Wii Review: Mario Party 8

Review by: Pierst179

Mario Party has been one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises since its first version was released in 1999. The game was such an amazing and surprising success that Nintendo started creating new versions annually and although many of those versions didn’t see any positive feedback from the gaming press it was still very a popular game.

So 8 years and 3 different systems after the launch of the first instalment of the series, here we are, Mario Party 8 features all the main characteristics that made the series a big success and it doesn’t actually bring many novelties.

Mario Party 8 starts in pretty much the same way all its 7 predecessors did, Mario and his friends aren’t doing anything special but they wind up in a huge competition which involves winning boards to become the superstar. If you are not familiar with the series, do not worry the storyline isn’t important at all, the major point of Mario Party is to have lots of fun.

The game is divided in 3 distinct game modes, the Single-Player, which as most people know is not the biggest prowess of the series, the Battle Royal mode and the Mini-Game mode.

The Battle Royal Mode is where all the fun is. You and 3 other friends or CPUs will battle on a board on which your goal is to acquire lots of stars, to get those stars you will need coins that you will gain on Mini-Games that happen after each player has hit the dice and walked some spaces.

The boards, by the way, look really good, now you will be able to notice some nice details because the camera is zoomed into the action, so you will watch what your characters do much closer.

During the boards you can buy different items that will help on your way to the stars, they can either get you coins, steal something from your enemies or make you hit two dice so you can reach the star as fast as you can. The items add lots of strategy to the game as you will always be able to think your way out of a bad situation or trying to get to the star by using different methods, it is all up to you.

The Mini-Game mode is where you can play only the mini-games which have always been the best part of the series, without walking on any boards. I must say I was a little disappointed at some mini-games, while half of them made an excellent use of the Wiimote others used the D-pad to control your characters, I think Nintendo could have created some mini-games that would use the Wiimote with more creativity, such as the mini-games from Wario Ware. The only reason you are playing the Single-Player is that you will have to complete the six challenges in order to unlock some nice stuff such as characters and a new board. On the single-player you will face different challenges that take place on 6 different boards against a character. The goals may seem different but you will end up having to catch a star or two on every single challenge.

Unlockables aside, there isn’t much to do in this mode, since you will exclusively rely on the number you will get on the dice because differently from the Battle Royal mode, there aren’t any mini-games when the turn finishes, so to get coins you will have to be really lucky. The single-player can be often very frustrating because of that, as sometimes you will have to play through a challenge more than 5 times because somehow the CPU managed to defeat you.

The graphics are nice, they may seem similar to the ones from the GC version, but if look carefully you will notice that they have been slightly improved, there are some nice effects, the characters are really smooth and the boards look really cool with some great textures.

The sound isn't remarkable, yet it works fine for a game like Mario Party that while playing with your friends you won't be able to care about the songs as everybody will be screaming and laughing about what's happening on the TV.

Mario Party 8 doesn't bring anything new to the series, but it is another solid Mario Party game that when played with friends will last for long hours, days, months and even an year, until the next version comes out. The gameplay could have been better as some mini-games don't use the Wiimote as smartly as they could.

If you are not a fan of the series and has already played many versions of the game then stay away, you will probably not be satisfied and will start complaining about how the game should have improved, but if you are looking for a nice multiplayer experience and doens't own any of the previous version then you definitely need to buy this game.