Mario & Sonic series

File:Mario & Sonic Series Logo.jpg

The Mario & Sonic series is a collection of cross-over video games starring characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros. franchises. These games are made by Sega in co-operation with Nintendo and are exclusive to the Wii, Nintendo DS, and the newly released Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems. As of today, all Mario & Sonic games involves the Olympics (with the exception of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U).

History

Mario and Sonic competing

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, so naturally they knew to use their 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 in the game with Sonic.

Mario and Sonic making a grand opening appearance.

This cross-over was big news to the international gaming community because of the long business rivalry between the two mascots throughout a majority of the 1990's. 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. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are Nintendo games that has both Mario and Sonic as playable characters, however it is not officially part of the Mario & Sonic series. The fouth title called Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games has been announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation on 17 May 2013. The most recent game in the series titled Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been announced on the Japanese Nintendo Direct in 31 May 2015.

Attributes

Mario and Sonic teaming up

So far all the games in this series have been 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 mini-game compilations do. Though the Wii and DS 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.

List of games

• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii/DS)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii/DS)
• Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii/3DS)
• Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (Wii U)
• Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U/3DS/Arcade)
• Mario & Sonic at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (Wii U/3DS/Arcade)
• Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Wii U/3DS/Arcade)

Characters

Beijing 2008

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Daisy
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Bowser
• Yoshi
• Sonic
• Tails
• Knuckles
• Amy
• Shadow
• Blaze
• Vector
• Eggman

Vancouver 2010

• Silver
• Metal Sonic
• Bowser Jr
• Donkey Kong

Rio 2016

• Nabbit
• Diddy Kong
• Jet
• Rouge
• Zazz
• Sticks
• Wave
• Storm
• Zavok
• Dry Bones
• Dry Bowser
• Espio
• Cream
• Rosalina
• Toadette
• Omega
• Eggman Bega
• Birdo
• Koopalings

PyeongChang 2018

• Baby Mario
• Baby Peach
• Dixie Kong
• Bean
• Bark
• Zooey

Tokyo 2020

• King K. Rool
• Koopa Troopa
• Metal Mario
• Pink Gold Peach
• Koopa Paratroopa
• Boo
• Shy Guy
• Green Sprixie Princess
• Honey Queen
• Wiggler
• Pauline
• Tiny Kong
• Lanky Kong
• Chunky Kong
• Baby Donkey Kong
• Funky Kong
• Petey Pirhana
• Hammer Bro
• Professor E. Gadd
• Kritter
• Emerl
• Tikal
• Fang
• Sally
• Bunnie
• Rotor
• Scourge
• Fiona
• Werehog
• Mephiles
• Cosmo
• Shade
• Marine
• Julie-Su
• Lupe
• Gold
• Honey

Box artwork

Gallery

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS) 5981809238 eb742ecefa o.jpg Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii) Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS) Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (Wii U) Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Trivia

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are not officially part of the Mario & Sonic series even though both characters are playable in both games.
• Sumo Digital considered making Mario a guest star in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing exclusively on the Wii version, but Sega rejected the idea, not wanting to cross contaminate with the Mario & Sonic series
• All of the female characters in each of the games have a different outfit, but the male characters keep the same outfit that they have in regular games.
• Mario and Sonic have similar color schemes.
• In the sequels to the series, the Sonic series seem to have more artworks than the Mario ones. This is probably due to Sega developing the game.
• None of the home console versions in the series have a Story Mode.
• Sonic is given a blue life jacket in the Aquatics events in the London 2012 Games, but in the previous Summer Olympic Games he wears a orange life jacket.
• So far the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at The London 2012 Olympic Games is the only handheld version in the series not to have any Dream Events.
• Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games is the only installment in the series to not have a handheld version.
• Two separate games based on the Olympics (Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games) were released for the mobile phones featuring only Sonic characters.

References

Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games

Sega Master System	Sonic Spinball (1994) · Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1994)
Sega Mega Drive	Sonic Eraser (1991) · Sonic Spinball (1993) · Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993) · Wacky Worlds Creativity Studio (1994) · Knuckles' Chaotix (1995, 32X) · Sonic 3D Blast (1996)
Sega Saturn	Sonic 3D Blast (1996) · Sonic R (1997)
Sega All-Stars	Sega Superstars (2004, PS2) · Sega Superstars Tennis (2008, multi-platform) · Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010, multi-platform) · Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012, multi-platform)
Sonic Riders	Sonic Riders (2006, multi-platform) · Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008, multi-platform) · Sonic Free Riders (2010, Xbox 360)
Sonic Storybook Series	Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007, Wii) · Sonic and the Black Knight (2009, Wii)
Mario & Sonic	Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007, multi-platform) · Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009, multi-platform) · Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011, Wii) · Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2012, 3DS) · Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (2013, Wii U) · Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (2016, multi-platform) · Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2019, Switch)
Super Smash Bros.	Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii) · Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (2014, 3DS) · Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014, Wii U) · Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch)
Sonic Boom	Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (2014, Wii U) · Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (2014, 3DS) · Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom (2015, mobile) · Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (2016, 3DS)
Arcade and redemption machines	Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car (1991) · UFO SegaSonic (1992) · Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) · SegaSonic Popcorn Shop (1993) · SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter (1993) · SegaSonic the Hedgehog (1993) · Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1993) · Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) · Air Circus (1994) · Curling Holiday (1994) · Sonic's Space Tours (1994/1999) · Sonic the Fighters (1996) · Sonic the Hedgehog (1997) · Sonic & Tails Spinner (2002) · CR Sonic (2003) · Sonic Spinner (2007) · Sonic Live! (2008) · Sonic Sports Basketball (2010) · Sonic Sports Air Hockey (2010) · Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Arcade (2011) · Sonic Athletics (2013) · Sonic Ghost Shooting (2013) · Sonic Brain Ranking (2013) · Sonic Dash Extreme (2015) · Sonic Blast Ball (2015) · Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition (2016) · Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition (2020)
Other	Puzzle Construction (1991, TeraDrive) · Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld (1994, Pico) · Tails and the Music Maker (1994, Pico) · Sonic's Schoolhouse (1996, PC) · Sonic Shuffle (2000, Dreamcast) · Shadow the Hedgehog (2005, multi-platform) · Sega Splash! Golf (2008, PC) · Sonic the Hedgehog (2008, Didj) · Team Sonic Racing (2019, multi-platform) · Sega Streaming Theater Sonic Edition (2021, PC) · Sonic Speed Simulator (2022, multi-platform) · The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (2023, PC)
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