Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS)

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is a sports title for the Nintendo 3DS with a Wii version of the game released as well. Both games make up the third installment of the Mario & Sonic series. 50 new and original sports appear in the 3DS version. All twenty playable characters return from the previous installment. The game takes place in London, home of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Characters
In the 3DS version of the game, there are a total of 20 playable characters (the character roster being identical to the one featured in the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games). However, only certain characters can play certain events. These characters are identified in five different classes. The Bad Guys group can compete in other events in Story Mode.

Heroes group

 * Mario
 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Luigi
 * Miles "Tails" Prower

Girls group

 * Amy Rose
 * Princess Peach
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Princess Daisy

Wild Ones group

 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Bowser
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Donkey Kong

Tricksters group

 * Wario
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Waluigi
 * Metal Sonic

Challengers group

 * Yoshi
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Silver the Hedgehog

Bad Guys group

 * Bowser
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Metal Sonic

Rivals

 * Dry Bones - Sailing 470: Pair
 * Dry Bowser - Sailing 470: Pair
 * King Boo - Badminton-Doubles
 * Boo - Badminton-Doubles
 * Magikoopa - BMX
 * Eggman Nega - 4x100m Relay
 * E-123 Omega - Wrestling-Freestyle
 * Jet the Hawk - 3000m Steeplechase
 * Rouge the Bat - 100m Backstroke

Referees

 * Toad
 * Cream the Rabbit
 * Lakitu
 * Shy Guy
 * Charmy Bee
 * Espio the Chameleon

Other

 * Magikoopa
 * Koopa Troopa
 * Shy Guy
 * Goomba
 * Thwomp
 * Lakitu
 * Boo
 * Monty Moles
 * Birdos
 * Cheep Cheep
 * Bob-omb
 * Toads
 * Fly Guy
 * Cleaving Cloud
 * Spiny
 * Egg Pawn
 * Egg Flapper
 * Orbot
 * Cubot
 * Chao(s)

Opening
Bowser and Dr. Eggman watch over London from the inside of Elizabeth Tower, but the doctor tells Bowser they're already starting the 2012 Olympics and they haven't got their invitations yet. Bowser suggests that he could use his new machine. Dr. Eggman agrees and puts a mysterious pot in side of it and presses the start button. Then, colorful fog covers all over London, while Bowser and Dr. Eggman laugh in victory.

Heroes Story, Part 1
Mario and Luigi meet Toad at the Stadium and find out that the fog is colored. They then meet with the imposters, Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower. They challenge to an event, which Mario and Luigi win at. They later find Dry Bowser and Dry Bones at the Stadium who also challenge them to a Sailing 470: Pair event. They then defeat them and break Bowser and Eggman's machine. Dry Bowser and Dry Bones escape the Stadium while they go to find Princess Peach.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails find a colored fog and find the imposters, Mario and Luigi. They challenge them to an event, which Sonic and Tails win at. They later find King Boo and Boo and they challenge them to a Badminton-Doubles event. They defeat them in the event and break the machine. King Boo and Boo escape from the destroyed machine. Sonic and Tails go to find Shadow and Silver.

Girls Story
At Hyde Park, Princess Daisy and Amy Rose are wandering around and find the imposters Princess Peach and Blaze the Cat. They challenge to an event where they defeat them. More Imposters come and knockout Daisy and Amy.

Later on, Peach and Blaze defeat the Imposters that knocked Daisy and Amy out and save them. When a Toad comes up and tells them that a white bat is nearby, she reveals herself to be Rouge and challenges them to a 100m Backstroke Event where they defeat her. After being defeated, Rouge has no memory of what happened. Rouge promises to help the girls out to defeat Bowser and Eggman while they destroy the machine. Mario and Luigi come to check out if they are okay and then continue their adventure.

Challengers Story
At the Bridge of London, Sonic and Tails discover more fog and Yoshi is trying to get pass the Bridge. Sonic and Tails discover Yoshi and they try to help him out. The imposters, Shadow the Hedgehog and Silver the Hedgehog appear, surprising all of them. Yoshi challenges them to an event while Sonic attempts to help out, but he is prevented from doing so by Tails. After Yoshi defeats them, they disappear and Yoshi crosses the Bridge. Yoshi then finds the real Shadow and Silver and they also find Jet the Hawk, who challenges them to a 3,000m Steeplechase match. After defeating him, Jet promises to help out until they hear Bowser's voice. Bowser Jr. appears behind the Machine and tells them that he was the one doing Bowser's voice by taking a breath of the fog. He challenges the other Challengers to an event. He says he'll tell them where his dad is when they win, but when he loses he cries and runs away without telling them. Sonic and Tails leave to continue journeying.

Heroes Story, Part 2
At the British Museum, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Sonic, and Tails meet. The heroes then begin to find imposters and challenge them to an event where they lose. They then search for sources about the Machines where they discover that it was stolen by the legendary pirate, William Kidd 300 years ago. They discover Dr. Eggman Nega and they challenge him and his Shy Guys to a 4x100m Relay where he is defeated. He then runs away before Mario and Sonic destroy the machine. They continue adventuring.

Wild Ones Story
At the Wrestling Stadium, Donkey Kong is practicing, then Espio the Chameleon and Miles "Tails" Prower meet him. E-123 Omega slips into him, causing the banana to drop. Donkey Kong gets mad and E-123 Omega challenges him to a Wrestling-Freestyle Match where DK wins. Tails discovers that Eggman and Metal Sonic put their batteries in him causing him to be evil. He takes it out and puts new batteries making him good again. E-123 Omega forgets everything and apologizes to DK for causing his banana to fall. He promises to help out and they go.

Later on, Sonic arrives at the Volleyball court and is almost killed by Bowser as he surprise attacks. Knuckles the Echidna and Vector the Crocodile helps out and challenges him to an event and lets Sonic go. They defeat him and he runs away to escape before Sonic crushes his machine. The Wild Ones destroy the machine and Sonic and Tails move on.

Tricksters Story
At the Tennis Court, Waluigi is looking for a spot to spy on Luigi and learn his weaknesses until Metal Sonic breaks his telescope and Metal Sonic challenges him to a match where Waluigi defeats him. He runs away as Waluigi follows him.

Later on, Wario is planning to make an Un-Discount Snack Emporium, but Dr. Eggman's fog machine is in the way. He is then confronted by Dr. Eggman, who challenges him to a match where Wario wins. Dr. Eggman, who is upset that he lost, tries to run away, but sees that Wario is about to destroy his machine. Wario stomps but only realizes he made himself dizzy because the machine was only a hologram. Waluigi and Metal Sonic arrive and go to their partners to confront each other. Mario and Luigi sneak up on them and see what they are doing and Toad tells them. Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic challenge Wario and Waluigi to a match where Wario and Waluigi win. The other Tricksters run away as Wario and Waluigi destroy the real machine. Mario, Luigi, and Toad congratulate them as they move on.

Clear Skies Again
The heroes get together again at the main stadium, and tell each other that the fog machines were destroyed, with help from Tricksters and Wild Ones. Everyone rejoices because the opening ceremony can continue.

Back at the wrestling stadium, Knuckles punches Bowser, only to reveal it is a fake. The same happens when Wario and Waluigi confront Dr. Eggman, who suddenly disappears as well.

In Big Ben, Dr. Eggman and Bowser are happy that they have everyone fooled. The doctor then goes to his machine and resolves to cover London in fog again, but with ten times the strength. Bowser agrees with this plan. After pressing the button, fog spreads very quickly throughout the room. The top of the machine breaks and more fog spews out rapidly. It surrounds Bowser and Dr. Eggman, who claims he feels power welling up within him. The two evil doers laugh manically as lots of rainbow fog spews from the Big Ben.

Heroes Story, Part 3
At Stonehenge, the heroes meet again and they find more imposters to defeat. After defeating them, E-123 Omega, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, and Toad hear Magikoopa's voice as he challenges them to a BMX match. They defeat him causing them to run away and they destroy another machine.

At the Factory, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails arrive to defeat Bowser and Eggman only to find out they are invincible with the Power of the Fog. Toad then uses the Radio to talk to Tails and tells him that everywhere else is cleared up and the Olympic Games are up to them. Mario and Sonic face the Invincible Bowser and Eggman and they defeat them. Mario and Sonic destroy the machine and cover the bottle. Bowser and Eggman complain that they will never be in the Olympics until Toad realizes that their names are on the competitor list and they did not get their invitations yet, but they can bring their ID. The two villains realize they do not have their ID's but Tails says Mario and Sonic can vouch for them.

At the Opening Ceremony, Bowser and Eggman are at the front watching Mario and Sonic present the Olympic Games.

Challengers Bonus
Bowser Jr. arrives in England to compete in the games. Unfortunately, he took a wrong turn and ended up in Stonehenge instead of London. He sees Yoshi training for the games and challenges him to an Olympic event. Jr. wins and calls on his Bullet Bill to bring him to London.

Later, Omochao and a regular Chao are being threatened by two of Dr. Eggman's robots for unknown reasons. Shadow and Silver arrive to defeat them, but Jr., flying overhead, accidentally falls off of his Bullet Bill and destroys both robots by landing on them. The two Chao are grateful and even the two hedgehogs are impressed. Wanting to see how strong he really is, they challenge Jr. to a 2-on-1 Olympic event, which Jr. wins. Shadow and Silver are good sports and congratulate the young Koopa. A nearby Goomba convinces Jr. to look for more robots so that he'll be even stronger.

Arriving at the stadium, Jr. and the Goomba see Dr. Eggman measuring Metal Sonic's time running around the track. Jr. challenges Metal Sonic to an event. Thinking this would be perfect practice for the robot, Eggman agrees, on the condition that Jr. becomes his servant if he loses. Jr. accepts, telling Eggman that if he wins, he has to tell Bowser of his victory. With that, the reptile and robot set off. Jr. eventually wins. Eggman tries to examine Jr. to see what he needs to do to upgrade Metal Sonic, but Jr. angrily stops him, demanding a drink and snack in exchange for Eggman trying to trick him. The scientist reluctantly agrees.

Wild Ones Bonus
Bowser angrily stomps through London, followed by a Goomba, a Lakitu, and a Magikoopa. Bowser is angry because of a toothache, but he does not reveal this to his minions. His minions decide to cheer him up by secretly letting him win some Olympic events against various challengers. Their first target is Donkey Kong. The Magikoopa promises a pile of bananas in exchange for defeating Bowser in an event, but when the ape agrees, the wizard summons a Thwomp to fall on DK, making him dizzy and less likely to win. Bowser arrives and wins against DK. Behind his back, however, Magikoopa makes it up to DK by getting him the bananas that were promised.

Later, the Magikoopa, as well as the Lakitu and a Dry Bones, somehow convince Knuckles and Vector to rendezvous. To convince them to fight, the Magikoopa uses his magic to make the Lakitu and Dry Bones to look like Charmy and Espio, respectively. The two real Chaotix members notice the two fake members acting funny, but agree to fight Bowser. The Magikoopa then summons giant versions of a Chain Chomp and Piranha Plant to bite Knuckles and Vector, respectively. Similar to DK, this makes the two animals dazed and less likely to win. After Bowser defeats them, the Goomba (who had led Bowser to the arena) quickly escorts him out before Knuckles and Vector ask too many questions.

For Bowser's last false victory, the minions plan to make Mario lose in a tennis game. Unfortunately, the Boo assigned for the job failed to trick Mario into coming to the court because Mario was too smart to be tricked and he saw through the plan. After the other minions come, Dry Bones distracts Bowser while the others think of a plan. The Magikoopa decides he'll have to transform one of the minions into Mario. Dry Bones can't do it because he is talking to Bowser and only speaks in "clacks"; and neither Boo nor Lakitu can do it because of their floating. The small mushroom is terrified to do so, but agrees when Bowser's patience wears thin. Bowser challenges "Mario" to a game of tennis and wins. After the match, Bowser Jr. arrives and is happy that his father won and says he wants to be just like him, while the minions celebrate over the success of their plan. Bowser notices that his minions are finally satisfied that he is back to his old self.

Tricksters Bonus
In his secret headquarters inside Elizabeth Tower, Eggman defeats Metal Sonic in a match of Taekwondo. However, he is unsure what to do to upgrade his creation. His other robot minions, Orbot and Cubot, see Waluigi on the monitors and suggest him for practice. They confront Waluigi and convince him to battle, saying it would make good practice for defeating Luigi in the Olympics. Metal Sonic wins, and Eggman deduces that Metal Sonic possesses speed, but not strength.

Eggman and the robots come across Wario and ask him to challenge Metal Sonic so that the robot may go against Wario's strength. However, defeating Mario isn't good enough for Wario, so he and Eggman settle on a bet: If Wario wins, Orbot and Cubot come work for him. If Metal Sonic wins, Wario has to give Eggman something of his. Metal Sonic emerges victorious. Wario gives Eggman an old urn he got from an antique shop, claiming that it is magic. Eggman seems to recognize it and accepts it.

Back in his headquarters, Eggman places the urn inside a machine. The machine slightly unseals the lid on the urn and gray fog pours into the room. Some of this fog takes the shape of Sonic and Eggman challenges it to an event. Eggman appears victorious and the Sonic imposter vanishes into thin air. Eggman explains to his minions that this urn contains the legendary Phantasmal Fog, stolen 300 years ago by the legendary pirate William Kidd. The urn eventually ended up in the British Museum, where it was recently stolen. He says the fog shapes into whoever the person in it is thinking about, explaining the imposters in the main story. Eggman resolves to completely unseal the urn after he and Metal Sonic are done training for the Olympics.

Girls Bonus
At Hyde Park Peach, Amy, Blaze, and three Toads are setting up the invitations for all of the athletes, however Amy suggests she take Sonic's invitation to him personally but the others don't want Amy to go and insist that she stay and help the others work. However, after more begging, Blaze suggests that if Amy can beat her in a competition she will let her go. Then, after Amy beats her she accidentally scatters the invitations. Amy then decides to stay.

Later, Daisy shows up and talks about going shopping. Amy wants to go with her. Peach challenges Daisy and says if she wins, Daisy must stay and help. If Daisy wins Amy can go with her. After Peach wins they all go out for a break, but when they return the wind had knocked off all of the invitations to the ground. After they pick them all up they realize that they are missing Bowser's and Eggman's invitations, so they make new, detailed better ones.

Later, Peach and Amy meet Bowser and Eggman in the park and end up playing a round of Beach Volleyball, after they win they go fetch their invitations, but at the same moment the toads go to deliver them and they drop Eggman and Bowser's next to them. Bowser and Eggman look at how well it's written and think that their love letters to Sonic and Mario. Bowser and Eggman go off together looking around London before they do something evil. The girls assume that Bowser and Eggman took their invitations themselves, so they all decide to go out shopping together before the Olympic Games start. The last part states after sightseeing, Bowser and Eggman forget about the invites. The fourth wall is broken when it says that the player is the only one who fully understands the misunderstanding that led Bowser and Doctor Eggman to fog London.

Olympic Mode
There are two ways to play the Olympic Mode. Each mode allows up to 4 players.

Highlight Match
This is more like the Single Match mode in the Wii version of the game. 4 players compete or co-operate in an event that is selected by the host. After selecting an event and the difficulty of the computers (COM Level), each player chooses 1 character to use from one predetermined category of the 5 total (Heroes, Girls, Wild Ones, Tricksters & Challengers).

The players play the event according to its rules. After an event, a medal is given to the player as long as the player doesn't get 4th place. If two or more players/teams tie for a position, the same medals are given, unlike the other handheld titles. After an event, the player can choose to play the same event, change the event or quit the game (this is shown as Disconnect in case of multiplayer).

When playing in Free-for-All events that require players to split into pairs
The seeding is determined randomly, and one player plays against the other player in their pair. After the semifinals have ended, the winners play against each other for 1st and 2nd place and the losers play against each other for 3rd and 4th place.

Note that the players will not see who will duel up against until the semifinals have started.

In Case of Team Events
To ensure that there are always 4 teams in an event, extra COM-controlled teams are added based off how many players are on a team.
 * With 2 members per team - There are 2 extra COM-controlled teams. The first COM-controlled team are a team of Koopas while the second COM-controlled team are a team of Chao.
 * The extra COM-controlled teams do not appear in any event.
 * In case of tournament-based matches, the extra COM-controlled teams will always lose the semifinals.
 * In the case of Sailing - 470 (Pair), the extra COM-controlled teams will always place 3rd and 4th.
 * With 4 members per team - All 4 characters from that group compete against the 3 COM-controlled teams that are all Shy Guys of a specific color relating to their team number.
 * The COM-controlled teams of Shy Guy only appear in the 4 x 100m Relay event.

Medley Match
Somewhat similar to the "Multi-Round Match" mode of the previous installment, 4 players play a predetermined number of events to try to get the highest score they can.

Upon creating a new file, the player does the Warm-Up Medley consisting of 3 events (100m > 100m Freestyle > Judo). Records set during this medley do not count, and the player cannot see the results of the events.

There are 2 ways to play Medley Match:
 * Standard allows players to specify their preferred characters in each of the 5 groups before the events and offers instructions and results for the events.
 * In the Quick type, it skips the instructions, character selection and interim results screen. The player can view only their current position and point total during an event.

Selection
Within a Medley Match, the player can choose medleys from London Games, preset selections of events based on event type; Variety, preset selections of events based on theme; Party Mix, a mode with a set of possibly random events hosted by Omochao, with other random modifier events; and Custom, the player's own selection of events. A Recommended Medley is also offered.

Custom Medleys
The player can create up to 20 custom medleys of 3 events (5 in case of Free-for-All) each in the Make an Event Medley option. Custom medleys have a Rarity Rating which is rated from 1 to 10 stars - this is determined by the average of each event's Best Event Ranking from 1 to 57. An event's Best Event Ranking is usually determined by three attributes: The three attributes determines the "hidden score" for the event. This is compared to the other 56 events and determines the rank for that event. By picking events where the player is very good at or has been practicing a lot (whose Best Event Ranking is close to or at 1), the rating increases. On the flip side, selecting events where the player is not very good at or has very little practice at (whose Best Event Ranking is close to or at 57) will lower this rating. When each event in the medley are all in the top 3 or top 5 of the player's best events, the rating given will be 10 stars.
 * Frequency: Determined by how many times the player has played the event. In the Play Data section of the Record Log, the player can check which 5 events the player has played the most.
 * Difficulty: The average level of COM opponents of all the player's plays in the event. This attribute will change even if the player cannot compete against a COM player or team because of the number of players and/or the selected event.
 * Performance: The average finishing position of all the player's plays in an event.

When playing multiplayer, the medleys available in the Custom list are based off medleys in the host's list, and only the host can win a badge for winning a custom medley with a certain rarity rating - a win by P2, P3 or P4 does not yield a badge for that player. The Rarity Rating does not change once a medley is created - the player must delete the medley, create another one and select the same 3 or 5 events on that medley to determine if the Rarity Rating has changed. Do note that the COM Level setting does not affect whether a badge will be won for winning a custom medley with a specific rarity rating.

Gameplay
Medley Mania uses a points system to determine the champion. The point structure is usually 10 points for 1st, 6 points for 2nd, 4 points for 3rd and 2 points for 4th, but certain conditions can change the amount of points a player/team can earn. In addition, some events play differently than in Highlight Match mode (e.g. in Keirin, players lower in rank during the medley start further ahead of the pack and the point distribution is 15-10-5-0 from 1st to 4th). After all the events, the player/team with the highest point total is the winner.

A check is given in the Select Medley for the appropriate difficulty level (and easier ones) for each medley that the player finishes in 1st place.

Multiplayer
Local Play and Download Play are both offered for 2 to 4 players. In Local Play, the player can play a single "Highlight Match" with other players or a "Medley Match". Records set during local play (including events that are co-op events) are saved.

Unlike previous Mario & Sonic games on DS, there are some limitations to Download Play. In Download Play, the player can play any event in a Highlight Match with character selection, or a limited version of Medley Match called "Party Mix Demo DL Medley" where everyone plays as colored Yoshis, regardless of the events chosen. In addition, the announcer and the characters don't talk on systems that are playing via Download Play. Some features are also disabled and also, the Top Screen is fully white when selecting an event or a character. Furthermore, players using Download Play cannot save their data, and when playing Download Play, there is different music for certain areas of the game.

Other Differences in Multiplayer Matches
Different things can happen depending on the selected event and the amount of players that are participating.
 * When playing in multiplayer, each player may team up for an event depending on which event is selected.
 * The controls in an event may be different in co-op than in single player.
 * When only 2 players are connected, the human players automatically go to the Finals in case of tournament-based events.
 * When selecting an event or medley with 2 members per team, the following will happen depending on the number of players connected:
 * 2 Player - The players will always pair up against the COM.
 * 3 Player / 4 Player - Each player selects a character. After that, the host selects the team that each player will be on. If there are 3 players, the character that is not selected by either of the players will join the team of the single player.
 * When selecting an event or medley with 4 members per team, the following will happen depending on the number of players connected and if the the COM can control some characters of the user-controlled team:
 * If there are 4 players, each player selects a character. The order of the characters is P1 > P2 > P3 > P4.
 * If there are less than 4 players and the COM can control some characters of the user-controlled team, each player selects one character. The COM will control the characters that were not selected by the other players in certain events. This also applies in Single Player mode.
 * If there are less than 4 players and the COM cannot control some characters of the user-controlled team:
 * 1 Player - The player will not select a character. Instead, the order of the characters in the Select Character screen will be the order of characters in the event.
 * 2 Player - Both players each select 2 characters. P1 will control the first and third characters while P2 controls the the second and fourth characters.
 * 3 Player - P2 and P3 both select a character, with P1 selecting 2 characters. P1 will control the first and fourth characters, P2 controls the second and P3 controls the third.

Events
There are 57 events in the game, split into 11 sports. The selected event determines which character group will be used:
 * Athletics
 * 100m / Heroes
 * 110m Hurdles / Challengers
 * 1500m / Challengers
 * 3000m Steeplechase / Challengers
 * 4 x 100m Relay / Heroes
 * Marathon / Heroes
 * Long Jump / Tricksters
 * Triple Jump / Challengers
 * Hammer Throw / Wild Ones
 * Shot Put / Challengers
 * Javelin Throw / Wild Ones
 * Pole Vault / Heroes
 * 20km Race Walk / Heroes


 * Aquatics
 * 100m Freestyle / Heroes
 * 100m Backstroke / Girls
 * 100m Breaststroke / Tricksters
 * Water Polo / Challengers
 * Platform Diving (Synchronized) / Tricksters
 * Synchronized Swimming (Duet) / Heroes
 * Synchronized Swimming (Team) / Girls
 * 10km Marathon Swim / Challengers


 * Court & Field Sports
 * Badminton (Singles) / Tricksters
 * Badminton (Doubles) / Heroes
 * Table Tennis (Doubles) / Heroes
 * Basketball / Challengers
 * Beach Volleyball / Girls
 * Tennis (Singles) / Wild Ones
 * Hockey / Tricksters
 * Handball / Tricksters
 * Football / Wild Ones


 * Contact Sports
 * Judo / Heroes
 * Boxing / Wild Ones
 * Fencing - Epée / Heroes
 * Taekwondo / Tricksters
 * Wrestling - Freestyle / Wild Ones


 * Gymnastics
 * Rhythmic Ribbon (Team) / Girls
 * Balance Beam / Girls
 * Floor / Challengers
 * Rings / Wild Ones
 * Horizontal Bar / Heroes
 * Trampoline / Challengers


 * Cycling
 * Sprint / Heroes
 * Keirin / Girls
 * Omnium / Girls
 * BMX / Heroes


 * Equestrian
 * Show Jumping (Team) / Girls


 * Boat Games
 * 1000m Kayak (Singles) / Tricksters
 * Canoe Slalom (Pair) / Girls
 * Rowing - Quadruple Sculls / Heroes
 * Sailing - 470 (Pair) / Heroes


 * Shooting
 * Double Trap / Wild Ones
 * Archery (Individual) / Girls
 * Archery (Team) / Heroes
 * 25m Rapid Fire Pistol / Tricksters


 * Weightlifting
 * Weightlifting / Wild Ones


 * Multi-Discipline
 * Triathlon / Heroes
 * Modern Pentathlon / Heroes

Demo
On March 1, 2012, a demo of the 3DS version of the game was released on the Nintendo eShop. Five events are playable in the demo: 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, Football, Trampoline, 50m Backstroke and BMX. The player cannot choose his or her character or name, as that is always M&S. Each event is played using one of four characters, and each set of characters in an event belongs to a particular class. The 25m Rapid Fire Pistol uses the Tricksters class, the Football event uses the Wild Ones class, the Trampoline event uses the Challengers class, the 100m Backstroke event uses the Girls class, and the BMX event uses the Heroes class. The demo can be launched a maximum of 30 (20 in Europe) times once downloaded.

References to other games

 * Paper Mario series - The HP replenish sound is used for a Skill character's special move in Badminton and Beach Volleyball.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - All the Mario franchise and Sonic series songs return as well as the rival themes. In story mode on the 3DS version, Toad, Magikoopa, and Silver reference the story mode of this game.
 * WarioWare series - Wario mentions the name of his company in the story mode.

Trivia

 * This is the first Mario & Sonic game to feature the new Sonic voice actors, with the exception of Dr. Eggman, who kept his voice actor.
 * This is also the first Mario & Sonic game to feature Bowser's current voice, Kenneth W. James.
 * At the beginning of the Story Mode, Bowser actually refers to himself by his last name, "Koopa."
 * The 4th place music from the Wii version of the game plays if the player places 3rd. This is because there is a different music piece for finishing 4th.
 * This is the only Nintendo 3DS title in which the in-game font is from Super Mario Galaxy.
 * Originally all characters were going to have swimsuits, but it was rejected by Sega because Sonic cannot have his shoes removed.