Mario Party 6

"Let's still party like its 1999!"

Another year; another annual Mario Party is upon us. 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 was the same old great fun that we had with N64 Mario Party games. Now only two years later, two more Mario Party games have arrived; Mario Party 5 and 6. While it's basically very similar to Mario Party 4, Mario Party 6 still offers a terrific game for you to play.

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.

In this Mario Party however, these rules don't apply at all times. Each game board has a different set of rules in order to win. Oh sure, in Towering Treetop and E. Gadd's Garage the same general Mario Party rules apply, but they are much different for other lands. In Faire Square, the same rules apply but you can now buy up to five stars at once. In Snowflake Lake, each player starts out with five stars, and you need to use Chain Chomps in order to steal them. In Castaway Bay, the star is always in the same spot. Donkey Kong will sell you one for 20 coins, but Bowser sure won't! In all these boards do offer a bit of a change from the same old same old game board seen in the first five Mario Party games.

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 using your eyes to look at a scanner to determine which box has a coin or a bag of money. Another one is called Lift Leapers and is a Super Mario Bros. inspired level. Another game would be Motown where you mow the grass.

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. In all, the graphics and sound are basically the same as Mario Party 4 and 5.

Of course this game has tons of replay value. There are over 70 minigames to play threw this time. With that many games the fun never stops. Also playing with a friend is the best way to go. The story of this year's Mario Party revolves around the sun and the moon, named Brighton and Twila. After every three rounds of play, the time of day shifts on the board from day to night. These changes can affect the paths you take of the game board. Affected paths can either provide you with shortcuts to the stars or send you in the wrong direction. Besides the day and night cycles, the other significant addition to Mario Party 6 is the inclusion of a microphone, which is used to control a handful of voice-activated minigames.

In all, Mario Party 6 symbolizes exactly what a Mario Party game is all about. Nothing but pure fun. Mario Party 6 is a clear upgrade from the N64 days, plus it's a blast to play. That should be enough incentive to buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/06, Updated 02/09/06