"Mario Party...again..."

Another year, another Mario Party… Yep, Nintendo has released yet another Mario Party game, Mario Party 5. For the 5th game in the series this game is still very good. Compared to 4, there is no huge difference. A few new characters to choose from, a few new boards to play on, and 70 new mini games. All right, on with the details.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are used on the same engine as the Mario Party 4 it seems. The graphics are good, but Nintendo probably could have had them at least a little better than 4’s. The images aren’t blocky and look very sharp. Mostly everything is 3d. Not much to say about the graphics, jus that they are good and about the same as Mario Party 4’s graphics. Very good graphics overall.

Game play: 9/10
This game again has very similar game play to that of Mario Party 4. There is one new thing, though. Instead of getting items and using them as you please, this game is different. As you go around the board you will gain capsules. What these do is you can put them on any place 10 spaces away from you on the map. It can be a coin block, hammer bros., Piranha plant, Koopa Bank… it goes on and on. This gives the game much more variety than the others as they stay on that spot the entire game unless someone uses a capsule on the same space. Of course, you can’t forget the mini games! Nintendo has somehow created 70 NEW mini games… 0_o that’s amazing. Of course, you will see some of the same attributes from others you have played before, but there are many new games that you haven’t ever seen too. There are a few new modes that have been brought back from the old Mario Party games also, the Duel mode. This only happens on the last 5 turns of your game, but if you land on the same space as someone else, you will duel them for any amount of coins that you have to offer. If you lose, you lose the coins of course, but if you win, you get however many coins you bet from your opponent. Overall, great game play, but nothing much more than the others.

Story:5/10
Yes, this game actually has a story, and no, it is not good… basically Bowser is trying to steal peoples dreams and you have to save them by beating his little Koopa kids, Red, Blue, and Green! How creative. That’s about it… Saving peoples dreams so that Bowser doesn’t make them bad.
Sound: 7/10
The sound in this game is decent. Nothing amazing or anything… a few “Yahoos!” And “wayas!” to liven it up a little bit. The background music is pretty good. The in-game mini game music is the best out of all the music. Of course, if it wasn’t, the game wouldn’t be as enjoyable considering you HAVE to play a mini game every turn. Overall, some decent sound in the game.

Controls: 10/10
Can’t really complain about the controls… The controls in this game were good. When you played the mini games the characters were pretty easy to control. Some of the mini games make you tap the A button very fast. Others will make you hit buttons in certain ways as they come up. Same controls as always… and still very easy to get the hang of. Awesome controls overall.

Replay Value: 10/10
This game has very good replay value, as do every other Mario Party game. You have tons of mini games to play, a Story mode, and there are even new games like Ice Hockey and Volleyball that make it have even more replay value than before! If you have a lot of friends, then this game can be played for an unbelievable amount of time and never get too boring. Overall, cant really complain about the replay value.

Overall, this game is probably the best In the Mario Party series. I recommend buying it if you have friends that will play it with you, or if your just looking for a good game with a lot of extras. 9/10 is my overall score for this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 12/27/03

Liked this review? Click here to recommend this item to other users.