Mario Party 6

"Party crashers."

If you thought Madden was the prime gaming tradition that occurs annually, the Mario Party series may very well give it a run for its money. The sixth installment in the Mario Party series attempts to bring some new innovations to the table, while simultaneously refining the same old formula. Brighton and Twila, the Sun and the Moon that watch over the world of Mario Party, are generally peaceful and friendly guardians. But one day, Brighton asked Twila, "Who's more impressive? You or me?" Twila responded, "Why, me, of course!" Furious at this response, Brighton lashed back, and the two guardians began a seemingly-endless feud over who was more impressive. Suddenly, Mario had an idea. The power of the Stars could settle their dispute, and they would play Mario Party to fill up the Star Bank. Brighton and Twila agree and decide to host Mario's 6th annual party!

Though there are indeed some changes, the basic fundamentals of Mario Party remain the same. All the characters from Mario Party 5 return, with the addition of Toadette, the all-unoriginal pink Toad who originated as Toad's feminine counterpart in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! DK is still not playable, sadly, as Hudson has once again given him the shaft and made him a minigame host In Party Mode, four players are placed on a board map. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice to determine the number of spaces he or she moves. The goal, as in the previous games, is to collect more Stars than your opponents. In some boards, a star space is placed on a random board space every game, and players must reach them by moving across the board map and purchasing them with their coins, just like you're used to. This is not always the case, however, depending on the board you're playing. For example, on the Snowflake Lake board, each player begins with five stars, and the way to achieve more stars is to steal them from your opponents by riding on the back of a Chain Chomp. Other boards may have you chasing DK around the board for Stars.

Since the game's storyline centers around the cosmos, Hudson has implemented a new day/night feature on each board. Remember Horror Land from Mario Party 2? If so, you should be familiar with this "new" system. Every three turns, the scene will change from day to night, or vice versa. Changing the time of day causes changes on the board map. A friendly, gift-giving tree during the day may transform into an evil, coin-stealing tree at night. DK spaces will revert to Bowser spaces, and certain paths on the map may even change. Of all the added features in this particular installment, the day/night system is probably the one that expands the gameplay the most.

Many have considered the capsules to be a poor substitute for items, as everything is completely randomized. Hudson claims to introduce "Orbs" into this game, though they're virtually the same things as capsules. Meh. Like before, you will receive a random orb after passing by an orb space. However, Hudson actually had the sense to bring back the shops this time. In addition to the free orb spaces, you can now purchase orbs from shops located across the board. Prices on orbs vary, though you're given a fairly limited selection to choose from. The game also introduces "Roadblock Orbs", where a player throws that particular orb on a space, and whenever any other player passes that spaces, the orb will activate. It might stall their movement, move their position, or dock their coins. The orb system is still far too randomized, though it's not as unbearable as it was in the previous installment.

Mario Party 6 sports over 80 all-new minigames, though some are blatant copies of others in the series. Minigames are divided into categories of 4-player, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, and Duel. Some of these are pretty fun and original, while others will have you pondering what in the world they were smoking. One good one is Cannonball Fun, which has you and three other players in hovercrafts firing cannonballs at each other. The day/night system also has an impact on select minigames. On most, the sky will simply change from day to night, but on some, dynamics will completely change. For example, if the goal is to reach the highest point during the day, the goal might be to reach the lowest point during the night.

Story Mode has been replaced by "Solo Mode", which is actually quite different. In Solo Mode, you will participate on one-player boards that are completely different than the Party Mode boards, and much smaller. All the spaces are Minigame Spaces, and when you land on one, you'll begin a minigame. This is the primary strategy for collecting minigames you haven't yet unlocked, as the roulette always stops on a game you haven't gotten. Here's the catch, though - You must win the minigame in order to receive it. But wait! There's another catch. You must stop your game before you reach the end of the board. Everything is one-way, and if you reach the end, you'll fall off the board, and you'll lose all the minigames and coins you've collected along the way! You can quit the game at any time, but if you land on the very last space before the end, you'll get a Rare minigame which you can't receive anywhere else! These Rare-type minigames are the best the game has to offer. Solo Mode on the whole is much preferred over Story Mode, but it's still not enough to keep a single player satisfied for long.

The microphone peripheral that comes with the game plugs into whatever Memory Card slot you're not using. It's not a requirement. It's more of a novelty than anything. But hey, it's free. Really, it's only used in Mic Mode, which is simply a fun little extra not vital to the main gameplay. In Mic Mode, you can participate in one of three categories: Star Sprint, Speak Up, or Mic Minigames. In Star Sprint, you must give your character commands as you guide him/her through an obstacle course. Simply commands include "Run", "Jump", and "Move Up/Down". Unfortunately, the game reacts extremely slowly to your commands, and often too late for that command to be executed correctly. Also, the voice recognition system requires you to speak slowly and clearly, and will sometimes mistake one command for another.

Speak Up is a two-player quiz show hosted by Twila and Brighton. They will ask you questions about the game in general, or whatever appears on the screen. You and a friend will rotate turns using the mic. It's an extremely simple quiz show, one that's not likely to keep you entertained for long. The main reason you'll want to play Mic Mode is for the Mic Minigames. These are basically 1 vs. 3 games, except the one player controls the mic. For example, in Verbal Assault, one player the one player controls a giant machine and shouts commands to launch weapons at the other three players. If the mic player shouts "Lasers!", the machine will fire two lasers straight ahead. Sometimes, you can even trick your opponents by tricking the game into thinking you said something different. Like if you shout "Crap!" in Fruit Talktail, the game will think you're shouting "Apples!" and drop all the fruit panels except the apple ones. Thus, the mic is a flawed and rather unnecessary gadget, and honestly, these games would have been better without it.

From a graphical standpoint, this game looks very dated. Hudson has stuck with the exact same character models and flat textures it's used for the past few years. It's not that it's ugly, it's just that they refuse to update it. The trees, the pathways, and everything except the water lacks texture. The trees and mushroom houses on the mode select screen are so jagged and unpolished they look like what you'd see on the Nintendo 64. Visuals aren't overbearingly childish like they were in Mario Party 5, but it definitely could use a new coat. Mind you, rich texture is most certainly possible in a cartoonish Mario game. If you'd look at the recently-released Mario Power Tennis, you'd see incredible detail used on both the courts and the characters, and especially the cut-scenes.

After being severely disappointed with Mario Party 5, I held my expectations low for the sequel, but still high enough to expect some fun while it lasts. That's exactly what I got. The microphone feels like a cheap attempt to innovate the series, and it shows - It's a very cheaply-made product. Granted, the mic will likely show potential sometime in the future, but for now, I'll stick with the regular methods of playing Mario Party. If you're looking for the same, do so here. I still yearn for the series to return to it's roots, though, and when I say that, I mean bringing back Minigame Island, going back to items, and just keeping it simple. The day/night system is a nice feature, I admit, as it actually expands board play. And Solo Mode, while no Minigame Island, slaughters MP5's Story Mode, buries it, and spits on its grave. Call for pizza, grab a drink or two, and plenty of toilet paper. It's gonna be a long night.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/07