GENRE
	Puzzle/Party
	DEVELOPER
	Hudson
	PUBLISHER
	Nintendo
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	CONTROLLER PAK
	no
	RUMBLE PAK
	yes
	RAM PAK
	no
	BUY NOW AT

Do you think playing a game with three of your friends in the same room is one of the best possible gaming experiences in the world like I do? There is a big difference between secretly unplugging you friend's controller in Smash Brothers when compared to messaging the phrase, "You're going down" over the internet. Can you "accidentally" poor water into the lap of someone while playing Half Life right now?

No. And that's what makes Mario Party such a hit, as Nintendo provides us with yet another great party game. Hell, they even went out and put "party" in the title.

After watching the long (and pointless) opening, the game provides you with a small world in which you choose a destination, be it the adventure pipe which leads you to a board game, a mushroom store of which you may buy items with the coins earned during a game (more on that later), or the mushroom bank which stores your purchased goodies. The overworld map is quick and easy to use.

All of the actual game boards are prerendered, not perfectly, but adequate for the 64. Each character is also not spectacularly modeled, but they do look fine. Some of the mini games look rushed, with a bad fog accompanied with dull graphics, whereas others are colourful and detailed. Mario Party is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to visuals, but they hold up their end of the bargain.

visuals

The quirky music in Mario Party doesn't hurt the game, and the few repetative character voiceovers don't either. Each map has a theme song according to the setting (Donkey Kong's jungle map is played using bongos and so forth) which all fit in fine. Hudson has done a good job of fitting in the music appropriately, expecially in the Settings Hut, where a remixed Mario Brothers song blasts out. Good stuff.

audio

Gameplay while navigating over the board maps is simple. At the beginning of each turn, each player hits a button resulting in their Nintendo character hitting the dice above his or her head. This results in giving them a number and advancing that number of spaces. Unless you hit a fork in the road, an obsticle, or land on a special square, then you just wait for all of the other players to finish their turns and anticipate the upcoming mini game.

If you land on a blue square, you earn 3 points, if you land on a red square you lose 3 points. There are other specialty squares, such as the mushroom square (hit a mushroom type dice resulting in a bonus turn or missing a turn), a star square (play a one player minigame), or a question mark square (triggers a certain event, depending on what board you're playing on).

Once everyone is finished with their turns, you play a multiplayer game, which usually results in certain players recieving or losing coins. What's the point in having coins? Stars.

The player that finishes the game with the most stars, wins. Stars can be purchased by finding Toad on the board and paying him 20 coins. While this sounds easy enough, things like Bowser (he can take away coins or stars) Boo the ghost (steals coins for other players) and other odd occurrences can make this a difficult task. Now for the real fun. The mini games.

There are a total of 50 minigames, some range from classic multiplayer mayhem (Bumper Balls) to "why the hell did they put this here" (Musical Mushroom, Box Mountain Mayhem). Depending on which color square the players landed on, the games are randomly picked in the 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 1, and 4 player mini games. Say two people land on red squares, and the other two land on blue ones. You have a 2 vs. 2 minigame. It's that simple.

The gameplay in Mario Party can sometimes be as slow as a snail since you are often required to click through many text boxes, or fast and furious when it comes to playing the mini games. Once again, a mixed bag.

gameplay

There is little fun in playing the one player game in this title, so get three friends, pay three bums, hire three hookers, do whatever you can to play this game the way it should be played : with four players! The amount of trash talking, cheating, and jinxing provided when you're playing with three other people is unbelievable.

Nintendo has provided us with yet another awesome multiplayer game which should not be overlooked if you're into the social-videogame scene. This is why every gaming console should be built with four controller ports.

multiplayer

Overall, Mario Party is a great game that pioneers a great new genre : The Party Genre. While the character models and some of the mini games look a bit underworked, the style and presentation is all there to make it acceptable. Besides, who cares if Donkey Kong's arms are a bit blocky when you're concentrating on not falling into the evil squid filled ocean? Nobody.

Mario Party is a great addition to any N64 gamer's library, and while the board game can be slow paced at times, those of you who are impatient can just buy all of the mini games and play them there. Pick up this game if you often have friends over.

overall

7.9/10