Sonic Wiki Zone

Know something we don't about Sonic? Don't hesitate in signing up today! It's fast, free, and easy, and you will get a wealth of new abilities, and it also hides your IP address from public view. We are in need of content, and everyone has something to contribute!

If you have an account, please log in.

READ MORE

Sonic Wiki Zone
Register
Advertisement
Sonic Wiki Zone
Mario&SonicSeriesLogo03

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 Switch systems. All of the games in this series are centered around the Olympics, being officially approved by the International Olympic Committee.

History[]

Mario-sonic-still

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 series in the game with Sonic.[1]

MASATLOG 4

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 Mega Drive/Genesis competed with the Super NES), 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 sixth 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 & Sonic at London

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 Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games - Wii North American boxart
2008 Nintendo DS DSMarioand Sonicattheolympicgames US front
2009 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Wii Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games official cover
Nintendo DS Mario and sonic ds
2011 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Wii Mario-sonic-london-2012-olympic-games-box-art 0
2012 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Nintendo 3DS MarioSonic3DS
2013 Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Wii U M&S2014 Wii U Boxart
2016 Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Nintendo 3DS Mario&Sonic20163DS-NTSCbox
Wii U Oie transparent-16
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition Arcade
2019 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Nintendo Switch Mario&Sonic2020US
2020 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition Arcade M&S2020Arcade MainArt

Trivia[]

References[]

  1. Thorson, Tor (29 March 2007). Q&A: Sega, Nintendo on the first Sonic-Mario game. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 27 July 2015.
  2. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games™. Sega. Archived from the original on 23 November 2011.
  3. Nintendo Direct 5.17.2013. YouTube (17 May 2013).
  4. Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games unveiled for Wii U and 3DS. Sonic Stadium (31 May 2015). Retrieved on 31 May 2015.
  5. 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.
  6. Morio Kishimoto (14 March 2023). Morio Kishimoto on Twitter (Japanese). Twitter. Retrieved on 18 March 2023.

External Links[]

Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games
Advertisement