mario party series

The Mario Party series is a video game series for the Nintendo 64, GameCube and Game Boy Advance where up to four total characters (humans + the computer) compete in a type of board game with a series of minigames interspersed. It is the most popular and longest-running series game of the Mario franchise.

Party Mode

Every Mario Party had a standard party mode in which up to four players play through a board, trying to collect as many stars as possible. The star space would appear randomly on the board, and players would have to reach it before anyone else. However, the stars carried a price tag of 20 coins, and player had to earn those coins by wining minigames, which took place at the end of each turn (after all the players had rolled the dice block, which would always roll a number from one to ten). Every Mario Party contains 60 to 80 minigames of a few different types. Four-player games were a free-for-all in which all players competed against each other. 2-on-2 and 1-on-3 minigames would put players in groups, so they would have to cooperate in the minigame to win, even though they are against each other in the main game. In most situations, winners of these games would make 10 coins each. Battle minigames appeared in Mario Party 2 and afterwards. These games were like the 4-player games, but generally (with many exceptions) a little more elaborate. Battle games were usually tense because every player had to put a certain number of coins (from 5 - 50) into a pot. First place would get 70% of the pot, second place would get 30%, and a random player would get any coins lost in rounding. Duel games also appeared in Mario Party 2, but made a disappereance in Mario Party 4, and returned again in Mario Party 5. Duel games pitted two players against each other. In Party Mode, one player would initiate the duel, and bet coins or a star against another player. The winner of the duel would win all of the coins or stars in the bet.

Minigame Mode

In addition to Party mode, every Mario Party had a minigame mode in which the players could play only minigames without the board game. Minigame mode varies in each iteration in the series, but later games have many ways to play, such as one in Mario Party 5 in which each player tries to fill as many spaces as possible in his or her colour by winning minigames.

Games

Mario Party & Mario Party 2

Mario Party and Mario Party 2 were both released on the Nintendo 64 system and contained six characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario and Donkey Kong. After finishing a party, both of these games would have an ending celebration in which the winner would fix a trouble that was happening on the board. Both games had a one-player mode in which the player had to clear all of the minigames, one at a time, by defeating computer controlled opponents.

Mario Party 3

Mario Party 3 was the last Mario Party released on the Nintendo 64 system. A total of eight characters were available to choose from: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong and the new Waluigi and Princess Daisy. Mario Party 3 featured duel maps, in which two players would try to steal each other's coins using non-playable characters such as chomps. This game introduced story mode, in which one player would start a campaign through every board, challenging computer controlled opponents at a shortened version of party mode in each. Mario Party 3 was also the last N64 game to be released in Europe.

Mario Party 4

Mario Party 4 was the first Mario Party that was released on the Nintendo GameCube. This game featured the same eight playable characters as Mario Party 3, which are Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Princess Daisy, Donkey Kong, Wario and Waluigi. Each board had its own host, including Toad, Goomba, Bowser, and several others. Mario Party 4 retained the Story Mode found in Mario Party 3.

Mario Party 5

Mario Party 5 came out in November 2003, and had three new playable characters; Boo, Koopa Kid, and Toad. However, Donkey Kong was not playable in the new version. Instead, there were new DK spaces which had a variety of bonuses that could happen for players who landed on them. Also, in this version for the GameCube, Capsules replaced items, which could be thrown up to ten spaces ahead to create new board spaces. When a player landed on the space you threw it on a certain event would happen depending on what kind of Capsule it was. In the one player game, you now played against three Koopa Kids, who take their turns simultaneously and try to deplete your coins, while you try to do the same to them.

Mario Party 6

Mario Party 6 was released on December 6th, 2004. It is the first game to make use of the new microphone peripheral for the Nintendo GameCube, which comes packaged in with the game. It also has a day-and-night phase, which occurs after every third turn. Some characteristics of the board would be different depending on the time of day, such as which path a player could choose. Also, in this game, each board had slightly different ways to collect stars. For example, in one level, the players would spend coins on chain chomps, which they could ride to trample other players and steal their stars. In the one-player mode, the player would walk across a board marked with spaces that would let them play minigames for quick coins (which could be spent at a shop).

Mario Party-e

Mario Party-e is a card game that makes optional use of the e-Reader and was released on February 7th, 2003.

Mario Party Advance

Mario Party Advance is currently set to be released in March 2005 on the Game Boy Advance.

Gaming gloves

After the release of Mario Party, the game was investigated by the Office of New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, over claims that the minigames that involved analog stick rotation caused blisters and other hand injuries. In March 2000, Nintendo reached an agreement wherein it would provide up to four padded gloves to each owner. http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2000/mar/mar08a_00.html Subsequent versions of the Mario Party series did not include the stick rotation games.

Board maps

Boards that require unlocking have their conditions to unlock in parentheses. It is interesting to note that the original Mario Party had the most boards (discounting duel boards in Mario Party 3).