Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games

TWENTY years ago, when the SNES vs Mega-Drive war was at its height, gamers would have laughed in your face at the suggestion that one day Mario and Sonic would appear together.

Yet here we have these two bitter enemies from the 16-bit era now appearing in their first game together.

Thinking about it, the idea of a team-up doesn't seem so daft.

Sonic was all about speed and reaction time, whereas Super Mario was into platform jumping and cautious exploration, but the pair still share plenty in common.

Certainly a Mario/Sonic teamup has more obvious chemistry than, say, Mario meets Master Chief or Sonic versus Lara Croft.

This game is a child-like take on the usual Olympic games tie-in.

There are 20 events on offer and the best make great use of the Wiimote handset. All of them avoid the finger cramp that plagues all the Olympic-themed button bashers you can buy on other systems.

The trampoline, for example, requires you to keep your character's bounce momentum by gently rocking the controller backwards and forwards. The triple-jump requires a running pump motion followed by a quick flick and archery feels just like the real thing as you pull back on the Wii-mote.

Although we're promised 20 different events, several are very similar.

The only difference between the 10m sprint and the 400m is the amount of sweat you perspire and the ache you'll get in your arm muscles when it's finished.

Mostly, it works really well.

They may only be mini-games but the compulsion to have "one more go" is strong.

Long-time fans will also appreciate the Dream Events feature which combine the best features from the Sonic and Mario universes.

Best of all is the Dream Race which mixes classic Mario Kart with Sonic the Hedgehog ring collecting.

A great party game and a title all the family will enjoy.