Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 switch review

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic games are coming to Tokyo for the second time and that means it’s time once again for long-time rivals Mario and Sonic to rally their teams and battle their way to the top of the podium. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for Nintendo Switch, you’ll compete in more than 30 Olympic events, and 3 original, far-out Dream Events events.

Enjoy Olympic festivities in beautiful downtown Tokyo, practice with your favourite characters like Luigi and Knuckles, participate in intense Olympic tournaments, and travel back in time to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in a brand new story.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Details

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Genre: Sports
Modes: Single player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E10+ (Everyone 10+)

Head back in time to the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games

Arguable the best mode in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is its story mode. One day, Mario, Sonic, and Toad receive a mysterious gaming system. The trio recruit the help of Luigi to help them figure out what it is and how to turn it on. As expected, Bowser and Dr. Eggman are up to no good. The evil duo have constructed the retro gaming system to trap Mario and friends inside it.

As both Bowser and Dr. Eggman watch from afar, they get frustrated that Mario and friends can’t figure it out. Bowser messes things up by showing up and trying to scare Mario and friends. Frightened, Luigi accidentally presses the power button and Mario, Sonic, Toad, Dr. Eggman and Bowser get sucked and trapped inside the game.

As a result, the five characters are transported back to the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Luckily, Luigi was not sucked into the game and goes in search of help. This creates a dual story storyline, one that takes place in 1964 with Mario and crew trying to escape and the other in 2020 trying to get Mario and friends back home safely.

Easy to pick up controls with a wide variety of events to compete in

There are over 20 3D Tokyo 2020 events and 10 2D Tokyo 1964 events to compete in. It’s clear when SEGA designed Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, accessible gameplay was a major focus. All of the Tokyo 2020 events offer 3 control options: two seperate Joy-Con controllers, a single Joy-Con controller, and a buttons only control scheme.

On the other hand, the 2D Tokyo 1964 events use buttons only. It was great to see players given the options on the control scheme that suits them best. There are a variety of Olympic Events to compete in including Badminton, Surfing, Table Tennis, Volleyball and Judo. To be honest, I highly preferred the classic 2D Tokyo 1964 events. The simpler controls, retro style graphics and sound took me back to the days of Track & Field on the NES.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the 3D events, but anytime I played with family and friends we heavily favoured the classic 2D events. If I had to choose, I would say that the 100 metre dash is my favourite 2D event. Nothing beats the thrill of mashing the buttons as fast as I can in order to win. And, Skateboarding is my favourite 3D event. I never get tired of pulling of tricks left and right.

Brilliant 3D graphics and gorgeous retro visuals

In addition to the story and accessible gameplay, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020‘s visuals are another reason that will draw you into the game. However, it’s the retro graphics in the 2D events and Tokyo 1964 story segments that stole the show for me. Sonic looks like he is right out of the 16-bit Genesis games and Mario directly from Super Mario Bros. on the NES.

Moreover, the announcer voices and music for the 2D events are exactly what you would expect from an arcade games in the 80s. Having grown up with both Sonic and Mario, these visuals and sound instantly took me back to my youth.

Fun with friends

In addition to the story mode, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 features a Quick Match mode that allows you to compete in events by yourself or with up to 3 other players on one system. Next, Local Play allows up to 4 Nintendo Switch systems with their own copy of the game to play against each other.

Finally, Online play allows you to play in Ranked and Free match modes. Oddly enough, Online play does not include the 2D events from the Tokyo 1964 games. With that being said, it is great to have Online play as it allows you to compete against others from around the world.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a fun video game that the whole family can enjoy

I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had playing Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on the Nintendo Switch. This is clearly the best game in the series by a long shot. The Story Mode is an enjoyable and comical adventure that was like a walk down both 8-bit and 16-bit memory lane. The game offers over 30 events to compete in, which means there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Playing with family and friends both locally and online in Olympic events was a total blast. This is a great game the whole family can enjoy, thanks to the accessible control schemes that the game offers. If you are looking to take a break from the mainstream games and have some plain old fun, you can’t go wrong with this game.

+ Great variety of Olympic and Dream events
+ Enjoyable and comical story mode
+ Beautiful HD and retro graphics
+ Easy and fun to play

– Motion controls don’t really enhance the overall experience
– Unable to setup any type of tournaments

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES TOKYO 2020

Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5

Overall Rating 4/5 (80%)

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