Nintendo demanded to have Mario be a step ahead of Sonic in all promotional material for Sega’s Mario & Sonic Olympic Games.
According to Yoichi Hasegawa, the localization producer on the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, that collaboration came with strict and specific guidelines from Nintendo, particularly when it came to how Mario and Sonic were portrayed in promotional material. In an interview with Timeless Gamers Show on YouTube, he talked about the unusual experience of working on a title that brought together mascots from historically competing companies. While some Sega staff felt uneasy about the partnership, Hasegawa likened it to a “festival,” where characters from different worlds could coexist.
Hasegawa stated that, regardless of how things played out in gameplay, “in the video, Mario always needs to win.” Even though Sonic is canonically much faster, and often portrayed as more powerful in other crossover titles like Super Smash Bros, Nintendo required that marketing materials never show Mario losing to Sonic. This wasn’t framed as a gameplay balance issue, but rather a branding mandate based on what he described as the “political issues”.
In a separate interview with Arcade Attack Retro Gaming Network on YouTube, Hasegawa shared that while reviewing official artwork used for packaging, manuals, and cartridge labels for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Nintendo noticed that Sonic’s foot was positioned slightly ahead of Mario’s. According to him, Nintendo immediately demanded a correction. Mario, they insisted, had to be just a bit in front. The development team complied, understanding that failure to do so could jeopardize approval entirely. “We have to change it,” Hasegawa recalled, or “there will be no deal.”
For the uninitiated, Sega’s Mario & Sonic Olympic Games series consists of crossover games that bring together characters from both the Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros universes. The series is available exclusively on Nintendo platforms.
