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August 2, 2007
Sonic slowed down for Olympic Games 04:29:24 PM CT [Super-Jesse]


Sega product manager Grant Gie sat down with CVG for a short interview about his company's upcoming game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. During this pow-wow, they asked the one question that is on everyone's mind: "how on earth is fat old Mario ever going to beat Sonic in a race?"

That answer? Make Sonic fast, but not in every aspect. Gie explains that the entire game can be seen as a balancing act, reminiscent of games like Mario Kart or the recently released Mario Strikers Charged, where every character has a distinct advantage, but also a disadvantage. As always, Mario & Luigi are all-around on all the stats, while Sega decided to make Sonic have top speed, yet low acceleration. Still don't see that as a fair shake for the blue flash? Gie says it's a risk that Sega is willing to take, as it makes the game more appealing to people who simply want to just pick-up and play.

"We're trying to go for that mass-appeal like Mario Kart; it crosses all boundaries. Kids can pick up and play Mario Kart and have a great time, but it's really fun at home with those core gamers who replay and replay."

For some reason, when I think 'top speed' and 'low acceleration' I think of Bowser, DK, and Wario in the Mario Kart games. Sonic doesn't have their build at all. However, I can't think of another way to make it fair. Unless of course, Sega takes a cue from their recent Sonic games and just makes Sonic 1) hard to control and 2) have bad camera angles. This also raises another question: how will Robotnik- er, Eggman, and Bowser compete? If they give them the same stats as Sonic, that's just wrong.

Link: computerandvideogames.com

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