Mario Party 4

"Mario Party's back, and with the gamecube to back it up"

I long awaited this game. I loved all of the previous Mario Party games and when this came out I was overjoyed. I got it at blockbuster, and home i went to play this game with my friend whom i invited over. We went at it for a while, and it just wasnt too bad.

Plot: 8/10

Its kinda corny, well, ok, really corny. But what kinda party game really needs much of a plot anyway. They nintendo gang was just playin around again and all of the sudden out of the sky came the party cube. And the characters have to compete to get presents. Its good enough, lets move on to whats really important.

Graphics: 9/10

Not exactly what's ''really important'' yet, but we're getting there. The graphics are done pretty well. It is far from full GameCube capacity, but it gives just the right taste for a mario party game. They are certainly upgraded from the N64, but not too much. Rounded sides, good shading, the whole works. Anyway, it all runs and looks great, 9/10.

Sound: 8/10

It all sounds great, but some of the music can get annoying at times. Its not so bad to the point where you wanna turn off the sound, but after a long time of playing, you'll turn the volume down and just get into the game enough to where it wont bother you much. Its all pretty classic from the other games. Sounds good here.

Gameplay: 7/10

You have limited modes this time. You have the typical party mode, but this time, it doesnt help you in your progress further in the game at all. Stars don't help this time, its all in the presents, which can only be aquired in Story Mode. Story mode is only one player, which is kind of a burden again, because you would like to be able to progress in the game, and play with your friends at the same time, but you cant do that. The next mode is a mini game mode. Here, you can play the mini games that you have already unlocked, no buying them this time, takes out the challenge unfortunately, but thats that. Then, you can see your presents, options, and then an ''extra mini game'' room. This is basically a challenge match of certain mini games, these are quite fun and add to the challenge of it (some mini games can get kind of easy).

Mini Games are not bad in this game, but could have been much better. They brought back some of the old ones, but only the ones that no one really cared about (the crane, the blow the bowser head up totally based on luck). And then they got about 50 other ones, i was hoping for more. Some of these are pretty original, but others are just copies of other ones made slightly more lame. A lot of ones that i liked from the past games didn't return and i was kind of disappointed, but the party maps are great, and most of the mini games are pretty good also.

Replay Value: 8/10

Its a party game. Go back to it any time your having a party or wanna play one of the many mini games, the only problem is that the games take so long if you wanna play a party match, and they take time, but its still something nice to return to once in a while.

Rent or Buy?

If you are a big fan of the Mario Party series, buy it. If your not quite sure, definitely rent it first, and then consider it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/02, Updated 11/10/02