Hands OnMario Party 3

As you might expect, Mario Party 3 plays and looks, for the most part, just like its predecessors. The real difference between this game and the last two is that the minigames and game boards are a lot more diverse and complex than before.

The game now has a ton of new minigames. In fact, the game features a total of 70 new games to play. Some of the games we got a chance to play include a horse race that tests your rhythm. If you want to end up in the winner's circle, you must push the A and B buttons at the correct time. Pushing the buttons too fast causes your steed to falter. Another event we got to test out puts all four players in an octagon. In the center of the octogon is a stream of fire that sweeps around in different patterns. If the fire touches you, you're out of the competition and out of luck since the last player remaining picks up a hefty coin bonus.

While I wasn't a huge fan of the first two Mario Party games, I have to say that I had fun playing Mario Party 3 with the brief time I was allowed to play the game, mostly because the games are just a lot more involving and require you to do more than just hammer buttons. Some of the other games we saw being played included a four-player target shooting and a Tetris Attack-style puzzle game that is set up so that the four players have to quickly get rid of their blocks before the other participants.

Graphically, the game looks very similar to the previous Mario Party games. All of the characters look detailed, as do the new game boards. Many of the mini games, such as the shooting game and horse racing game, have a visual style all their own.

The version on the show floor here at Space World is only 70 percent complete, but it already seems extremely solid. Mario Party 3 is currently scheduled to be released in Japan this December.