Mario Party 6

"Nintendo is slowly opening there minds..."

Introduction: Four score and seven years ago, a strange little box came to earth. Inside it was a cartridge for th N64 called "Mario Party". Gamers were very intrigued that nintendo was coming up with new, original ideas for games. It was about mario and his friends playing a board game and had a party. They were the pieces that rolled dice, moving spaces and gaining coins through perilous mini-games to buy stars, but they had to be weary of bowser who attempts to crash the party every time. Legend had it that a superstar could defeat him. Many present MP fans still consider this game to be the best MP of all time and it will never be replaced. However, I could disagree with that when MP2 came out. Gameplay was enhanced. We had way more elaborate levels and item shops to boot. Just for fun, nintendo also gave each character different costumes depending on the level they played. But my favorite addition was boo, who could steal coins and stars. We even had a magic lamp that could allow you to instantly warp to the stars. This game also featured many old mini-games, and a couple of new-ones for more fun. By now, however, gamers knew that friends made this game more fun. I, sadly, only played the first two titles with friends. However, I heard of a MP3 coming out, with 70 new mini-games! 70! I immediately dashed to toys r us and buy it. However, when I played, I was a little disappointed, because of the terrible graphics and sound. However, the mini-games made up for that and waluigi's island was the most elaborate level so far. We even have item games and quizzes asked by toad or baby bowser(I refuse to call him koopa kid) and you needed to think like them to get them right. It also sported a challenging story mode that was fun, and duel boards. I also used waluigi instead of yoshi because he and daisy became characters. It was a shame the duel boards were only in this MP. Only one other bad thing was that game guy could change the outcome of an entire player's game by a single game of luck. Now, N64 soon saw the darkness and Gamecube saw the light. It was announced in E3 that the fourth mario party would come out soon. And it did, as it sported better graphics, sound, and gameplay. The two mushrooms added an unthinkable amount of strategy. Mini-games were still as fresh as ever, but story mode was beginning to get boring, but still more strategic and it was not a half-bad storyline anyway. Still, I can't understand why many gamers hated this one so much. However, gamers were getting tired of MP when nintendo released MP5. After playing this game, I knew nintendo was getting tired and running out of ideas too. The only thinks that shined in this game were the graphics and the capsule system because it added the most strategy yet. That meant no more item shops. Did I forget to mention that the story really blowed? Yeah, dreams are a dumb storyline. The mini-games also flopped. There were very few in number and too many of them were luck based. I can't tell you how many of them said that the results are completely random. And DK fans got real aggravated because he was no longer a playable character. Then, gamers cowered in fear again because nintento had the "nerve" to make MP6. However, when I played it, I wasn't sorry. Nintendo corrected many errors from the previous games. They are beginning to listen to the gamers. How? Lets find out!

Story:5: OMG Nintendo! This is the part where they lack creativity. Seriously, I thought the last game's story was pretty dumb, but really, A Sun and Moon spirit fighting and throwing them a party? Come on, I can come up with a better story in 30 seconds. However, despite the dumb, childish plot, it really influenced game play. One way was with solo mode, which replaced the most boring aspects of MP4 and 5 with a quick one player party with a goal to collect mini-games, and possibly get rewarded with incredibly fun ones. Kudos to you nintendo. Also, because the story is about a sun and moon, gameplay was influenced again, this time in party mode, because nintendo went back to MP2, took one level's coolest feature, and added it to all the levels in this game. This was the day and night feature, which really, increased strategy. This raises the score by a point to 5.

Gameplay:10: Every MP game with the exception of 5 excelled in gameplay. And this one was the best of them all. This time, nintendo added all of the coolest features of the previous game to this one. We were also given back shops and the starbank, and we were als given back mini-game island with solo mode. This even had all of 5's positive aspects, which were the capsules(now able to be bought and called orbs). Also, the movement on the levels are faster so we don't get impatient. Day and night were very strategic, and now, not only do we have the star costing 20 coins requiring you to pass the space, we now have varying prices, or given a set amount and then having to steal them from opponents, and even having to chane moving characters to get them. This is what we've been waiting for. Also, we were given the mic, although poorly made, that added a new breed of mini-games. I can never get tired of verbal assault, if playing it with friends. Also, the mic mode includes star sprint, which is giving voice commands to move your character, and speak-up, a semi-challenging jeopardy esque. quiz. Lastly, the mini-games. They are much more challenging then MP5's games and less luck oriented, however, not every mini-game was fantastic. Just beware starbank, some of the things aren't worth paying with your hard earned stars. Also, for DK fans, if you were disappointed that DK wasn't playable in 5, well, he still isn't. Don't worry, I believe he serves more of a purpose in this game. How? Play and find out.

Graphics/Sound:7:Eh, graphics and sound don't really make a game. However, there are a few things to talk about. First, the graphics were definitely a step up to N64, but they weren't fantastic. Gamecube is a 128 bit system, and I can think of many games in a second that took advantage of gamecube's power. Hudson has not been paying attention to this when making each MP. Just check out the start screen, it is incredibly blurry, And you can look at Brighton or Twila, man do they look outdated. I know that there could have been way more detail done. Also, I really thought the sound got more annoying in each game. Like MP 5,the soundtrack felt like it was put together in 30 seconds. Although some of the voices are changed, they sound really pathetic, especially waluigi's, and some voices sound ugly and deep. However, none of these things really effected the game itself, and they don't matter anyway. They're not terrible, but they could be better.

Playtime/Replay-ability:8: This game was much quicker than the last few. Solo ode should take an hour to beat at most, and it technically can't be beaten as well as the rest of the game. Any MP game is fun to play with friends. As a single person, it gets boring after a while. The longest part will be unlocking the mini-games, because landing on the correct spaces is very situational. Still, some of the mini-games never get old, but really, it's best to invite friends over when playing this.

The Bottom Line: The Best on GC, but not he best MP. For 2-4 players.

Overall:7/10:

Rent or Buy: If your a hardcore MP fan, you know what to do. If you hated the other ones, again, you know what to do. If you are an only child, rent this and play with friends. If you have siblings, lucky you, your not alone, so definitely go for it. I hope nintendo will keep up the hard-work.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/04