IGN Gives M&S Winter Olympics a 6.5
Tristan Oliver | October 15, 2009
“Doesn’t live up to the previous Olympics offering”
More and more press outlets have picked up Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for review, and leading the pack in an increasingly mediocre taste is–who else?–IGN.
The Wii version went under a bit of scrutiny, and came out with a 6.5 out of 10–”passable” on their scale. That’s just below the current Metacritic average of 73, below Nintendo Power’s score of 7, and well below a couple glowing reviews from ONM and Eurogamer.
Wii reviewer Mark Bozon says the product overall “isn’t a bad choice,” and cited the game’s Curling mode as his personal favorite out of the bunch. However, Bozon noted the motion control scheme needed work, and labeled M&S as overall lacking polish. Bozon even directly blasted Sega’s work, in comparison to some first-party Nintendo titles:
Without going into huge brand war issues here, it’s obvious this is a mini-game set developed by SEGA, and not something Nintendo-made like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, or the Big N’s own Strikers/Baseball/Golf franchises. It just doesn’t have that final level of polish you’d expect.
This, from the same organization who openly mocked the Sonic fanbase upon giving Sonic and the Black Knight a poor score.
But unlike in SBK or even Sonic Unleashed, IGN is, at this moment, almost totally isolated in their professional perception. Metacritic’s current rundown of reviews only notes two other organizations with under-70 reviews: the website Teletext GameCentral, and IGN’s Australian division. Why then, is there such a relatively low average? The reviews at or near 70 and 80 are quite stacked.
You can review the review below in our comments section. Thanks to Kadeb for sending this in via our News Tips system.
Filed Under Gaming News, Nintendo, Sega, Sonic Scene
lol bashing the game because its NOT nintendo… now thats just unfair.
Sometimes I can´t wait to see Nintendo Fail with Mario. Don´t need to see Nintendo fail whole, because I love Metroid Series, but with Mario its a little bit much. Maybe Mario games are not bad, but Im starting to totally hate Mario. Mario that and Mario there. Can´t wait to see Sonic kicking Mario´s butt some day.
I shouldn’t listen too these guys because… I hate when people bashing games like that. But… I can understand that the game gets a score like this, so I’m not surprised or angry.
And comparing this as something worse than Nintendos crappy party games!? I think Wii sports is terrible….. because it is terrible!!
But… do never listen to IGN when Sonic is involved!
Surely Project Needlemouse won’t score a 6.5 ….
@Kadeb: As if that’ll happen with SEGA’s pace. Nintendo succeeds with the franchise because the gameplay is the franchise’s identity, and Mario has kept a recognizable one. They stick to what the franchise is about and set the bar for platformers higher and higher. Sonic Unleashed is no Mario Galaxy, that’s f’sure.
*Watches Osnic come in ready to bash me for putting Mario Galaxy above Unleashed.*
————-
Besides…. We all knew this was going to be another collection of crap minigames. Why SEGA and Nintendo insist on this route instead of a team up platformer is beyond me. This game I’m sure is no Mario Party. Despite my absolute hate for Mario Party as it has come in the masses with each Nintendo system, the game is actually enjoyable, something that the first Mario and Sonic lacked, while this might be worse. I’m willing to believe this is worse. If anything, Nintendo should’ve developed the game. That or they really should’ve put more time into this. Whichever you prefer.
@Serpx: Or… At least in shouldn’t. We have yet to see though of the actual game. All I know is that it better be good, because this failure is something I’ve had about enough of.
What’s the only thing worse than a fanboy? A group of fanboys with a high rated website. I seriously wonder why I ever look at anything at that website. They spend all their time arguing with each other about the best console except when they come together to rail on Sonic and Sega. Anyone remember when they gave their Top Characters for Brawl, and one of them mentioned he couldn’t believe that he put Sonic on the list? (http://stars.ign.com/articles/856/856885p2.html) Or maybe when the leaked “Sony” letter came out and they posted a mocking letter online within the day? (which was more visable than the ACTUAL letter)
Screw you IGN, you anti-Sonic fanboys…
Hehe, yaeh. IGN are not real reviewers. You know why? Cus fanboys can never be good reviwers! I mean, this is not protecting Sonic or something! Only that IGN are so annyting and give every overrated game a super duper high score and everything from Nintendo is the best in the world. Yeah, see Nintendo fail with Mario would be fun. It would be something that would make one of my days!
Well, I would laugh my ass of if Nintendo died! HAHA! But the problem with nintendo is that they put freaking boring puzzels in every game they make! Why not give Zelda some more action! And awsome fighting gameplay or something! WOuld be better! But Zelda Twilight Princess is good becaus of all this funny items or whatever you want to call it! CLAWSHOT! But too many puzzels. But it would be fun to see Nintendo fail completley. I woulden’t care. As long as I’ get my overrated Halo games, Sonic games and other good games! Yeah….they’re for the other consoles! Except for SOnic and….yeah you get it! But I don’t know so much about the Wii version, haven’t played it. But I think this is more of an 8/10 game than 6.5 game.
I mean look at this:
Without going into huge brand war issues here, it’s obvious this is a mini-game set developed by SEGA, and not something Nintendo-made like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, or the Big N’s own Strikers/Baseball/Golf franchises. It just doesn’t have that final level of polish you’d expect.
Nintendo fan boys all the way!
IGN fails once again!!!
Has anyone stopped to consider that IGN’s kinda got a point?
I haven’t played any of the games mentioned, so my opinion is likely moot, but I have seen advertisements and some videos of these games in question, both SEGA and Nintendo related, and the Nintendo fare comes off much better to me compared to what SEGA has offered. Is that bad press or an overall negative stigma? I’m gonna say no, and it’s probably just SEGA offering the same level of quality regarding Sonic titles that they seemed to have adopted ever since about Heroes or hell, perhaps it started back with Sonic R or Sonic Shuffle. Whatever.
IGN may be in the minority, but that doesn’t mean you can just snub what they have to say because it makes you feel a little better. Did it deliver? Did it not? And how does what Nintendo do with their games compare? If anything, IGN is giving SEGA what they need: Bad grades. You don’t reward someone with an A for maximum achievement out of sympathy or for something below such a level of achievement. You just don’t. Try reading between the lines that don’t immediately shout “LOL WE’RE BIASED AND WE HATE SONIC AND SEGA FOREVER LOL”. That’s all I’m suggesting.
Thank you Treleus.
ign just doesn’t know when to give up with bashing the sonic franchise and Sega alone. To be honest, i was happy and excited once again when i heard of sonic and mario giving it another go now in the olympic -winter- games especially upon finding out that Sega had started working on it right after the first olympic game which in my head meant that they should be able to do a way better job, but as time passed i kind of was in doubt about the whole idea turning out good upto a week before it came out and my hopes shot right up again! finally i gotta say since i got the wii version on the first day it came out, I am really impressed with the difference! thats what any reviewer should first focus on first! the differences between both summer and winter versions, and just about everyone who has both games would agree! overall i’d give it an 8/10!
IGS is out to is get sonic! ever since shadow the hedgehog they hated sonic! I hate ign this isn’t fair. You just can’t spell ignorant without ign.
GRR…
They just don’t want to like a game with sonic in it. I think the only reason that they didn’t mind him in brawl was because he played such a small role.
IGN… You FAIL at Sonic reviews and you FAIL at being fair and you FAIL at any future Sonic game to come that you will likely bash. FAIL!!!!!!!!!
You can’t spell “ignorant” without IGN!
@Greg the Cat:
[ Why SEGA and Nintendo insist on this route instead of a team up platformer is beyond me. ]
They have a good reason: party games attract the very wide casual and family-oriented audience and thus allow companies to make money to make future games and reproduce old ones. Games like these especially help Sega and Nintendo create the occasional big games that can cost more than twenty million dollars to create.
As for the review, I haven’t read it, but no matter the grade, I guarantee you, this game will be financially successful for Sega and Nintendo (Sega’ll likely get most of the pot ’cause they developed it). This game targets the casual audience and is suitable for all ages; so families, friends, and young and old will be able to play and not get restricted due to the rating at the bottom of the box.
Sorry, but IGN is right. You guys are just butthurt. And Nintendo Power is always overly generous with their review scores on Sonic.
Man screw those reviwers, SONIC AND SEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAA RULE!!!
I want to see Project Needlemous (I think it’s real name is going to be Sonic The Hedgehog 4
) but anyway, I wish SEGA/SONIC TEAM could do a Sonic Underground game, like a game from the series SONIC UNDWRGROUND hehe that would be awsome, but for now I want PROJECT NEEDLEMOUSE 
hehe.
Once again those ign stupid guys screwed up, but anyway I don’t care and I think everybody should do the same
Oh f*ck IGN they don`t know a good game Winter Olympics is 10 times better then the first olympics if I say the game gets an 8.95 from me & burn in hell IGN reviewers
@Sonic Unleashed: Really? A Sonic Underground game?
If anything they should do a SatAM game now that you bring that up. It’s the most deserving of the cartoons to get a game adaption.
@Turbohog:
Nope, IGN is wrong and will always be wrong. Only retards listen to the drivel of those ignorants.
M&S Winter Olympics might be a mediocre game deserving a 6.5/10 (I kind of expect it to be), but the reviewer must be a Nintendo fanboy claiming that “Big N’s” minigame fests are better. Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Wii Music… utterly boring once the novelty has worn off.
Dark Qiviut has got it right. This game is guaranteed to be a financial success, regardless of the worthless opinions of certain reviewers. Because it’s featuring two huge gaming icons while targeting this generation’s holy cow, the casual gamer.
Already looking forward to the ignorants’ opinion on S&SASR and Project Needlemouse… not!
“Surely Project Needlemouse won’t score a 6.5 ….”
@ serpx: I wouldn’t be surprised if IGN finds even ONE little, tiny, insignificant thing to nitpick to the point where they give it a low score. . .
But o WEEEELL! Watcha gonna do? I never read/pay attention to reviews whatsoever so we’ll all have to wait for 2010!!!!
(hmm. . . wonder what the official name for needlemouse will be. . . Sonic 4, Sonic ’10, it’s all endless possibilities really. . .)
From the site that brought you IGN Music Hub!
Have to be honest, I enjoy this game, I give it a 7.7/10
@Sonic Unleashed and GREG THE CAT:
Here’s my 2 cents on that: no…just..no…. I think all sonic cartoons (except the Sonic OVA) sucked and I think SEGA should just stick to their own story lines for sonic because most of the time they usually fit sonic better.
Ya know, I’m rather surprised no one is bashing IGN because it’s own by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corps.
6.5 Presentation
A mixed bag throughout. Most of the extras and customization is way too cookie cutter, but the interface is easy to use for the most part. 20 characters is a bit thin though.
6.5 Graphics
Slightly less quality than the first Olympic game. You’ll be greeted by a nice CG intro, but for the most part it’s very standard fare in terms of Wii visuals. Isn’t pushing the platform.
7.0 Sound
There’s nothing too memorable, and figure skating makes use of public domain music. Characters all get their standard lines in there, but it’s very average overall.
6.0 Gameplay
Most of the events are waggle filled and far from compelling. Curling and speed skating are pretty fun, but hockey is a total bust. There’s just no real depth to the controls.
6.0 Lasting Appeal
The dream events add another layer of depth, but the core events hurt the package. We’ve seen most of what Olympics offers, with higher quality at that.
6.5
Passable OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
That is how Ign rated the game.
The reviewer also said,”Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games isn’t a bad choice on Wii – it’s just way too generic for more players to get into.” and “Tie that together with a generally uninspired control scheme across most events – shake, shake, and more shake – and you’ve got a game that doesn’t live up to the previous Olympics offering or break any real ground on Wii. It’s fine for casual users or younger gamers, but anyone following Wii’s year-over-year offerings is going to find nothing truly innovative or uniquely designed. Unless you like curling, that is. If you like curling, Craig and I will see you out on the leaderboards.”
To my opinon Ign is right on for the minigames because when I saw gameplay footage for the minigames, hockey seemed to look like a medicore minigame and the controls for speed skating feel look like there unresponsive. Content for game though custimizing your mii so they can look good as well as you do can keep you playing the game even more than you want to.
Ign rates the games for what they think after going and checking the game out but honestly why did they rate SATBK lower than STH07 and SATSR?
Naturally, I’d be angry, but then I realized I should expect this kinda crap from IGN. The very people who open insulted their own reviewers for giving SA2 a positive review, not finishing games like SU and SBK even tho it’s their JOB, and openly mocked the fanbase for getting angry at them for not trying. And NOW they’re big excuse here was it was made by SEGA, NOT Nintendo.
I would say they’re biased, but they’re not… they’re deliberately picking on Sonic.
*phew* I’m done. To be honest I haven’t played the (I will, I will), so I’ll gather a final opinion once I actually play the game, but their reasoning (“oh SEGA made it, not Nintendo”) is just ridiculous.
Anything is better than Wii Sports because it only serves to demonstrate the Wii’s motion sensing. As for other Mario sports, those are dedicated to one sport, not a mix of multiple sports like an Olympics game. And Nintendo supervises these M&S Olympic games, so they are also responsible for any mediocrity here. Not JUST Sega because it’s popular to bash them. I hate it when these critics make Nintendo games sound so much better than they are. It foloed me into buying a few of their mediocre titles in the past, that’s why. LOL!
… r they sonic bully’in?? lol!
if so then oh well.
i guss you can’t tell them nothing. lol
don’t get that much games any way.
i was saving up for this but i dont have a balance bord…evan if i wanted to rent it first… i couldn’t play and see 4 my self! <=[
Hehe, I saw the video review now (don’t like to read), and… hey, it wasn’t thaat bad! I actually thought it was okay. They said there opinion and gave it a score over 5. And… I myself don’t think the game look so good so… I guess it’s not strange that I don’t think the review there was so bad. It was more… an okay review.
@Sonic Unleashed and GREG THE CAT:
NO. No Sonic games based off cartoons or TV shows. The comic characters are horrible. Us old time fans deserve to have the old Sonic back, at least for awhile.
Lol, IGN always fails.
Don’t listen to them.
The game is much better than the last.
I love it so much since it’s fun, awesome, SEGA, and Nintendo. <3
Guess I came to the party a little late.
One one hand, you’re never going to like a reviewer that says the games you love are bad.
One the other we purposefuly gathering scraps of info to use against IGN.
Now I don’t like the guys and gals there, not at all. Never read their reviews any more.
BUT if Sonic and Mario’s places were SWITCHED, and Sonic did have a shiny and impeccable string of games on his resume and Mario didn’t, would we be saying the same things about him and Nintendo as the Igahnuh reporters are saying about Sonic and SEGA, and throw all we have into it to build a laughing stock?
Would we?
‘Course it’s neither here nor there. What I’m really saying is that it’s to be expected from know-it-alls.
The only problem here are the fans, when mario does crappy games (i think all of them are, I don’t like his games but anyway) mario fans don’t care about it they just be happy to play a mario game, but SONIC fans don’t (some of them of course). I like all SONIC Games in my opnion they are the BEST GAMES OF THE UNIVERSE!!!
And you will see that in S&SASR and the best Sonic Games EVER in 2010 PROJECT NEEDLEMOUSE
SEEEEEGGAAAAA
IGNorant not even going to bother but anyway i seriously from what i see Nintendo is milking Mario and so there starting to run out of ideas like has anyone noticed that fact they keep making sequels, remakes and even brought some gamecube games over to wii with wii controls proves it Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a good idea but there isnt really alot of improvement if you ask me the only thing of improvement is Yoshi and there adding more power ups this just makes me think why doesnt Sonic have any power ups like he had them in Sonic 3 if i recall the Fire Water and Thunder items has anyone saw SMBZ 8 like it showed Fire Sonic which was better than Fire Mario in appearence i think anyway sorry for getting off topic the fact that Nintendo constently make 2-3 or more Mario games every year is getting on my nerves they forgotten about there other franchises that barely have games Starfox, Kirby, Zelda(not including the Toon Link series), Donkey Kong and F-Zero havent been getting games lately dont get me wrong i like Mario’s games but Nintendo arent really giving the fans of those franchises what they deserve like they wouldnt had gotten to where they are today without those fans but instead they go to these Wii Sports titles just to get more ppl like the adults which is a good idea but they shouldnt constently do it from what i see Nintendo is going to make a huge mistake i think =/ as for Super Mario Galaxy 2 talk about way to early i think Super Mario Sunshine to Super Mario Galaxy took 5 years but now we have SMG2 which is going to take like 3 years this is why i believe and some other ppl can see that this game isnt going to be all that of a improvement.
@SU: Hehehey! SU! Didn’t you say that you havem never ever bought a Nintendo console!? How can you than say that all Mario games are crappy?
Or… who doesn’t like that?
Just think it sounds… weird. But I guess you got an explanation… but if you don’t, you have wrong. And I like when I’m right and someone else is wrong.
I myself think Mario has great games (except the party games… they are just fun, not good), but it’s just not my game taste. I think slow platforming games are mostly boring. I like more action.
@Sonic Unleashed:
Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 2006, and Sonic Labyrinth want to have a word with you.
@gamelordadb:
You’ll really take an OVA that explains jack crap over a well developed cartoon? Indeed, Sonic Underground is terrible but SatAM?
@Sonikku Master:
Classic Robotnik for the win.
Werehog:@ hehe homie you’r right sorry I do have an explanation but now is not the time for it sorry (maybe later xD ) and I’m with you —>” I think slow platforming games are mostly boring. I like more action” even though I like Crash Bandicoot games ’cause is a well developed plataformer.
Greg The Cat:@ Man I like shadow the hedgehog because is part of Heroes, yes it has some glitches but what game doesnt? (god of war does, halo does, fifa and pes does…any way). Sonic06 the same thing but I like to think the Sonic06 is a kind of Sonic X loool I don’t know why hehe, and Sonic Labyrinth is like a mario game (but with SONIC) so deal with it bro
I like Sonic Undergorund (Manic, Sonia are AWSOME hehe) SaTam is AWWWSOME too, and Sonic TH the Movie is just PERFECT
But I just want to play now S&SASR AND the next Sonic game (thats going to bethe best ever, I just know it!!!) THE BIG PROJEEEEEECT NEEDLEMOUSE!!!
SEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGA ! ! !
@SU: Hehe, okay!
“Without going into huge brand war issues here, it’s obvious this is a mini-game set developed by SEGA, and not something Nintendo-made”
WTF. You just said… never mind.