Mario Party (series)

"Mario Party" is a party (multi-player) game 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 (though the arcade version was developed by Capcom).

Since the release of the first "Mario Party" in 1999, the series had consistently put out a sequel every year for North America and Japan (much like the original Mega Man series), until 2006. The series has been praised for its party game elements,Fact|date=October 2008 including the often-unpredictable multiplayer modes that allow play with up to four (and sometimes eight) human players.

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 1 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 are often more elaborate. 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 70% of the pot, the second place winner receives the other 30%, and a random player occasionally gets a coin 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.

Minigame Mode

In addition to Party mode, every "Mario Party" has a minigame mode in which minigames are played with 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.

Games

Entries in the series have been released for the Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, the e-Reader, Wii, and the Nintendo DS.

"Mario Party"

The first game in the series, originally released in Japan on the Nintendo 64 on December 18, 1998. 53 minigames are found in "Mario Party".

"Mario Party 2"

Originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 on December 17, 1999, it introduced the use of items, a feature that has since been perpetuated in every installment in the series. A total of 65 minigames are in "Mario Party 2".

"Mario Party 3"

"Mario Party 3" was originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 on December 7, 2000. It features 71 minigames.

"Mario Party 4"

Mario Party 4 was the first Mario Party to be released on the GameCube. It was originally released in North America on October 21, 2002. The game features a total of 73 minigames.

"Mario Party-e"

"Mario 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.Fact|date=September 2008 The "Mario Party-e" contains a Play Mat, an instruction book and a pre-constructed deck consisting of 64 cards. An extra card was included as a promotion in an issue of GamePro.Fact|date=September 2008

"Mario Party 5"

"Mario Party 5" was originally released in North America for the GameCube on November 10, 2003. There are a total of 75 minigames found in "Mario Party 5". Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party is an arcade version of this game released by Capcom in 2004, but with considerable differences.

"Mario Party 6"

"Mario Party 6" was originally released in Japan for the GameCube on November 18, 2004. It was the first game to make use of the GameCube's peripheral microphone, which was packaged and sold with the game. A total of 82 minigames are found in "Mario Party 6".

"Mario Party Advance"

"Mario Party Advance" was released for the Game Boy Advance on March 28, 2005. In this game, the player enters a large board map named "Shroom City" and is asked to solve mysteries and do favors for the locals.

"Mario Party 7"

"Mario Party 7" was originally released in North America for the GameCube on November 7, 2005 and also makes use of the microphone sold with "Mario Party 6". It supports up to eight players at once (adding new 8-player minigames just for that purpose). It contains 88 mini-games.

"Mario Party 8"

"Mario Party 8" for the Wii was first revealed on the Japanese Nintendo site. [http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/software/lineup/index.html game page] The game features 81 minigames in all, most of which utilize the Wii Remote's capabilities.

"Mario Party DS"

"Mario Party DS" was released on November 19th, 2007 for the Nintendo DS in North America. Many of the 74 minigames featured utilize the capabilities of the DS's touch screen, as well as the microphone. There are also still traditional minigames using the directional pad and control buttons.

Playable characters

Controversies

In "Mario Party", certain minigames require players to rotate the Analog Stick, including one which challenges the player to wind up Fly-Guy at the minigame house. This caused some players to get blisters and other hand injuries because of the fact that they could rotate the analog stick much faster with the palms of the hands than with only their thumb. The Analog Stick rotation is no longer used starting with "Mario Party 2" (with the exception of one mini-game in "Mario Party 5" where the player only needs to rotate it once).

In July 2007, "Mario Party 8" for Wii was withdrawn from United Kingdom game stores shortly after its release date. [http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2090668.ece Nintendo withdraws game that taunts 'spastics' | Times Online ] ] This was allegedly due to a non-playable character using the word "spastic." Complaints were raised from consumers as the term is considered offensive and politically incorrect in the United Kingdom. In the UK, spastic means a mentally challenged person. In August 2007, Nintendo eventually re-released the game, with the word spastic removed. [ [http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/24/non-spastic-mario-party-8-returns-aug-8-to-europe Non-'spastic' Mario Party 8 returns Aug. 8 to Europe | Joystiq ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.marioparty.com MarioParty.com]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/mario-party-series Mario Party series] at MobyGames
* [http://www.marioparty.wikia.com/Mario_Party_Wiki The Mario Party Wiki]