The Mario Party series has done it again. Yet, another home console Mario Party game, being Mario Party 8. Throughout since its release on May of 2007, it has been given a bag full of reviews, and most of them happen to be speaking negatively on the game. I for one, believe that those people are wrong, and those people don't know the true beauty in Mario Party 8.
Gameplay: Score: 9.5/10 - The Mario Party games are well known for their gameplay, and this one is no different. Four players compete in a board map, roll dices, and play a mini-game to complete a turn. But this one is slightly different when it comes to game play, because it introduces motion control for the first time in a Mario Party game. The boards do go by pretty quickly, the mini-games are pretty fun with the new motion control, it's a ton of fun especially with friends. Though, one flaw with the game play is the frame rate. For some reason, the developers Hudson Soft didn't give Mario Party 8 the full 60 FPS. Even the previous Mario Party games have 60 FPS and run smoothly. Another noticeable game play issue is the lack of true widescreen. Since the game is only playable through standard 4:3, Hudson/Nintendo decided to just put in decorative "party" borders on the sides of the screen to attempt to give it a 16:9 feel and to fill the screen. Many people have large problems with this and many think that it can cause screen-burn. But they don't know that Nintendo isn't stupid. They wouldn't want to get a law suit for having these bars burn-in to the televisions of those who have purchased Mario Party 8. Many people don't even mind these problems, because most can just zoom in the picture, and turn on some sort of Motionflow technology to smoothen the game's FPS. But aside from the flaw of frame rate and the widescreen problem, the game play is outstanding and very remembered from much of the Mario Party games.
Graphics: Score: 7.9/10 - The graphics here in Mario Party 8 are pretty good, but not how they should be. They resemble if not, semi-dwarf the graphics presented in the previous Mario Party games. But this only applies to the board maps. The mini-game graphics are great enough for a slightly over clocked GameCube, but don't meet expectations for the Wii.
Story: Score: 8.8/10 - There isn't much of a story to be told. McBallyhoo presents to us the Star Carnival. The Main attraction here is the Star Battle Arena, and the winner recieves a year's worth of candy. Now, many are to believe that this story is just plain stupid, it's actually pretty well thought of. Because it fits well with the theme of the game, and being the Carnival Champion is a great prize for a true winner.
Value: Score: 9.6/10 - Mario Party 8 is definitely the party game to get for the Wii. It might not bring fun to many people with just single player mode, but it brings tons and tons of fun when with others. It's a game of fun and excitement just like the other Mario Party games were, and that legend of a series continues on for generations and generations, as more and more Mario Party games of different variety come to the hands of those party goers.
Total Score: 35.8/40 - 89.5% B+
Gameplay: Score: 9.5/10 - The Mario Party games are well known for their gameplay, and this one is no different. Four players compete in a board map, roll dices, and play a mini-game to complete a turn. But this one is slightly different when it comes to game play, because it introduces motion control for the first time in a Mario Party game. The boards do go by pretty quickly, the mini-games are pretty fun with the new motion control, it's a ton of fun especially with friends. Though, one flaw with the game play is the frame rate. For some reason, the developers Hudson Soft didn't give Mario Party 8 the full 60 FPS. Even the previous Mario Party games have 60 FPS and run smoothly. Another noticeable game play issue is the lack of true widescreen. Since the game is only playable through standard 4:3, Hudson/Nintendo decided to just put in decorative "party" borders on the sides of the screen to attempt to give it a 16:9 feel and to fill the screen. Many people have large problems with this and many think that it can cause screen-burn. But they don't know that Nintendo isn't stupid. They wouldn't want to get a law suit for having these bars burn-in to the televisions of those who have purchased Mario Party 8. Many people don't even mind these problems, because most can just zoom in the picture, and turn on some sort of Motionflow technology to smoothen the game's FPS. But aside from the flaw of frame rate and the widescreen problem, the game play is outstanding and very remembered from much of the Mario Party games.
Graphics: Score: 7.9/10 - The graphics here in Mario Party 8 are pretty good, but not how they should be. They resemble if not, semi-dwarf the graphics presented in the previous Mario Party games. But this only applies to the board maps. The mini-game graphics are great enough for a slightly over clocked GameCube, but don't meet expectations for the Wii.
Story: Score: 8.8/10 - There isn't much of a story to be told. McBallyhoo presents to us the Star Carnival. The Main attraction here is the Star Battle Arena, and the winner recieves a year's worth of candy. Now, many are to believe that this story is just plain stupid, it's actually pretty well thought of. Because it fits well with the theme of the game, and being the Carnival Champion is a great prize for a true winner.
Value: Score: 9.6/10 - Mario Party 8 is definitely the party game to get for the Wii. It might not bring fun to many people with just single player mode, but it brings tons and tons of fun when with others. It's a game of fun and excitement just like the other Mario Party games were, and that legend of a series continues on for generations and generations, as more and more Mario Party games of different variety come to the hands of those party goers.
Total Score: 35.8/40 - 89.5% B+
