Balance Beam

Balance Beam is an Event that only appears in the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The objective of the event is to earn points by performing moves along the beam, with the winner being the one with the most points at the end of their routine. It appears in the Gymnastics category, and has a starting best record of 16.225pt(s).

Balance Beam appears in two different story mode missions, firstly in the second Girls episode Peach in a Pinch, where Blaze the Cat must beat three Fog Impostor Blazes as part of the fourth challenge with Keirin and Archery (Individual). The second time it appears is in the second Girls bonus episode A Trick of the Wind, where Princess Peach must beat Princess Daisy as the first challenge.

Gameplay
Similarly to the event it is based on, in this event the player must perform a series of moves to score points on a balance beam. The player must tilt their system to move the dot around a simple shape on the screen, such as a square or a circle within a time limit displayed at the bottom. The faster the player moves the dot to the goal area, the more points they score, however failing to reach the goal will not award any points. The player must also tilt the system to keep the dot within a certain area on a straight line to balance. If the player fails to keep the dot in the area for long enough, they will lose 0.500 points from their total, but will not lose any if they succeed. The last move in the routine has a more difficult shape that they must move the dot around, but performing it quickly enough will cause the character to perform a special move which will earn the player more points.

Controls
Hold the system horizontally! 1) Perform: Tilt the system and move the • icon to the goal. 2) Balancing: Tilt the system and keep the • icon in the middle of the bar.