When it comes to sports minigame collections, the Mario & Sonic games are one of the last ones standing. Every two years, these games are shuffled out the door in the hope that it grabs someone's interest. The last game in the series I enjoyed was the Wii version of London 2012. It had great minigames, a fun party mode and a lot of elements that really hit home. Since then, the landscape was barren with Sochi 2014 not making any sort of impact. There was also no handheld game, which surprised a ton of people. Out of nowhere, it was decided that Rio 2016 would bring the Olympics back to the 3DS. This was both exciting and worrying, mostly because London 2012 3DS wasn't very good. Does the team redeem themselves with this new installment or is all hope truly lost?

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games features 14 Olympic events right from the start. The surprising part is that most of them are fun to play around with. A few are over before you know it, like 100 meter dash or Javelin, but purely from a minigame perspective they aren't bad at all. Golf is incredibly fun and addicting and is way more in depth than you would expect. It actually matters which curve you give the ball on the touchscreen, and keeping the wind in check makes very round different. Another big one, Football (or Soccer), has multiple buttons with actions designed to help you score huge goals. I could continue to list all of them, but my reaction is ultimately the same.

Where the game falls apart somewhat, is where it comes to actual content. All of these minigames, outside of Golf, feature a single location and don't do anything crazy with them. While this is on par with the Olympics, you would expect them to throw in more ways to keep you engaged. And you might be wondering: ''So what about the Dream Events from the previous games?'' Oh, you mean those things that combined the universes of Mario and Sonic perfectly? Those aren't here. Instead, you get so called Plus Events. These take place in the exact same locations, but the major difference is that some elements of the franchises are thrown into it.

For BMX or Esquestrian, it simply means that you have to avoid Goombas and Motobugs or stay clear of Thwomps. Rhythmic Gymnastics makes the musical minigame you have to play harder and throws Bullet Bills and other things in there to distract your senses. Table Tennis and Beach Volleyball avoid using references altogether and simply have spots on the court that give bonus points. The major differences are once again in Golf, where tons of abstractions are placed to throw you for a loop. You will have to hit question mark blocks to make big golden coins appear and finish all the holes in a certain number of strokes. Honestly, I find the lack of Dream Events really disappointing. The minigames are once again fun enough, but they could have been so much more. There aren't even the typical Mario and Sonic musical remixes to listen to.

Luckily, all of these games can be played over Download Play (or Local Play), so only one copy is needed to have some fun. This doesn't mean that it is exactly free of problems. The download times are incredibly long, more so than any other local multiplayer game in recent times. We just sat there waiting and we could beat another game before it was finally done. Once you get to the game, not every minigame is optimized either. Golf only lets you play on a single course before sending you back to the menus, which meant the round ended just as my friends learned the controls. Games like football at least fare better, but you would think that they would nail this stuff by now. Naturally, there is also no online play, because of course there isn't. There are online leaderboards to share your accomplishments though. Next to that, there is a big achievement list, which is designed to make you do everything possible in the events.

Next up is the single-player mode called Road to Rio, which I liked more than I thought I would. It isn't on the same level as the story mode of Vancouver 2010 on the Nintendo DS, but it is charming enough to warrant a playthrough. You set foot in the Rio area to compete in the Olympics and are almost instantly asked to join either the Mario or Sonic gym. Now you will face a grand variety of Miis and characters to become the very best and score yourself some medals. You will have to be glorious in qualifiers to face the likes of Silver, Tails and many others in the grand finals. Between the main events, you can walk around and explore the area. While there isn't a lot to do, there are free goodies everywhere. They grant you access to apples, the main currency of Road to Rio, and the fruit is spent on stat enhancing costumes for your Mii. Some Mii costumes can only be found at random in a crate, so keeping your eyes peeled is important. You will also find various Mario and Sonic characters roaming around that you might not have unlocked yet. By competing against them, you can use them freely in the Quick Play mode!

Next to the main events, there are various training sessions to compete in. What makes them interesting is that these include events not included in the main game. You will jump on the trampoline and try to hit the center for some perfect jumps, row like crazy by moving your Circle Pad around or go a sprinting rampage in the Track and Field training. The story mode features 30 different ones in total, so there are plenty of surprises on the way. I found myself delighted when a bunch of these would hit the screen and I would run to them almost immediately. It adds variety to the game in a major way and you can play them freely once they’re unlocked, which is certainly a neat touch.

Finally, we have Pocket Marathon. This minigame sees you taking on various marathon courses, while keeping the Nintendo 3DS in Sleep Mode. While you walk, you take steps that will earn you meters within this mode. You will be asked to compete daily and check in for some nifty rewards, like more costumes or apples. Through online and StreetPass, you meet additional runners that will challenge you, so you can find out who is the most active within this option of the game. I am not exactly what you get once you finish a course, because I have not gotten to that point just yet, but I will report back on that as soon as possible.

As far as graphics are concerned, Mario & Sonic Rio 2016 is quite striking. The whole experience is colorful and the characters are nicely rendered on that 3D screen. Add to that a satisfying 3D effect, and you have something that is a joy to behold. The music is pretty lovely as well, though it clearly isn't filled with the typical musical mashups. While that will remain endlessly silly, the tunes will at least never annoy you.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the Nintendo 3DS is weird to pinpoint. The events are fun enough and the single-player mode Road to Rio is interesting, but ultimately it feels less grand than a regular entry in the series. There isn't much in the way of crazy crossover content and all the flair that goes along with them. In its place are the Plus Events, which are nothing more than rebranded Olympic events with a few Mario and Sonic elements. It just feels a bit lazy and I feel that the Dream Events would have made the experience much better. I did at least enjoy myself, so you know, there is at least that!