Mario Party 2 Review by CyricZ
Nintendo 64 Reviews
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Mario Party 2 Review

Introduction
You liked Mario Party, you say? You want more, you say? Nintendo says....ok.
Enter the next level of party fun from Nintendo. Mario Party 2 takes all the good stuff from the original and crams in much more, sort of like trying to cram fraternity guys into a phone booth.

Most obviously new about this game is that the boards are now themed, and not aimed at a specific character. The five starting boards are Pirate, Western, Space, Mystery, and Horror Land. Yes, I said ''starting'' and, yes, Bowser's got his own little land built to really stress you out when it comes to star collecting. ''Now it's time for the breakdown...'' - En Vogue

Graphics: 9
Graphics have been fine-tuned in the second MP installment. Spaces are now bigger to fully illustrate what's on them. The boards themselves have tons of little details to catch the eye. The characters wear the respective costumes of the land. All things are bright and beautiful. Nothing earth-shattering, but an excellent graphical job nonetheless.

Music: 8
Once again, nothing earth-shattering, but definitely well done and suited to the style of the game, light and fun. Each world has its own cute little ditty that fits right in with the theme.

Gameplay: 9
It worked the first time, so once again, the goal is to become a Super Star. Once again, you have to proceed around the boards through dice rolls to find Toad and collect stars from him. Once again, there's a mini-game that occurs after every turn so, the party folk will get a chance to earn more coins. A few new things have been thrown into the mix, of course.


Most notable, besides the different boards, is the new item system. At Item Shops or Spaces, you have a chance to buy/win an item that can be used before one of your turns. These can do anything from giving you extra dice rolls, to summoning Toad or Boo, to engaging one of your enemies in a special ''duel'' minigame.


Most of the minigames themselves are new. Don't sweat too hard, though. Some of the old favorites are making a return appearance, including my personal favorite, Bumper Balls.


There are also new types of spaces on the board. Of course, Happening Spaces are still around, to change the conditions on the board in one way or another.

Chance Spaces, which can make players exchange coins or stars, have also returned, not to mention the Bowser spaces, which always cause trouble. New to the flock are the afore-mentioned Item Spaces, and also the Bank Space, where you have to deposit money when you pass, but get money if you land on it. As with the original, there's always some board-specific spaces which can mix up the fun. All told, a gameplay experience worth having a party for.

Mario with his cowboy hat on + the other characters from Mario Party 2 in group art

Replay Value: 10
Definitely worth going through even by yourself, as there are tons of things to discover.
And of course, MP was born and bred for multiplayer, good for keeping kids up past their bedtime.

Icing on the Cake: (Cool little things)

  • You can now taunt your opponent by pressing the L button. Cute, if not all that effective.
  • After completing the board, you get to see a little cinema scene where the Super Star deals with Bowser in a hilarious manner.
  • The items can REALLY mess up a good game for some players!

Flies in the Ointment: (Annoying little things)

  • Some of the minigames are, like in the original, either unbelievably easy or unbelievably hard. This makes the one-player adventure a little unbalanced.
  • Peach has still got her shrill, annoying voice...

Overall: 9Yoshi wearing his pirates hat
Definitely a party worth RSVPing too. Rent if your having a party this weekend, or buy if your place is party central. This game is different enough from the original that having both isn't a bad thing at all.

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