About This Title

Game storyline: In Mario Party 8, a hyperactive emcee has invited Mario™, Peach and the rest of the crew to his carnival, a perfect setting for the dynamic spectacle of the Wii game play. Mario Party 8 keeps the surprises coming with minigames that draw upon the Wii Remote's motion, pointing and button control in a variety of ways. Players always know how to jump into the action by watching an animated tutorial that shows how to use the Wii Remote.

How to progress through the game: Following tradition, Mario Party 8 takes the social, strategic game play of board games and adds breaks for quick, action-oriented minigames. In the main mode, players travel across six boards in search of Stars, landing on spaces that are helpful (example: giving coins) or a hindrance (example: sending Bowser in to mess with the player). Several variations for these boards tweak the main goals to enhance game play for solo sessions, two-player games and three- to four-player games.

In addition, Mario Party 8 includes four more minigame-infused kinds of special games, such as Tic-Tac Drop, where players earn the right to put the next mark on the board by winning a minigame.

Characters: Mario Party games are a celebration of all things Mario, so you can play as 14 classic characters, the widest selection yet for the series, including newcomers Hammer Bro and Blooper. You'll also bump into many old friends and foes that span 20+ years of Mario games.

Special powers/weapons/moves/features: Beyond using the Wii Remote's motion and pointer control, this eighth game in the Mario Party series goes its own way with two changes:

Players can transform their character using candy power-ups. Examples: When Peach eats Bowlo Candy, she'll turn into a Peach-faced ball and bowl over characters to get their coins. When Wario™ eats Vampire Candy, he'll sprout wings and fly off to suck the coins from all other players.

A more engaging view of the action puts the player "on the board" with his traveling character, no longer far above the whole board looking down.
* Play with Motion Control: Row your way through a river race, punch a statue to pieces, steer race cars, mopeds and go-karts, handle a balancing pole while walking a tightrope.

* Play Using the Pointer: Shoot at Boos in a haunted house, drag and drop toppings in a cake-decorating competition, select the correct answers in game-show challenges.

* Play Using the Wii Remote's Buttons: Jump and pummel your way through a football brawl, hop and run across a field of spinning platforms.

GamePro.com

We all knew when the Wii launched that it would be a strong first-party system. The third-party stuff, while interesting, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and Wii owners have been waiting patiently--or not so patiently--for Nintendo to throw open their front doors, Willy Wonka-style, and introduce us to the next magical first-party game.

This pirate-y Goomba will give you a Star piece, provided you can pony up 50 coins first. While it won't arrive with the fanboy hype of Metroid Prime 3 or Super Mario Galaxy, there's no denying that Mario Party 8 is more than capable of filling this void, and in some ways, it will probably be a bigger success for Nintendo than those other two hotly anticipated titles.

The More The Merrier
That's because the game fits perfectly in with the Wii's image as a party-friendly console. As with all parties, the more people you get involved, the better Mario Party 8 becomes, and if you can find three friends who are willing and able to buy into the game's simplistic and charming gameplay, you're almost guaranteed to have a good time. Take a look at Nintendo's current marketing plan and you'll see that this is exactly the image they want to promote, that of the Wii as a system that people will gather around to enjoy together.

Played alone, against the computer, the game is barely worth popping out of its case. But, having even one other human opponent ups the fun exponentially--you just can't get the same satisfaction out of trash talking against a faceless computerized enemy.

There's also a definite sense of refinement to the franchise formula here, a given considering that this is the eighth installment in the series. In case you've never played a Mario Party game before, the basics are pretty easy to grasp. In the main game mode, you and three other contestants run around a board collecting coins, competing in various mini-games and collecting Stars, which ultimately decides the game's outcome.

The biggest change from previous versions, obviously, lies in the use of the Wii Remote, and depending on the game, you'll either use it as a pointer to shoot onscreen objects, turn it sideways and use it as a simple joypad, or move it around to take advantage of the motion sensing capabilities. The mini-games themselves are varied and have different objectives--collect the most coins, survive until the timer runs out--but it's nothing that we haven't seen before, which isn't a bad thing at all.

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GameProFamily.com Evaluation

Dad's Watch
Mario Party 8 is another example of how Nintendo is constantly putting out top-notch games that are accessible to every age group. This is a virtual board game where players roll dice and maneuver around from space to space. The use of the Wii Remote and the graphical abilities of the platform make this an entirely new experience from its predecessors. The games are quick and fun and are as varied as cleaning up graffiti and zooming down mountains on snow boards.

Mom's Take
Having the name Mario in the title of a game is almost a guarantee that it is safe for kids of any age. This collection of mini-games is whimsical and silly. For the most part the games here are based on luck and are simple enough for anyone to quickly pickup. There are several game boards your kids can choose to play on, and they all affect the way the game is played: one is more like Monopoly and another is more like Candy Land. This is a great choice for family game night.

The Kid's Pitch
This is one of the best Mario Parties in the series. The Wii Remote makes all of the mini-games fun and really got me involved. Winning seems to be mostly based on luck, and that gets frustrating sometimes but it's also what makes it really feel like a real board game. It's defiantly not a something I'd play alone, but when I'm hanging out with my friends it's a lot of fun.

Final Rating: Safe for Kids