- Mario Party
-
This article is about the series. For information of the first game in the series, see Mario Party (video game).
Mario Party 
Mario series characters, as they appear in Mario Party 8.Genres Party game Developers Hudson Soft
Capcom (arcade release)Publishers Nintendo First release Mario Party
December 14, 1998Latest release Mario Party DS
November 19, 2007Spin-offs Wii Party Mario Party (マリオパーティ Mario Pāti) is a party video game series featuring Mario series characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigames. The series was developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo; the arcade version was developed by Capcom. The series is known for its party game elements, including the often-unpredictable multiplayer modes that allow play with up to four (and sometimes eight) human players.
After the development of Mario Party 8, several of Hudson Soft's key designers left to work for Nintendo subsidiary Nd Cube, developers of Wii Party.[1]
The series currently hold the record for the longest-running mini game series.[2]
At E3 2011, Mario Party 9 was announced for the Wii. It is currently under development.
Contents
Gameplay
Over the course of the Mario Party incarnations, gameplay has changed to suit the technology of the hardware, and there are also several modes available for play in each game, each of which provides its own rules and challenges.
Party Mode
Every game in the main series has a standard Party Mode in which up to four players play through a board, trying to collect as many stars as possible. In every turn, each player rolls a die and progresses on the board, which usually has branching paths. Coins are primarily earned by performing well in a minigame played at the end of each turn. On most boards, players earn stars by reaching a star space and purchasing a star for a certain amount of coins. The star space appears randomly on one of several pre-determined locations and moves every time a star is purchased, usually occupying a blue space.
Every Mario Party contains at least 50 to almost 110 minigames with a few different types. Four-player games are a free-for-all in which players compete individually. In 2-on-2 and 1-on-3 minigames, players compete as two groups, cooperating to win, even though they are still competing individually in the main game. Some minigames in Mario Party are 4-player co-op, even though it doesn't say it. In most situations, winners earn ten coins each.
Battle minigames first appeared in Mario Party 2. These games are like the 4-player games, but instead of winners earning ten coins each, each player contributes a randomly selected number of coins (or all coins if the player falls short of the pot amount). The winner of the minigame receives approximately 70% of the pot, the second place winner receives the other 30%, and a random player occasionally gets coins left over from rounding.
Duel minigames also debuted in Mario Party 2, and were omitted in Mario Party 4 (though the Story minigames were all duels), but returned again in Mario Party 5. Duel games pit two players against each other. In Party Mode, one player initiates the duel, wagering coins or even a star against another player. The winner of the duel receives all coins or stars wagered. Starting with Mario Party 7, the player no longer chooses the wager in a duel, rather, the duel takes place and the prize to the winner, if any, is randomly determined. At the end of the game, bonus stars can be awarded to players. Three specific stars are awarded in Mario Party thru Mario Party 6. All later games have six possible bonus stars, but only three of those stars are awarded per game.
Minigame Mode
In addition to Party mode, every Mario Party has a minigame mode in which minigames are played without the board game. Minigame modes vary from game to game, but later games have many different variations. In one such example from Mario Party 5, each player tries to fill a board with as many spaces as possible in his or her color by winning minigames. In Mario Party 6 and onward, there is one game in Minigame mode intended for single-player.
Games
Main series
Game Release Date System MGs Notes Mario Party - JP 1998-12-14
Nintendo 64 53 The Mario Party series kicks off. Mario Party 2 - JP 1999-12-17
Nintendo 64 65 Introduces items to the series. Mario Party 3 - JP 2000-12-07
Nintendo 64 71 Adds Daisy and Waluigi as playable characters. Mario Party 4 - NA 2002-10-21
GameCube 62 Last game where Donkey Kong can be fully playable Mario Party 5 - NA 2003-11-10
GameCube 75 Released in 2004 to Japanese arcades as Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (Super Mario: The Mysterious Rolling Party) by Capcom. Mario Party 6 - JP 2004-11-18
GameCube 82 First game to make use of GameCube's microphone peripheral, which was packaged and sold with the game. Mario Party 7 - NA 2005-11-07
GameCube 88 Support for up to eight players with eight-player joystick only game; Continues use of microphone peripheral. Mario Party 8 - NA 2007-05-29
Wii 81 Minigames utilize Wii Remote's capabilities. Mario Party 9 [3][4] - NA TBA
Wii TBA TBA Mario Party-e
See also: Nintendo e-Reader#OtherMario Party-e is a card game that makes optional use of the Nintendo e-Reader and was released on February 7, 2003. Many of these cards contain "dot-codes" that, when scanned into the e-Reader, allow players to play minigames similar to those found in the regular Mario Party series.[citation needed] The Mario Party-e contains a Play Mat, an instruction book and a pre-constructed deck consisting of sixty-four cards. An extra card was included as a promotion in an issue of GamePro.[citation needed]
Mario Party Advance
Main article: Mario Party AdvanceMario Party Advance was released for the Game Boy Advance on March 28, 2005. It is the first Mario Party game on a handheld gaming system.
Mario Party DS
Main article: Mario Party DSMario Party DS was released on November 19, 2007 for the Nintendo DS in North America. Many of the seventy-four minigames featured utilize the capabilities of the DS's touch screen and microphone, in addition to traditional minigames using the directional pad and control buttons.
Reception
Aggregate Reviews Game GR[5] MC[6] Mario Party 77% 79/100 Mario Party 2 74% 76/100 Mario Party 3 76% 74/100 Mario Party 4 73% 70/100 Mario Party 5 70% 69/100 Mario Party 6 73% 71/100 Mario Party Advance 57% 54/100 Mario Party 7 65% 64/100 Mario Party 8 63% 62/100 Mario Party DS 72% 72/100 Mario Party 9 TBA TBA Controversies
In Mario Party, certain minigames required players to rotate the controller's analog stick, including one in which the player is challenged to wind up Fly-Guy at the minigame house. Some players got blisters and other hand injuries from rotating the analog stick using the palms of their hands instead of using their thumb.[7] Some wore away the stick because it was not very durable. The analog stick rotation has no longer been used since Mario Party 2. The exceptions are the mini-game in Mario Party 5 in which the player only needs to rotate it once and the mini-game in Mario Party 3 in which players see how far they can throw Bowser and did not need to use the palm of their hand to move the analog stick.
In July 2007, Mario Party 8 for the Wii was withdrawn from United Kingdom game stores shortly after its release date.[8] This was allegedly caused by Kamek using the word "spastic." Complaints were raised from consumers because the term is used to refer to a mentally challenged person and is considered offensive in the United Kingdom. In August 2007, Nintendo re-released the game, replacing "spastic" with the word "erratic".[9]
References
- ^ "What Wii Party And Mario Party Have In Common". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5621293/what-wii-party-and-mario-party-have-in-common. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- ^ Guiness World Records 2011 - Gamer's Edition. Guiness World Records Ltd.. 2010. p. 86. ISBN 9781405365468.
- ^ http://www.ntower.de/Wii/News/21093-E3-2011-Mario-Party-9-f%C3%BCr-Wii-angek%C3%BCndigt-erste-Bilder-inside/
- ^ http://www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Party_9
- ^ Party "Rankings". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/itemsearch.asp?itemname=Mario Party. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ^ "Search Results". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sb=0&tfs=all&ts=mario+party&ty=0&x=34&y=13. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ^ "Nintendo to hand out gaming gloves". BBC News. 2000-03-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/671601.stm. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- ^ Richards, Jonathan (2007-07-17). "Nintendo withdraws game that taunts spastics". The Times (London). http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2090668.ece. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ^ Sliwinski, Alexander (2007-07-27). "Non-'spastic' Mario Party 8 returns Aug. 8 to Europe". Weblogs, Inc.. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/24/non-spastic-mario-party-8-returns-aug-8-to-europe. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
External links
Mario Party series Main Series Handheld Mario series Arcade games Donkey Kong • Donkey Kong Junior • Mario Bros.Main series Console Handheld Spin-off games Pinball • Wrecking Crew • Mario Bros. II • Donkey Kong (Game Boy) • Mario's Time Machine • Hotel Mario • Mario's Game Gallery • Mario Clash • Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island • Luigi's Mansion • Mario Pinball Land • Super Princess Peach • Luigi's Mansion 2Spin-off series Mario Party • Sports games • Role-playing games • Educational games • LCD games • Donkey Kong • Wario • Yoshi • Mario vs. Donkey Kong • Game & Watch GalleryRemakes Super Mario All-Stars • Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 • Super Mario 64 DSOther media Related articles Unofficial media 
Book:Mario titlesCategories:- Mario Party games
- Video game franchises
- Nintendo franchises
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
