The Mario party series has been going a few years now and it has been a great success for Nintendo. Many adoring fans of Nintendo collect this series and Mario Party 4 is the latest addition to their collections.

Mario Party 4 is all about multiplayer as are all the other Mario Party games. Mario Party is a game that needs more than one player, so if you don’t have any friends then sorry but your going to miss out on a lot on this game.

The game goes basically like this. There is a selection of classic Nintendo characters to chose from. Once you have chosen your classic character, then hit the story mode. Story mode is basically the main one player mode. In this mode you have to play on the four boards that you start with. You can chose which one you want to start on. I personally started with Goombas one because I thought it looked cool.

Each game will last twenty turns. At the start of every turn you will get to roll a die. Once you have rolled your die the character will move forward that amount of spaces. There are blue squares, red and green squares. The blue squares are just your plain square were you get +3 coins every time you land on one. The red squares are your typical bad squares. Every time you land on one you lose three coins. The green squares are happening squares. Different things happen on different levels when you land on these.

After every one has taken their turn a mini game selector will pop up on your screen. The computer will randomly select a mini game. Once the computer has chosen a mini game you will be taken to an instructions screen were you could learn how to win the mini game. You then press start to activate the mini game. Your aim is to try and win the mini game so you can win coins. Once the game is over a winner will be declared, normally the player would get 10 coins but there are some exceptions.

These coins are what you need to buy stars that Toad will give to you if you pay him twenty coins. The aim of the game is to get as many stars and coins as possible before your twenty turns end. Once your twenty turns have ended you will go to a different screen were the overall winner will be declared. If you won the overall game, the host of the board will challenge you to his own mini game. If you win this mini game you get an item for your characters room.

The overall aim of the entire game is complete each characters room, by winning the presents of the hosts. Now you know what the game is all about now onto the fun bit. The multiplayer feature is the best, and always has been on Mario Party games. All you need is a Gamecube four controllers and four mates, and not forgetting Mario Party 4. The answer to that equation is HOURS OF ENDLESS FUN! This game is packed full of hundreds of mini games, each one is individual in its own way. You and your mates will find yourselves pushing your gaming abilities to the edge fighting out for the title of the party star. You will get dragged into the game and 2nd place won't be an option for you.

The fun this game produces is incredible; I don’t know how Nintendo come up with these crazy mini games. Some of them you will find addictive and you will want to play them over and over again, but others will want to give a miss because they don't suit your style of gameplay. This game has something for everyone, so don’t give it a miss.
 

Graphically this game is pretty smooth. They are your typical cartoon style graphics that Nintendo produce so very well. The graphics suit the game perfectly as this is a fun game that needs fun characters that look great.

Gameplay wise this game is endless in multiplayer. You may find one player a bit tedious having to do the same boards over and over again with each character, but if you really truly want to complete the game then I am afraid you are going to have to be patient. But other than that the gameplay on this game is great and there is something for everyone in this game, so there no excuse why you haven't got it.

There are some pretty cool little jingles in this game but not really any that will stick in your head for hours and hours, so maybe that’s something Nintendo needs to work on in Mario Party 5.

Overall I think this game is pretty good, because there is countless hours of multiplayer action in this game, so that is a big enough reason alone to get it. If you were looking for a good fun one player game then I would give this game a miss. To be quite honest its not the best in one player, and that’s what lets it down for me. A great game but needs improving on the one player side of things.

Graphics 8/10
Sound 7/10
Gameplay 7/10
Life Span 8/10
Overall 8/10

By CuBe