Tag Archives: Knuckles

Sonic The Hedgehog Volume 3: Battle For Angel Island Review

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It’s time to dive back into the world of Sonic, one of the ultimate video game characters of all time. The comic run has really been a lot of fun thus far and this continues the trend. We finally get to see Metal Sonic’s grand master plan and it’s a doozy. He makes for a good villain and it’ll be tough to top this arc for a while with how large scale it was. Might be time to bring Scourge in.

The comic starts off right away with the heroes meeting up and deciding what they need to do about Metal Sonic. Ultimately they decide to split into multiple teams so they can take Metal Sonic down, defeat his minions, and restore balance to the cosmos. Sonic and Knuckles will be going to fight off Metal Sonic directly while the others spread out across the globe. Do they really have what it takes to defeat the world’s ultimate robot?

The graphic novel brings 4 issues and they basically all go towards this arc with 3 to wrap this up and then one that’s an epilogue which also sets up the next arc. As you can imagine that means this is a very action packed story. Metal Sonic was always very powerful so throw in his copy abilities and the abilities of the Master Emerald and now you’ve really got a tough opponent to deal with. Metal Sonic keeps his logic the whole time too so don’t expect him to turn into a mindless monster. No, Metal Sonic is here to stay and has the abilities to dominate a fight in close or long range. He really seems to be overpowering Sonic and Knuckles with ease even before his power up.

The only one really able to give him a good fight there was Shadow and that’s in large part due to him landing a cheap shot when he first showed up. Ultimately if he and Sonic worked together I expect they would have really been able to throw him for a loop though. If I had any minor issue with the comic it’s that I would have enjoyed a longer fight. I feel like it ends just as it’s getting good and I just would have liked to have really gotten to settle in and enjoy this for a while longer. Still, we do have a lot of general action all around so it’s not the kind of thing that will really hurt the score.

In terms of power levels I am a bit skeptical on burning Blaze basically using up all of her energy while taking down the other villains. I know she had to use up a bunch of her powers in the fight but all of them? Felt like a quick way to keep her from fighting Metal Sonic but that would have been a really cool fight. In general Blaze looks great here though and I’m glad that her flame abilities are getting a lot of props. Back in the Sonic Rush days she was able to fight on par with Sonic after all. I would ultimately give him the edge in a fight of course but it would be a good battle.

Shadow is still a really big solo player here and the guy definitely has no inclination to work with the heroes at all. In fact he actively works against them most of the time which can be a bit funny but I can also see how it would annoy some. Ultimately Shadow just wants to do his own thing at all costs and he typically has the power to back it up so it all works out. If we eventually get a Sonic vs Shadow battle that would definitely be a whole lot of fun.

This arc also ends the era of the Sonic Forces group I’d say as it feels like everyone will be going their separate ways more. I am personally expecting a few more down to Earth arcs before we get to the next grand one like the Metal Sonic saga. I could be wrong of course but it makes sense as a way to scale back before we ramp things up again. With the new scientist who revived Eggman the plot could be her trying to impress him by building a bunch of robots that Sonic keeps on destroying. Finally she and Eggman create an ultimate robot even stronger than Metal Sonic and we go from there.

Meanwhile it also might not be a bad idea to do some arcs where you focus on other characters like Tails and Knuckles. I don’t think you want to leave Sonic out of the picture for very long but some quick meanwhiles could definitely work. The Sonic cast is absolutely big enough where you could really pull that off if you wanted to. If you’re feeling extra bold you could even do a mini Shadow arc since that guy is always a lot of fun to follow around.

As always the art is definitely really solid here. The character designs are on point and the action scenes are good. The pages capture Sonic’s speed well and it’s just very easy o read the stories. They are all real page turners and so this way there is no delay in you trying to figure out what is happening on screen. There’s a lot of attention to detail and the writing is on point too. It really goes back to the top of there not really being any big issues here. As another future plot point, Silver also seems to think that the real threat is still approaching so I’ll be interested to see what that is.

Metal Sonic is still around even if he’s weakened so I look forward to seeing what he does from here. I don’t think he will be able to go back to just being another minion so going forward I see him as a wild card threat. That sounds good to me because he is such an interesting character. He has his own goals, aspirations, and tactics and I think having him return with an army that forces Eggman and Sonic to team up would be brilliant.

Overall, Sonic The Hedgehog continues to deliver with a ton of great comics. The IDW series has really done a splendid job of keeping up the momentum here to really mitigate the sadness of losing the Archie verse. The characters are true to their game counterparts and the stories make sense as sequels to what happened in the games. The comics have even introduced a few new characters already who are cool. At the end of the day these are comics that I can recommend to anyone and that’s great because Sonic is a series that really should appeal to everyone. It’s just such a fun franchise. I’m confident that the series will continue to go strong from here so I’m really looking forward to the next one. After all this will be the first time we get to see Eggman really get involved in the comics and as he’s Sonic’s most well known villain it’s about time we catch up with him.

Overall 8/10

Sonic the Hedgehog, Vol. 1: Fallout! Review

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It’s time to finally jump into the world of Sonic in the more recent comic series. Sonic has had a ton of epic comics over the years and you’d expect no less from the greatest video game series of all time. After playing Sonic Frontiers it was pretty good timing to be reading this comic. It really is a great way of starting off the saga. I had a blast and look forward to seeing how things go from here.

The story kicks off fairly quick as Sonic takes down a bunch of Eggman’s robots. After the events of Sonic Forces Eggman vanished but his army remained. They now randomly attack across the planet and so the heroes must all join forces and do their best to stop these bots. The problem is the sheer numbers of them and more are built by the day. So while they may not be a threat to Sonic and friends, the world is quite large and people will continue to be at danger until they’re all taken down. This volume brings 4 issues and right now they’re all fairly stand alone as we start to learn more about the overall threat.

The first story involves Tails as Sonic teams up with him to stop the robots. Then we have one for Amy, Knuckles, and finally Tangle. In each comic Sonic shows up to save the day but it becomes clear that the robots do have some kind of a master now. The attacks have grown coordinated and more powerful robots are also showing up. Sonic is as confident as ever but the rest of the heroes are getting a bit nervous at this point. Can they really hold out against such an onslaught forever?

My first big praise for the series will be the action series. Perhaps it’ll feel like a given that the series has great fights but there is a lot of detail to the action in each issue. There will be whole pages of no text, just action as the heroes use combo attacks and take the enemies down. I like that there is a lot of choreography here and actual back and forth. These aren’t one hit KOs or anything like that. Instead you’re getting actual battles through and through which is a great thing. Sure the robots aren’t a real threat to Sonic but that’s not really the point anyway. You’re here to see what he can do with his speed and I like the combos are are used all the time.

The writing here is also great as you would expect. Sonic is as confident as ever and takes all the villains down easily but he has the skills to back it up. He’s never overconfident and he’s also still very mature. When the other heroes want to get deep or talk about something important he doesn’t brush them off and still has a reasonable answer. His conversation with Amy about joining the resistance was a very good conversation. Nobody jumped to conclusions or anything, just a solid talk where they each explained their points of view and that was the end of it.

As a result I’m happy to report that all of the characters were solid here. Tails also looks good and while he may still be a little on the nervous side, he can still fight and defend himself. This is Tails closer to his best like in Adventure 2 Battle and I like that because he absolutely has proven himself many times at this point. It’s fine to be a little nervous especially with Sonic being taken down by Infinite and pals in the past but he’s not whining about it or anything like that.

Meanwhile Amy looks really good here as well. She’s keeping her feelings in check and doing a great job as the leader of the resistance. (She’s basically the leader at this point) She can still fight a lot and of course she would love to go with Sonic but she chooses her responsibilities first. Amy has come a long way and this really makes her a much more endearing character. You can also sympathize with her one sided romance towards Sonic more now that it’s not portrayed as this crazy gag that’s always around. Holding herself back and just trying to go about things normally is a great move. Even if Sonic were to vanish again, I think she’d be able to keep the resistance in good shape.

Then we have Knuckles who is on point here. He always has a great dynamic with Sonic and you know that the two of them can take on any threat that gets in their way. They have a good fight against two new fighters who showed up and I would take these two against just about any villain combination. I can also see why Knuckles is eager to go back to Angel Island since actively running around and getting results is really his thing. He’s not the kind of guy who usually just sits behind the desk and it fits in with his character.

Finally we have Tangle who is new for the comics and she’s been a fun character so far. I know apparently there is a reference for her within Sonic Frontiers as well so she may even get to the games soon. Her tail makes for a very handy weapon in combat and she can take care of herself. I’m not sure I totally have a read on her personality yet but she’s strong and is a quick thinker as she helped Sonic and Blaze take out the enemies. I look forward to seeing more of her later on.

Meanwhile Blaze did get to appear as well which was fun. She shows up rather suddenly but that’s the fun part of time travel. The comics are already hinting that something major is about to happen and I’m absolutely ready for it. Imagine if Infinite returns soon? We already have a mysterious villain talking tough in the background and planning things out so I’m looking forward to seeing who that is. Shadow hasn’t appeared yet either but there will be time for that. The comics are slowly re-introducing all of the characters which is a good way to start things off. I also like how they show that the Egg robots can be a decent threat when there are enough of them.

I was always skeptical about the world being taken over without Sonic and I still am to be honest since the game never gave a good reason for why Shadow wasn’t around taking everyone out. I consider that to be a bit of a plot hole but the comics are doing good damage control here. I also just like the continuity being present here because it just adds a little extra immersion to the whole experience.

It almost goes without saying but the art is really solid. All of the characters stand out and the colors are bright and vibrant in general. This all looks fantastic all the way around and it makes reading the comics a breeze. I hope they keep this artist for the full run if possible because it would be difficult to top this.

Overall, Sonic is off to the races once more. I always thought the Archie comics were fantastic as well so I was sad to see them go but hopefully this new ongoing will continue for a very long time as well. I think Archie had something like 700 issues so for me I first want to see 100 total issues and then after that I’d like the series to reach 1000. Of course that will take years to do but it would be a really fun goal. If you haven’t read the comics yet then you definitely should. It’s got everything that a Sonic fan could possibly want!

Overall 8/10

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Review

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It’s time to finally take a look at the big Sonic sequel! There was a lot of hype going into this one because Knuckles was finally going to show up! In some ways the hype for the 3rd film had already started before the second even came out because that was going to be the big one with the key player finally showing up but this one is the true build up. Sonic had to first learn responsibility and what true power is before the third one so he would be ready. Fortunately I would say this one even ended up beating the original in pretty much all areas. Only the human plot isn’t as good so in the third maybe they can balance that out.

The movie starts out very quickly as Knuckles shows up and helps Eggman return to Earth. Eggman aims to use this guy to take out Sonic once and for all and becomes interested in the Master Emerald which can grant unlimited power! Sonic has been trying to fight crime lately but it’s awfully difficult. It’s hard to minimize casualties and all that so the humans keep telling him not to help out at all which seems a bit selfish if you ask me. Sonic is still saving lives after all. When a fox named Tails shows up, Sonic realizes that his time to be a true hero has finally arrived. Is he up to the task?

Since the human plot has almost nothing to do with anything we may as well knock that one out first. As I said this is the weak point of the film. So Tom has to head over to Rachel’s wedding but she really dislikes him and aims to make this a rough time for the guy. Unfortunately Tom does end up having to mess with the wedding a bit but duty calls. I was glad that he made the right call in the end even if it did make things tricky for him socially.

Tom is ultimately a good character who is stuck in a rather weak plot the whole time. He is ready to fight and isn’t afraid of Eggman. The biggest shame here is that he doesn’t get to banter with Eggman much in this film since they don’t meet up until the end. It’s too bad because that dynamic was actually really solid in the original. I would have just included Tom with Sonic’s plot and I think that would have amped things up a lot. The guy has a lot of good lines.

Rachel is just annoying though. She needs to stop trying to dunk on Tom and just have a good time. It’s her wedding after all so why get so stressed right? She gets a comedy plot where she teams up with Maddie to clown on the government and get some revenge. The music may be reasonably solid here but the scene’s a bit dragged out and does start to cross the line of being a little too over the top.

The one thing I will give for the human plot is I loved the introduction of GUN. This is a group that should have a massive role in the next film. Yes, I can already tell their role won’t be as good since that group was highly competent in the games while this one looks to be comic relief. It’s a shame but that’s how it goes. Still, I was glad to see them and their plan here was actually good. I mean by all accounts it really worked so not bad right?

Meanwhile in town you had Wade trying to prove himself as the sheriff in stopping Stone but that ultimately didn’t really go anywhere or have much relevance to the plot. You could cut Wade out entirely and nothing would really change so it was pretty much filler. Stone still looks up to Eggman a whole lot and just wants to feel appreciated. That’s probably not going to happen anytime soon though. Stone’s dedicated, I’ll give him that.

Now we start to get into the main plot. Sonic and Tails fighting it out with Knuckles and Eggman to try and get the Master Emerald first. This had a lot of fun tributes to the games like the avalanche levels and the Sonic vs Knuckles fights definitely deliver. I did have some power level issues with this though like how Sonic should have smoked Knuckles. Why did he keep running straight at the guy? In a battle of speed vs power you always have to use your speed in order to gain the upper hand and land some devastating blows.

Trying to beat the power guy with power isn’t going to work. I thought Sonic could and should have fought a lot better here. Ultimately even while he lands some good blows, it always feels like he’s on the losing end here. Also, the speed difference between him and the others isn’t emphasized enough. When Sonic’s sandbagging sure he can look as fast as Knuckles or Tails. He likes to be running with them together but otherwise he should be zipping around like crazy. The film does understand his speed in some cases like when he’s dodging lasers or missiles but then in the fights he is suddenly a lot more normal.

I get that they had to try and make Knuckles seem like a threat but they went a bit far beyond the believability territory. By that point you’re really just shaking your head. Still great for the visuals and all plus Knuckles fans should be happy but it’s very noticeable. It’s always the issue you face as a writer when your lead character is so fast but you just have to adapt and keep it moving.

This plot had its share of serious and somber moments along with the light hearted adventuring. It’s well balanced and a lot of fun. This is definitely the highlight of the movie and it’s no surprise since you probably are watching this for Sonic after all. He delivers in each of his scenes without a doubt. Sonic also does get some decent development from the first film. He’s at least trying to be a hero even if he hasn’t mastered it yet. I wouldn’t expect any drastic changes to his character any time soon so he’s probably still going to appear as a younger version to the Sonic we’re used to from the games but he’s done well.

Tails is also really solid here and feels a lot like his classic self. He looks up to Sonic a lot and is lacking in confidence but is slowly building it. If they adapt the tearjerker scene from Adventure 2 next time then that’ll be the perfect place to give Tails the rest of his character arc. It’s always good to have a genius on your side so having him around is a great help to Sonic.

As for Knuckles, fans of his should definitely have fun with his character. He’s super strong and is devoted to finding the Master Emerald at all times. He feels a little less smart than his game counterpart as it almost seems like they were going to start taking inspiration more from Sonic Boom Knuckles who takes things literally and doesn’t know a ton but the writing is good enough here to where he is not super exaggerated like that. So in the end he still made for a great antagonist. I’d like to see him stick around and be a main character for the next adventure.

Then we have Eggman and I was not expecting him to gain super powers the way that he did. It was an interesting take on his character though. I hope he would return for future films but if not, this was a good exit. He has a lot of clever little puns that he would throw in throughout the movie that were a blast. At times he can be a little more crazy than genius and the film could maybe dial it back a bit at times but all in all I still had a lot of fun with him. Eggman is an iconic part of the film and you definitely couldn’t do this adventure without him.

Naturally there is an after credits scene. You’ve likely heard or seen it since that was everywhere even before the film was fully out, but if not then you’re going to really be in for a treat. Hype levels for Sonic 3 are now out of this universe so get ready. If it adapts even 10% of what the next adventure should be then we’re really going to be in for a treat. It’s not too early to say that the film has a shot at being movie of the year at this point. I would be surprised and dismayed if it’s anything lower than that.

Just based on how different the characters are it’s bound to not be a 1 to 1 adaption but as long as you get the bullet points then you’re good. I’d also like them to include some more of the video game tunes. The soundtrack was still good and all but hearing some of those classic tunes would make it even better. At least if you ask me that would be the best move here. There would be no turning back from that. The effects and everything are good here as well.

Overall, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is a great film. It really capitalized on the development and hype moments from the first film while taking this one to the next level. The human scenes are a weakness but they’re not so bad that they drag the film down too much. Without them would this be a 9 star film? Probably not so in the end the damage was minimal and you’ll be okay. Like I said, at least we got GUN out of it so that’s a start.

Overall 8/10

Shazam vs Knuckles

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Suggested by Sonic Shazam is incredibly powerful but he hasn’t had to go toe to toe with Sonic a bunch of times. While Knuckles definitely doesn’t have that same kind of speed, he is still incredibly fast in his super and hyper forms. His attacks would deal a whole lot of damage to Shazam as well. This could end up being a little close if Shazam is able to land some blows but ultimately Knuckles will win this out with his speed. Knuckles wins.

Yugi vs Knuckles

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Suggested by Sonic This is probably the trickiest match in some ways. On one hand Yugi has a ton of monsters, spells, and trap cards at his disposal. While not all of them would be a threat to Knuckles, the Egyptian god cards are certainly a force to be reckoned with as well as the Dark Magician pair. Then Yugi also has a lot of redirection spells. On the other hand, Knuckles has obtained significant power ups thanks to the chaos emeralds. His power is also off the charts with enough speed to give Sonic a fight. I’ve got to go with Knuckles here. This is one case where sheer numbers is just not going to be enough to outweigh his raw power. Knuckles wins.

Team Sonic Racing Overdrive Review

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It’s time to take a look at the 2 part segment Sega released. It’s roughly 10 minutes or a little shorter than that, but it’s a nice way to cross promote the game. I was lightly tempted to get the game day 1, but there are just so many good games coming out right now that it’s tough to know which ones to take the plunge on. Regardless, I do look forward to playing it some day. I imagine it will be quite solid just as this special is.

The plot is pretty straightforward. The various heroes and villains have entered a race where the winner will receive a large gold trophy. Team Sonic, Chaotix, Rose, and Dark are all entering the race. Only one team can win though and it quickly becomes clear that Shadow and Sonic are the front runners here. That being said, there are a lot of racers on the track and so anything can happen. Be sure to stay glued to the seat so you don’t miss a second of the action.

The animation is very smooth and this style is definitely good at energetic scenes like this one. In general it’s a nostalgic style and one that’s very “clean” You will always know what’s happening and the designs are simplistic and so they are able to go through a lot of movements very quickly. It’s always been one of the big strengths of this animation style and Overdrive puts it to good use. A whole show like this would be quite fun for sure. Although the characters don’t talk here you can still get a lot of their personalities instantly because of how well animated they are.

As always Shadow is definitely a stand out character here. He actually does really well while at the same time knowing when it’s best to finally put his abilities into motion. The other characters also have to deal with a lot of interference on the track. It puts all of their skills on the line. There’s certainly nothing negative about this special and so it’s pretty much ideal. Between this and the Sonic Mania shorts, it’ll be fun to see if Sega decides to keep them up. I remember at the big Sonic event they did say that it takes forever to animate these scenes but maybe if they bring more animators on board they would be able to make a whole show like this. I’ll certainly be ready if they do.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend checking this special out. Even if you aren’t planning on getting the game it’s fun to see the cast just hanging out and getting all competitive. It’s also a lot of fun for fans who grew up in the Adventure era as there are a bunch of references and remixed tunes from the old game. You’ll likely remember all of them even if you don’t know the exact names. It’s the little things like that which really help take Overdrive to the next level. Also, it’s super short so it’s not like it’ll take all that much time out of your day to check it out right?

Overall 7/10

Unicron vs Knuckles

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Suggested by Destroyer Unicron is definitely strong and his size ensures that a single hit will send Knuckles flying. Fortunately for the Echidna he has the Master Emerald at the ready. In Chaos Mode Knuckles is probably even stronger than Unicron and with his speed he will be able to dodge all counter attacks. I’m afraid that it will all be over for Unicron in an instant. Knuckles wins.

Sonic Mania Adventures Review

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It’s time to look at the little promo series Sega came out with to promote the complete Sonic Mania collection. It’s always nice to see a company put out a little extra effort to bring something like this to the table. It’s just a cool thing to do and I’m always up for some new animations. When you combine the 5 parts the series is around 11 minutes. In that time we get to see the main cast of Sonic Mania mix it up a bit. It’s a solid promo that I would recommend to anyone.

The basic premise is that Sonic and Tails are having fun on the island when they notice that Eggman is up to his old tricks once again. They decide to put a stop to him while grabbing the Chaos Emeralds along the way. Meanwhile Knuckles, Mighty, and Ray are also having some trouble with Eggman. The group all head towards Eggman’s location from various directions. Eggman was prepared for this though and sends out Metal Sonic. Can the heroes defeat a being who is as fast as Sonic and is powered by the Chaos Emeralds?

Right away you’ll have to give the series a lot of credit for its nostalgic art direction. The characters all really look like their counterparts from the original games. The animation is like something out of the original Sonic cartoon but possibly even more retro. It’s all very smooth and once again you’ll wonder why we get this level of animation for a web series while the cartoons on TV don’t even look as good. It’s a very different style from many of the other Sonic cartoons, but it holds its own against all of them. Sonic X certainly still looks the best, but this one would give Sonic Boom a run for its money in the graphics department.

Then you’ve also got the classic music which is a lot of fun as well. It makes all of this feel like a 2D Sonic adventure. Considering that this was before any of the characters could talk either, the series has to be very expressive with them. You can always tell what the characters are thinking and doing so that’s another bit of credit we have to give the animation team. Sometimes a character can just be annoying when they can’t talk as poor writers can’t use them well, but this show had no problems there.

Sonic is a solid character as always and I was glad to see him head right for Metal Sonic and enter battle. He’s as fearless as always and Sonic also puts up a great fight considering that he was holding his own against Metal Sonic while in base form. Tails is nice as well although he doesn’t really get to do much. It’s still always good to have a sidekick. Mighty gets a considerable amount of hype here as he completely destroys Metal Sonic in a fight. Who knew that this guy was so high tier? Ray doesn’t do nearly as well, but then again he never was too much of a fighter so I suppose it was to be expected to an extent. Then we have Knuckles who got less of a role than the others, but did come through in the end when it counted.

I can’t say that Metal Sonic’s appearance was too positive though since he was treated as a big punching bag the whole time. It’s unfortunate because he should be way stronger than these guys. This isn’t meant to be a very serious action show so it’s not like we were ever going to get really long fights, but Metal Sonic still could have looked more powerful with the amount of screen time that he was given. His fight also had some stills when I would have preferred to see him speed blitzing, but we got scenes of both varieties for him so it’s not really a problem. Eggman was also consistent as always which is good.

Overall, This special was a lot of fun to watch. I’d recommend it to anyone and at 11 minutes you have no good excuse not to watch it. It’s a fun adventure with a little action, you can’t go wrong there. Hopefully one day we will get another full length Sonic show since the possibilities are always endless for it. If TMNT can get so many different shows within such a small time frame, Sonic should also get the same treatment. He has proven that action as well as comedy works within his universe so no matter which direction they take the franchise in, we should be set for a golden experience. Yes, I don’t have Sonic Mania at the moment, but I’m sure its time will come. As a Sonic fan I’d expect nothing less.

Overall 7/10

Knuckles vs DK

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Suggested by Super Dark Shadow. DK is a powerhouse who has always been known as one of the stronger Mario characters. I can’t really argue that to be honest since his physical power is actually pretty scary. That being said, I definitely think Knuckles could take him on. Knuckles is strong as well and in his most powerful forms he is also quite fast. Knuckles would have DK down in a few hits guaranteed. This Kong just isn’t strong enough to stop him. Knuckles wins.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Review

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If there was ever such a thing as a low budget Mario and Sonic game then this is it. We no longer have the intense campaign mode from the first game and we don’t even get to keep the tournaments. With all of the characters and games already unlocked as well you just have to wonder what the developers were thinking. It’s not a bad game but it doesn’t do anything to help the Olympics legacy. It would have gone over better if this had been the first title in the series.

We do have a new mode though and that is essentially Mario Party mode. Here you run around a board trying to get items and bump into one of the characters who is running around. This will trigger a mini game. You want to win the mini games to get cards that you can put in your sticker album. Once you’ve obtained 16 stickers (or more depending on the length you choose) you will have won the game. Inside your sticker board you have two random items as well which may steal stickers from other players or just give you extras. They’re pretty handy so use them wisely. If you want to blast through the party then simply seek out the NPCs as soon as possible. I’m not sure if there is even a point to delaying it to be honest since grabbing the items didn’t actually seem to be doing anything. There’s probably something that I’m missing though.

I also have to point out that the mini games are starting to randomly get convoluted here. You should always be able to get a basic understanding of the game from the rules section before it starts. That wasn’t the case for the Dream Bike mini game. This one is a team game of 4 vs 4. You have to try and stay in a perfect line and shake your way to the goal. The problem is that you have to switch places during the race and the controls for being in the back were not clear. I struggled as best as I could but I just couldn’t form a line and I ended up losing the mini game and nearly the whole party map. I actually did lose the first time I played the mode, but I got them the second time.

Even the really solid games suffer from dicey instructions. Take the Nintendo/Sega trivia. The questions were solid and with prep time I could probably even get them right. However the game tells you to hold the Wii Remote horizontally when in fact you are supposed to hold it vertically. This cost me the very first question which I knew I would have gotten right. So the main point here is to read the rules carefully and be warned that you may not be able to win some of these games on the first try because you will have to figure out how it works.

One of the new games that is pretty solid is the throwing darts one. You essentially have to hit the bullseye as quickly as possible and try to get others. Essentially I don’t know if you go for all of the bullseyes but that would make sense. I hit 2 and won the mini game so just aim for the center and you will be all set.

We’ve also got some games that I believe are old like Table Tennis and Soccer. Table Tennis is the same old same old so I wouldn’t expect too much more out of that one. It’s a fun game as always but it didn’t take much effort to port it over. I forgot if soccer already existed or not but it doesn’t look good for this game either way since the soccer gameplay is probably the weakest I’ve ever seen in the genre. I know low budget Wii games with better soccer gameplay. Your passes always go too high so it is usually safest to take the bell through the whole field yourself before shooting. That’s just not good gameplay and teamwork is supposed to be the name of the game here. I just don’t know how you can possibly mess up a game like soccer this way.

100mm Swinming is another mini game that doesn’t even try to hide how recycled it is. It’s the exact same controls as always in what appears to be the same background. It’s a good mini game so I’m fine with it coming back of course, but we just should have had more games. Reusing minigames is like bringing back old fighters in a classic fighting game. It’s a great move and one that I stand by 100%. However, if the cast is unchanged then there is no point in upgrading as in the case of Godzilla Save The Earth to Godzilla Unleashed on the PS2.

What this Olympics should have done was have close to 40-50 events. They could easily have brought back events from the previous games in addition to a bunch of new ones. The only reason why I could see this being a bad thing is if they are trying to perfectly emulate the games that will be at each Olympics. If that is the case then I suppose they will need to find another solution (have the old mini games be unlockable) but either way we definitely needed more games than the rather limited amount that we got.

The graphics look nice as always at least. It’s about the same as the last game only without the cinematic cutscenes so maybe it is actually a downgrade. Those cutscenes strike me as being the hard part after all but maybe the gameplay is just as difficult. Either way the last game did manage to do both so I’d give it the edge. When it comes to the soundtrack there is no contest that the last one was better. It blended together a bunch of brilliant themes from both Mario and Sonic which made the games even more fun. While this game has a lot of those songs in the music player, don’t expect to hear them very often.

As far as the replay value goes I suppose that there is a lot to buy here. You can use your money to buy clothes which boost your stats and you can try to earn medals for all of the various mini games. That could take a little while and then you also have a lot of challenges to complete for the bragging rights. Complete all of the challenges and you will really be an Olympics champ. Considering that the game is pretty cheap I’d say that this is already enough value to justify the cost.

Overall, This is one of those games that may have been more acceptable if it had been the first in the series. However it is the third and after seeing what this series could really do with the second game it feels like a total downgrade. The game just lost all of its heart and it felt like the developers just cashed it in this time. There wasn’t much effort put behind this game as far as I could see and even though this is a decent game I would recommend going back to buy the Winter Olympics instead.

Overall 6/10