- For the Wii version of the game, see Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (マリオ&ソニック AT ロンドンオリンピック[1] Mario & Sonikku AT Rondon Orinpikku?, lit. "Mario & Sonic AT London Olympics") is the third installment of the Mario & Sonic series that was published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega in North America and Europe. The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS, while an alternate version was also created for the Wii. This game features new sports, such as football, and the 3DS version features a unique control mechanism. It was released on 14 February 2012 in North America,[2] 1 March in Japan and Australia,[1][2] and 10 February in Europe,[3] with a playable demo being launched to promote the game on 27 January 2012.
Plot[]
Opening[]
Bowser and Dr. Eggman watch over London from the inside of Big Ben, but the doctor tells Bowser they're already starting the 2012 Olympics and they haven't got their invitations yet. Bowser suggests that he could use his new machine. Dr. Eggman agrees and puts a mysterious pot in side of it and presses the start button. Then, colorful fog covers all over London, while Bowser and Dr. Eggman laugh in victory.
Heroes[]
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Challengers[]
Bowser Jr. arrives in England to compete in the games. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn and ended up in Stonehenge instead of London. He sees Yoshi training for the games and challenges him to an Olympic event. Bowser Jr. wins and calls on his Bullet Bill to bring him to London. Later, Omochao and a regular Chao are being threatened by two of Dr. Eggman's robots for unknown reasons. Shadow and Silver arrive to defeat them, but Bowser Jr., flying overhead, accidentally falls off of his Bullet Bill and destroys both robots. The two Chao are grateful and even the two hedgehogs are impressed. Wanting to see how strong he really is, they challenge Bowser Jr. to a 2-on-1 Olympic Event. Surprisingly, Bowser Jr. wins. Shadow and Silver are good sports and congratulate the young Koopa. A nearby Goomba convinces Bowser Jr. to look for more robots so that he'll be even stronger. Arriving at the stadium, Bowser Jr. and the Goomba see Dr. Eggman measuring Metal Sonic's time running around the track. Bowser Jr. challenges Metal Sonic to an event. Thinking this would be perfect practice for the robot, Eggman agrees, on the condition that Bowser Jr. becomes his servant if he loses. Bowser Jr. accepts, telling Eggman that if he wins, he has to tell Bowser of his victory. With that, the reptile and robot set off. Bowser Jr. eventually wins. Eggman tries to examine Bowser Jr. to see what he needs to do to upgrade Metal Sonic, but Bowser Jr. angrily stops him, demanding a snack in exchange for Eggman trying to trick him. The scientist reluctantly agrees.
Wild Ones[]
Meanwhie, Bowser angrily stomps through London, followed by a Goomba, Lakitu and Magikoopa. Bowser is really angry because of a toothache he has. His minions decide to cheer him up by secretly letting him win some Olympic events against various challengers. Their first target is Donkey Kong. The Magikoopa promises a pile of bananas in exchange for defeating Bowser in an event, but when the ape agrees, the wizard summons a Thwomp to fall on DK, making him dizzy and less likely to win. When Bowser shows up, he defeats DK, but behind his back, the Magikoopa makes it up to DK by getting him those bananas he promised. Later, the Magikoopa, as well as the Lakitu and a Dry Bones, somehow convince Knuckles and Vector to rendezvous. To convince them to fight, the Magikoopa uses his magic to make the Lakitu look like Charmy and the Dry Bones to look like Espio. The two real Chaotix members notice the two fake members acting funny, but agree to fight Bowser. The Magikoopa then summons giant versions of a Chain Chomp and Piranha Plant to bite Knuckles and Vector, respectively. Similar to DK, this makes the two animals dazed and less likely to win. After Bowser defeats them, the Goomba (who had led Bowser to the arena) quickly escorts him out before Knuckles and Vector ask too many questions. For Bowser's last false victory, the minions plan to have their king triumph over Mario in a tennis game. Unfortunately, the Boo assigned for the job failed to trick Mario into coming to the court, so after the other minions come, Dry Bones distracts Bowser while the others think of a plan. The Magikoopa decides he'll have to transform one of the minions into Mario. Dry Bones can't do it since he's talking to Bowser, and neither Boo nor Lakitu can do it because they're floating. This leaves the Goomba as the only solution. The mushroom is terrified to do it, but when Bowser's patience wears thin, he agrees. Bowser challenges "Mario" to a game of tennis and wins. After the match, Bowser Jr. arrives and congratulates his dad while the minions celebrate over the success of their plan.
Tricksters[]
In his secret headquarters inside Big Ben, Dr. Eggman defeats Metal Sonic in a match of Taekwondo. However, he is unsure what to do to upgrade his creation. His other robot minions, Orbot and Cubot, see Waluigi on the monitors and suggest him for practice. The foursome confront the man in purple and convince him to battle, saying it would make good practice for defeating Luigi in the Olympics. Metal Sonic wins, and Eggman deduces that Metal Sonic possesses speed, but not strength. Eggman and the robots come across Wario and ask him to challenge Metal Sonic so that the robot may go against Wario's strength. However, defeating Mario isn't good enough for Wario, so he and Eggman settle on a bet: If Wario wins, Orbot and Cubot come work for him. If Metal Sonic wins, Wario has to give Eggman something of his. Metal Sonic emerges victorious. Wario gives Eggman an old urn he got from an antique shop, claiming its magic. Eggman seems to recognize it and accepts it. Back in his headquarters, Eggman places the urn inside a machine. The machine slightly unseals the lid on the urn and gray fog pours into the room. Some of this fog takes the shape of Sonic and Eggman challenges it to an event. Eggman appears victorious and the Sonic imposter vanishes into thin air. Eggman explains to his minions that this urn contains the legendary Phantasmal Fog, stolen 300 years ago by the legendary pirate William Kidd. The urn eventually ended up in the British Museum, where it was recently stolen. Eggman resolves to completely unseal the urn after he and Metal Sonic are done training for the Olympics.
Girls[]
At Hyde Park Peach, Amy, Blaze and three Toads are setting up the invitations for all of the athletes, however Amy suggests she take Sonic's invitation to him personally, Blaze suggests that if Amy can beat her in a competition she will let her go. Then, after Amy beats her, Daisy shows up and battles with Peach, after the latter wins they all go out for a break, but when they return the wind had knocked off all of the invitations to the ground. After they pick them all up they realize that they are missing Bowser and Dr. Eggman's invitations they make new ones. Later, Peach and Amy meet Bowser and Eggman in the park and end up playing a round of Beach Volleyball, after they win they go fetch their invitations, but at the same moment the toads go to deliver them, they drop Eggman and Bowser's next to them. Bowser and Eggman look at how well it's written and think that they're love letters to Sonic and Mario. Bowser and Eggman go off together looking around London before they do something evil. The girls assume that Bowser and Eggman took their own and then all go out shopping together before the Olympic Games start.
Characters[]
Playable characters[]
Team Sonic[]
| Image | Character | Group |
|---|---|---|
|
Sonic the Hedgehog | Heroes |
|
Dr. Eggman | Tricksters |
|
Knuckles the Echidna | Wild Ones |
|
Miles "Tails" Prower | Heroes |
|
Amy Rose | Girls |
|
Blaze the Cat | Girls |
|
Shadow the Hedgehog | Challengers |
|
Vector the Crocodile | Wild Ones |
|
Metal Sonic | Tricksters |
|
Silver the Hedgehog | Challengers |
Team Mario[]
| Image | Character | Group |
|---|---|---|
|
Mario | Heroes |
|
Luigi | Heroes |
|
Princess Peach | Girls |
|
Princess Daisy | Girls |
|
Yoshi | Challengers |
|
Wario | Tricksters |
|
Waluigi | Tricksters |
|
Bowser | Wild Ones |
|
Donkey Kong | Wild Ones |
|
Bowser Jr. | Challengers |
Non-playable characters[]
Rivals[]
- Jet the Hawk: 3000m Steeplechase
- E-123 Omega: Wrestling-Freestyle
- Eggman Nega: 4x100m Relay
- Rouge the Bat: 100m Backstroke
- Birdo: Badminton: Doubles
- King Boo: Badminton: Doubles
- Boo: Badminton: Doubles
- Dry Bowser:Sailing 470: Pair
- Dry Bones: Sailing 470: Pair
- Magikoopa: BMX
Referees[]
- Big the Cat
- Cheese
- Charmy Bee
- Cream the Rabbit
- Cubot
- Espio the Chameleon
- Lakitu
- Omochao
- Orbot
- Shy Guy
- Toad
Audience[]
Other[]
|
Events[]
| Event | Playable group | |
|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 100m Sprint | Heroes |
| 110m Hurdles | Challengers | |
| 20km Race Walk | Heroes | |
| 1500m | Challengers | |
| 3000m Steeplechase | ||
| 4 x 100m Relay | Heroes | |
| Marathon | ||
| Long Jump | Tricksters | |
| Triple Jump | Challengers | |
| Pole Vault | Heroes | |
| Hammer Throw | Wild Ones | |
| Javelin Throw | ||
| Shot Put | Challengers | |
| Aquatics | 100m Freestyle | Heroes |
| 100m Backstroke | Girls | |
| 10k Marathon Swim | Challengers | |
| Platform Diving (Synchronised) | Tricksters | |
| Water Polo | Challengers | |
| Synchronized Swimming (Duet) | Heroes | |
| Synchronized Swimming (Team) | Girls | |
| 100m Breaststroke | Tricksters | |
| Court and Field Games | Beach Volleyball | Girls |
| Table Tennis (Doubles) | Heroes | |
| Tennis (Singles) | Wild Ones | |
| Basketball | Challengers | |
| Badminton (Singles) | Tricksters | |
| Badminton (Doubles) | Heroes | |
| Contact Sports | Judo | |
| Boxing | Wild Ones | |
| Taekwondo | Tricksters | |
| Fencing - Epee | Heroes | |
| Wrestling - Freestyle | Wild Ones | |
| Gymnastics | Balance Beam | Girls |
| Rythmic Ribbon | ||
| Horizontal Bar | Heroes | |
| Rings | Wild ones | |
| Floor | Challengers | |
| Trampoline | ||
| Cycling | BMX | Heroes |
| Sprint | ||
| Omnium | Girls | |
| Keirin | ||
| Boat Games | 1000m Kayak (Singles) | Tricksters |
| Rowing - Quadruple Sculls | Heroes | |
| Canoe Slalom (Pair) | Girls | |
| Sailing - 470 (Pair) | Heroes | |
| Shooting | Double Trap | Wild Ones |
| 25m Rapid Fire Pistol | Tricksters | |
| Archery (Individual) | Girls | |
| Archery (Teams) | Heroes | |
| Multi-discipline | Triathlon | Heroes |
| Modern Pentathlon | Heroes | |
| Soccer | Wild Ones | |
| Handball | Tricksters | |
| Hockey | ||
| Weightlifting | Wild Ones | |
| Show Jumping | Girls | |
Other modes[]
Medley Match[]
The Medley Match game mode is a collection of events played in a chain with the goal of earning the most points. The player goes up against three computer controlled characters in, usually, three consecutive events. There are four different options within the Medley Match menu, these are as follows:
- London Games: Includes only events from a certain category, such as athletics or contact sports. There are eighteen different medleys to choose from.
- Variety: Focuses on a gameplay theme, such as tilt controls or using the stylus, and showcase a variety of events.
- Party Mix: Larger medleys that consist of ten, fifteen or twenty events, along with Bonus Games mixed throughout. This mode is similar to the London Party game mode from the Wii version of the game.
- Custom: allows for a player created Medley to be played.
Along with these four, a Warm-Up Medley is played upon first entering the Medley Match menu. The events are 100m, 100m Freestyle, and Judo, in that order. Upon completion, the full game mode is unlocked, although each specific Medley requires a certain prerequisite before becoming accessible. Eleven London Games Medleys are available from the beginning, along with ten Variety Medleys and up to twenty Custom Medleys. The Party Mix options are all unlocked upon completing the Warm-Up.
Reception[]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 66%[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| IGN | 6.5/10[2] |
| Nintendo Life | 6/10[3] |
| Nintendo Power | 7.0/10[5] |
| Nintendo World Report | 5.5/10[6] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 78%[7] |
| GamingXP | 75%[8] |
The Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games received mostly positive reviews from critics, with the score at Metacritic sitting at 66%.[4]
Nintendo Power gave the game a 7.0 out of 10 rating, saying that some of the events weren't quite accurate, but still a fun minigame jamboree.[5] Chris Scullion of Official Nintendo Magazine preferred this game to its Wii counterpart, though he criticized the "bite-sized" and "cut-down" versions of the events.[7]
Cast[]
| Role | English voice actor | Japanese voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Announcer | Runblebee | |
Sonic characters[]
Mario characters[]
| Role | Voice actor |
|---|---|
| Mario | Charles Martinet |
| Luigi | |
| Wario | |
| Waluigi | |
| Goomba | |
| Princess Peach | Samantha Kelly |
| Toad | |
| Princess Daisy | Deanna Mustard |
| Bowser | Kenny James |
| Dry Bowser | |
| Yoshi | Kazumi Totaka |
| Birdo | |
| Donkey Kong | Takashi Nagasako |
| Bowser Jr. | Caety Sagoian |
| King Boo | Toru Asakawa |
| Dry Bones | |
| Lakitu | Dex Manley |
| Magikoopa | Atsushi Masaki |
| Boo | Sanae Susaki |
| Luma | Yuya Takezawa |
Trivia[]
- This is the only Sonic game where the characters were not officially dubbed in French, Italian, German or Spanish following Sonic Generations.
- Only the Announcer was dubbed in these languages.
- This game has the most events out of any Mario & Sonic game yet, with a total of 55.
- However, this is the first Mario & Sonic game to not have Dream Events.
- Blaze and Amy's character select screens are recolors of pre-existing artwork, with Blaze's pose being from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and Amy's from Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.
- The same picture of Blaze is reused in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, while another recolored picture of Amy from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is used in that game.
- In the Aquatic, Equestrian and Gymnastic events, all the female characters have different clothes.
- Originally, all characters were going to have swimsuits as well. However, Sega rejected the idea as Sonic is not allowed to have his shoes removed.[9]
- Swimsuits for the female characters were originally planned for the first game.
- In Aquatics, Sonic wears a life jacket.
- Sonic's life-jacket is blue in this game instead of yellow as in previous games.
- Originally, all characters were going to have swimsuits as well. However, Sega rejected the idea as Sonic is not allowed to have his shoes removed.[9]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 マリオ&ソニック AT ロンドンオリンピック (Japanese). Nintendo (JP). Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved on 25 December 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 George, Richard (14 February 2012). Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Review. IGN. Archived from the original on 27 January 2014. Retrieved on 5 March 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Reece, Mark (15 February 2012). Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Review (3DS). NintendoLife. Retrieved on 5 March 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS). Metacritic.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nintendo Power (275): 84. January/February 2012.
- ↑ Culafi, Alex (12 February 2012). Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Nintendo World Report.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Scullion, Chris (10 February 2012). Mario And Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games 3DS review. Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012.
- ↑ Hohenwarter, Stefan (7 February 2011). Mario & Sonic bei den Olympischen Spielen: London 2012 (German). GamingXP. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011.
- ↑ Watts, Steve (19 December 2011). How Mario and Sonic get outfitted for the Olympics. Shack News.
External links[]
- Official website (Japanese)
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS) at MarioWiki, the Fandom wiki of Mario.
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS) at Super Mario Wiki, the Super Mario wiki.