Mario Party series

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Mario Party is a series of video games in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board gamestyle game with interspersed minigames, featuring characters in the Mario universe. All of the Mario Party games have been developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo. Entries in the series have been released for the Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and the e-Reader. Since the release of the original Mario Party in 1999, the series had consistently put out a sequel every year (much like the original Mega Man series), until 2006 (Mario Party 8 was not released anywhere this year, it was released March 5, 2007). They have been praised for their primary highlights, the unpredictable multiplayer modes allowing play with up to 4 (and sometimes 8) human players.

Contents

[edit] Party Mode

Note: None of this information applies to the Mario Party-e game.

Every Mario Party except Mario Party Advance 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 ten-sided 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. Players earn stars by reaching a star space and purchasing a star for 20 coins. The star space appears at a random location and moves every time a star is purchased.

Every Mario Party contains 60 to 80 minigames of 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. 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, a number of coins is randomly selected, then taken from each player. The winner receives 70% of the taken coins, second place receives 30%, and a random player occasionally gets a coin left over from rounding.

Duel games appeared in Mario Party 2, were omitted in Mario Party 4 (though the Story Mini-Games were all duels,) and 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 winner rolls a die to determine what he or she takes from the loser.

[edit] 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 colour by winning minigames.

[edit] Games

  1. Mario Party - Nintendo 64 - (1999)
  2. Mario Party 2 - Nintendo 64 - (2000)
  3. Mario Party 3 - Nintendo 64 - (2001)
  4. Mario Party 4 - Nintendo GameCube - (2002)
  5. Mario Party 5 - Nintendo GameCube - (2003)
  6. Mario Party 6 - Nintendo GameCube - (2004)
  7. Mario Party 7 - Nintendo GameCube - (2005)
  8. Mario Party 8 - Wii - (2007)
  9. Mario Party Advance - GameBoy Advance - (2004)
  10. Mario Party-e - e-Reader - (2003)
  11. Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party - Arcade - (2004) (Japan only)

[edit] Mario Party

Main article: Mario Party

[edit] Mario Party 2

Main article: Mario Party 2

[edit] Mario Party 3

Main article: Mario Party 3

Mario Party 3 was released for the Nintendo 64 in May 7, 2001. In Story Mode, one player would play as either Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, or Donkey Kong and collect stamps in order to prove themselves worthy of owning the Millennium Star and being the greatest Superstar of the Universe. Mario Party 3 featured duel maps, in which two players try to steal each other's coins using non-playable characters. This game introduced story mode, in which one player starts a campaign through every board, challenging computer controlled opponents in a shortened version of party mode in each. Mario Party 3 was the last Nintendo 64 game to be released in Europe. MP3 also introduced Game Guy and ??? mini- games (which would later be referred to as Rare mini-games). Princess Daisy and Waluigi were added to the list of playable characters, but for Party Mode only.

[edit] Mario Party 4

Main article: Mario Party 4

Mario Party 4 was released for the Nintendo GameCube on October 21, 2002 and featured the same eight characters as Mario Party 3. Each board has its own host, including Toad, Goomba, Koopa, Shy Guy, Boo, and even Bowser. Mario Party 4 retained the Story Mode found in Mario Party 3. In the Story Mode, one player can choose from Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, or Waluigi, play on the hosts different boards, and win birthday presents. MP4 was the first to use Yoshi's regular "Yoshi!" phrase instead of the voice used in MP 1, 2 and 3, which sounded much different. MP4 also added the innovation of teams in Party Mode.

[edit] Mario Party 5

Main article: Mario Party 5

Mario Party 5 was released for the Nintendo GameCube on November 10, 2003. Donkey Kong was not playable but can be through debug menu means; new DK spaces were added, with a variety of bonuses for players who landed on them. He was playable in Super Duel Mode, of course, after you beat him. Capsules, which are obtained without purchasing them, replace items and can be thrown up to ten spaces ahead to turn a board space into a special board space. When a player lands on the space, a certain events are triggered depending on the type of capsule thrown — some helpful, some harmful. In the single-player mode, the player now competes against three Koopa Kids, who move simultaneously and try to deplete the player's coins, while the player tries to do the same to them. Boo, Koopa Kid and Toad were taken out of the list of hosts and added to the list of playable characters.

[edit] Mario Party 6

Main article: Mario Party 6

Mario Party 6 was released for the Nintendo GameCube on December 6, 2004. It was the first game to make use of the microphone peripheral for the Nintendo GameCube, which was sold packaged with the game. It has a day-and-night phase, which occurs after every third turn (this is similar to the Horror Land board in Mario Party 2). Some board characteristics differ depending on the time of day, such as which paths are available to choose. Each board has a slightly different way to collect stars. In one level, players spend coins on Chain Chomps, which can be ridden to trample other players and steal their stars. In the one-player mode, the player walks across a board marked with spaces that lets them play minigames for quick coins, which can then be spent at a shop. Toadette was added to the list of playable characters.

[edit] Mario Party 7

Main article: Mario Party 7

Mario Party 7 was released for the Nintendo GameCube on November 7, 2005 and uses the microphone sold with Mario Party 6. Toadsworth is the host of this game, which supports up to eight players at once (adding new 8- Player mini- games, as well). Koopa Kid, however, is removed from the playable character list. Instead, he has a random space on the board. Birdo and Dry Bones were added to the list of playable characters. Instead of the items being called capsules, it is now changed to orbs. In MP7 evey five turns in a game will make Bowser apear and change something around in gameplay, like putting up his own store or tearing down bridges.

[edit] Mario Party 8

Main article: Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8 was first revealed on the Wii game page ([1]) on the Japanese Nintendo site. It should be noted that this is the first time since the series started that the release pattern is broken due to the fact that the Wii was under development; there was no time to make this game. No Mario Party game was released in 2006 (Save for Mario Party 7 in Europe and Australia, but the two continents already broke the pattern earlier, by having Mario Party 5 in 2003 and 6 in 2005). So far, all 12 characters from Mario Party 7 will be returning, while Hammer Bro will be new.

[edit] 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. A significant departure from the series, Mario Party-e is a card game that involves trying to get three superstar clothes accessories, and getting a superstar to win. However, there are many cards that can stop the player from reaching this goal. Many of these cards contain "dot-codes" that, when scanned into the e-Reader allow players to play mini-games similar to those found in the regular Mario Party series.

The Mario Party-e contains a Play Mat, an instuction book and a pre-constructed deck consisting of 64 cards in the following assortment (cards marked with an asterisk are e-Reader compatible cards):

#01 Coin (x24) #02 Superstar's Hat (x4) #03 Superstar's Clothes (x4) #04 Superstar's Shoes (x4)
#05 Superstar (x4) #06 Mario #07 Super Mario #08 Luigi
#09 Super Luigi #10 Donkey Kong #11 Princess Peach* #12 Graceful Princess Peach*
#13 Daisy* #14 Lakitu* #15 Toad #16 Bob-omb
#16 Chain Chomp #18 Shy Guy #19 Goomba #20 Bowser*
#21 Koopa Troopa #22 Boo #23 Two Boo #24 Yoshi*
#25 Big Boo* #26 Waluigi* #27 Super Waluigi* #28 Wario*
#29 Super Wario*

Also, included in the June 2003 issue (#177) of GamePro magazine was Card #30 called Coin (Special Bonus Card).
See Also e-Reader.

[edit] Mario Party Advance

Main article: 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. After completing a specified task, the player receives a "Gaddget" — a minigame, but even smaller. Mushrooms are used as dice; if the player runs out of mushrooms, the game ends. Four characters are playable: Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Peach.

[edit] List of Playable Characters

Character Mario Party Mario Party 2 Mario Party 3 Mario Party 4 Mario Party 5 Mario Party 6 Mario Party 7 Mario Party 8 Mario Party Advance
Mario Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Luigi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Peach Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yoshi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Wario Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Daisy No No Yes 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Waluigi No No Yes 1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Toad No No No Yes 2 Yes 3 Yes Yes Yes No
Boo No No No Yes 2 Yes 3 Yes Yes Yes No
Toadette No No No No No Yes 5 Yes Yes No
Birdo No No No No No No Yes 6 Yes No
Dry Bones No No No No No No Yes 6 Yes No
Hammer Bro. No No No No No No No Yes No
Donkey Kong Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 4 No No ? No
Koopa Kid No No No Yes 2 Yes Yes No ? No
Koopa Troopa No No No Yes 2 No No No ? No
Shy Guy No No No Yes 2 No No No ? No
Bowser No No No Yes 2 Yes No No ? No
Notes:
  1. Not available in Story Mode
  2. Only available in Beach Volley Folley (unlock).
  3. Not available in Story Mode or Card Party
  4. Only available in Super Duel Mode (unlock).
  5. Unlock from Star Bank.
  6. Get enough milage points.

[edit] External links

Mario Party video games
v • d • e
Mario Party • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8
Advance • Mario Party-e • Korokoro Party
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