Mario Party 8

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Current game event marker This article or section contains information about an unreleased video game.
It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available.
Mario Party 8
Developer(s) Hudson Soft
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Release date(s) Flag of United States May 29, 2007[1]
Flag of Japan TBA 2007
Flag of European Union TBA 2007
Flag of Australia TBA 2007
Genre(s) Party
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: E (Everyone)
OFLC: G
Platform(s) Wii
Media 1x Wii Optical Disc

Mario Party 8 (マリオパーティ 8 Mario Pāti Eito?) is a video game for the Wii. It was announced during Nintendo's press conference on September 14, 2006. It is the tenth game in the series (eleventh in Japan) and the first to be released on Nintendo's Wii console. The first videos and screenshots for the game were revealed during the Nintendo World event in Japan on November 3, 2006.

Contents

Features

Little is known about the game in general and how it will use the Wii Remote's capabilities. However, the following information has been disclosed:

  • Characters will let out an exclamation through the Wii Remote speaker the player is controlling, signifying it is his/her turn to play.[2]
  • There has been mention of transformers titled "candy powerups" that can affect gameplay. These powerups, resembling the Orb system present in Mario Party 6 and Mario Party 7, will "transform" characters into different things to suit situations. For example, a character can transform into a helicopter to fly over booby traps, or turn into a vampire to suck coins from other players.[3]
  • The game is known to have over 100 new mini-games that all utilize the Wii's capabilities as well as 6 new boards, and 12 different modes of play.[4]
  • Miis from the Mii Channel on the Wii have been shown in the background of a mini-game, possibly suggesting the re-appearance of Miis in other mini-games.[5]
  • Mario Party 8 also includes four "minigame-infused" board games, such as Tic-Tac Drop, where players can put the next mark on the board by winning a minigame, and Table Menace, a play-on-words titled mini-game based on Table Tennis.[6]
  • The game's camera has been redesigned to closely follow the characters' movements at a low angle placed "on the board", as opposed to the high angle shot looking down on the characters used in all previous installments of the series, in order to make the game feel more engaging.

Story

In Mario Party 8, a circus ringmaster named "McBallyhoo"[7] has invited Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Toadette, Boo, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro. and Blooper to his new carnival. Once there Bowser comes and breaks all the rides, and they have to party to get them back.

Characters

This screenshot implies that Miis are likely to be featured in Mario Party 8, but whether or not they will be playable characters is unconfirmed.
This screenshot implies that Miis are likely to be featured in Mario Party 8, but whether or not they will be playable characters is unconfirmed.

Mario Party 8 has been confirmed to have 14 different playable characters in the game. Not dissimilar to Mario Party 7 where Dry Bones and Birdo first made their appearance in the series, two new characters will join the original roster from Mario Party 7:

The two new characters to first appear as playable characters in the Mario Party series have been confirmed to be:

It is noteworthy that these new characters both made cameo appearances in Mario Party 7.

Bowser and Donkey Kong return as game board spaces. Shy Guy also returns in this game; he runs a "candy shop", but it is unknown if he runs all the ones in the game.[10]

Boards

Thus far all 6 boards have been revealed for the game. They are:

  • DK's Treetop Temple: Players move around the board until you get to the star space in front of DK's statue. He will sell you a star for 20 coins.[11]
  • Goomba's Booty Boardwalk: a beach themed board similar to Koopa's Seaside Soiree in Mario Party 4.[12]
  • King Boo's Haunted Hideaway: a haunted themed board. Similar to Horror Land in Mario Party 2.[13][14]
  • Koopa's Tycoon Town: a hotel-themed board that has players owning hotels in the format of the classic Monopoly board game (created by Parker Brothers) in an attempt to come out on top of opponents.[15]
  • Bowser's Warped Vortex: a Bowser-themed board. Not much else is known about it at this time, except that you steal stars from other opponents. The return of the Chain Chomp idea is unconfirmed, though.[16]
  • Shy Guys Mystery Train: a train-themed board. Not much is known about it.[17]

Minigames

The demonstration at Nintendo World previewed six minigames with themes such as lassoing barrels, shaking cans of soda pop, catching marbles in jars, a flag-raising race, jet skiing, and shooting targets. Another is a tightrope walking minigame in which the Wii Remote is held sideways and balanced. These minigames appear to make extensive use of the Wii Remote; for example, the Wii Remote is spun like a lasso in the lassoing minigame.[18]

See also

External Links

References