iPhoneiPod touch2010Venan EntertainmentWinter sports

Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2010)

Mario stayed home: Sonic and nine friends took four Vancouver 2010 events to the iPhone, then vanished from the App Store before the Games had even begun.

Released29 Jan 2010 (US App Store)

PulledEarly February 2010, within a week

DeveloperVenan Entertainment

PriceUS$4.99

EventsCurling, figure skating, skeleton, snowboard cross

Available?No: withdrawn from sale in February 2010

Title	Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (listed on our old mobile games menu as “Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games”)
Platforms	iPhone, iPod touch
Developer	Venan Entertainment
Publisher	Sega
Licence	Official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games licence
Genre	Sports (winter events)
Players	1–4: pass-and-play on one device, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
Announced	December 2009
Released	29 January 2010 (US App Store; some reports give 30 January), US$4.99
Withdrawn	Pulled from the App Store within a week; Pocket Gamer reported it on 3 February 2010
Last version	1.0.6 (European version reviewed by Pocket Gamer)
Availability	No: it has not been on sale since February 2010

Overview

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games took the Vancouver 2010 licence to the Wii and DS in autumn 2009. Away from Nintendo’s machines, Mario’s half of the cast had to stay behind, so the iPhone got its own Sonic-only cut: Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, with four events, ten Sega characters and no Mario anywhere.

Curling, figure skating, skeleton and snowboard cross each got the arcade treatment, with rings and power-ups scattered around, tilt controls for the downhill events and finger-drawn gestures for the others. You could play one event, run all four as a medal-chasing circuit, or pass the phone round, link up by Bluetooth or play over Wi-Fi with up to four players.

Venan Entertainment developed it and Sega released it for $4.99 on 29 January 2010. Reviews were lukewarm, and within a week it was gone from the App Store. Sega said it had withdrawn the game itself while a new version was prepared, but that version never seems to have arrived, and Guinness World Records lists it as the sports video game with the shortest time on sale.

Quick Answers

The short answers, with the detail further down the page.

Plot / Story

There is no story. Sega’s description simply had Sonic and friends heating up the ice and snow, and the game is a set of four events you can play on their own or as a circuit, with medals going to the best all-round athlete. Rings and coins picked up along the way can be spent in the shop on extras: new music for the figure skating, a couple of bonus characters and two more snowboard cross courses.

Modes and multiplayer

Single Event mode lets you play any one sport. Circuit mode strings all four together as a mini Olympics. Every event can also be played against friends in three ways: passing one device round, linking two by Bluetooth, or connecting over Wi-Fi, for up to four players in all. There were no online leaderboards.

You choose between touch and tilt controls, and the game picks your rivals at random from the rest of the cast.

The four events

Each event borrows the basics of the real sport and adds a little Sonic: rings to collect, and in snowboard cross, question-mark boxes that hand out power-ups.

1. 
   Snowboard crossTiltA downhill race against three rivals. Tilt left and right to steer and forwards or backwards for speed and balance, land your jumps cleanly and grab the power-ups.
2. 
   SkeletonTiltHead first down an icy chute on a tiny sled: tilt to steer, dodge the obstacles and scoop up rings.
3. 
   CurlingTouchDraw a line to set the stone’s direction and strength, then rub your finger back and forth to sweep, while a pair of Chao do the work with the brooms.
4. 
   Figure skatingTouchA rhythm game: tap circles in time as they shrink and trace the shapes that appear. Sonic Retro compares it to the battles in Sonic Chronicles.

In comics, TV & other media

No comics or cartoons were tied to this one. These are the games around it. More in Sonic in other movies and media.

Characters

Ten Sega characters, eight from the start and two to unlock in the shop. The character select screen rates each one for speed, technique and power, and the two ratings visible in our screenshots are shown below. The artwork is from Sonic Scene’s own galleries.

Character	Who they are	In this game	Stats & abilities
Sonic the HedgehogPlayable	The world’s fastest hedgehog, and the face of the game’s artwork and App Store icon.	Available from the start, and the star of the snowboarding key art.	Speed 5, technique 2, power 3 (character select screen)
Miles “Tails” ProwerPlayable	Sonic’s two-tailed fox friend.	Available from the start; seen here snowboarding and on the curling sheet.	Starting character
Knuckles the EchidnaPlayable	Guardian of the Master Emerald.	Available from the start.	Starting character
Amy RosePlayable	Sonic’s hammer-wielding admirer.	Available from the start.	Starting character
Shadow the HedgehogPlayable	The Ultimate Life Form, Sonic’s dark rival.	Available from the start.	Starting character
Dr. EggmanPlayable	Sonic’s arch-enemy, here just another competitor.	Available from the start, and one of the faces on the character select screen.	Starting character
Vector the CrocodilePlayable	Loud, headphone-wearing leader of the Chaotix detective agency.	Available from the start, and seen figure skating in the final game.	Speed 4, technique 2, power 4 (character select screen)
Blaze the CatPlayable	The fire-wielding princess from another dimension.	Available from the start.	Starting character
Silver the HedgehogUnlockable	The psychic hedgehog from the future.	One of the two bonus characters; a pre-release screenshot shows him curling.	Unlocked in the shop
Metal SonicUnlockable	Eggman’s robot copy of Sonic.	The other bonus character.	Unlocked in the shop

The people who made it

The companies behind it.

How it was made

Our original page was an infobox for the Wii and DS game. This section is built from the news coverage of the time.

Vancouver comes to the iPhone

TouchArcade went hands-on with the game on 18 December 2009, trying the curling and the snowboard cross, and Pocket Gamer confirmed the line-up three days later: four events, ten Sega characters, touch and tilt controls, and not a Mario in sight. It was due in the new year at close to full price.

The developer was Venan Entertainment, a Connecticut studio with years of mobile games behind it. Pocket Gamer later remarked that it looked crisper on iPhone than the DS original.

Launch week

The game went on sale on the US App Store on 29 January 2010 for $4.99, ahead of the Vancouver Games. Reviews followed fast: Pocket Gamer scored it 6/10 on 2 February, and Engadget’s Erica Sadun published a hands-on the next day.

Pulled from the App Store

On 3 February Pocket Gamer reported that the game had disappeared: it was no longer for sale, and searching the App Store for it turned up nothing. Pocket Gamer asked Sega why, and when it would be back, and noted that this was the second Sega iPhone release in two months to run into trouble after Super Monkey Ball 2.

Two days later the Dutch site iCulture, crediting TouchArcade, reported that a Sega PR representative had confirmed the withdrawal: Sega had pulled the game itself, to avoid confusion while a new version was being made, and meant to put it back on the store, though it would not say what was wrong. iCulture wondered whether thin content or an issue with the Olympic licence lay behind it. No new version is recorded, and the game had been on sale for less than a week, a run so short that Guinness World Records lists it as the record holder for the shortest release time of any sports video game.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

Little is documented about bugs, but the game has a few oddities.

A sweeping job for the Chao

In curling you sweep by rubbing your finger on the screen, but the brooms are held by a pair of Chao, who follow the stone down the ice.

One player or four?

Sonic Retro lists the game as single-player, but Sega’s own description lists three multiplayer modes (pass-and-play, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), and Pocket Gamer’s review puts the player count at one to four.

A slow game of curling

Engadget found curling against another player a test of patience, with long waits for the opponent’s turn plus the time spent setting up and clearing each end.

Videos & media

Pocket Gamer’s AppSpy video review from launch week, and gameplay recorded on an iPhone in 2010.

AppSpy’s video review, from the Pocket Gamer channel.

Gameplay of the iPhone version, uploaded by osxreality.

Trivia & facts

• 

  Guinness World Records lists it as holding the record for the shortest release time of any sports video game.
• Pocket Gamer’s review opened by setting the game’s lukewarm reception against the worries about unseasonably warm weather in Vancouver.
• Pocket Gamer’s verdict compared the game to a snowflake: “fleeting and insubstantial”.
• Its Olympics were over before the real ones began: the game was gone from the App Store within a week of its 29 January launch.
• The curling stones are swept by two Chao rather than by your character.

Media & artwork

Key art, the App Store icon and screenshots from the game. Select any image to view it larger.

Legacy

Note: Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games has not been on sale since February 2010. Sega said a new version was on the way; none is recorded.

Release history

• Wii and DS game 13 October 2009 – Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games reaches North America.
• Hands-on preview 18 December 2009 – TouchArcade plays the curling and snowboard cross.
• Announced 21 December 2009 – Pocket Gamer reports the iPhone game.
• Released 29 January 2010 – US App Store, $4.99.
• Reviewed 2–3 February 2010 – Pocket Gamer (6/10) and Engadget.
• Pulled 3 February 2010 – Pocket Gamer reports that it has vanished from the App Store.
• Sega explains 5 February 2010 – iCulture, via TouchArcade, reports Sega’s confirmation that a new version is being made.

Afterwards

The withdrawn game left only a Guinness World Record and a handful of reviews behind it. Sonic’s later Winter Games outing came with Mario again, in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and a Sonic-only Olympic game came back in 2020 with Sonic at the Olympic Games – Tokyo 2020 on iOS and Android. For its Beijing 2008 predecessor on Java phones, see Sonic at the Olympic Games.

Sales & reviews

Reception and review scores

Few outlets reviewed the game before it was pulled, and Metacritic never gave it a score. Pocket Gamer’s is the one scored review we could check; its current site shows the same verdict as 3 out of 5.

Tracy Erickson praised the simple, well-designed controls and the local multiplayer, but found the events humdrum and too few, with nothing tying them together, no online leaderboards and little to unlock. A proper career mode and a few more sports would, he thought, have helped.

Engadget’s Erica Sadun was warmer. She admired the polish, from the graphics and sound to the animated menus, enjoyed the skeleton and snowboard cross most, and thought it fair value at $4.99, though she could recommend it only to committed Sonic fans.

Honours

Further reading

More from Sonic Scene on Sonic’s Olympic and mobile games:

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Sonic Retro, Pocket Gamer (in its 2010 form), TouchArcade, Engadget, iClarified and iCulture were read through Wayback Machine copies. Screenshots are credited in their captions.

• Overview: Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Spanner Spencer, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games coming to iPhone”, 21 December 2009 (Wayback copy); iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games disqualified from the App Store”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy, 10 February 2010); iCulture, Gonny van der Zwaag, “SEGA haalt Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games tijdelijk uit App Store” (in Dutch; relays a Sega PR representative’s confirmation, credited “via Touch Arcade”), 5 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”; Metacritic, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (iOS): release date 29 January 2010, Sega’s summary, no critic score; Sonic Scene, Sonic games on mobile, tablet and PC (our old mobile games menu: “2010, iOS only” and its tile image)
• Quick Answers: Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); Metacritic, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (iOS): release date 29 January 2010, Sega’s summary, no critic score; Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”; Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); iCulture, Gonny van der Zwaag, “SEGA haalt Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games tijdelijk uit App Store” (in Dutch; relays a Sega PR representative’s confirmation, credited “via Touch Arcade”), 5 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Wikipedia, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii and DS developers, publishers and release dates; the iOS spin-off)
• Plot / Story: iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Engadget, Erica Sadun, “Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy); TouchArcade, Eli Hodapp, “‘Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games’ Hands-On Preview with Video”, 18 December 2009 (Wayback copy); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); Metacritic, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (iOS): release date 29 January 2010, Sega’s summary, no critic score
• In comics, TV & other media: Wikipedia, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii and DS developers, publishers and release dates; the iOS spin-off); Sonic Scene, “Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games 2010” (original infobox article, Joomla 412: the Wii and DS game’s box art and release dates); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy)
• Characters: iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); Sonic Wiki Zone, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (screenshots, renders and the App Store icon); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games disqualified from the App Store”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy, 10 February 2010); MobyGames, Venan Entertainment company credits (Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, iPhone, 2010); Wikipedia, Venan Entertainment (founded 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut; games list). The article was deleted in August 2025; this is the Wayback copy of 11 August 2025; Sonic Scene, Sonic Runners official artwork gallery (character artwork used in the table)
• How it was made: TouchArcade, Eli Hodapp, “‘Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games’ Hands-On Preview with Video”, 18 December 2009 (Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Spanner Spencer, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games coming to iPhone”, 21 December 2009 (Wayback copy); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); Wikipedia, Venan Entertainment (founded 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut; games list). The article was deleted in August 2025; this is the Wayback copy of 11 August 2025; Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Engadget, Erica Sadun, “Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games disqualified from the App Store”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy, 10 February 2010); iCulture, Gonny van der Zwaag, “SEGA haalt Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games tijdelijk uit App Store” (in Dutch; relays a Sega PR representative’s confirmation, credited “via Touch Arcade”), 5 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”; iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy)
• Glitches, exploits and oddities: Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Engadget, Erica Sadun, “Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy)
• Videos & media: YouTube, Pocket Gamer (AppSpy), video ZtFfA3XCjgE (checked with oEmbed); YouTube, osxreality, video -6B7ML-L7nA (checked with oEmbed)
• Trivia & facts: Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”; Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games disqualified from the App Store”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy, 10 February 2010); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy)
• Legacy: Wikipedia, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii and DS developers, publishers and release dates; the iOS spin-off); TouchArcade, Eli Hodapp, “‘Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games’ Hands-On Preview with Video”, 18 December 2009 (Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Spanner Spencer, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games coming to iPhone”, 21 December 2009 (Wayback copy); Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Venan, 29 January 2010, events, characters, unlockables, pulled within a week; Wayback copy); iClarified, “Sega Releases Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 30 January 2010 (price, Sega’s description, events, characters, modes; Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Engadget, Erica Sadun, “Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, “Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games disqualified from the App Store”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy, 10 February 2010); iCulture, Gonny van der Zwaag, “SEGA haalt Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games tijdelijk uit App Store” (in Dutch; relays a Sega PR representative’s confirmation, credited “via Touch Arcade”), 5 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”; Sonic Retro, Sonic at the Olympic Games (disambiguation, listing the 2020 iOS and Android game; Wayback copy)
• Sales & reviews: Pocket Gamer, Tracy Erickson, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games review, 2 February 2010: 6/10 (developer, players 1–4, app version 1.0.6; Wayback copy, June 2010); Engadget, Erica Sadun, “Hands on with Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games”, 3 February 2010 (Wayback copy); Metacritic, Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (iOS): release date 29 January 2010, Sega’s summary, no critic score; Guinness World Records, “Shortest release time for a sports videogame”