Like previous Mario & Sonic titles, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is a sports game featuring a crossover cast of characters from Nintendo's Super Mario and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series.[4] The player, using one of the characters, competes in a multitude of events based on sports from the Olympic Games. The game features a variety of events; returning ones from previous Mario & Sonic titles include boxing, soccer (referred to as football in the game), swimming, and gymnastics, while new ones include karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing.[5]
The game supports a variety of controllers, including the Joy-Con motion controllers.[5][6] The game also features single system split-screen multiplayer, LAN multiplayer, and online play.[5] An additional 2D Mode is also included, based on the 1964 Summer Olympics, and featuring 8-bit and 16-bit styles for Mario and Sonic, respectively. These 2D Mode events have more limited controls and the option to enable a CRT overlay to further emulate the feel of games of that era.[7]