Whether or not the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are held, video games can always say that the Olympic event went through the circuitry of the different consoles of the moment twice thanks to Sega. Is the official video game of the Olympics? at the height of the desire of the event? We tell you about it in the Tokyo 2020 analysis.
I have had the pleasure and the displeasure of playing many games based on great sports events and have learned to classify them into two different categories. Which? Video games and souvenirs. A famous case is that of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa : FIFA 10 became a capital episode in the history of the FIFA saga and the launch of the World Cup game a few months after the original premiere was the confirmation of the good moment that the franchise was passing and It was highly celebrated by the fans.
In the other category I remember Vancouver 2010, a product that seemed to have no other purpose than to deceive the attendees of the games held in Canada who did not know what to give their offspring when they returned home after days of snow and competition. Spoiler: It ended up getting dust ad eternum on the shelves of PS3 and Xbox 360.
Where is the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – The Official Video Game ? Vancouver or South Africa? It was a long time since we had an unofficial Olympic Games software by Sega without Sonic and Mario as protagonists: the last case was London 2012, software that kept the sporting event sober with everything expected of a production that brought together many of the main sporting events of the London event.
The return of the Olympic torch to consoles from Japanese lands occurs with a product very different from the British one, blurring the lines that separated it from the Mario and Sonic event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Why? Because the ceremonial of the sporting event of the year has given way to a carefree atmosphere and more of a video game than an Olympic one.
Sega’s bet has been smart and offers content ready to turn the long-awaited Olympic Games into a real party. Mind you, it makes questionable decisions on some points and leaves some fronts uncovered in some of the software’s most enjoyable tests. Ready to visit the capital of Japan? Put on your sneakers, we started.
Festival of representation
The first thing that will surprise you about the new Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games video game is the marked representation that there is with respect to other installments of the saga in which they tried to be more faithful to the homonymous event. All competitions are coed and feature competitors of all races and sizes.
It seems that Sega has understood that at the controls of an Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch or PC we all compete, regardless of sex, ethnicity or age, and it seems that it has wanted to bring this plurality to the title itself. Not good, not bad, not quite the opposite; Maybe subtracting iron and seriousness from the appointment will enrich the offer of the new sports proposal from the Japanese publisher.
It may be that subtracting iron and seriousness from the appointment enrich the offer of this new sports proposal
The summary of the production is simple: you will be able to compete for the gold medals in sports such as the 100 meter sprint, 110 meter hurdles, 4×100 relays, baseball, basketball, hammer throw, soccer, long jump, beach volleyball, 100 free swimming meters, 200 meters swimming styles, tennis, table tennis, BMX, boxing, sport climbing, rugby-7 and judo. Being almost all the mini games very competent, as it usually happens in multidisciplinary titles like the present there are lights and shadows.
What would an Olympic video game be without the 100 meter dash? The point is that the discipline does not give for more from the Track and Field, and whoever wants more than to press A many times and do some cuteness during the scarce 10 seconds that the test lasts is going to have it raw.
The same can be applied to its sister cousins in hurdles and relays, with the obvious additions of jumping over obstacles and passing the baton. The tests focused on precision and distance, long jump and hammer throw, present satisfactory and functional mechanics, but he also cannot invent the wheel. However, my feeling at their controls is the general one in the whole product: they have managed to build a sufficiently challenging challenge without losing the coherence of the sports present.
I felt the same with rugby, basketball and soccer: as soon as you understand the basic concept, with two buttons you have enough to play a game in a very decent way.
Lights and shadows in Tokyo
“But Toni, aren’t you freckling too low for an Olympics licensed product?” I think it is unrealistic to ask multidisciplinary games for the quality of the products dedicated to treating a single sports license; It seems clear to me that anyone who wants to play a good game of basketball will go to the 2K shore; Anyone who wants to play baseball will go to Sony’s San Diego.
The question you really need to ask yourself is this: Are you interested enough in baseball to buy a single game of baseball? The success of Tokyo 2020 lies precisely in discovering sports to users outside the practice, real or virtual, of its Olympic versions.
“But Toni, aren’t you freckling too low for an Olympics licensed product?” I think it is unrealistic to ask multidisciplinary games for the quality of the products dedicated to treating a single sports license; It seems clear to me that anyone who wants to play a good game of basketball will go to the 2K shore; Anyone who wants to play baseball will go to Sony’s San Diego. The question you really need to ask yourself is this: Are you interested enough in baseball to buy a single game of baseball? The success of Tokyo 2020 lies precisely in discovering sports to users outside the practice, real or virtual, of its Olympic versions.
I see the production as a great travel companion in which Nintendo Switch players, for example, take advantage of their portable capabilities and play doubles with their Joy-Con anywhere. There it will be unbeatable despite its questionable extras or elements that invite you to continue exploring beyond its challenging multiplayer.
Unlock wasteful cosmetics and access various statistics to improve three of the different pillars on which athletes’ abilities are based (power, speed and technique). In Tokyo 2020, statistics and skill do not matter so much, so the balance between the different participants is necessary to guarantee games in whichfun reigns more than competition.
Of course, it is worth clarifying that the commitment to simplicity is not always a guarantee of success in the latest Sega production. While other games take advantage of their ease of execution, neither contact sports (such as boxing or judo) or the invited categories (sport climbing and BMX) are at the height of the rest of the proposals. They do not have a rewarding execution and the fantasy feats that in other mini games sit well here do not do it at all.
They are clumsy in control and it is seen from afar that they do not have the same care that they have printed in other games such as baseball or tennis. In short, they may be the four worst forms of a production in which the rest of the content borders on a more than acceptable level.
Go for the gold!
As we said, the avatars are editable and cartoony, nothing to do with the athletes of the past in games of a similar nature. The main grace of the virtual representations of the players is based on buying costumes for them and launching them online to compete for medals with other users from all over the world.
Not all online games have been as rewarding as I would have liked, noting that in sports in which the game sessions are longer, users often opt to disconnect if things do not go in their favour. Naturally, it is a problem more for the participants than for the game itself, but it would not have been bad to add some kind of penalty to avoid such attitudes.
There is not much to say about the sound: they have opted for songs from the public with royalty-free melodies that are not at all credible. The athletes’ voices are mere shouts of encouragement in different languages without great effort or effort on the part of their actors to make them realistic. The overall feeling at the helm of Tokyo 2020 is far from bad, but it falls far short of memorable sporting event titles from the past as well. It seems that Sega has hit the key by lowering the ceremonial tone of the event to launch itself into a lighthearted and celebratory territory. It is surely the way to go for future sporting iterations in the Olympic territory.
Better than Mario and Sonic at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Not at all, but Xbox One, PS4 and PC players have no other alternative than this. In the case of Switch, Sega’s commitment to Sonic and Mario was much more rewarding and extensive, offering a wide range of activities and extras such as retro tests or its competent campaign mode that would have sat very well in this title. Now it remains to solve the unknown that we all ask ourselves, will the Tokyo Games be the only Olympic Games that remain in the territory of the video game? I think that all sports lovers deserve a joy: I hope in August we will be enjoying our athletes in Japan.
Most of the sporting events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – The official video game are at a good level and are a good way to enter new sports disciplines accompanied by other friends in competitive or cooperative. It is not very rewarding in the replayability and it depends too much on the online to extend the useful life of the video game beyond getting the gold in each of the software tests. Sober, carefree and functional, but could have given for more.
5 Things you should know
- 18 sports available to an off-road multiplayer.
- Bet on removing the ceremonial from the Olympic Games to turn them into a party.
- Little single player walkthrough and little perk beyond unlocking costumes.
- It successfully and lovingly recreates many of the main venues of Tokyo 2020.
- Unable to offer anything other than the classic Olympic games menu of the past.
