Mario Party 4

"SO much better than Mario Party 5"

Mario Party. Endless fun with friends. There were three games from the Mario Party series that were released for the Nintendo 64. Each of them contained over 60 minigames players could participate in and several big board maps. The Mario Party games being mainly multiplayer games, players would move around the board maps in order to collect the most stars before the game is over. However, the heart of the games lied in the minigames that were participated in frequently during each game. Some were an absolute blast to play, like Bumper Balls and Mushroom Mix-up from the first Mario Party. Then there were the clunkers of course, but fortunately the good ones outweighed them in all three games. The same tradition stands tall for Mario Party 4, the first Mario Party game which was released for the Gamecube. But for some reason, people think this game is utter garbage, especially compared to MP5. But mind you, quality owns quantity. Though MP5 has twice as many minigames, MP4's are twice as fun.

The basics:
Mario Party has followed the same basic format every year. Basically, each player can choose one of 8 characters to participate in a board game. Each player takes a turn rolling the dice to move a certain number of spaces around the board. Certain spaces trigger different events, like a free item or a visit from the King of Koopas. Minigames are played after each round. The primary goal of each game is to get more stars than your opponents, which can be purchased or even stolen from your opponents.

Story:
It's pretty hard to create a storyline for a party game. In fact, they probably shouldn't even bother. Basically, Toad, Goomba, Boo, and Shy Guy have prepared special presents for each of the playable characters. Players must fight their way through each board map to receive another one of the presents. Certainly lacking in the creativity department here, Nintendo (but it's the fun that counts).

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Most of you should be familiar with this formula by now. The same 8 characters from Mario Party 3 return in this game. Like its predecessors, Mario Party 4 has some very addictive gameplay value, particularly if you've got friends. Each board map is featured around on of the party hosts' surprise arenas. Board landscape varies from Goomba's flashy casino to Boo's haunted mansion. Stars are now purchased from the party host for that particular board. And the Bowser spaces are as unpredictable as ever.

But what changes have been made this time around? Remember chance time? That's also been modified slightly. Instead of hitting dice blocks to determine the random events, you participate in pinball. Wherever the ball lands determines which characters will be affected and in what way. The second major change is the addition of super and poison mushrooms. Super mushrooms make you grow, allowing you to trample on other players and take their coins. Poison mushrooms shrink you, enabling you to access other parts of the board where you normally wouldn't be able to reach.

Of course, as any Mario Party veteran can tell you, it's all about the minigames. Minigames are either 4-player, 2 vs. 2, 1 vs. 3, or duel (1 vs. 1). Unfortunately, Mario Party 4 doesn't sport quite as many minigames as the other 4, with roughly around 50. Or maybe we've just been spoiled by the others. But the ones it does contain are fun to say the least. One particularly fun one is Bob-omb Breakers, which is a variation on tetris. The goal is to break 100 pieces in your slot before your opponents do by placing bob-ombs inside blocks of the same color. Another thing Mario Party vetarans will be grateful for is the absence of the blister-causing button-mashing minigames (for the most part, at least). Less, pain, more play!

There's also a new room entitled ''Da Extra Room''. In this room, Whomp and Thwomp have some rather peculiar minigames and board maps available. The minigames are basically single-player survival games. In one of them, you're pitted in an arena full of Bob-ombs and you have to survive for as long as possible without getting hit. The board maps in Da Extra Room are fairly odd. You're required to make good use of the mega and mini mushrooms in order to snatch your opponents' coins.

Graphics: 9/10
Upgraded. The graphics sure have received a decent face lift from the N64 days. Textures are more vibrant and solid, what you'd expect from a game on a more powerful system. The character designs are fairly solid, too. Nothing incredibly detailed or mid-blowing, but what do you expect from a Mario Party game? Many of the colors and lighting effects are so bright you might need to wear sunglasses while playing.

Sound: 8/10
Nice, cheery tunes that are fairly forgettable in the long-run. They're fairly simplistic tunes like they were in Mario Parties 1-3 and 5. The board map themes are actually quite pleasant, particularly the eerie pipe sounds in the choros of the Boo's haunted mansion theme. As for character voices, they are fairly tolerable for the most part. Fairly identical to the other parties in this area as well.

Bottom Line:
I honestly can't see why so many people rank this game as the worst of the series. Quite frankly, the minigames in Mario Parties 2, 3, and 5 are rather uninspired compared to these. Out of the 5 Mario Parties currently out, Mario Party 4 ranks second-best in my book, right next to the original one. No matter how hard they try, newer Mario Parties and other party games can't compete with that N64 classic. If you liked the other Parties, you'll like this one. Even if you didn't, I suggest giving this one a try.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/15/04