Current series logo.
Mario & Sonic (マリオ&ソニック Mario to Sonikku?) is a collection of crossover video games starring characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. franchises. These games are developed by Sega in co-operation with Nintendo and are exclusive to the Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch systems. All of the games in this series are centered around the Olympics, being officially approved by the International Olympic Committee.
History[]
Mario and Sonic competing, from the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
Sega received the rights to make video games based on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee desired that Sega make the Olympics appealing to a younger audience, leading them to use Sonic the Hedgehog characters. Due to the atmosphere of competitive sportsmanship the Olympics had to offer, combined with the continued desire to interest younger audiences, Sega received approval from Nintendo to include Mario and other characters from the Super Mario Bros. series in the game with Sonic.[1]
Mario and Sonic making a grand opening appearance, from the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Because of the long, fierce business rivalry between the two iconic mascots throughout the 1990s, specifically during the 16-bit era (when the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis competed with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System), this crossover came as a shocking surprise to the international gaming community, especially in North America. After the first game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, was very successful and received much praise, Sega made a sequel, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. The third installment, titled Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, was announced on 21 April 2011.[2] The fourth title, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, was announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on 17 May 2013.[3] The fifth game, titled Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, was announced during a Japanese Nintendo Direct on 31 May 2015.[4] The final entry, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, was announced on 29 March 2019 and released in November of the same year.
Gameplay[]
Mario and Sonic shaking hands, from the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Mario & Sonic games are based on the Olympics, and are officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee International Sports Multimedia. Most installments also contain "Dream Events", which are loosely based on real Olympic events, but take aspects and environments from past Mario and Sonic games. The gameplay primarily revolves around the Wii's motion controls or the DS touch pad control system, as many minigame compilations do. Though the Wii series and DS series of console's versions share the same titles, the graphics and gameplay are completely different in each version. Some installments take advantage of other Nintendo accessories such as the Wii Balance Board and Wii Motion Plus to further enhance the gameplay. The home console releases also allow the player's avatar, known as Miis, to compete with the Mario and Sonic characters.
List of games[]
| Year | Title | Platform | Box artwork (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games | Wii | 
|
| 2008 | Nintendo DS | 
| |
| 2009 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games | 
| |
| Wii | 
| ||
| 2011 | Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games | 
| |
| 2012 | Nintendo 3DS | 
| |
| 2013 | Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games | Wii U | 
|
| 2016 | Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games | 
| |
| Nintendo 3DS | 
| ||
| Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition | Arcade | 
| |
| 2019 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 | Nintendo Switch | 
|
| 2020 | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition | Arcade | 
|
Trivia[]
- Sumo Digital considered making Mario a guest star in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, exclusively on the Wii version, but Sega rejected the idea as they did not want to "cross contaminate with the Mario & Sonic series."[5]
- Up until Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, all of the female characters in each of the games had a unique outfit whereas the male characters kept their regular attire. Now, all characters feature unique outfits.
- Up until Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, none of the home console versions in the series had a story mode.
- In the Aquatics events, Sonic wears a life jacket, referencing his inability to swim.
- In the original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sonic's life jacket was orange, while from Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games onwards, it is blue.
- If one counts the Plus and Duel events in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is currently the only game in the series not to have any Dream Events.
- There are three games based on the Olympics for mobile devices that feature only Sonic characters: Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Sonic at the Olympic Games (2020).
- Since the start of the series, neither the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, nor the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, have had Mario & Sonic games to coincide with their events. In the former's case, Ubisoft acquired the rights to make the official video games for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games before Sega could.
- Morio Kishimoto, a director of the Sonic Team, has expressed his wish to see Mario and Sonic together in a 2D platforming game, but has said that the current Sonic games first need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mario 3D titles before this hypothetical game can become a reality.[6]
- According to series' executive producer Lee Cocker, there will be no more installments in the Mario & Sonic series and that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is the final installment of the series.[7] This is because the International Olympic Committee wanted to focus on other partners, including non-fungible tokens and esports.[8]
References[]
- ↑ Thorson, Tor (29 March 2007). Q&A: Sega, Nintendo on the first Sonic-Mario game. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 27 July 2015.
- ↑ Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games™. Sega. Archived from the original on 23 November 2011.
- ↑ Nintendo Direct 5.17.2013. YouTube (17 May 2013).
- ↑ Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games unveiled for Wii U and 3DS. Sonic Stadium (31 May 2015). Retrieved on 31 May 2015.
- ↑ kgHapa (22 February 2010). Exclusive Q&A; with Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing's producers. Sega Nerds. The Kartel. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010.
- ↑ Morio Kishimoto (14 March 2023). Morio Kishimoto on Twitter (Japanese). Twitter. Retrieved on 18 March 2023.
- ↑ Cocker, Lee (25 July 2024). Lee Cocker (@leecocker) on Twitter. Twitter. Retrieved on 29 July 2024.
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (30 July 2024). Olympics ditched Mario & Sonic series to explore NFTs and esports. Eurogamer. Retrieved on 30 July 2024.
External Links[]
- Mario & Sonic (series) at MarioWiki, the Fandom wiki of Mario.
- List of Mario sports games#Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Mario & Sonic (series) at Super Mario Wiki, the Super Mario wiki.