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Mario Party 8
Wii (2007)
Boards: 6
Minigames: 73 (9 are bonus games)
The party has come to Wii! With a new platform, the minigames have completely changed– now they extensively use the Wii Remote, but how well they do so is pretty unreliable. The games range from point-and-click fare to random waggling. This can lead to some fairly uninspired games to say the least.
Mario Party 8 does bring six wildly different boards to the table, along with a couple of new characters to play as. Don’t try to explain how Blooper is important enough to get a slot. The item system has been redone once again; orbs are now candy that can transform players to do various things. But they all seem a bit blasé, you know?
By this point, Mario Party had gotten a little worn out. The mechanics are all here, but Mario Party 8 just seems less full of life than the previous games. And when you can’t depend on even the minigames to be reliably fun, that’s no good. But hey, there are some good games in the bunch. And when you’re playing with your pals, everything is better.
Mario Party 8 is a little under $25 on Wii if you’re looking to find it.
The Good:
- Even more new characters
- Incredibly varying boards
The Bad:
- Some terrible waggle minigames
- It’s just kind of bland at this point
- Probably the weakest of the entire series
Stand-out Minigames: Kartastrophe, Paint Misbehavin’, Specter Inspector
Wow, excellent job stepping through the whole (console) history of the series! I remember hearing you mention you would be working on this feature when I listened to a recent episode (10, I think) of the podcast (oops, I’ve missed some of the newer episodes). My experience with the Mario Party series is rather limited, so I found it interesting to read about the changes made along the way.
So DK is not a playable character starting with Mario Party 5? I was wondering why he showed up on the box covers in some of the later games. Looking it up online now, I see he becomes a non-playable character you interact with on certain boards. I wonder why they did that? Even Mario Kart 7 still has features the burly ape as a playable character.
Removing DK as a playable character always bummed me out, too. Especially when they go to great lengths to make you hate the guy, like when he gives a free star to someone who doesn’t need it. I know when I was playing the GameCube Mario Party titles, I viewed him on-par with Bowser in terms of annoyance.
Truth be told, there’s not much that could get me to buy a new Mario Party nowadays. I’m just not in the position to play with many people for local multiplayer, and online would have to be done really well for me to consider it.
Glad you guys liked the feature! I was never a huge DK fan in Mario Party, but it was odd that he became an event guy from 5 onwards. His minigames were always tough to unlock if you wanted 100% as well.
80% of the fun in Mario Party does come from being with your friends. I can’t see that level of energy being replicated through online play any time soon. The fact that I can still play Mario Party 15 years later and have fun with it now that I’m older really speaks to that.