Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will take players to Vancouver, Canada, host city of the official 2010 Olympic Winter Games. This gaming experience invites players of all ages and skill sets to face-off in some of the most intense winter competitions. Tailored to the specific system controls, Nintendo DS and Wii gamers will enjoy completely unique experiences thanks to each platform having its own specific gameplay features and modes. Players of all skill levels will enjoy the intuitive controls of both the Wii and Nintendo DS systems, in both single and multiplayer gaming modes. The Wii game will offer an even richer multiplayer experience offering co-op and competitive gameplay where the Nintendo DS brings an intense competitive element using the Nintendo DS wireless capabilities. Additionally, one of the new features to be found in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is the inclusion of the Wii Balance Board™ which can be used in some events featured in the Wii version, allowing for a more interactive and realistic gaming experience.

User Reviews about Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Great fun, the games brilliant and fun to play especally with friends it gives a mixture of the proper games and the fun mario ones. There is also a nice career mode which you can do in a two player mode as well. It's better for more than 1 player and makes good use of the balance board. Lot's of fun especally for children. Mario and sonic done it again. -- Mario and Sonic at the winter Olympics

It's about 8 characters, and you go to one world. One world is sling shooting. "This is the best video game ever", said the guy in front of me in the store. It's rated E and it's good for kids. -- Review by Justin, a first grader

Bit of a different perspective here: Absolute beginner at Wii gaming, having skipped all consoles since the original Atari.

And another twist: I covered the 2010 Winter Olympics, spending most of my time in Whistler with a couple of visits to Vancouver.

From a sentimental point of view, I love this game. Some of the scenery reminds me of Vancouver and Whistler. It's very pretty.

The problems are:

1. The menu screens take forever. I'm worried I'll break my A button trying to get through everything.

2. The hockey game is a little convoluted. Surely there are better ways to play hockey on the Wii.

3. The "Dream" events are rather silly aside from the snowball fight.

4. Several of the games feel pretty much the same. That's the nature of the Winter Games, as many have noted. A lot of these sports consist of going downhill as fast as you can.

5. No biathlon. Seriously, no biathlon. That was one of the sports I covered, and I'm an actual biathlon geek. But I think most people would rather see that than some other iteration of "go that way really fast -- if something gets in your way, turn," to quote "Better Off Dead."

But the game is still entertaining. The curling action -- and I say this as a curling geek as well -- mimics actual curling quite well. Kids will like the familiar Mario and Sonic characters, even if some of the games are too difficult. The ski jump and snowboardcross are highlights.

Hoping for a few small improvements for Sochi 2014. -- Beautiful, but ...

I got this game and the summer Olympics game. This is a much more advanced game than the summer games one. This is a fun game and the controls are very easy to learn. I like the characters and the scenes. The game is a bit simple for me (being 23) but it's still fun with large groups. I think it would be a great game for younger kids. -- Pretty good