"Total multiplayer madness!"

Actually, the overall score is either 10 or 7, 10 if you plan on using it for multiplayer purposes, 7 if you don't. The game (and all 6 of its prequels) were designed for multiplayer play. It's one of the best games you could ever buy as long as you have two or three friends that you can gather at least weekly for at least an hour. However, if you plan on playing alone or with just one friend, it isn't really worth it.

Gameplay: 10/10

This game series is a game much like a board game. You roll a dice, get anywhere from one to ten, move that many spaces, and depending on the space you land on, something happens. After everyone takes their turn, a fun "mini-game" begins, which have slightly less importance than the board, but can still sometimes mean the difference between 1st and 2nd place overall. Then the turn is over and the next turn begins. This process repeats until a predetermined amount of turns have been taken.

The goal of the game is to get the most stars. It's not easy to get one. It's regular to have about 1 star for every 4-7 turns that are set. You most often get one by buying it by passing the star space, although there are other ways to get them. You also have coins, which you get by many means, and it's common to have at least 50 by 15 turns into the game. They are used to buy items, buy stars, and pay penalties.

The mini-games can be just about anything. After everyone has taken a turn and a mini-game is about to start, players are divided into teams depending on the color of space they landed on. The mini-game is randomly selected. It could be anything, literally. Mastering the mini-games is a great way to get many wins. Usually, you get 10 coins for winning a mini-game, although there are a few where you collect coins in the mini-game, and you keep what you get.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics are what you would expect to be if you've bought recent Mario games. They're not beautiful, but they most certainly are not eyesores. It's more than enough to get by.

Sound: 6/10

Same old collection of numerous sound, with no lyrics. It's like graphics; not great, not terrible. Still enough to get by.

Multiplayer enhancement: 1000000/10!

The Mario Party series, like I said, is made for multiplayer. Without three or more players, the game simply is not enjoyable. Much like SSBM, the CPU is predictable, whereas human players can switch personalities at the blink of an eye.

Replay: 10/10 or 6/10

It's 10 if you plan on playing 3+ player multiplayer, but 6 if you plan on playing alone or with just one friend. It also helps greatly if the players are about the same skill level.

With enough players, you could play this every day for at least a month, and have a blast doing so. There's even a new 8-player mode, and with enough players, that is a ton of fun. If you're planning on having a video game party, make sure you have a couple of copies of this game, a couple gamecubes, enough controllers to fill every socket, and a mic per gamecube. Everyone will love the party, and may even come over a day or two later to do it again.

Overall: 10/10 or 7/10

Like I said, the game is about a hundred times better with enough players, and just isn't worth it without them. If you're the anti-social type, don't waste your money on this. On the other hand, if you have a few friends who come over a lot, pick up a copy. I just cannot emphasize enough how much many players makes the game better.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/06