nintendo @ E3 2015 - Gameplay Images, Videos". MARIO & SONIC AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES - Nintendo @ E3 2015 - Gameplay Images, Videos. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  9. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympics Arcade Edition to be launched in Spring 2016 in Japan". Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  10. "マリオ＆ソニック AT リオオリンピック™ アーケード(仮称)公式サイト | 株式会社セガ・インタラクティブ". am-show.sega.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 28, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  11. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition (Sega) - IAAPA 2015". YouTube. November 18, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  12. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  13. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  14. "Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Review - Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  15. "Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Review". TrustedReviews. June 22, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
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