Mario Party 6 – Review

One of the busiest videogame characters these days is our little Italian friend Mario. He plays tennis, golf, karts and travels through paper lands. He’s also training for his new hobbies such as dance dance revolution, football and baseball. It seems that he has endless energy but does he ever get or take time to relax? Of course he does! Mario refills his energy by playing party games with his fellow Nintendo characters. Mario Party 6 is the latest party game, a virtual board game complete with dices and special actions whenever Mario or one of his friends steps on a space. Maybe you already played one of the previous Mario Party games as it has quite a history. It all started on the Nintendo 64 and ever since Mario Party games are the number one puzzle games for the Nintendo consoles. Although it states that it is a party game, it must be fun to play it with friends. But what is the single player value? What’s the difference between Mario Party 6 and its previous editions? And what gaming modes are available?

Story
Everything seems quite calm in Mario Party land until the Sun (Brighton) and the Moon (Twilla) start arguing about who is the most powerful. But they cannot agree on this point and our lovely Mario and friends try to cool down the discussion by organizing a big party together with the power of the stars. It’s your task to gather as many stars as possible. The faster you gather the stars the sooner the discussion will be over. And that my friends, is the story behind Mario Party 6. But who cares about the story? It’s all about playing funny games!

Something New
While checking out the games in our local game store, Mario Party 6 attracted my attention due to its box size. The carton box includes besides the game (in DVD case) a microphone which looks like a retro seventies mic (or a ultra huge tampon). The microphone can be plugged into the second memory slot and while plugged, you’re going to use it in some of the mini-games and of course in the Mic-mode. The mini-games are quite funny to handle with the mic instead of bashing the controller buttons and you need to give commands like Run, Jump, Attack, Laser, Defend, etc. The character is responding to it very well, no complaints about that! The Mic-mode is of course a new mode in the party games and contains a collection of multiple games, controllable only by the microphone. These games are bigger, extensively and more varied compared to the other party-mode games.

Party-Mode
No spectacular news about the party-mode if you already played a Mario party game before as the goal stays the same; gather as many stars as possible by winning mini-games on the virtual game board. These mini-games are new developed games but the gameplay is equal to previous mini-games. What to think of pulling a carrot out of the ground as fast as possible, running and avoiding obstacles in a cave and so on. These are just 2 examples of the multiple mini-games which are available. New is the day and night cycle which changes after every three turns. The result is that some routes change, either some routes are getting locked or opened. Another new aspect is the addition of new characters which you can choose from. It is now possible to play with Boo (ghost) and Toad (mushroom). Party-mode is the main feature in Mario Party 6 and together with friends it’s going to be a blast and fun for a couple of hours at least!

Solo-Mode
Ooooh…you don’t have any friends who want to play Mario Party with you? Either you go searching for some decent friends or simply choose to play the Solo-mode. Three mini Bowsers are going to be your opponent and you better make sure to win the mini-games to gather most of the stars. But be aware, the playfield contains a trap. You need to end on or before the last space, otherwise it is game over and you’ll loose all your gathered stars! The stars do have a purpose and you really don’t want to loose them as you can exchange them in the Star Bank for extra goodies; sounds, extra playfields (boards) and even unlock new characters! It’s an extra motivation to keep on playing as you want to unlock as much as possible. And don’t feel sorry for yourself if you’re playing alone, the solo-mode provides more stars compared to the party mode.

Compare
As it is Mario Party 6, previous party gamers probably wonder if it’s worth buying a new party game. The simple answer to that is YES! Okay it’s doesn’t include any shocking new features except for the microphone and the expanded solo-mode. But the new mini-games are always fun to play and the characters react, move faster over the board, which will be a relief for impatient gamers. Mario Party 5 was quite a bummer as Mario Party 4 was an excellent, enjoyable party game. But this new edition beats them all!

Graphics
As this is a typical Nintendo game, what can I say about the graphics…it seems that hardly anything changes in graphics, except that it becomes even brighter? Okay, when the night sets in, of course the graphics will become a little grayish but after three turns, the sun starts shining again and everything looks just like we want it to be: bright and colorful. As the game includes new boards, the designs aren’t astonishing new and look quite similar as previous party games. But a question rises in my mind: would you like to have ultra-realistic graphics in a Mario game? I’ll bet you won’t. The happy colors bring happiness in the living room (or wherever you’re playing) and that’s exactly what suits the game.

Sound
What counts for the graphics is also the case with sound. These are predictable Nintendo tunes and what’s wrong with that? Absolute nothing. But new is the microphone usage to scream your commands, necessary to command your character. The microphone isn’t a must to play with if you’re not comfortable, but I would keep the music on as it creates a happy environment. Is it necessary to mention that the character voices are the same as always? Ok they don’t talk that much, except when they win. Most of the “talking” will be done by writing on screen and before a game starts, you can read the rules and other information.

Female point of view
What would a Mario game be without Princess Peach? She’s Nintendo’s main female character and of course she joins the party. Besides Princess Peach you can also play with Daisy (which was also in Mario’s Golf and Tennis game). And maybe as a spoiler … you can unlock a new female character called Toadette, yes the female pink version of Toad with lovely pink braids. You can unlock her by trading 30 stars in at the star bank. That sounds a lot, but she’s very sweet, my number one female character to play with! Not because she’s almost totally pink, but as she looks very funny!

Conclusion
Girls just wanna have fun and fun is THE factor in Mario Party 6. The addition of the microphone is extra fun and it works perfectly. But if you’re not fond of controlling a character by voice, it’s not necessary. Just don’t plug the microphone in the memory card slot, and you won’t get any mic games. It’s that simple, you little button basher. As there is no online mode and if you don’t have any friends around who wants to join for a party, don’t worry too much as the single player value is just perfect. You can play all modes and the CPU can control up to three other characters. Also the solo-mode can be enjoyable for many hours. No matter how old you are, this game is suitable for gamers of all ages and is a very good sequel in the Party series. A absolute must-have game in your GameCube collection as the replay value is very high! The star bank makes the game even more attractive and addictive to play as you want to unlock new characters and boards. Expanding the game and gaming pleasure!

Review by Wencke
Thumb Bandits European Correspondent & manager of GGU.