Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS)

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This article is about the Nintendo 3DS game. For the Wii U game of the same title, see Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Wii U). For the arcade game of the same title, see Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
For alternate art, see the related gallery.
Developers	Sega Arzest Spike Chunsoft Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Nintendo 3DS
Release dates	February 18, 2016 February 18, 2016 February 18, 2016 March 18, 2016 March 18, 2016 April 8, 2016 April 9, 2016 June 23, 2016
Languages	English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese Dutch French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Korean Spanish (Europe)
Genre	Sports
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone 10+[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Seven years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] RARS: - Six years and older[?] ClassInd: - General audience[?] GRAC: - All ages[?] GSRR: - All ages ACB: - General[?] FPB: - Parental guidance[?]
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Nintendo 3DS: Game Card Digital download
Input	Nintendo 3DS: Gamepad Stylus Tilt
Serial code	CTR-BGXJ-JPN

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is a sports title for the Nintendo 3DS, which is the fifth installment on the Mario & Sonic series, along with the Wii U version. Like the other games, it takes place in the host city of the Olympics of the corresponding year, being Rio de Janeiro. It also features amiibo compatibility. This is the only game in the series where the handheld version was released before the home console version.

The game's online leaderboards could be viewed over Nintendo Network; however, the service was terminated on April 8, 2024, making the game no longer playable online.

Characters

Playable

All 21 playable characters from previous games in the series return. Additionally, 20 new playable characters (10 new Super Mario characters and 10 new Sonic characters), some of which were non-playable rivals and referees in past games, are added, for a total of 41 playable characters. Among the new playable characters, Eggman Nega, Zazz, and Zavok are playable for the first time in any game. Additionally, the Miis are playable in a handheld Mario & Sonic game for the first time, though unlike the home console games, only the Mii that is chosen as the player's user at the beginning of the game can be used.

Similarly to the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, characters are only playable in certain events, with the exceptions of Mario, Sonic, and Mii characters, who are playable in all events. The other returning characters are exclusive to both the Olympic and Plus versions of two events each, while the new characters are only available for both the Olympic and Plus versions of one. There are seven playable characters in each event: three from Team Mario, three from Team Sonic, and Mii.

This is the first game in the series to feature unlockable playable characters, as 14 of the 20 newcomers must be unlocked by beating them in Road to Rio on the Plus version of that day's event after winning at the preliminaries. Each of the unlockable characters are playable in one event (both its Olympic and Plus versions) exclusive to that character with no overlaps and no events skipped.

The Road to Rio mode features almost all the playable characters, with the exception of Ludwig and Dry Bones, and some unlockable characters, namely Jet, Diddy, Rosalina, and Roy, have additional roles besides that of being challenged to be unlocked.

Team Mario

Name	Stats	Playable Events	Challenged in Road to Rio?
Mario		All Events
Luigi		Table Tennis 110m Hurdles	Sonic's Story Day 2
Peach		Golf 100m Freestyle Swimming
Daisy		Football Rhythmic Gymnastics	Sonic's Story Day 7
Yoshi		Football 100m	Sonic's Story Day 1
Donkey Kong		Boxing Beach Volleyball	Sonic's Story Day 6
Bowser		Golf Boxing	Mario's Story Day 7
Bowser Jr.		Long Jump Equestrian	Sonic's Story Day 4
Wario		Javelin Throw Archery	Sonic's Story Day 5
Waluigi		Long Jump BMX
Birdo (new)		Archery	Sonic's Story Day 3
Ludwig (new)		Table Tennis
Dry Bones (new)		BMX
Diddy Kong (unlockable) (new)		110m Hurdles	Mario's Story Day 1 (unlock challenge)
Dry Bowser (unlockable) (new)		Javelin Throw	Sonic's Story Day 5 (unlock challenge)
Rosalina (unlockable) (new)		Rhythmic Gymnastics	Mario's Story Day 3 (unlock challenge)
Nabbit (unlockable) (new)		100m	Sonic's Story Day 1 (unlock challenge)
Wendy (unlockable) (new)		100m Freestyle Swimming	Mario's Story Day 6 (unlock challenge)
Larry (unlockable) (new)		Equestrian	Sonic's Story Day 4 (unlock challenge)
Roy (unlockable) (new)		Beach Volleyball	Mario's Story Day 2 (unlock challenge)

Unlocking criteria

Character	Criteria
Diddy Kong	Beat Diddy Kong in 110m Hurdles Plus on Day 1 of Mario's Story
Nabbit	Beat Nabbit in 100m Plus on Day 1 of Sonic's Story
Roy	Beat Roy in Beach Volleyball Plus on Day 2 of Mario's Story
Rosalina	Beat Rosalina in Rhythmic Gymnastics Plus on Day 3 of Mario's Story
Larry	Beat Larry in Equestrian Plus on Day 4 of Sonic's Story
Dry Bowser	Beat Dry Bowser in Javelin Throw Plus on Day 5 of Sonic's Story
Wendy	Beat Wendy in 100m Freestyle Plus on Day 6 of Mario's Story

Team Sonic

Name	Stats	Playable Events	Challenged in Road to Rio?
Sonic		All Events
Tails		100m Freestyle Swimming Beach Volleyball	Mario's Story Day 2 (with Cream)
Amy		100m Freestyle Swimming Rhythmic Gymnastics	Mario's Story Day 6
Knuckles		Javelin Throw Boxing	Sonic's Story Day 6 (Semifinals)
Dr. Eggman		110m Hurdles Equestrian
Shadow		Football 100m
Silver		110m Hurdles Archery	Mario's Story Day 1
Blaze		Equestrian Rhythmic Gymnastics	Mario's Story Day 3
Metal Sonic		100m BMX	Mario's Story Day 5
Vector		Golf Table Tennis
Espio (new)		Long Jump	Mario's Story Day 4
Cream (new)		Beach Volleyball	Mario's Story Day 2 (with Tails)
Omega (new)		Javelin Throw
Eggman Nega (unlockable) (new)		Long Jump	Mario's Story Day 4 (unlock challenge)
Sticks (unlockable) (new)		Archery	Sonic's Story Day 3 (unlock challenge)
Jet (unlockable) (new)		Football	Sonic's Story Day 7 (unlock challenge)
Wave (unlockable) (new)		BMX	Mario's Story Day 5 (unlock challenge)
Zazz (unlockable) (new)		Table Tennis	Sonic's Story Day 2 (unlock challenge)
Zavok (unlockable) (new)		Boxing	Sonic's Story Day 6 (unlock challenge)
Rouge (unlockable) (new)		Golf	Mario's Story Day 7 (unlock challenge)

Unlocking criteria

Character	Criteria
Zazz	Beat Zazz in Table Tennis Plus on Day 2 of Sonic's Story
Sticks	Beat Sticks in Archery Plus on Day 3 of Sonic's Story
Eggman Nega	Beat Eggman Nega in Long Jump Plus on Day 4 of Mario's Story
Wave	Beat Wave in BMX Plus on Day 5 of Mario's Story
Zavok	Beat Zavok in Boxing Plus on Day 6 of Sonic's Story
Jet	Beat Jet in Football Plus on Day 7 of Sonic's Story
Rouge	Beat Rouge in Golf Plus on Day 7 of Mario's Story

Other

Name	Playable Events	Unlock Criteria
Mii	All Events	Complete Day 1 of either Mario or Sonic's Story in Road to Rio

Supporting characters

Teammates

In the Football event, the characters have set types of team mates that help them in the game.

• Toads (Mario & Mario's Story Mii)
• Chao (Sonic & Sonic's Story Mii)
• Yoshis (Yoshi)
• Birdos (Daisy)
• Armored Egg Pawns (Shadow)
• Egg Pawns (Jet)

Goalies

Goalies for Football depend on the team order and are not locked for each character.

• Pom Pom (1st team)
• Silver Egg Pawn (2nd team)

Non-playable characters

• Shy Guys
• Koopa Troopas
• Goombas
• Boos
• Thwomps
• Piranha Plants
• Goomba Towers
• Orbot & Cubot
• Charmy Bee
• Boy in Mario Suit
• Boy in Sonic Suit

Multiplayer

This mode is known as Versus Mode as players cannot team up in any event in this game.

Local Play and Download Play are both offered for 2 to 4 players.

Ways to connect

Like Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, there are two ways to connect to Versus Mode.

Local Play

This requires that each player has a 3DS and a copy of the game, and up to 4 players can play. There is only one restriction in Local Play: The Golf event is always 3 random holes with one Par 3, one Par 4 and one Par 5 hole from a mixture of the front 9 and back 9 holes. As a result, records cannot be stored in the Golf event. A player can select an unlockable character provided that they unlocked them in Road to Rio. Records, Medals and Achievements earned by each player during Local Play are saved.

Download Play

If there are not enough copies of the game as there are 3DSes, then Download Play can be selected, provided that at least one player owns the game. Here, there are some limitations to Download Play. In Download Play, the top screen is fully white when selecting an event or character, and the Award Ceremony screen does not show at the end of an event - because of that, advice is not shown. In addition, the announcer and characters do not talk on systems playing via Download Play, and players playing via Download Play cannot save their progress or use unlockable characters. Also, Golf matches are only 1 hole long in Download Play, and a hole is randomly selected from the 18 holes. Most of the time, it will not be a Par 3 hole, hence actual ties on Golf are more likely to occur here on such holes (a tie on score is determined by NTP average, which is only recorded on Par 3s).

Modes of play

There are two methods of play to Versus Mode.

Single Match

Like Rio 2016 Quick Play, but with 2 to 4 players. Players select an Olympic or Plus event and play a Single Match.

In case of Football, Boxing, Table Tennis and Beach Volleyball, the 4 players will split into 2 pairs and compete 1-on-1. Like Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, players cannot select who to duel as the game determines each player's opponent randomly, though unlike that game, it is not actually a tournament-based match; each player earns a Gold Medal if they win and a Silver Medal if they lose. The other pair's players are treated as COM players that take 3rd and 4th, which is actually based off the other pair's character choice and results.

Random Medley

Exclusive to Versus Mode, players can play a 2, 4, 6 or 10 round Medley that lasts 5-100 minutes depending on how many rounds they want to play. Players earn points based off the medals they earn in each event (Gold = 3 pts, Silver = 2 pts, Bronze = 1 pt), and the player with the highest point total wins the Medley. Hence the name, the Olympic and Plus events are chosen at random. However, the players will still choose which character to use before each event. Much like Single Match, in case of events that require players to split into pairs for an event, a player will earn 3 points for a win and 2 points for a loss. Players can also set records and earn medals and achievements during Random Medley.

Events

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There are a total of fourteen events in the game, each with two variants; an "Olympic" version in which the events behave similarly to their real-life counterparts, and a "Plus" version where Mario and Sonic elements are incorporated into the event. The best finish of each event in each difficulty level is recorded, and finishing an event in 1st place on the Hard level will unlock a rainbow star next to the event.

Every event has seven playable characters, three of which are always Mario, Sonic, and Miis, and one of which has to be unlocked, marked by an asterisk (*).

Event	Olympic event description	Plus event description	Playable characters
100m	Players will charge up at the start, and pressing the button when "Go!" appears will result in a burst of speed. They then need to keep tapping the A button to run and can use a Super Dash at any time.	Before starting, players will spin a roulette with four different items on it (a ring, Super Star, boost pad, or a Golden Mushroom. After landing on an item, that item will appear on their track during that race, and touching it will give the player an extra burst of speed.	Yoshi Nabbit* Shadow Metal Sonic
110m Hurdles	A race similar to the 100m, but players must jump over hurdles as they go. Jumping over hurdles with better timing will result in speed boosts upon landing. The Super Dash can also be used to bypass a hurdle.	An Egg Pawn will operate special hurdles that rise and lower. The player has to press the right button to jump depending on how high the hurdle is, B for low hurdles and Y for high hurdles. Pressing the wrong button will result in slowing down.	Luigi Diddy Kong* Dr. Eggman Silver
Long Jump	Players will tap the A button to run up to a sand pit, then must jump at the foul line. While in the air, if the player presses the X button while going through a hoop, they will do a Super Move and go slightly farther. Jumping past the foul line will result in a foul.	After jumping on the foul line, the character will jump onto a spring. The player must then release the character when the spring is angled just right to ensure the maximum distance.	Waluigi Bowser Jr. Espio Eggman Nega*
Javelin Throw	Before throwing, the player will be given an ideal angle to throw based on the wind. The player then uses the touch screen to run up to the foul line. Once the speed is locked, the player must draw a line at an angle on the touch screen to throw the javelin. The closer to the ideal angle it is drawn, the farther it will go. Throwing too late will result in a foul.	The characters throw a special glowing javelin that can split into multiple. When throwing, the player must rapidly create as many diagonal lines as close to the ideal angle as possible to throw the many javelins. The combined distance of all of the javelins will be the player's score.	Wario Dry Bowser* Knuckles Omega
100m Freestyle Swimming	After using the touch screen to charge and get a boost start, players must draw circles on the touch screen to swim, though doing it too fast will result in slowing down. After turning around, the player will have to draw in the opposite direction. Each character also has a Super Swim they can use once per match.	A Thwomp will occasionally stomp into the water creating big waves. The player needs t