Sonic and Mario team up for the Olympics

by John Bardinelli { Mar 28th 2007 at 8:39AM }

Bitter competitors since the 16-bit era, Mario and Sonic are finally burying the hatchet and starring in a game together: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Characters from both franchises battle it out in Olympic-style games such as swimming, the 100 meter dash, and table tennis. The worldwide launch is this holiday season, so prepare to finally discover who's faster -- Mario or Sonic.

If this were 1992, we'd think it was an early April Fools prank.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Tags: ds, mario, nintendo, olympics, sega, sonic, sports, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Green_Ogre @ Mar 28th 2007 8:49AM

If it weren't for the EUROPEAN webpage on the sega europe site... I would have said this is a bunch of bullshit.

kevinski @ Mar 28th 2007 8:49AM

I foresee this becoming the highest-rated Olympics game of all time, simply because Mario and Sonic are in it. *sigh*

Zertoss @ Mar 28th 2007 8:51AM

Sounds like a dumb game, but Mario and Sonic are in it, so I guess I'll be buying it. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a fervent Mario/Sonic fan.

denney @ Mar 28th 2007 8:56AM

LOL eh just give every medal to sonic. mario has no chance

Zwilnik @ Mar 28th 2007 9:01AM

How on earth would Mario get through the drugs test?

Wort @ Mar 28th 2007 10:09AM

Nintendo whoring their mascots for non-sense games.. get out of here!

Moe @ Mar 28th 2007 9:21AM

Sonic would win the Olympics hands down.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 28th 2007 9:06AM

Sonic with the Gold
Knuckles with the Silver
Mario with the Bronze

I wish they would put Sonic in SSB damnit or make a platform game that involves both of them. A game like that would sell millions.

samfish @ Mar 28th 2007 9:11AM

"I wish they would put Sonic in SSB damnit or make a platform game that involves both of them. A game like that would sell millions."

Ditto on both points. Although this makes me think (hope) that it's a LOT more likely we'll have Sonic in SSBB.

That said, this game has the potential to friggin' rock out loud.

sheppy @ Mar 28th 2007 9:13AM

Even holding down B, Mario doesn't have a chance in hell...

Yoshi Likes Boys @ Mar 28th 2007 9:14AM

This looks tremendous, and is yet another indication that Sega's starting to get its act together. And I agree, this means that Sonic in SSBB is far more likely. More non-Nintendo characters were coming, last I heard, so yeah.

32_Footsteps @ Mar 28th 2007 9:17AM

As interesing as this could be, I can't fight the nagging feeling that this is a hoax. Just a gut feeling I have.

Thugh if I'm wrong... hey, fencing is a Summer Olympics sport. That could be interesting.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 28th 2007 9:17AM

A new Crash Bandicoot would be cool too. Crash Bandicoot, Sonic & Spyro in SSB.

Kizzle @ Mar 28th 2007 11:33AM

May be worth a purchase just for the historical significance, although it wouldn't surprise me if the game wound up terrible.

Come on, there's no way Sonic loses out to Mario in ANY of the races or long jump. Mario's got his number in the high jump and power-lifting events, though. Lifting giant turnips over your head pays off.

Yoshi Likes Boys @ Mar 28th 2007 9:28AM

32F: Is the thinking then that someone at Sega is playing a joke? or that SE's server got hacked?

Zertoss @ Mar 28th 2007 9:30AM

Guys, I don't think you're allowed to run on the bottom of the pool in swimming competitions, and last time I checked, Sonic doesn't swim. Mario would at least win those.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 28th 2007 9:30AM

Make it like Kingdom Hearts except with all Sega & Nintendo platform characters.

Kirby, Ice Climbers Mario, Mega Man, Yoshi, Luigi, Toad, Peach, Sonic, Tails...ect. All working together to defeat Bowser, Dr Robotnick, Shawdow..ect RPG or platform style.

Im done daydreaming.

kevinski @ Mar 28th 2007 9:30AM

Erm...guys, the Olympics aren't only about speed, for the record. And Super [Saiyan] Sonic doesn't count. *rolls eyes*

samfish @ Mar 28th 2007 9:37AM

Mario's got tha Ups, too.

Is this gonna turn into another Superman vs. Batman thread? :P

Neal @ Mar 28th 2007 9:42AM

Theres a lot more to the olympics than running.

Mario has him beat on the high jump, long jump, and he probably has him in stregenth, so that should help out.

I pray Sonic is in SSBB, Finally a character I will want to use as much as Link.

And WTF, why no Megaman in the game yet? Hes my favorite game character ever.

Zertoss @ Mar 28th 2007 9:49AM

I heard Megaman was disqualified from competing when he used Rush to try and beat Mario at the high and long jumps.

John @ Mar 28th 2007 9:54AM

No no no....they need to do a Mario Party spinoff (not Mario Party 9....people are tired of the franchise...tho I think it's still going strong) of Mario v. Sonic. I'm not big on the Olympics/sports theme.

Avinash_Tyagi @ Mar 28th 2007 9:56AM

Mario has Sonic Beat in everything except Track

MJPM @ Mar 28th 2007 9:58AM

18.

Megaman's been in enough games, thank you. I've had my Marvel VS Capcom fill of him.

Sonic in SSBB or a Squeenix Nintendo/Sega Action RPG with less Cloud/Squall/Sephiroth/Emo-Kids. More Dragon Quest and Grandia/Lunar.

mike @ Mar 28th 2007 10:02AM

"14. Guys, I don't think you're allowed to run on the bottom of the pool in swimming competitions, and last time I checked, Sonic doesn't swim. Mario would at least win those."

Actually You can run underwater in the sonic games. (at least in sonic 1-4 which I played)

Neal @ Mar 28th 2007 10:10AM

@ 22.

Megaman can never be in too many games.

There hasn't been a decent Megaman game since Megaman X3

Scott B @ Mar 28th 2007 10:12AM

No way mario beats sonic in the long jump, not with sonic's acceleration to the line; but point taken with swimming events, mario's got that hands down, there are no air bubbles in the bottom of pools & running across the water (ala Sonic 3) doesn't count.

Shmil @ Mar 28th 2007 10:12AM

23
its not a question of whether sonic can physically run under water, its that you're not allowed to do that in an olympic swim race. even if they allowed it mario can swim faster than sonic can run under water

we all know who's going to win the 100 meter dash

Slaziman @ Mar 28th 2007 10:19AM

You mean like, another mini-game party game? Color me uninterested.

Andy @ Mar 28th 2007 10:20AM

Three licenses like this... man, there's some serious money changing hands.

Jack of No Trades @ Mar 28th 2007 10:24AM

On the boarder of Emerald City, ten minutes from the Mushroom Kingdom Mario and Sonic glare into each others eyes and say no words.

Cocky as ever, Sonic, makes the first move by rushing over to Mario with lightning fast speed, striking Mario down to the ground. Mario, dizzy from the fall, looks over and finds his favorite flower.

Immediately, he consumes the flower, which turns his eyes a bright red and his hands into fire. With a concerned look in his eyes, Sonic, rushes Mario for a second time only to dodge two fireballs and gets hit by the third. Sonic, burned all over his body, desperately tries to find his scattered rings before Mario could make a fatal blow.

After retrieving most of the rings in under a second, Sonic, transforms into a golden, faster, more powerful state known as Super Sonic. With the fireballs having no effect on Super Sonic, Mario has little to no change to survive and will be tortured.

After hours of punishment, Mario looks as if he has lost all hope. As a tear runs down Mario's face, out of nowhere a star dropped from the heavens only to land on Mario. With a burst of electric energy, Mario throws Sonic a hundred feet away into a group of baby Yoshi which tear him limb from limb.

Mario, full of happiness and dominance quickly returns to the Peach at the Mushroom Kingdom only to find Luigi, Toad and Peach dead with Tails standing over thier lifeless bodies.

TomC1234 @ Mar 28th 2007 10:25AM

This is probably one of the few Mascot type games I'm actually looking forward to. Mario + Sonic is the perfect pair for an Olympic type game. Especially on the Wii.

Jonathan Tran @ Mar 28th 2007 11:20AM

Well, I would love to say Sonic would win all but..

1. Sonic can barely swim
2. Sonic doesn't play sports other than snowboarding (wait for winter games, Sonic!), whereas Mario has a history of tennis, soccer, etc
3. Sonic isn't that strong

That said, Sonic might try extra hard just b/c the Olympic logo has the promise of super rings for the winner.

Flit @ Mar 28th 2007 10:38AM

They should make a mario/sonic sidescroller for ds. Make mario run through some of the sonic levels, and make sonic run through some of the mario levels. That would be awesome. The level design would be interesting too, to make both sides playable.

Start out with mario running through mario-like levels, and after you beat it, make him navigate through sonic levels. This would make anyone over the age of 18, who grew up with these games, shudder with glee.

Greg2k @ Jul 12th 2007 8:54PM

There is no Sonic 4

Pawsie @ Mar 28th 2007 10:53AM

Technically since the old days.. Mario could run just as fast as Sonic.. it was just the fact Sonic Stages was meant to be a rollercoaster.

But I'm sure they'll be some form of balance .. I mean.. it can't be all about running and swiming, which I believe they'll exclude :).

Vidikron @ Mar 28th 2007 10:58AM

A lot of good game ideas in this thread. If only one of them would ever get made *sigh*.

Oh, and Sonic would tear Mario a new one in most Olympic Events. Mario might beat Sonic in a high jump, but I've seen Sonic get some big air, so even that's questionable. I'm not even sure what other events Mario would stand a chance in... other than the aformentioned swimming events since Sonic doesn't appear to be able to swim.

Pawsie @ Mar 28th 2007 11:12AM

this might be an april fools joke though.. Oddly i can't go to the europe website because it's a firewall, but that one I can reach.

Avinash_Tyagi @ Mar 28th 2007 11:14AM

Mario would win Gymnastics, anything involving strength, throwing, anything involving jumping, Swimming, the only things Sonic would have a chance in is anything incolving running, otherwise Mario would win most of the golds

Trifle Bullet @ Mar 28th 2007 12:43PM

Wow. I don't think anyone saw that coming.

Should be good fun, and might just make an Olympics game worth buying. Could be an april fool of course, but the Big Official Olympic logo seems to suggest otherwise.

Chrysis @ Mar 28th 2007 11:40AM

Im usualy reluctant to enter these which character is best pissing matches but your all talking about Sonic running along the surface of the pool? Well *puts on nerd cap* I recall several sonic animations in a Saturn game called Sonic Jam (they were like anime) and in it Sonic runs along the SURFACE of the water real fast. Soooo u know. He can run along the water to take gold.

This game better not be crud but I fear the worst the way things have been lately.

ste @ Mar 28th 2007 11:30AM

Wow nostalgia does funny things.

I can't believe such an obvious lazy cash in of sticking well known characters to an Olympic license is getting such positive feedback.

Every four years an Olympics game comes out and they're generally quite rubbish, shoving some completely out of place 16-bit era games characters isn't going to change that.

Maybe they'll come up with some interesting gameplay but I doubt it, this thread is proof that the developers don't need to bother because people will just lap up anything with Mario/Sonic in it.

Neal @ Mar 28th 2007 11:41AM

@ ste.

You're rigth, developers can throw any Mario/Sonic game out there, and people WILL buy it, you knwo why? They're usualyl all fun (except the 3d sonic games) Most all Mario games have bene lots of fun, no matter how simple or childish they seem, they're entertaining. Thats why they sell

Zertoss @ Mar 28th 2007 11:46AM

"Sonic isn't that strong"

Sonic has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of "Stone Fists" Knuckles and Shadow and won, so that line of thinking isn't entirely true. See Sonic Battle.

Mario probably does have the edge in strength though. SM64 did give him plenty of practice for the hammer throw and SMB2 for power lifting (like Kizzle mentioned). Years of work as a carpenter fighting a gorilla on construction sites only add to his insane strength.

Jonathan Tran @ Mar 28th 2007 12:48PM

Don't forget Knuckles, Tails, Luigi, etc are in this.

High jump goes to Tails
Long jump goes to Knuckles
Weight lifting to Knuckles or Mario

aaannnd Luigi loses everything.

dispute that

Zertoss @ Mar 28th 2007 11:52AM

"Well *puts on nerd cap* I recall several sonic animations in a Saturn game called Sonic Jam (they were like anime) and in it Sonic runs along the SURFACE of the water real fast. Soooo u know. He can run along the water to take gold."

If we're not going to play by the rules, then Mario could use any of his flying power-ups to easily win the high & long jumps. Then he could use the Magic Whistle to whip him through any of the running events. Even with the Speed-Up Shoes, Sonic wouldn't stand a chance against Mario's arsenal.

Luckily we have rules.

ZeroCorpse @ Mar 28th 2007 12:55PM

They'd both lose to Crash Bandicoot!

Nahh... Crash sucked.

...But Tojam & Earl had better be in these Olympics, dammit!

Wolfman @ Mar 28th 2007 12:12PM

@ste "Maybe they'll come up with some interesting gameplay but I doubt it, this thread is proof that the developers don't need to bother because people will just lap up anything with Mario/Sonic in it."

Well seeing as how Mario is in the game we know that it will be developed for the Wii. Has there ever been an Olympic style game for the Wii?

You can be sure that the developers will have you making up and down movements with your hands to run, making a throwing motion to throw, moving foward and back to swim and just varying the different type of motions to match the different types of events in these disciplines. It'll definitely be different from the button mashers on previous systems.

Will you like it more than the previous ones? Who knows, but I'm sure the casuals Nintendo is roping in will be lapping it up and the hardcore will buy because its Mario vs Sonic!!!