"Great graphics, same old game"

I have played most of the Mario Party games so far and obviously if you want to compare Mario Party 1 to Mario Party 7, then obviously I would go with 7. The graphics and the sounds are smooth and nice to look at and listen to. However, Nintendo needs to freshen up this franchise or no one will buy it. Mini-games are fun if they are a little harder.

Mario Party 7 was nice to look at, the storyboard was clear and colorful and there was decent music accompanying the games. I also liked that the start screen for the minigames showed you how to play the game and gave you the option of practicing. One thing I didn't like about the first Mario Party was that you couldn't practice beforehand and went into the game not really knowing what you were doing.

When I played the first Mario Parties I was hooked, you could play against the computer and the concept was really easy to follow. In the older versions you had a few choices on which maps you could play and even in some of them, you could play in duel mode. Mario Party 7 has the option where you can play 8 players at a time in various minigames. While that is a neat idea, it is not easy to actually do. Two people have to share the controller and press buttons simultaneously. There isn't that many options for games, which is kind of annoying.

I got tired of this game quite quickly, I found that the computer seemed to always be winning or taking my coins and/stars. I am not a sore loser or a bad player, but that stupid Bowser after almost everytime he appears, he wrecks everything. I know that that is the intention, but it is kind of lame. I think that they could've incorporated him in the game ( like on the Bowser kid spaces) but not throughout the entire game, it felt a little repetitive. I also didn't like how short the boards were, it didn't take much to get a mushroom "orb" and skip over spaces quickly.

Of the very few things that I think that the original Mario Party had that this one doesn't is that it took actual effort to retrieve "items" now called "orbs". That was half the fun for me, trying to obtain these items and mess around with the other players. In Mario Party 7 it seemed like every 15 steps or so, you were receiving an orb for free, stealing one or being asked if you wanted to buy one.

The biggest problem that I had with this game, was that it was so easy, it felt like I was playing a children's game. I realize that yes, children do play this game, but when I played the original I didn't feel like this. The characters are very cartoony, very cutesy and so are the minigames. I especially did not like the mini-game where you have to keep away from the monkeys or the game where you have to collect the musical notes.

My advice for anyone who wants to play this game is to skip it. Wait until Mario Party 8 comes along in a few months.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/07