The 2020 Tokyo Olympics they will be gone next year, but the SEGA standard bearer is unstoppable: after the traditional olympic crossover With Mario on Nintendo systems, Sonic and his friends have started celebrating the largest international sports event on mobile. A sports party to which everyone is invited. At least, during the first few bars of the experience.
While Mario and Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics It is a familiar cut title loaded with small playable experiences for Switch, the equivalent of iOS, Android and Amazon devices such as the Fire TV Stick retains the premise, half of the characters (those of SEGA, of course) and a good part of the events, transforming each competition into a minigame that we can tackle using the touch screen.
SEGA recovers a good part of the formula that we saw in the Nintendo 3DS edition of Mario and Sonic at the Rio Olympics providing a certain story context to the experience and, in turn, takes up the legacy of the Sonic at the Olympic Games of 2008. That is, despite the fact that the download of the app is free, to enjoy the full show in-game purchases will be required.
The Olympics in the key of mini-games
It is no secret that Sonic at the Olympics: Tokyo 2020 seeks to address – or at least offer – an experience based on what SEGA created for Switch adapting each sport to what can be done with a touch screen. Something that directly affects the design of the tests and how we will enjoy them, although visually it does not separate too much from the console models.
Now, when we talk about the way to celebrate the event, we refer to everything related to the Olympics: Sonic, Tails and company will be tourists in Japan
And, in the same movement, protect them from Eggman's plans solving their differences based on sports competitions.
The plan of Dr. Eggman and his henchmen is manual: he has taken the city and prepares to sabotage the Olympics. However, it is also as valid a way as any other to unlock new sporting events and, in turn, EX events, variations of which introduce variants, changes and even more elements. Arcadian the whole.
In front, 15 sports events in the key of a minigame that we will solve by tapping the screen at the right time, dragging your finger in the right direction or pressing virtual buttons placed on the screen depending on the type of discipline.
And although the first tests are terribly simple, enough to take all the gold medals from the first of the five zones of the game, we will soon notice how little by little we are falling further behind in front of the others. Growing stronger the delicate balance between the simple, the entertaining and the challenging.
When it comes to our progress, the story before us also includes challenges with Finale Bossess that we will have to overcome in time or score to be able to advance, as well as a series of extra mini-games that end up giving a point of variety to the set. Some of these inspired by other experiences like Sonic Jump and others as memory games.
The provision when choosing a sport or continuing the plot has room for improvement, of course: each of the five main areas of the game is based on a location in Tokyo, forcing us to do the full tour to access all events
The multiplayer experience, on the other hand, is relieved of the challenges: once an event is completed we can challenge our contacts or a list of players from all over the world. Sending challenges or accepting them is part of the charm, of course, being a kind of asynchronous competition. Which does not prevent us from missing the sensations of competing in real time.
However, the real barrier to the game is neither the difficulty nor how your competitive system with other players is focused, but the point at which the game proposes you to buy the complete experience.
To enjoy the whole show you need to pay the entrance
The 220 MB Megas requested by the application of Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on iOS (and 90 of Google play) are just an initial download whose purpose is to check that the game works correctly on your device and to approve permissions, licenses and notifications: after the first race, SEGA invites us to download more than 600 Megas more with the complete set. The bad news is that that will also not ensure us enjoy everything it offers.
As it happened with Super mario run, the reality of Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is that it offers an experience Free-to-Start, with which after a dozen tests it will be necessary to acquire the following phases through passes or, directly, a single lot that gives you access to all five play areas. The final feeling is that you are facing a kind of demo and the price for the reduced full game is equivalent – approximately – to a month of subscription of Apple Arcade.
All in all, it is a single payment, although the extra content that we can acquire does not end there: SEGA offers us paid lots with musical themes or added benefits once we have advanced enough. Logically, in this case it is totally accessory elements.
On the other hand, acquiring the Full Access Pass to all the gaming areas does not imply that you will have all the characters at hand or sports disciplines and variants: in my case I received Metal Sonic once I entered the second zone and it is only possible to use it in certain events. On the other hand, and being fair, the total access pass I purchased also includes five demo passes. premium
Thus, we find a game proposal in which before being able to play Table tennis with Amy Rose (for example) you will have to pay and give a whole series of detours. Which does not remove or overshadow that its phase designs, its level of difficulty progression or the way of capturing the variety of each Olympic discipline they are reasonably well thought out.
A light hobby that, for one reason or another, ends up claiming your free time
Finding out that there was extra content not included in the Total Access Pass once the purchase was made was not the best way to start the Olympics that SEGA proposed to me, but the truth is that in a little more than two afternoons that I have been with the game I can say that in my case I have amortized in some way those five euros: From time to time I have been unlocking things, advancing in history and trying to stay on top of the podium in each challenge.
I am aware that, as with all mobile games, they are a single payment or free-to-play– The real challenge is to overcome the barrier of continuing to play three days in a row. Hearthstone still there, Mario Kart Tour he got it, Super mario run also and, seen the seen, Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics It will continue to be installed on my device for the next few days. At least, until you get everything the full experience has to hand.
The mini-games that SEGA proposes are not like those of party games: We are challenged to obtain the gold in front of the characters of the Sonic universe and, in turn, beat asynchronously with other players. I may be wrong, but unless there are plans to introduce new content in a phased manner in the medium and long term, by the time the Tokyo Olympics are held chances are you no longer have it installed.
Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics can't match the addictive factor of experiences like Brawl Stars or Clash Royale, but it entertains and it is felt that there is the work behind it. Enough for SEGA to make me pay again for a new Sonic game, knowing that it will not be the last.
Until then, and as long as I keep having fun, I plan to leave marks and high scores in the game's rankings and leaderboards. And who knows? The same until I achieve a world record. The Karate SEGA style I've never been bad at it.