Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
The dream team-up heads to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics
Overview
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is the third entry in the crossover series and the second Summer Olympics game. Set against the backdrop of an iconic London — Olympic Stadium, the Thames, Hyde Park, Tower Bridge — this is the most ambitious entry yet, adding four brand new events (football, show jumping, canoeing and badminton), an expanded Dream Events roster and the entirely new London Party mode.
Twenty playable characters span both universes — ten per team — covering every stat type from lightning-fast Speed characters to hulking Power types. New to this game is the Stamina statistic alongside the existing Power, Speed and Skill ratings, adding a new strategic layer to character selection. The game was built exclusively for Wii with full motion control support.
The character select screen — 20 playable characters, 10 per team
London Party mode is the headline new addition — a party game set in the streets of London itself, spread across real landmarks including Hyde Park, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace. Players compete in minigames to fill sticker sheets, with the first to complete theirs crowned the winner.
Team Mario
Ten Nintendo characters make up Team Mario, each with unique stats across Power, Speed, Skill and Stamina. Character type determines their strengths — Power types hit hard, Speed types are quickest, Skill types are most technical, and All-Around types are balanced:
SPD
SKL
STA
The universal hero — perfectly balanced across all stats. A safe choice for any event.
SPD
SKL
STA
Slightly more speed than Mario, slightly less power. His green fire rocket special is handy.
SPD
SKL
STA
Dominant Skill stat — exceptional at technical events like gymnastics and rhythmic ribbon.
SPD
SKL
STA
High speed, decent stamina — great for athletics sprinting events.
SPD
SKL
STA
Fast and light — Flutter Jump helps in airborne events.
SPD
SKL
STA
Maximum Stamina and near-maximum Power — the best bruiser on Team Mario.
SPD
SKL
STA
Perfect Skill rating — the most technically adept character on the Mario side.
SPD
SKL
STA
Near-maximum Power and excellent Stamina. Slow and methodical but devastating in strength events.
SPD
SKL
STA
Strong for an All-Around — more powerful than Mario with decent speed to match.
SPD
SKL
STA
Maximum Power — the hardest hitting character in the game. Low skill but compensates with brute force.
Team Sonic
Ten Sega characters make up Team Sonic — equally competitive and covering the full stat spectrum. Metal Sonic returns from the Winter Games:
SPD
SKL
STA
Maximum Speed — the fastest character in the game. Low stamina is his only drawback.
SPD
SKL
STA
Near-maximum Skill — the Sonic team equivalent of Peach. Great in technical events.
SPD
SKL
STA
High Power and Stamina — a reliable bruiser who can go the distance.
SPD
SKL
STA
Balanced across the board with equal Skill and Speed — the Sonic team all-rounder.
SPD
SKL
STA
Speed-leaning all-rounder — consistently solid across every stat.
SPD
SKL
STA
Near-maximum Speed — almost as fast as Sonic, with slightly better skill.
SPD
SKL
STA
High Skill and solid Stamina — good Stamina sets him apart from other Skill types.
SPD
SKL
STA
Huge Power and Stamina — a heavyweight who can take punishment and dish it out.
SPD
SKL
STA
Near-perfect Skill — the most technically gifted character in the entire game across both teams.
SPD
SKL
STA
Lightning Speed with good Stamina — a cold, efficient racer with no weaknesses in speed events.
Olympic events
Twenty-four Olympic events cover the full breadth of the London 2012 Summer Olympics programme. All events use Wii Remote motion controls. Four are new to the series: Football, Show Jumping, Canoeing and Badminton:
Athletics — Olympic Stadium
Gymnastics — North Greenwich Arena
Aquatics — Aquatics Centre
New events for 2012
Other events
Dream events
Ten Dream Events replace realistic physics with game-world chaos — set in iconic locations from both the Mario and Sonic universes. Each puts a wild spin on its Olympic counterpart:
London Party mode
London Party mode is the defining new feature of this entry — a full-blown party game set in the streets of London itself. Up to four players move around a map of the city taking in real landmarks: Hyde Park, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the Thames and more.
Players compete in challenges and minigames spread across London to earn stickers, which are placed on sticker sheets. The first player to completely fill all the spaces on their sticker sheet wins. It’s a clever wrapper that gives multiplayer a defined objective beyond simple score chasing — and the London setting makes it genuinely distinctive.
“London Party Mode set in the streets of London allows up to 4 players to participate in a party game that adds another layer of fun to the game.” — Original game description
London Party minigames
Twelve minigames are spread throughout London Party mode, each using the London setting and characters from both universes:
Count how many NPCs or objects are on screen — a memory and observation challenge.
Chase Lakitu down a highway, avoiding the obstacles he throws while racing to the finish.
Talk to as many Shy Guys as possible before anyone else — whoever collects the most coins wins.
Co-op: stop Lakitus from stealing diamonds from Hyde Park. Teamwork required.
Explore London to find 6 gates scattered around the city map.
Run a highway collecting coins and rings while avoiding hazards — chaotic and competitive.
Two players chase two others using pipes to warp around the level to chase and evade.
Last player standing on the highway wins — avoid being knocked off.
Race to reach the finish point first across London.
Catch rings from the Thames or other London waterways.
Free-for-all coin grab across a London landmark.
A straight competitive sprint through a London street — closest to a pure racing minigame.
Collections — costumes
Costumes return from the previous game, letting players dress their Mii in outfits based on the playable characters. Most are unlocked via the Scratch Card system or by spending Blank Cards:
Mario franchise costumes
Mario · Luigi · Peach · Daisy · Bowser · Bowser Jr. · Donkey Kong · Wario · Waluigi · Yoshi
Sonic franchise costumes
Sonic · Tails · Knuckles · Amy · Shadow · Blaze · Silver · Vector · Dr. Eggman · Metal Sonic
Most costumes are won through a Scratch Card or purchased for 10 Blank Cards. Blank Cards are earned through gameplay and London Party progress.
Stickers
Stickers are earned throughout London Party mode and form the core win condition — fill your sticker sheet before opponents to win. Each playable character has their own sticker, as do the rival characters who appear in story mode. Stickers also have ? Effects — mystery bonuses that trigger when placed on specific sheet positions, including score multipliers, coin bonuses, time extensions and event boosts.
Playable character stickers
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Yoshi
Wario
Waluigi
Bowser
Bowser Jr.
Vector
Sonic
Tails
Knuckles
Amy
Blaze
Shadow
Silver
Dr. Eggman
Metal SonicRival character stickers
Rival characters appear as opponents in story mode — each has a sticker collectible in London Party mode:
Dry Bowser
King Boo
Birdo
Rouge
Jet
Eggman Nega
Omega
Dry BonesQuotes
A selection of memorable lines from the characters throughout the game:
“With all London covered in the thick fog it generates, they’ll have to cancel the Games!”
— Dr. Eggman
“Don’t try to deny it! You and Sonic were the ones who scared me senseless last night, Mario!”
— Toad
“Yoshi, yoshi. Yoshi! (Yes, actually. I can’t cross the Tower Bridge!)”
— Yoshi
The game features extensive character-specific dialogue across all 20 playable characters — the full list of quotes is extensive and reveals a lot of character personality. Eggman’s scheme to cancel the Games with fog is particularly memorable as the loose narrative thread of the single-player mode.
Videos
Three videos from our original coverage — two TV commercials and the Gamescom trailer:
Wii gameplay commercial
TV commercial
Gamescom trailer
Trivia and interesting facts
- This is the third game in the Mario & Sonic series and the second Summer Olympics entry — following the 2007 original and 2009 Winter Games
- Four brand new Olympic events debut in this entry: Football (Association Football), Equestrian Show Jumping, Canoe Sprint and Badminton
- A new Stamina statistic is introduced alongside the existing Power, Speed and Skill stats — Dr. Eggman has the highest Skill rating (99/100) of any character across both teams
- Donkey Kong has the maximum Power rating (100/100) of any character — making him the hardest hitter on the roster
- Sonic has the maximum Speed rating (100/100) — no other character can match him for pure pace
- The game is set against real London 2012 venues including Olympic Stadium, North Greenwich Arena (the O2), Aquatics Centre and Hyde Park
- London Party mode is entirely new to this entry — a full party game set in the streets of London spreading across its iconic landmarks
- The story mode involves Dr. Eggman’s plan to cover London in fog to cancel the Games — giving the adventure mode an actual narrative hook
- Tower Bridge features in the game and in the character dialogue — Yoshi cannot cross it at one point, leading to one of the game’s most endearing character moments
- The game shipped on Wii only for console play — a 3DS version was also released with entirely different events and game mechanics
- All 20 playable characters have their own emblem — a personal logo used on the character select screen and in-game displays
- The Dream Events take players to Yoshi’s Story, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes as backdrops
Reference and downloads