Mario & Sonic Reunite

SEGA are back in development on a follow-up to the semi-flop that was Mario & Sonic at the Olympics. Sadly, the first one fell a little below expectations. With two great video game mascots coming together in one title people were naturally excited, but it was quickly realised that this was a short-lived and unimaginative collection of mini-games that would barely keep gamers amused for the sixteen days that the official event lasted.

Hopefully the next offering that is designed with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in mind; has a little more about it. Instead of relying on the fact that they’ve brought a famous plumber and hedgehog together, they might want to focus their efforts on adding a little more substance and originality to the proceedings.

They’ve already confirmed that the game will be fully compatible with the Wii Balance Board, so that should help spice things up a little, it will certainly add an extra element to sports such as Snowboarding and Skeleton. How much of the full winter Olympic calendar they include is anybodies guess, but Speed Skating and Alpine Skiing have already been confirmed, the latter probably requiring frantic arm swings to keep momentum.

It has also been confirmed that there will be new characters added to the line-up, although how many more iconic Sonic characters there are left to add is highly debateable. On Mario’s team I’m almost positive you’ll see the inclusion of fan favourites Donkey and Diddy Kong, who were both notable absentees first time around. You can also bank your money on them throwing one or two more obscure ones into the mix.

As for a release date, well; the most likely guess is February of next year, or thereabouts. The opening ceremony is scheduled for February 12th so that should stand as a good measure of when we should see it on shelves.

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed