Mario Party 8 is pretty fun
Mario Party started back in the days of the Nintendo 64. Since then the party has continued on a nearly annual basis. Mario Party 8 continues the trend, and it doesn't look to stop any time soon. At it's heart Mario Party is a multiplayer game. Loads of minigames, and backstabbing friends is the name of the game. If you've played Mario Party before then you know exactly what to expect. The core of the game hasn't changed. You travel around a board, similar to a board game and you collect stars. The player with the most stars at the end of the game wins. What this Mario Party does differently though is how you gain those stars and the importance of the stars. EAch of the games mini game boards is different. In one you race to the end of a boardwalk and when you reach the end you gain a star and start the process over. You can pay for shortcuts to reach the end faster than your opponents. In another you're traveling around a haunted house and you don't know how the board looks until you've reached the spots. This board changes every time you play it so you can't memorize the layout. In another you're investing coins in different hotels and whoever has the most money invested in that building gains the star from that building. There are more as well, but you'll have to play the game to find out what they are. The single player mode is the same as this, but you're by yourself against 3 computer opponents. The variety of the boards though makes the single player experience one that you would enjoy if you don't have any friends over. The look of the game has improved as well. It looks better that the previous versions, but not by much. Character models are a bit more crisp than in the past. The one thing I think looks markedly better over previous versions is text. The sound is not changed much. It's still pretty par for the course in terms of Mario games. The controls take advantage of the Wii Remote as you would expect. Many of the mini games are controlled by motion control or using the controller similar to FPS. Many of the games are also controlled holding the controller similar to game pads of the past. Each game shows a diagram of how you'll hold the controller and you can also get instructions on how to control the game. You'll find many of the games are pretty self explanatory and you won't need to see the instructions more than once. All in all I would recommend this game if you're looking for a solid multi-player experience. This game is still the standard for party games on the Wii and I don't expect that to change.
