Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Certainly, if we could do it in a crowded London public house with half the Star Ocean development team looking on, there’s no excuse for you lot not to give it a go. Plus, extensive play will build up your rump to the extent that you’ll be able to crack Brazil nuts with a single clench, although we can’t think why you’d want to.

We were also able to make direct comparisons between how the downhill skiing event fared with and without our weight-obsessed plastic friend, and it has to be said that the inclusion of the balance board does seem to bring with it a slight decrease in accuracy – or maybe it was our sumo warrior-like footwork that messed up our runs. Regardless, with a bit of practice, it’s still possible to hit all the corner flags, so long as the wider turning circles are taken into consideration.

The player still holds the Nunchuk and remote as though they were ski poles, but with the board in use, the handheld controllers play a bit-part in proceedings, only coming into the action for the obligatory waggle sessions, to ensure a quick take-off at the start of the run and also to pick up speed should you fudge it mid-session. Far from being gratuitous, these gestures do add to the illusion that you’re a blue hedgehog careening down Vancouver’s expansive Cypress Mountain, rather than wobbling around on a bit of white plastic in your living room as your mirth-ridden neighbours crowd around the window.

Ultra-competitive dads might opt for the pinpoint finesse of the standard controls, but there’s no way your balance board won’t get an automatic invite to your parties if you pick up a copy of Olympic Winter Games. And if the rest of the minigames live up to this early promise, we’d really rather recommend that you do. We can’t wait to see how the balance board support works for the luge…

Sep 21, 2009