Mario Party 8 WII
Mario Party 8 published by Nintendo for the WII is a game which offers fun while it lasts.
Gameplay:
Mario Party 8 is based on the same premise as previous titles in the series. The player takes control of one of the popular characters from the Mario universe and plays through board game levels full of mini games and surprises. Similar to previous titles Mario Party 8 offers the most fun when played with others, and there are numerous ways to do just that.
The main mode of play is battle mode where up to four human controlled players can partake in board game antics. The rest of the open spots are filled in with computer controlled AI. The goal for each board is to collect the most stars. Stars are collected differently on each of the six boards, and bonus stars are also awarded at the end of the game. The second multiplayer option are the duel boards which take the same boards and shorten them. There are no computer controlled players, and this is my preferred mode of play. The only downside is that mini games are only triggered when landing on a designated space, and it is possible to play a round without a mini game. Other multiplayer options include games based on tic tac toe and tile control using min game performance for awarding players. A major flaw in the multiplayer aspect of the game is that there is no online play, but Nintendo can be forgiven because the WII is still in its early stages.
The single player experience pit's the player against an opponent on each duel board, and in order to advance the player must defeat them. This mode will provide the player with a few hour of fun since that is how long it lasts. The strategic player can get through it easily in 3-4 hours. The game tries to reward players for playing often in the form of carnival cards which can be redeemed for unlikable. The only things noteworthy of being unlocked are the harder difficulty and the mini games. Other than that collecting the cards is a complete waste of time. The single player experience really falls short.
The meat of the gameplay are the mini games. There are a lot of them and some will still not be discovered after hours of playing. The games really shine when the WII motion controls are put to use, but not every game uses them. Only a select number of games take advantage of the motion controls which is disappointing. There is a lot of variety in the games, but Nintendo still could have spent a little more effort with them.
Gameplay: 6 out of 10
Graphics:
One of the areas of the game which really surprised me was the graphics. Some of the graphics have been horrible for WII games, but I was surprised to see the graphics in Mario Party 8 were good. There isn't much to display, but what is displayed looks good. There are no bugs or glitches in the game which is great since many games released come with loads of them. The game doesn't support widescreen which isn't a big issue but could get annoying.
Graphics: 8 out of 10
Presentation:
Similar to the graphics department the presentation in Mario Party 8 is very good. The menu design is slick and the mechanics of the game are very good. This is one of the best presented WII games.
Presentation: 8 out of 10
Sound:
The sound in the game is also good, but some of the music gets repetitive and boring over time. Each of the characters make their unique sounds, and the music holds true with the party aspect of the game.
Sound: 7 out of 10
Lasting Appeal/Value
The major component of a game I look for is a great single player experience, with online multiplayer my second option. Mario Party 8 offers virtually none of that which knocks it down a few notches. The multiplayer is very good and will last a while, but that alone could not sell me this game. The game retails for 49.99$ and can be found used for 39.99$. I wouldn't purchase this game unless it was under 25$ or if you really want a good party game.
LA/Value: 6 out of 10
Overall: 6.6 out of 10 rounded to 6.5
