Stamina Required

~~**~~ Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games ~~**
Bicep strain - not normally a condition I'd encourage, but for the sake of entertainment, it's a necessary bi-product. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (or M&S as I shall refer to it) has enthralled me for 2 full days now and finally it's completed and I'm exhausted.

Tesco lured us in and made us buy it originally for the princely sum of £34.95 and it basically sat in the drawer once we'd tired of playing against each other, however, I discovered that there are tons of missions and circuits to unlock as a single player. Unemployment finally has its uses and I'm a dab hand at table tennis and pole vault whilst my poor hard working lover is rubbish due to his lack of practice. It's true, training does pay off and I've probably got the hang of most of the events though some are infuriating to begin with.
M&S' gameplay is addictive - at the beginning you progress through the circuits with ease, then as new events are unlocked the fun really starts. In turn, the missions are also unlocked - each character has certain tasks that they must attain such as throwing the hammer a certain distance or coming third in a particular race - sounds easy but some are unbelievably frustrating until you achieve it which is when a smug grin is allowed to creep across your face and you can shout down the stairs that you've just got another world record and beaten his score. Cue stomping around and much muttering.

The graphics are nowt to write home about but then I've yet to be impressed by the Wii in this respect anyway. You don't buy the game to sit and look at it - it's for playing with, in which case it succeeds hands down. So I'll ignore the fact that the crowd are unrealistic and there's little detail in the environment on the basis that I don't care. Equally, the music and sound are bearable - the tunes are fairly repetitive but they don't distract from the overall enjoyment. The main point is how responsive the characters are to your movements and this completely eradicates any other minor niggles.
The Events: Athletics track are usually knackering and fast (eg 100m and hurdles) whereas the field events are more precise and with more button pressing (hammer throwing, triple jump and javelin). Shooting games are precision based and difficult for those with Parkinson, the DTs or me (apparently you're only supposed to tilt the numchuk rather than waving it wildly around your head like some kind of demented monkey on speed but how was I to know). Swimming is quite tiring but it's more about timing than actual speed of controller movement. Trampolining is excellent fun as you're required to perform various tricks on which you're graded. Fencing is easy once you get the hang of it as is the table tennis.

Unlockables: There's probably some hidden ones that I've not found yet and I don't mind being corrected so feel free to let me know but I've managed to unlock pole vault, rowing, archery, high jump, various 400m running ones that I don't like, vault and many 'dream' events which are basically normal events but with an exciting twist.
The basic instructions for each event can be found in the manual but luckily for me as I'm too lazy to read, the kind people of Wii tell you which buttons to press at each point in the event. Some events do require both the remote and the numchuck and it's better with both hands as most people will agree. You can chose to play a single event (up to 4 players), the aforementioned circuits (up to 4 players), missions (single player), some rubbish Olympic mini-games and check out your records - World and Olympic scores are saved so you can rub them in your partners face as proof of your superiority. You chose to play as one of the many characters such as Sonic, Mario, Wario, Tails etc or use your own Mii to really create the illusion of winning the Triple Jump at the Beijing Olympics as it's probably not going to happen in real life - though who knows - only 5 years ago I was picked for the GB Olympic Bobsleigh (though fate landed a cruel blow and I've not quite recovered from my near brush with fame). The age guidance of 3+ is fair for the simpler games - I know that I'm old and decrepit but I find some of the more advanced games really hard, however, they're still enjoyable.

It's harmless fun though it could end a few relationships and this evening my arm's so painful a court case is looming, or I may just work through the pain and attempt to get more World records.
Thanks for reading.

Review may appear elsewhere on the magical tinternet…
NB: to make her shout press A - what am I on about? If you've played it, you'll know!