Mario Party 8 (Wii) > Reviews > The Perfect Party for any Player!

Author's product rating:   

Playability & Enjoyment	A good game - playable and enjoyable
Originality	Excellent - very original
Graphics	Excellent
Sound	Excellent - makes full use of my speakers
Difficulty & Complexity	Average - suitable for most

Advantages:	Hilarious in Multiplayer, New ways to play
Disadvantages:	Can get tedious in single player, Wii remote could be used better

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Being a former fan returning to the series, I was hoping to see that the game had retained its warm-hearted magic and colourful appearance clearly apparent in games on former Nintendo consoles, and thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed. It is obvious to see that this game is charming, and can appeal to a wide audience. Of course, all the delays on this game have been a nuisance, but it seems worth the wait. The game itself plays well, and in many aspects, the Wii’s innovative remote has been put to good use. That’s not to say the game isn’t without its flaws, but in this kind of game; to an extent; they can be overlooked. It isn’t meant to be an epic game. Mario Party 8 attempts at once again taking the boredom out of board games and giving a fun twist on the traditional roll the dice and move spaces style of games. It entertains and infuriates, but can only be regarded as fun for everyone. Whilst former games have been good, they have gotten slightly repetitive with similar styles of play using the controller. Of course, the Wii remote solves this, and has been put to use in many areas of game play.

Finding this game in local stores however was far from easy. It seemed that by the time I had reached the store, just a few days after the UK release, it had sold out everywhere. I had to visit various stores before finding a small games store with one left in stock. This may be some trouble for you, but if you can’t find a copy, there’s bound to be one on the internet somewhere, maybe even for a cheaper price.

Many favourite Nintendo characters star in the game, as well as some which only more hardcore players will recognise, such as Dry Bones. The game hosts a total of 14 playable characters – two of which are unlocked later in the game after completion of the main story mode. None of them have any advantages or disadvantages in the games, so it doesn’t really matter who you pick. The entire game is hosted by MC Ballyhoo, who quite frankly is the most annoying Mario character I’ve ever seen. He also makes these stupid noises which make you want to shove that microphone he carries down his throat. Of course, he doesn’t affect the entire game, but I do really wish he’d crawl back into the cave from where he came from and never return.

The basic idea of the game is very similar to games such as Monopoly, in which you roll a dice to see how many spaces you move. Your counter (or character in Mario Party 8) lands on a space after moving, and based on what he or she has stopped at, is affected in some way. With Mario Party 8, your character does not roll the dice, but instead “hits” the dice block, which ranges with numbers from 1 – 10. The Wii Remote is used in a upward motion to hit the dice block. The character then moves that many spaces around the board until landing on a space. There are several kinds of space, the most common being blue and red spaces. Blue spaces give your character three coins, whilst red spaces take away three coins. Coins, as you probably guessed, allows your character to buy things, ranging from candy to stars. Stars are essential in winning the game. The player at the end with the most stars is the champion. If there is a draw on stars, the player with the most coins is the victor. Candy on the other hand is rather strange. Eating candy before hitting the dice block allows your character to do a range of things. Some candy turns your character into a block of stone; others will allow you to hit more dice blocks in your turn. It’s all odd stuff that will have major effects on you, other characters, and the entire game. As with all board games, there is the element of luck, which can make you leap up for joy, or enrage you to the point where you feel like throwing the game out the window. I myself have felt both emotions on several occasions.

Whilst in older games, the idea of getting stars was the same on each board, things have changed. Before, landing on a star space with 20 coins would earn you a star, but many boards in Mario Party 8 have decided to be a lot more adventurous. One specific favourite board of mine is Koopa’s Tycoon Town, in which you must invest coins in hotels to earn stars. Out of the four characters playing, whoever has the most money invested in the hotel becomes its owner, and takes hold of the star the hotel possesses. This means that beating someone’s investment will allow you to take their star from them. If enough coins are invested in a hotel, it upgrades, and the amount of stars it holds increases. To me, it’s clever, and highly fun. I just love snatching that 3 star hotel from an unsuspecting friend! There are six boards in total, all with different styles of play you’ll get to test out and explore.

The game features a story mode, in which your character must face one opponent, and beat them at the set task on all 6 boards. I decided to play as the common Mushroom Kingdom resident, Toad, to try and win the Star Battle Arena Tournament. Starting your way at DK’s Treetop Temple and finishing at Bowser’s Warped Orbit, it’s not always an easy feat beating computers, especially when it seems that luck is against you. After beating the six boards, you’ll have to play a short game to beat Bowser in a fight, using the Star Rod. It’s fairly easy to be beaten, but I find it odd that you can decide to restart the battle and replenish all your health and try again without your regaining health, leaving you at a definite advantage.

Of course, the most fun aspect of the Mario Party games has always been the selection of minigames, which usually last around 30 seconds. They range from the simple to the incredibly bizarre, with great ranges of difficulty. In most I must admit that the Wii remote hasn’t been put to excellent use, although some I find genius. One example that comes to mind is a race against a dangling rope, in which you must hold the Wii remote horizontally to the reach the other side of the cliff first, whilst keeping balance. This isn’t all that easy in itself, but it gets harder when winds begin to tilt you even further, meaning you must steady the Wii remote slightly to one side to cope with the weather conditions. It’s requires real finesse, rather than some which are based entirely on luck, and in my opinion are not as fun. But you will definitely have fun trying out the numerous minigames Mario Party 8 has to offer.

The entire look and sound of the game is lovely – discounting MC Ballyhoo, and the game has a good feel to it, something I find often overlooked yet necessary. The graphics are unrealistic and cartoony, and whilst they may not have changed much over the years, I really don’t feel they need to. Overdoing the graphics would take away the magic to an extent, so I for one am glad that they are simplistic with little development. The controls on the whole are excellent, although some minigames sometimes seem hard to work and take time to master. The game manual is explained well, and more thorough information on certain aspects of the game is included in the actual game itself. Mario Party 8 is a good single player game that most will enjoy that becomes a hilarious and hectic bundle of entertainment when playing with others. It’ll last for ages and is definitely worth considering, even if you’ve never played Mario Party before in your life.