Keep the Spirit Alive with Olympic Games at Home

Have you been watching the  XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia?  The style and grace of the figure skating couples was amazing.  And didn’t you cringe with disappointment when Kelly Clark fell 20 feet below from the half pipe, right on her back and shoulder?  She went on to try again despite the number of spills her body had already taken during the day, and achieved the Silver medal.  The skills, dedication, and relentless drive for perfection is just amazing to watch.

My daughter told me one night that after watching the Olympics that she wanted to compete inthe Olympics for figure skating.  Yes, she knows how to ice skate, but no, she’s never had formal figure skating lessons.  But wouldn’t it be fun if you could compete in the same events as in the Winter Olympics, but not have to do the intensive practices, face the harsh cold elements, or live in sub-par Olympic housing?  Watching the Olympics  is a great family activity to watch how athletes persevere despite obstacles like falling during a competition, health issues that prevent them from competing, or even watching a stunning performance by your competitor…right before it’s your turn!

With the Olympics ending soon, I wanted to find a way to keep the Olympic spirit alive through video games.  I searched the internet and discovered Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for the Wii U.  Perfect.  I found it at Walmart.com.  Interestingly, the price for the Wii U Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games was $44.96 OR you could by the game with an enclosed Wii Remote Plus controller for $49.96.  Hmmm, well, since the Wii Remote Plus generally sells for $34 – $39, this was a no brainer.  Besides, I knew the kids would love having a light blue Wii Remote Plus rather than all the white ones we have.

Our Family & Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

We couldn’t wait to try out the Wii U Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at home.  There are 5 main categories you can choose from:

1. Single Match – Jump right into your favorite winter sport.  Play solo, against others, or play cooperatively, in some events
2. Medley Mania – Compete in multiple events, one right after another to see who wins the match.  Choose from preset medlies or create your own
3. Worldwide Vs – Compete for your country (or any country) against worldwide athletes to increase your country’s rankings
4. Legends Showdown – Compete in a tournament-style game with all of the 20 Mario characters in this fun single-player game
5. Action & Answer Tour – Compete with family and friends in this fun mini version of events and puzzle/question solving game

The Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games is the first Wii U game for Mario & Sonic and it includes favorite Mario characters including Sonic, Luigi, Princess Peach, Amy, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Walugi, Silver, and more.

We started off right away in the Single Match, eager to participate in our favorite Olympic games.  We started with figure skating, my daughter’s favorite.   Before your performance, you even get to pick the type of music you skate too.  Of course, my daughter is the best at both figure skating and figure skating pairs in the household.

The Wii U GamePad controller is used in various events to add more fun to the game.  For instance, in the bobsleigh event, the team captain uses the GamePad to steer the bobsleigh down the hill while giving orders to his teammates, who are using the Wii Remote Plus controllers.

In this Ski Jumping Large Hill event, I could almost feel me knees knock together.  Can you imagine sitting on this cold bar on a steep still looking nearly straight down?  Yikes!  I caught just a glimpse of what skiers face in this competition by the angling of the game camera.

My favorite section of the game is Medley Mania.  Here, you can choose a selection of medley events and compete against others.  I liked the way the Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games game added surprising twists and obstacles to familiar winter events.  At the end of the match, the person with the most points wins.

In this fun Mario Medley twist, we are competing in figure skating as we chase after some bad guys who held some innocent bystanders captive.  To do well in this chase, however, you need to make beautiful spins, turns, and jumps.  You can see in this picture some yellow triangles around each character.  They are arrows that give you the direction to move your Remote Plus Controller in to achieve the perfect move.  Medlies like this are great where you can utilize the skills you learned in other areas of the game along with a storyline to follow to make the game even more fun.

Although there are 24 fun winter Olympic games to try out, here are a few events to give you a better idea of some of the events covered, as stated on the  Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games website: