Mario and Sonic have been rivals for some time. They even competed in the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series. Now, it’s been reported that the franchise is dead and buried.
This unfortunate news comes our way via Kotaku. Lee Cocker, who worked on multiple Mario & Sonic titles, explained the absence of the duo for the Paris 2024 Olympics via X:
Why kill decent, fun party games that were exclusive to Nintendo consoles? Eurogamer states the International Olympic Committee terminated its partnership with Nintendo and Sega to “explore deals with new partners, NFTs and esports.” Who is still chasing after that NFT money? I thought we finally left that stupid nonsense behind. I’d take a mediocre Mario & Sonic title over useless NFTs any day. At least I can see Mario stab Sonic during the fencing event. Perhaps Nintendo and Sega dodged a bullet, all things considered.
The Mario & Sonic series always launched well before the official Olympic event, in the year before the real-life counterpart. We should have known this was coming since no title came out in 2023.
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People are understandably bummed over the discontinuation, Lee included. For him, it would have been great to see breakdancing represented in the Paris 2024 game. X user SpeederLight said “THE SERIES WAS MY CHILDHOOD” and that Lee “brought me so many fun and happy and amazing memories that I will never forget.”
User Rachel Kelly shared “I loved playing the Mario & Sonic Olympic Game series over the years. Sad to say this truly marks the end of an era for the Mario & Sonic Olympic Series. Thank you for making the Mario & Sonic Olympic Series the best crossover series for everyone over the years.” As for me, I only played one title at a New York Comic Con years ago. However, I did have fun using the Wii controller to perform Rhythmic Gymnastics. I’ll always cherish that!
Published: Jul 30, 2024 12:31 pm