After a three year break, Mario and Sonic will once again go head-to-head in another Olympic themed crossover title. Announced during Sega Fes 2019, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will launch exclusively for Nintendo Switch in Winter 2019.
Details about Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are relatively limited at the moment but, as with past titles, fans can expect a whole host of Olympic themed mini-games to tackle in both single-player and multiplayer. Footage shown during the announcement showcased a number of in-game events – including Long Jump, Skateboarding, Tennis, Javelin, and Track Sprints. However, many more are expected to be included in the final release.
Licensing rights for video-game products based on the 2020 Olympics were awarded to Sega in back in 2016. A deal which Sega appears to be keen on maximizing output from. In addition to the Mario & Sonic Switch exclusive, Sega has also announced that they will be releasing another Olympic themed game titled “Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – The Official Video Game”. However, unlike the mascot crossover, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be releasing on PlayStation 4 as well as the Nintendo Switch.
Despite announcing Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, an “arcade edition” of the same game is also scheduled to hit iOS and Android at some point in 2020. It’s currently unclear how much content the two releases will share or how the “arcade edition” will differ from its console counterpart.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is currently slated for a Winter 2019 release and will be available “exclusively on Nintendo Switch”.