Mario Party

"Still one of the best"

With the release of Mario Party 5, it seems that there is no reason to even think of these classic games on the now dead Nintendo 64. But let me tell you - It's still one of the best. I haven't actually played Mario Party 5 yet, but I've played all Mario Part games up to Mario Party 4, and know the good from bad. Mario Party games sort of have a pattern. This game is worthy of 8/10, the second is worth 7/10, the third 8/10 and fourth 7/10. It'd be real funny if the fifth is worth 8/10. But lets stop talking about scores and start talking about how this game got it's score.

First off, the graphics. In this day and age, the graphics suck. And I should mention that this review is based on how one would look at it today, not when it was released. So yes, the graphics are indeed poor. But, regardless the poorness, it was actually of pretty good quality on the Nintendo 64. For an N64 game, one could easily think it was running off a PS1 emulator (regardless the PS1's 32 bits compared to the N64's 64 bits, PS1 games often had the better graphics). It was OK back then, and bearable now. But, as with any game whatsoever, graphics matter little, so lets move on. 6/10.

The sound - re-worked Nintendo classics, and I really like them. The sound of the Donkey Kong level brings back the memories of playing Donkey Kong Country on my SNES, and it'll have similar effect on most people. Each board has it's own re-worked music, and all of the music is re-worked to perfection. The other sounds (like the movements across the board, Bowser's bit and etc.) are also pretty in-key here. If I have anything to actually complain about, I am not aware of it. The sound is awesome. 10/10.

Gameplay, sweet gameplay. This is the beef of the final score, and what mattered most. All Mario party games are about walking across different game boards on different difficulty levels and trying to collect the most stars and coins, as well as unlock playable mini-games (which is really the fun part about this game). Think of mini-games like in Warioware, but a little longer and in full 3-D (with the moving across the game board bit as well) and that's Mario Party in a nutshell. Mini-games are always fun, ranging from simple things like rotating the joystick as fast as you can to complex things like making it to the end of a maze. And the bits on the game board aren't bad either. I had no problem with the 'Boos' (which steals coins and stars from other players) and it actually added some stradegy. You don't want to have a huge amount of either coins or stars near the beginning of a round - collect or steal them near the end. And it's always fun figuring out how to get to Toad (who sells you stars for 20 coins) through the maze like game boards (didn't say they were maze like before, did I?) and in the end you have perfect gameplay, but gameplay that can only be fully enjoyed with friends, hence the 'party'. Very solid, very enjoyable. 10/10.

Oh yes, this game will be played over and over and over again, and you'll never get sick of it. Some of the mini-games may grow a little old, but then that's why the other 4 Mario Party games exist. This is actually a more solid buy that Mario Party 4 (I can't say for sure on 5) because of the quality and style of mini-games here. These are the original forms of the mini-games re-used and re-worked in the later games (It doesn't matter what Nintendo says - most of these games are VERY similar to the other ones in the Gamecube carnations, and even a little in Mario Party 3). Very re-playable. 9/10.

Closing comments - Fun, solid game that can only be enjoyed fully if you're with your friends. Very little brings the score down, only the graphics (6/10) and re-play (9/10). That's a total of 5 marks lower than 10, but with all the 10s elsewhere I couldn't give this game a 7/10. No, it deserves a 8/10, the highest any Mario Party game will ever receive. Very fun, solid, and over all a game you won't be shelving for a while.

Verdict - Buy, right now. If you don't have an N64, well, those are only 50 bucks now, and games are only 20 bucks. Shelling out 70 bucks for the best game (Mario Party) and a system full of other awesome games just as fun or better than Mario Party isn't bad. I'd go get one before they sell out, because there aren't any new ones coming. Final rating is 8/10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/03