Mario Party
| Mario Party | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Mario Party | |
| Genres | Party game |
| Developers |
Hudson Soft (1998–2007) Capcom (arcade release) Nd Cube (2012–present) |
| Publishers | Nintendo |
| First release |
Mario Party December 18, 1998 |
| Latest release |
Mario Party: Island Tour November 22, 2013 |
| Spin-offs | Wii Party |
Mario Party (マリオパーティ Mario Pāti) is a party video game series featuring Mario franchise characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigames. The series was developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo; the arcade version was developed by Capcom. The series is known for its party game elements, including the often-unpredictable multiplayer modes that allow play with up to four (and sometimes eight) human players.
After the development of Mario Party 8, several of Hudson Soft's key designers left to work for Nintendo subsidiary Nd Cube, developers of Wii Party.[1] Starting in 2012 with Mario Party 9, Nd Cube has taken over development of the series from Hudson Soft. The latest title in the series, Mario Party: Island Tour was released in the US on November 22, 2013, and scheduled for release in the PAL region on January 17, 2014.
The series currently holds the record for the longest-running minigame series.[2]
Gameplay
Over the course of the Mario Party incarnations, gameplay has changed to suit the technology of the hardware, and there are also several modes available for play in each game, each of which provides its own rules and challenges.
Party Mode
Every game in the main series 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 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. On most boards, players earn stars by reaching a star space and purchasing a star for a certain amount of coins. The star space appears randomly on one of several pre-determined locations and moves every time a star is purchased, usually occupying a blue space.
Every Mario Party contains at least 50 to 90 minigames with 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. Some minigames in Mario Party are 4-player co-op, even though it doesn't say it. 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 instead of winners earning ten coins each, each player contributes a randomly selected number of coins (or all coins if the player falls short of the pot amount). The winner of the minigame receives approximately 70% of the pot, the second place winner receives the other 30%, and a random player occasionally gets coins left over from rounding.
Duel minigames also debuted in Mario Party 2, and were omitted in Mario Party 4 (though the Story minigames were all duels), but 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 prize to the winner, if any, is randomly determined.
Bowser minigames are introduced in Mario Party 4 in which players try to avoid being burned by Bowser's fire breath if they lose. When that happens, players must give up coins, stars or items. In Mario Party 7, a single-player version of the games were introduced and only one person can play.
Mario Party 9 introduced a new set of minigames entitled Bowser Jr. minigames. Here, Bowser Jr. challenges two players to compete in a minigame with him. If they successfully defeat him, both players will receive five Mini Stars. If not, then Bowser Jr. will take five from each player.
At the end of the game, bonus stars can be awarded to players. Three specific stars are awarded in Mario Party through Mario Party 6. All later games have six possible bonus stars, but only three of those stars are awarded per game. These stars add to the player's total.
Minigame Mode
In addition to Party mode, every Mario Party has a minigame mode in which minigames are played without 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 color by winning minigames. In Mario Party 6 and onward, there is one game in Minigame mode intended for single-player.
Games
Main series
| Game | Release Date | System | MGs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Party |
|
Nintendo 64 | 53 | The Mario Party series kicks off. |
| Mario Party 2 |
|
Nintendo 64 | 65 | Introduces items to the series. |
| Mario Party 3 |
|
Nintendo 64 | 71 | Adds Daisy and Waluigi as playable characters. |
| Mario Party 4 |
|
GameCube | 62 | Last game where Donkey Kong can be fully playable. Also introduces the Team Battle feature to the series. |
| Mario Party 5 |
|
GameCube | 75 | Released in 2004 to Japanese arcades as Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (Super Mario: The Mysterious Rolling Party) by Capcom. |
| Mario Party 6 |
|
GameCube | 82 | First game to make use of GameCube's microphone peripheral, which was packaged and sold with the game. |
| Mario Party 7 |
|
GameCube | 88 | Support for up to eight players with eight-player joystick only game; Continues use of microphone peripheral. |
| Mario Party 8 |
|
Wii | 81 | Minigames utilize Wii Remote's capabilities. |
| Mario Party 9 [3][4] |
|
Wii | 82[5] | Introduces two new types of stars called Mini Stars and Mini Ztars.[6] Players do not travel around the board individually but instead in one vehicle. |
Other Games
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. Many of these cards contain "dot-codes" that, when scanned into the e-Reader, allow players to play minigames similar to those found in the regular Mario Party series.[citation needed] The Mario Party-e contains a Play Mat, an instruction book and a pre-constructed deck consisting of sixty-four cards. An extra card was included as a promotion in an issue of GamePro.[citation needed]
Mario Party Advance
Mario Party Advance was released for the Game Boy Advance on March 28, 2005. It is the first Mario Party game on a handheld gaming system.
Mario Party DS
Mario Party DS was released on November 19, 2007 for the Nintendo DS in North America. Many of the 74 minigames featured utilize the capabilities of the DS's touch screen and microphone, in addition to traditional minigames using the directional pad and control buttons.
Mario Party: Island Tour
Mario Party: Island Tour is an iteration of Mario Party for the Nintendo 3DS that was announced via Nintendo Direct on April 17, 2013 and was released in North America on November 22, 2013.[7] In addition to traditional controls, many of the game's 81 minigames[8] will utilize the touch screen and other unique features of the system.
Reception
| Game | GR[9] | MC[10] |
|---|---|---|
| Mario Party | |
|
| Mario Party 2 | |
|
| Mario Party 3 | |
|
| Mario Party 4 | |
|
| Mario Party 5 | |
|
| Mario Party 6 | |
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| Mario Party Advance | |
|
| Mario Party 7 | |
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| Mario Party 8 | |
|
| Mario Party DS | |
|
| Mario Party 9 | |
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| Mario Party: Island Tour | |
|
Controversies
In Mario Party, certain minigames required players to rotate the controller's analog stick, including one in which the player is challenged to wind up Fly-Guy at the minigame house. Some players used the palm of their hands to rotate the analog stick, as opposed to the correct method of using their thumbs. Due to such misuse, they would often endure blisters. Nintendo suffered a repercussion as a result of this, and were sued and thereafter found guilty. In an act of apology, Nintendo gave away free gaming gloves to the victims of these blisters. [11] Some wore away the stick because it was not very durable. The analog stick rotation has no longer been used since Mario Party 2. The exceptions are the mini-game in Mario Party 5 in which the player only needs to rotate it once and the mini-game in Mario Party 3 in which players see how far they can throw Bowser and did not need to use the palm of their hand to move the analog stick.
In July 2007, Mario Party 8 for the Wii was withdrawn from United Kingdom game stores shortly after its release date.[12] This was allegedly caused by Kamek using the word "spastic." Complaints were raised from consumers because the term is used to refer to a mentally challenged person and is considered offensive in the United Kingdom. In August 2007, Nintendo re-released the game, replacing "spastic" with the word "erratic".[13]
References
- ↑ "What Wii Party And Mario Party Have In Common". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- ↑ Guinness World Records 2011 - Gamer's Edition. Guinness World Records Ltd. 2010. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4053-6546-8.
- ↑ "E3 2011 // Mario Party 9 für Wii angekündigt inklusive Screenshots *UPDATE* // News zu Wii U, 3DS, Wii und Nintendo // ntower". Ntower.de. 2011-01-21. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ↑ "Mario Party 9 - Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia". Mariowiki.com. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ↑ "List of minigames in Mario Party 9 - Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia". Mariowiki.com. 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ↑ "– Mario Party 9 – Game Info". Nintendo.com. Retrieved 2013-07-12.
- ↑ "Mario Party Coming To Nintendo 3DS". Cinemablend.com. 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
- ↑ "Mario Party 3DS - Nintendo 3DS". IGN. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
- ↑ "Rankings". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ↑ "Search Results". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ↑ "Nintendo to hand out gaming gloves". BBC News. 2000-03-09. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- ↑ Richards, Jonathan (2007-07-17). "Nintendo withdraws game that taunts spastics". The Times (London). Retrieved 2010-05-12.
- ↑ Sliwinski, Alexander (2007-07-27). "Non-'spastic' Mario Party 8 returns Aug. 8 to Europe". Weblogs, Inc. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
External links
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