Mario and Sonic animated GIFs / sprites

I love animated GIFs, they're great fun to watch if they're properly made. Here are some of my favourite Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog game sprites and other images made into animated GIFs:















You are welcome to use any or all of these Mario and Sonic animated GIFs in your own website if you wish, but please copy them and upload them to your personal webspace - don't "hotlink" to the ones here. And please also include a link back to this blog by way of a credit to me. Thanks. :-)

You can find them all, plus loads more, on the following pages in my group of Mario, Sonic and general fun and games sites:

Super Mario Bros. Images, Music and Games

Sonic the Hedgehog Images, Music and Games

More Mario and Sonic Images and Games

And just in case you're interested, here are a few pages containing animated GIFs of some other famous fun characters:

Megaman Images, Music and Games

The Simpsons Images, Music and Games

Complete List of Wacky Races Cars and Drivers

More Games-Related Images and Music

Happy Easter!

And happy Songkran (which is the traditional Thai New Year) for tomorrow!! :-)

If you get bored over the holiday period, you can always play hundreds of great free online games at MarioSonicGames.com, www.Dan-Dare.org/Disney and all the other free game sites linked to from within those two. Plus there's always tons of interesting stuff to read over on my England, Thailand and Other Things blog.

The best free online games websites

Before you try any other free online games sites, try these ones first, because there are no pop-ups, no click-thru pages, no dummy pages, no tricks and no gimmicks - just quick, easy and direct access to hundreds and hundreds of quality free games:

Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog online games
(also with Donkey Kong, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby and Megaman)

Disney and Pixar online games
(including Mickey Mouse, Bolt, Lilo & Stitch, WALL-E, Toy Story, etc.)

Dreamworks and other CG movie online games
(including Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Ice Age, TMNT, etc.)

General online games
(the best generic web games)

All the sites also include collections of desktop wallpapers, multimedia and other fun things related to all the games, so I feel sure you will not be disappointed if you visit them. Enjoy! :-)

Play Nintendo and Sega Flash games online

Following on from my recent posts about new Super Mario Bros. online games and new Sonic the Hedgehog online games, here are some fun online games for you to play based on some other Nintendo and Sega classics:

  Donkey Kong: Banana Barrage Online Game

  Zelda: The Seeds of Darkness Online Game

  Kirby's Dreamland Online Game

  Pokemon: Breakdown Blast Online Game

  Megaman vs. Metroid Online Game

  Duck Hunt Online Game

  Puyo Pop Fever: Flash Mini-Games

  Super Monkey Ball 2: Flash Mini-Games

  Billy Hatcher Online Game

And finally, here is a famous rival to Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic:
  Crash Bandicoot Flash Online Game

Don't forget to check out page 1 and page 2 of the main site for loads more free online Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega games!

Sonic and the Black Knight is out now on the Nintendo Wii

Today sees the launch of Sega's new "Sonic and the Black Knight" game on the Nintendo Wii in Europe, following on from its release in Australasia and Japan yesterday and North America on March 3rd.

I haven't seen it or played it yet, so I can't really comment much on it. I've only read the Wikipedia entry for it, and it sounds pretty good going by that. But it doesn't sound like a classic Sonic game, and therein lies the problem..... it's been a very very very long time since there was a truly excellent new Sonic game.

I just wish for once that Sega would release a new "proper" Sonic game, in the original 2D super-fast platforming style of the early 1990s. They got so close with last year's Sonic Unleashed, but ultimately ruined it with all the silly night-time "Werehog" stuff included in the game. I, and I suspect all other true Sonic fans, live in hope that one day soon Sega will finally get it right and give us the game we all crave.

Meanwhile, at least Mario is still starring in world-class games every time, so it's not all bad.....

Super Mario Galaxy is named Best Game by BAFTA

That's the top award of the 2009 British video games "Oscars" - what an outstanding achievement for one of the best games ever (second only to Super Smash Bros. Brawl in my opinion)!



It beat off competition from Grand Theft Auto IV amongst others, which is interesting given the very different natures and target audiences of the two titles. Here's a quick summary of all the BAFTA Video Games Awards 2009 winners:

Best Game: Super Mario Galaxy

Best Action & Adventure: Fable II

Best Sports: Race Driver: Grid

Best Strategy: Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

Best Casual: Boom Blox

Best Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead

Best Handheld: Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Gameplay: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Story & Character: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Artistic Achievement: LittleBigPlanet

Technical Achievement: Spore

Use of Audio: Dead Space

Original Score: Dead Space

People's Choice: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

The biggest surprise has to be that GTA IV didn't win any awards, despite being nominated for seven! See the official BAFTA site for more details, including all the nominees in each award category.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - one year on

So, it's been a whole year now since Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in North America (it wasn't released in Europe and Australasia until June last year, as I'm sure you know), and it's still a worldwide Top 5 selling game as of last week.



It has broken Nintendo sales records everywhere it can be legally bought, and is now officially the greatest Nintendo game ever. Hoorah! It's certainly my favourite game ever. The fact that you can play as Sonic the Hedgehog characters as well as all the classic Nintendo ones is the best thing about it as far as I'm concerned.

There's only one "drawback" to this superb game - you need to buy a Nintendo Wii first before you can play it, which in these times of financial hardship may not be as easy to come by for many people as in previous years.

However, don't despair if that applies to you, because here is a fantastic Flash online version of it for you to play for free, plus a Sonic-specific version too.....

  Super Smash Flash Online Game

  Sonic Smash Brothers Online Game

Brilliantly, both games include full game save functionality, plus detailed strategy guides, to help you fully enjoy them!

Play new Super Mario Bros. Flash games online

Following on from my post about new Sonic the Hedgehog online games yesterday, here are some excellent new Super Mario games for you to play, also from page 2 of MarioSonicGames.com:

  Super Mario World Flash Online Game

  Koopa Avalanche Online Game

  The Rambo Bros. - Reload It Online Game

  Mario Town 2 Online Game

  Shy Guy's Big Bird Chase Online Game

And for good measure, the current No. 1 online Super Mario Bros. game is:
  New Super Mario Flash Online Game

Don't forget to check out the main site, and also this site, for literally hundreds more super free online games!

Play new Sonic the Hedgehog Flash games online

Here are some great new Sonic games for you to play, from page 2 of MarioSonicGames.com:

  Sonic in Mario World Online Game

  Tails' Nightmare Online Game

  SonicX Emerald Grab Online Game

  Sonic the Star Hunter Online Game

  Sonic Flash Online Game

And just in case you haven't played it yet, the current No. 1 online Sonic the Hedgehog game is:
  Ultimate Flash Sonic Online Game

Check out the main site too, because there are so many great free Mario and Sonic games that it will take you at least a month to play them all! :-)

6 free Mario and Sonic games for you to download!

To celebrate the relaunch of MarioSonicGames.com, here are six excellent Mario and Sonic games that you can download and play for free (Flash games in .zip compressed files):

  Super Mario Bros.: Paper Mario World

(View it and play it online here: Paper Mario World Online)


  Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Abstracta

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Abstracta Online)


  Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Matchit

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Matchit Online)


  Sonic the Hedgehog: Amy's Whack-A-Nik

(View it and play it online here: Amy's Whack-A-Nik Online)


  Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Sky Chase

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Sky Chase Online)


Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic Sky Chase (2nd Version)

(View it and play it online here: Sonic Sky Chase (2nd Version) Online)


Because all the games are written in Flash, in addition to being able to play them on your PC, you also can upload them to your own website for your visitors to play online if you wish.

To use the downloads and play the games, click on any of the links above, then select "Save" for the .zip compressed file that will be downloaded, and select a folder on your computer to save the .zip file into. Once the .zip file has downloaded successfully, unzip it and then you can play the game by double-clicking on the .htm file that was unzipped. (Note that the .htm file is an offline webpage that runs the .swf file which is the actual Flash game - you don't need an active internet connection to run it.)

To use the games in your own website, simply upload the .htm webpage files (which you may want to modify to your own site's style first) and the .swf Flash game files to your webspace, link to the .htm files from you site's home page, and you and your visitors can then play the games in your site. Enjoy! :-)

The all-new MarioSonicGames.com site is now live!

At last, it's here - the super, fantastic, amazing brand new version of the world-famous MarioSonicGames.com website!!

Featuring more free high-quality Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog online games than ever before (and more than any other Mario and Sonic games site) including six that have been made exclusively for MarioSonicGames.com, plus more lovely freebies such as wallpaper pictures, music samples, etc. - so now there's bound to be something that you'll like, and plenty to keep you coming back in the future!

Enjoy superb games such as the awesome New Super Mario Flash and the equally brilliant Ultimate Flash Sonic, plus literally hundreds more!

So, what are you waiting for? Visit MarioSonicGames.com now! :-)

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010

Sega officially announced today that they are making "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games" for both the Nintendo Wii and DS, as a sequel to last year's highly successful Beijing Summer Olympics game that also featured both iconic characters (see my post about that game here).

The new game will be released at the end of this year and will tie in with the 2010 Winter Olympics being help in Vancouver, Canada. It will feature winter sports such as skiing, skating and..... wait for it..... my favourite and I suspect yours too..... snowboarding - hoorah!! Support for the Wii's Balance Board will also be provided within the game - presumably for the snowboarding!!! - so it sounds like this will be even better than the first game (which I thought was excellent anyway).

You can watch an official trailer for the new game, showing a short clip of the snowboarding, here.

I am sooooo looking forward to this, the snowboarding will be spectacular fun! If you can't wait until the end of the year for it, you can play some free Sonic the Hedgehog snowboarding games by following these links:

  Sonic Snowboarding Demo

  Sonic Snowboarding Demo 2

  Sonic 3D Snowboarding

Don't forget to visit the MarioSonicGames.com site for even more free Mario and Sonic online games!

MarioSonicGames.com is nearly ready for its relaunch

Everything should be ready in about 4 weeks, we're just applying the finishing touches to the brand new version of the site, and testing everything to make sure it all works perfectly.

The new site is now literally bursting with hundreds of brilliant free Mario, Sonic, Nintendo and Sega games, so check back here in one month's time to see what's happening!

Merry Christmas.....

.....and a Happy New Year!! I'll be back to blogging here in a week or so. In the meantime, why not take a look at my other posts in this blog - there's bound to be lots more stuff of interest to you. And don't forget to check out my group of free fun and games sites, such as the Mario and Sonic games site, the Disney and Pixar games site and the Shrek and DreamWorks games site. All the sites also feature large collections of wallpaper pictures and other great freebies in addition to all the free games. Have fun!

Sonic Unleashed = Sonic Disappointment

I played the brand new Sonic Unleashed game, which was released this month, on the Nintendo Wii the other day. I haven't got much to say on the subject other than that I am very very very very very very very disappointed with it!!!!

I had hoped for so much from this game, and while it isn't a bad game, it isn't a particularly good one either. Why oh why couldn't Sega have just expanded the really good daytime 2D side-scrolling bits of the game and removed everything else, especially all the nighttime "Werehog" rubbish, then it might have been the best Sonic game ever?!?!?!?! Good grief, another wasted opportunity.........

Which are the best Mario and Sonic online games?

I get asked this question quite a lot by visitors to the MarioSonicGames.com site. In my opinion, the top 5 online games featuring either Mario or Sonic (or both) are as follows:

  Super Smash Bros. Brawl Flash

  New Super Mario Flash

  Super Mario Sunshine 64

  Ultimate Flash Sonic

  Ultimate Robotnik Duels

However, this is a very subjective list, and I might give a different answer on a different day. Why not visit the MarioSonicGames.com site and check out the more than 150 Mario and Sonic games there to see for yourself which are the best ones.....

26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards

The 26th UK Annual Golden Joystick Awards took place yesterday, and the combat game "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" scooped many of the major prizes.

There were 17 categories of awards which were all decided by UK gamers, with more than 850,000 of them voting this year.

Call of Duty 4 received the "Ultimate Game of the Year", "PC Game of the Year", "Online Game of the Year" and "Multiplayer Game of the Year" awards. The next game in the series, Call of Duty 5: World at War, received the "One to Watch" award. And Activision, publishers of the series, won the "Publisher of the Year" award - so a resounding all-round success for them, then.

Rockstar, developers of Grand Theft Auto IV, the fastest-selling video game of all time, won three awards, picking up "Developer Of The Year" plus "Soundtrack Of The Year" and "Xbox Game of the Year" for GTA IV.

"Family Game of the Year" went to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while the "Handheld Game of the Year" prize went to Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS.

The "Nintendo Game of the Year" award went to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while the "Playstation Game of the Year" was named as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Other award winners were Bejeweled 2 (Mobile Game of the Year), Fallout 3 (Most Wanted), Stickman Madness (Grand Master Flash) and Play.com (Retailer of the Year).

Sonic the Hedgehog voted favourite computer game star

According to an article in yesterday's English Daily Telegraph newspaper, in a recent poll to find out who is the most popular video game character, UK gamers handed victory to Sonic (with 24% of the vote) over Mario (21%) and Lara Croft (16%). Other favourites were Donkey Kong (11%), Pac Man (10%), Link (5%), Max Payne (4%) and Pikachu (3%).

I am surprised, but happy, that Sonic won. Too often the professional game critics claim Sonic games aren't as good as Mario ones. Even though at times that also seems to be true to me, clearly the game-playing public disagree. Hoorah for that, then! The biggest surprise to me from this poll was the very poor showing for Pikachu, given the overall global popularity of Pokemon. Perhaps Charizard would have polled higher.