Mario Party 8
If you have been a fan of Nintendo, then you are quite familiar with Mario Party. Mario Party is a concept that is first debuted in 1998, and has grown much in the past ten years. However, the basic concept is still the same: it is a board game in video game format. Apparently, Nintendo didn’t think that concept would “sell”, so they used the Mario universe characters to get it off the shelves.
Mario Party has had enough to keep this franchise going for what is now the eighth version of the game, and the first Mario Party available for Nintendo Wii players. Even though the concept is not original, there is no denying that no matter what version you buy is a lot of fun.
A typical game begins with you rolling a dice to see who goes first. Of course, since you’re using the Nintendo Wii, you thrust upward with your motion-sensitive controller. The object of the game is, same as always, collect the most coins and stars. Whoever collects the most stars wins the game and becomes the SuperStar, or Party Star.
It used to be the Mario Party games were a simple roll the dice, and the only difference between them was the particular theme of the gameboard. I admire the gameboards this time, because the gameplay is entirely different. For example, in Tycoon Lagoon game, getting stars is about buying property, in a more Monopoly-style of game. More strategy is needed in order to win at these games.
Another difference is the way the bonus stars are given at the end of a game. It used to be whoever got the most coins, won most mini-games, got an extra star. This could turn a winner into a loser in no time flat. However, the bonus stars given at the end of the game are completely random, given for such odd things such as the number of red squares landed on, etc. This makes the winner of a game all the more interesting and unpredictable.
I’m not certain whether this was in the last version, but you are allowed to use candy which gives you special abilities. One that I discovered that really turns the tide is Duel candy, which lets you steal from another player, provided you can beat them in a fair mini-game.
The Wii motion-sensitive controller is also good for some amazingly fun mini-games. Old-school NES people may appreciate how some mini-games require to turn the controller sideways and use the keys to move your character around. I found that there were some games that were harder to play because they depended on motion. For example, a go-cart game was next to impossible to steer, and there is one called Flip the Chimp that never seemed to work the way I wanted it to.
However, I can’t think of a better way to spend time with my family and friends than playing Mario Party 8. This Nintendo Wii Mario Party is always a blast. Just get it and see.
