Not content with the piles of gold medals they got at the Summer Olympics, Mario and Sonic are taking their medal race to the Winter Olympics later this year, Sega and Nintendo announced today.
Developed by Sega of Japan “under the guidance of Shigeru Miyamoto” to coincide with the Vancouver games next year, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will be another set of minigames based on Olympic events. While the Summer Olympics had events like the high jump and gymnastics, the Winter Games will feature Alpine Skiing and Speed Skating among a whole other slew of events to be announced. Being on the Wii and DS, you can expect the game to have copious waggle waving and stylus scratching. There’ll also be new characters from both the Sonic and Mario franchises. Let’s all hope for a playable version of Big the Cat, who was only an NPC in the first game. I could see him playing Olympic hockey.
“Sega has been a valued publishing partner of Nintendo for many years and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the ultimate representation of that relationship,” Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime said. “We look for this game to continue the tradition its predecessor started by bringing new events, new characters, and new gameplay experiences to fans worldwide.”
The Wii version will notably feature Balance Board support, which probably means we’ll get a snowboarding event in the vein of Shaun White Snowboarding and, I hope, a bobsled event where you lie down on the board and shift your weight around as you ride. If there is bobsledding, don’t doubt that I’ll buy this game, make Miis out of every Cool Runnings cast member (John Candy included) and have them compete in the event.
