I expected this from Mario and the gang, considering the fact that they've raced karts, played baseball, basketball, tennis, and golf, but from Sonic and friends I never would've thought. With the Olympics coming up not too far from now, Sega is putting Mario and Sonic through their paces, as players will get to see just who would take the gold and who would finish with the lowly silver. Mario and Sonic's rivalry just keeps going and going.

It doesn't sound like you'll be playing in all the Olympic games, but based on what we were told you'll play through quite a few of them, including swimming contests, gymnastics, archery, skeet shooting, and various track and field games. For the purposes of our preview, we were shown three games they already had readied, including the triple jump, hammer throw, and 100-meter dash.

Much like a kart racer, where players have different handling abilities based on things such as weight and speed, so to do the characters of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. If you choose to go with a character like Mario, you'll find an overall average character who doesn't excel well at anything, but has no major faults either. Grab a character like Bowser, and you'll find someone who has the highest strength, but that bulk really slows him down. Meanwhile, a character like Sonis is…what else would you expect…going to have the highest top speed of all the characters in the game. However, don't expect to see Sonic blazing to the finish with feet of fire, as he is very much toned down in ability, and as it was put to us, the actual skill of the player will always trump the natural ability of the characters they choose (picking the right character for any given game will only help matters).

For the triple jump, Tails was showed off, and in this game you have to run as fast as you can towards the jump line, and then when you get close enough you jump, and then jump again, and then jump again (hence the name – triple jump). You wouldn't think there would be much strategy involved, but there is. For starters, before you even get running, you can use the remote and nunchuk to make Tails virtually clap his hands together, which will help pump him up for the event, so he'll do even better. Afterwards, the faster you pump your controllers for the running motion, the more forward momentum he'll have, and of course the closer to the line you get for your first jump the farther you'll be able to go as well. Beyond that, a real life event was described to us, where jumpers will try and flutter their feet in the air as if they are trying to walk on the air, and it actually helps them go a bit farther; you'll even be able to use this tactic to add a bit more to your distance.

With the hammer throw, Bowser was used for his strength in hopes of hurling the hammer even more than usual (though as was told to us, the record the guy playing the game for us had set while at E3 so far was with Peach of all people). Much like in real life, hammer throwers like to add that extra oomph, that grunt of determination, and in the hammer throw you'll be able to recreate that grunt with a button press, helping you boost the strength of your throw. As for the 100-meter dash, you've got to pump with all your might to get running at your fastest, but you can't jump early. As with the other games, other extras are included like being able to lean into the finish for close races.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games looks as if it will really excel as a party game, where several friends can get together and compete over virtual bragging rights, being able to rub their gold in the face of whoever finished in second place. If you find watching the Olympics boring, get ready to pick up a controller and actually live them out…albeit with videogame mascots rather than real people. But hey, who wouldn't rather see that anyways?