Or, to give it its full, correct, slightly clumsy title, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. It’s been confirmed today, and there’s a teaser trailer above, which I’m sure you’ve already spotted.
As you might think from the inclusion of snowboarding, the Wii balance board will be supported, though unfortunately there’s no online play on the home console version. The press release doesn’t make it explicit, but Wi-Fi could be possible on the DS game.
It’s being developed by Sega Japan, under the watchful eye of Shigeru Miyamoto (I imagine Shigsy just saying “yeah, ’s alright” every couple of months when he’s shown a new build; I’m not convinced he’s that heavily involved) and the game will feature new faces to the series - yes! - to be revealed later in the year - boo!
Again, the initial announcement is shy on event revelations, simply naming alpine skiing and speed skating as among the disciplines. Once again, more events will be drip-fed to us greedy info-gobblers throughout the course of the year.
And that’s about it, really - I quite liked Mario & Sonic as a waggle-riffic multiplayer timewaster, and hopefully the sequel, with its balance board shenanigans, will be even better. It’ll sell millions, of course and after Sega’s recent losses, it needs a banker like this one.
Though Don King’s Prizefighter wasn’t exactly a knockout on HD consoles, the fuzzy-haired one clearly has high hopes for the forthcoming DS and Wii versions, which come under the new name of Don King Boxing, and look to be quite different to their hi-def cousins.
The balance board isn’t required, but if you own one, it can be used for bobbing and weaving your way between your opponent’s blows. Meanwhile, 2K has incorporated a Boxercise mode, clearly in an attempt to cater to the Wii Fit crowd - though the press release suggests that it won’t just help you exercise, the program will also increase your boxer’s stats for his next bout.
“We’ve created our best set of real-life boxing exercises ever for Don King Boxing” claims the man himself. “It wouldn’t surprise me if a future world champion was introduced to the sport through this game. This is where you can get the skills that make for thrills.”
Or that pays the bills, presumably. Both versions are out on 27th March in Europe, and four days later across the US.
Yes, that’s the right way round - the sequel to Kororinpa will be called Marbles! Balance Challenge, with Konami publishing the game in Europe. It seems Konami wants to disassociate itself from Hudson’s original ball-roller by calling it something else entirely, perhaps because the name doesn’t actually mean anything outside Japan and the first probably didn’t sell that well anyway (shamefully).
This time there’s a method behind the tilt-based madness - you’re helping an ant named Anthony, who needs to save his colony by, er, rolling some balls into holes across a series of fiendish maze-like levels suspended in space. It’s much bigger than the original - 300 stages in all, with 100 stages specifically crafted for balance board owners. So if you were a fan of the put-the-Mii-balls-in-the-holes game in Wii Fit and want a whole lot more of it, then this little beauty is the game for you. Fit-less Wiiers are catered for too - 200 stages are offered up there, which compares very favourably with the all-too-brief original.
While the mechanics remain fairly similar, you’ll have more collectibles to pick up on the way - the final stage is reached by a road constructed from parts you collect throughout the game, while you can also get your hands on items for use in the game’s edit mode. These levels can be shared with other Wii users online via WiiConnect24. There’s also a suite of multiplayer modes, offering challenges for up to four players via splitscreen. Your best times for each stage can also be uploaded to online leaderboards.
It’s a pleasingly comprehensive feature set for a sequel, and hopefully the name-change will aid its success. Though more likely to help it roll up the charts is its recession-friendly price - a bargainous £24.99. Marbles! Balance Challege launches in Europe on April 30th. If it’s as good as the original, you should probably buy it.
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