I'll tell you that the other reviews are right, this game is 5x better then the first, definitely worth a purchase!
User Rating: 8.5 | Mario & Sonic at Vancouver Olympics WII
I ordered the game a few days after it came out, and was happily surprised after a few hours of game play. I started playing the events in order, and sadly, while some are unique, a bunch are very similar, like in the previous game. But the other 2/3 of events are new and surprising, like my personal favorites, Ice Hockey and Speed Skating! And of course, Dream Events. For starters, the first game had 4. This one has close to 20! But only 2 are available from the start, so you have to unlock most all. That's not bad, for it gives an incentive to play more. But let me stay on the Dream Events topic, THEY ARE FUN! So much more fantasy like, like flying though the Good-Egg Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy, and my personal favorite, snowboard racing on Radical Highway, from Sonic Adventure 2 (Battle). Their is also skiing in the first stage of Sonic Heroes (the coarse name slips my mind) and racing in a custom version of Mario Circuit from the Mario Kart franchise. Many more are there, but I have yet to unlock them. In the last game we got "Circuit Mode" where we did a set of events given in order. This was replaced with "Festival Mode". In this, you do 2-3 events, some being training to get you started with the event, and some being actual events where it keeps your score, and counts in points depending on your place. The 2-3 events count as "Days" and a day passes when you complete all the events given. Every other "day" you face a "Rival", which is a non-playable character from either franchise (King Boo and Bullet Bill, Rouge, Omega and Jet for examples.) These are usually pretty easy, but you may have to restart the face-off if you lack some skill in the event they are playing you in. There is also a "Team" mode in the Festival. After you do events (rather in the festival or just playing an event) you collect currency to spend on various things, such as outfits to dress your Mii and patterns and designs for a snowboard or skis or other things. Overall, the game has lots of things to unlock and accomplish, and is lots of fun by yourself, but especially fun with your friends! I hope my review has been good use to you- I think I'm going to play Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games now =) 
