May 29, 2007 - Nintendo's original Mario Party was innovative in that it recreated in the digital world the rules and mechanics of a board game and then spruced the formula up with a wealth of mini-challenges. That was in 1999 - two years shy of a decade ago - and like clockwork the Big N has released a new entry into the series every year since, each sporting the same fundamentals with new virtual boards and mini-games. Clearly this copy and paste approach to the series is enough for some; the Mario Party titles were all best-sellers on GameCube and Nintendo undoubtedly hopes to repeat the success on Wii. However, if you've been following the series since its inception, as we have, this latest effort really shows its age - both mechanically and visually. Developer Hudson Soft had the chance to recreate or at the very least improve the franchise by taking advantage of the Wii remote, but Mario Party 8 misuses the controller as regularly as it capitalizes on it. The end result is a title that feels like a rushed GameCube project with last-minute Wii controls. If you're playing with your kids you might still have fun in spite of these inadequacies, but most will be bored by the tedious flow of the boards and the mediocrity of the minis.
Mario Party 8 is a noteworthy arrival on Wii because it marks the first Nintendo-published project that does not run in 16:9 widescreen mode. To our knowledge, this hasn't happened since the days of GameCube and quite possibly with the previous Mario Party outing. To its credit though, the game's title screen and main menu both run in full widescreen, but as soon as any sort of gameplay begins, everything transpires in 4:3 with superimposed bars. Good stuff, and by that we mean just the opposite. This careless approach to the presentation is representative of most aspects of Mario Party 8. The game's graphics on a whole are only barely adequate on a first-generation GameCube affair, and yet many of the boards are interrupted by framerate dips all the same. The unnecessary storyline tidbits are related in slow-moving text bubbles, which can at least be sped up, and the general flow of board play is slow and filled with constant and pointless text interruptions. You will find yourself tapping the Wii remote's A button at machine-gun speeds, but it'll do you no good.
Swing the remote lasso-style -- not nearly as fun as it sounds.
The selection looks good on paper. Several new game boards, including DK's Treetop Temple, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, Boo's Haunted Hideaway, Bowser's Warped Orbit and Shy Guy's Perplex Express, round out the list. The action takes place via a zoomed-in view that is more immersive than previous Mario Party outings as you're able to more closely appreciate some of the (few) stage details. There are some 65 new mini-games that use the Wii remote. We'll get to these in a moment. And, of course, you can play as 14 mascot characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, from Mario and Peach to Bowser, Waluigi, Boo and Dry Bones. If you fall into the Nintendo fanatic category, you might find reason enough to own this game for the selection of levels and mascots alone, although you'd be much better off waiting for a title like Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
You wouldn't want to play a board game by yourself and the same is true of the modes in Mario Party 8. You can play the single-player affair, of course, but it grows tedious and boring in a matter of minutes because the satisfaction of besting friends is simply not there. More likely, you'll want Mario Party 8 for its Party and Mini-game Tents, which enable you to play the standard board mode or compete in a series of mini-games against friends respectively. New to this year's game is the Extras Zone, where you'll be able to take part in some eight minis entirely separate from the rest of the selection. These particular minis incorporate your Mii avatar into the experience, while the remainder of the 65 challenges does not; we're happy Hudson included this option, but we wish it was fleshed out for the entire affair and not just a select few challenges. And there's a Fun Bazaar where you can view unlockables and buy extras, such as new minis for the Extras Zone.
Mario Party 8 closely resembles all of its predecessors from a gameplay perspective. You choose a character, take to a game board and roll the virtual dice to progress, the end goal being to collect a star or multiple stars strewn about the stage. You'll land on mini-game challenges along the way and you'll pick up candy, which will give your character special abilities. It's all mildly entertaining when you're playing it with friends, but even then it never approaches any level of greatness because we've seen what is more or less the same project seven times prior and because none of the previous outings were brilliant.
Hudson's patented widescreen mode fills in the left and right sides of the screen with lovely borders.
The franchise's board work has mostly been a chore and therefore the Mario Party games have lived or died by their selection of minis. Mario Party 8 has the numbers, but in practice many of its minis fall flat. This year's game utilizes the Wii remote for what should be added effect, but unfortunately in most cases the new motion controls feel as though they were tacked on last minute to what was originally a GameCube effort. Take, for example, a mini in which you must use the Wii remote to point a flashlight through a Luigi's Mansion-like room. The goal is to use the beam to illuminate objects and find the ghosts hiding within. Except, you don't actually have pixel-perfect pointer controls at your fingertips. Rather, you walk around the room with the Wii remote's D-Pad and you can only aim up and down with the Wii remote. Huh? Yeah - it makes almost no sense and it feels downright clunky. In yet another mini, you play a simplified game of Simon Says with Shy Guy. He holds up either a red or white flag - sometimes both. You have to mimic his movements with the Wii remote and nunchuk, each representing a flag. We don't see how it could be easier or, for that matter, less challenging. How about a racing game where you don't tilt the Wii remote on its side classic style? Instead, you hold the controller normally and twist your wrist to the left or right to turn. Again - what? But surely a game of bowling would be intuitive, right? After all, Hudson need only take a look at Wii Sports bowling and copy it. Nope. In Mario Party 8's bowling mini-game, you merely make a down/up movement with the Wii remote and have no genuine control over the ball. To call these efforts disappointing would be an understatement.
Many of the games in Mario Party 8 are fun, though. Extremely simple as the mechanic is - you simply swing the controller - the title's baseball challenge feels good. The same can be true of a mini whose goal is only to tilt a container of sand onto a scale - you pivot the Wii remote in your and to begin pouring and straighten it out again to stop. In Breakneck Building, you use gestures to saw through a log, hammer some nails and ultimately paint a canvas before your competitor can do the same. This mode seems to have been more carefully catered toward the Wii remote and it shows - hence, it's one of the more enjoyable minis the first time you encounter it. There are dozens of other offerings that still entertain on some level. Even so, one can't but help compare Mario Party 8's selection of minis to the challenges in a title like Wario Ware, and frankly there's just no comparison; the latter's selection is more engaging and makes better use of the Wii remote, period.
Closing Comments
Hudson and Nintendo really need to rethink the Mario Party formula, but will they? Not as long as these games keep selling, no. Discerning players will find this latest effort still has its moments, but also that they are fewer and farther between. The game includes a robust list of minis, boards and modes and yet you'll quickly discover that little else has been changed. All of our complaints about previous games – the slow pace, the lackluster single-player affair, the loose attention to detail – all remain and with Mario Party 8 we can add another criticism: ignorance of the Wii remote. True, there are a dozen or more minis that do utilize Nintendo's new controller in a unique and enjoyable way, but there are dozens more that don't – that, in fact, were obviously born on GameCube and later ported to Wii with last-minute new motion systems added in. This lackadaisical approach to the franchise sequel bleeds over into the presentation, which doesn't impress as a GCN effort, let alone a Wii one.
In spite of our issues with the game, people who loved Mario Party 7 will probably enjoy Mario Party 8, too, but we've chosen not to reward Nintendo with an undeserved high score for a copy/paste sequel
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