Mario Party 4

"Let's party like its 1999!"

As we all know, Mario is Nintendo's Mr. everything. Besides having to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, Mario has also shown the ability to party, race, be an RPG master, and also become an All Mushroom Kingdom star athlete. The Mario Party series has become an instant hit since the N64 days. I have played all of the games except for the first one (was never able to find it). Anyway, the Gamecube got its first Mario Party in October 2002. Yes the graphics have gotten a serious upgrade from the N64 games, but in all, Mario Party 4 is the same old great fun that we had with N64 Mario Party games.

The basic premise for all of the Mario Party games follows a very simple pattern. You pick the character that you want (Mario is my favorite), and then you pick which board you want to try. These boards are all different but they all have the same premise. Instead of trying to reach the end like with a game like Candy Land, you instead collect stars and coins. The coins are used to buy the stars for 20 coins each. The stars are what truly matters if you want to win the game. At the end of the game, which can range from 10-50 turns, whoever has the most stars wins. Four players are always on each board, and the computer controlled A.I. characters can be adjusted to fit your comfort level. Beware, easy mode computer characters are pathetic and don't offer any challenge at all.

But how do you get the coins to buy the stars? Well, first of all every time you roll the dice block at the beginning of each turn you move forward on the game board. If you land on a blue square you'll get 3 coins but landing on a red one will take 3 coins away. You can also land on other game spots which can effect what happens on the game board at that moment such as moving you back to the starting point or swapping your coins with someone else. That's it! Pretty boring huh? Well, the true enjoyment to this game comes in the form of minigames. After every turn (or sometimes in the middle), all of the characters will take part in a minigame. These minigames can be a 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 2, or 1 vs. 3 minigame. Landing on different colored spots on the game board will determine which you'll play. These games are very simple. Sometimes you'll have to push the A button to accomplish your goal, or you'll have to do something else. One game involves shooting basketballs in their baskets to score points. Another has you trying to avoid snowballs thrown at you by snowmen. Another one has you teaming up with another character and ground-pounding giant Thwomps to deflate them at the beach. The fun never stops.

As I mentioned before, the graphics are so much better than they were on the N64. Gone are the blurry character and background designs. Each character now has very nice detail, plus the backgrounds are very colorful. Think Super Mario Sunshine graphics. The music is your same goofy Mario Party style music heard from the N64 Mario Party games.

Of course this game has tons of replay value. There are over 50 minigames to play threw this time, although there were more in the N64 games. With that many games the fun never stops. Also playing with a friend is the best way to go. There is a single player story mode, and although it's better than in past installments, playing with someone else is much better. Plus with the Gamecube having four controller ports, four people can play at once. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't play the single player mode. Quite the opposite. The single player mode starts with the main character that you have chosen having a birthday. Each character has a gift for you (including Bowser), but you must defeat them to get the gift. Every time you get a gift, it will be stored in your personal toy house in the present room. Collecting these gifts will bring back fond memories of Animal Crossing.

In all, Mario Party 4 symbolizes exactly what a Mario Party game is all about. Nothing but pure fun. Mario Party 4 is a clear upgrade from the N64 days, plus it's a player's choice game today costing only $20. That should be enough incentive to buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/03/06