Mario Party 8

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Mario Party 8
European box art
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Wii
Release date	NA May 29, 2007[1] EU June 22, 2007 UK July 13, 2007 (Recalled)[2] Re-released: 3 August 2007 AUS July 19, 2007[3] JP July 26, 2007
Genre(s)	Party
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone) OFLC: G USK: 6+ PEGI: 3+
Media	1 Wii Optical Disc

Mario Party 8 (マリオパーティ　8, Mario Pāti Eito^?) is a video game for Nintendo's Wii. It is the tenth in the series (eleventh in Japan) and the first to be released on the Wii.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Boards 1.2 Minigames 1.3 Playable characters 2 Voice actors 3 Recall 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

During the standard game, four different characters compete on one of six themed boards. When playing with fewer than four people, players select which characters the computer will control, as well as their difficulty level and handicap. Players take turns rolling dice and moving across the game board, with the goal being to amass as many stars as possible within the alloted turn limit.

Towards the end of the game, during the last five turns, gameplay is altered slightly. This can include events such as coins being awarded to the player in last place, as well as additional coins being placed on each space. After the game has ended, three Bonus Stars (which can be enabled or disabled as a game option) may be awarded to players for various feats during play. Finally, the player with the most stars is declared the winner, with the number of coins possessed used as a tiebreaker.

Additional game modes allow players to directly compete in minigames without making use of the game board. Several of these modes tie a number of minigames together, with each minigame won moving the winning player closer to victory.

[edit] Boards

While some of the game boards are classic Mario Party in nature, with players attempting to reach locations where 20 coins can be traded for a star, others are more varied. For example, "Koopa's Tycoon Town" involves players investing coins into hotels (as in Monopoly) in order to earn stars, with each hotel only providing stars to the player with the highest current investment.

As always, all boards include a number of random elements which can greatly influence the course of the game. Notable for this is "Shy Guy's Perplex Express", where the train cars which make up the game board can be re-ordered as the result of landing on a certain space, completely changing the relative positions of all players. There are six boards total in Mario Party 8.

[edit] Minigames

At the heart of Mario Party 8 are the minigames, with one taking place at least once per turn. A number of the minigames rely on the unique capabilities of the Wii Remote, while others instead require players to hold the controller sideways and use only the buttons.

There are eight different types of minigames: 4 player "everyone for themselves", 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, Duel, Challenge, Extra, and Last.

[edit] Playable characters

Playable characters returning from the previous titles include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Dry Bones, Boo, Toad, and Toadette. In addition, two new characters have been added to the roster: Blooper and Hammer Bro. This provides a total of 14 playable characters once all have been unlocked. Bowser, Donkey Kong, King Boo, Shy Guys, Koopa Troopas and Goombas have secondary roles throughout minigames, boards and menus. Other Mario characters and enemies make minor appearance, for example Bob-ombs appear in a minigame.

Players can also use Miis in any "Extras Zone" minigames unlocked via the "Fun Bazaar", although Miis are not otherwise usable during normal gameplay. Miis can also be seen in the background of the Minigames Tent and in minigames.

[edit] Voice actors

• Isaac Marshall as Birdo
• Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi And MC Ballyhoo
• Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy
• Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong
• Eric Newsome as Bowser
• Samantha Kelly as Princess Peach, Toad, Toadette
• Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi

[edit] Recall

The game had a launch plagued by difficulties in the United Kingdom. Originally scheduled for release on June 22, 2007, Nintendo announced on June 19, 2007 that the British version had been delayed to July 13, 2007, due to a "production issue".^[4]

Furthermore, upon release on July 13, 2007, it was then immediately recalled. In a press release, Nintendo gave the reason for the withdrawal as an assembly error, but some retailers were reporting that it was supposedly withdrawn from shelves because some copies included the word "spastic", which is an offensive word in the UK. Copies without the word spastic used the word erratic instead.^[5]

The game was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007.

[edit] Reception

Reviews
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C[6]
Game Informer	7.25/10[7]
GamePro	4.5/5
GameSpot	6.5/10[8]
GameSpy	3/5[9]
GameTrailers	8.3/10[10]
IGN	5.2/10[11]
Nintendo Power	7.5/10[12]
X-Play	3/5[13]
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler	Score
Game Rankings	63%[14]

After its North American release on May 29, 2007, the game sold 314,000 units in the United States in three days, making it the best-selling home console game in the country that month.^[15] As of December 31, 2007, the game has sold 4.35 million copies worldwide, with 1.18 million of those copies being sold in Japan.^[16]

Matt Casamassina of IGN referred to the single-player mode as "torture" and commented on the visuals as "graphics don't even impress as a GCN title".^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mario Party 8 Official Website
• Mario Party 8 at Nintendo Europe

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