How Nintendo turned a decent Party game into a snore fest is beyond me.
The Bad: The gameplay revolves around luck, and not skill; Your Gamecube might not survive your frustration at this game; The visuals are colorful, like a dog crap mixed with Play Dough; The music is awful, and Mario & crew's voices don't ease the pain as I'd hoped; It's a flat out insult to the N64 games; People just keep buying these damn games...
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Mario has been a significant part of my gaming life since day one. Super Mario World rocked, Yoshi's Island was awesome, Mario RPG filled 8 year old life with insomnia, Mario 64 was amazing, and Yoshi's Story... well, no. Anyway, I was thrilled beyond anything when I read about the first Mario Party when I was 10 years old. It looked like an overall fun game. It was. I recieved it for a surprise early birthday gift from my father, and played the hell out of it. It also helped that I never lost a game, which constantly got my friends pissed off.(I enjoyed knowing that I had some kind of luck, even if it was shameful) Mario Party 2 came out, which added even more flair. So why did Nintendo have to drag this out worse than the Land Before Time series? $$$ That's the answer. People buy this stuff. Every year, people buy enough games to justify an annual sequel.(Not this year, finally) They've actually gotten lazy and just don't care anymore, knowing that they can make a low quality game, and still make a fortune. That's the legacy of Mario Party, the now, biggest load of sh!t in the gaming world.
Story: As usual, Mario and friends have some wacky reason to collect stars on a board game. First it was Bowser, then it was... bowser again, then it was the millenium star, and then... bowser, and now, the koopa kids are causing trouble. They're just taking content from Mario Sunshine. The Story's non-existant, but do people play board games to start crying because of a sad plot? No. But, you'll cry either way. No alcohol involved. Bad sign.
Gameplay: Luck. That's all it is. I can't stand games that simply get friends angry at each other when no one can even tell who's better. It's all luck. The Board Games are the worst ever, the addition of slot machine capsules make it worse, and slow. All the while it's just freaking luck Even the minigames are boring. At least the first two had some kind of strategy, this is just bullcrap. How I won 30 games straight against my friends over a period of 2 years, I don't know. The original was just compelling, this game doesn't even make me want to finish a round. It's absolutely ridiculous.
Graphics: When I was little, I had a Chow named Jose. He liked to eat my Play Dough. I would constantly see swirling masses of colors on my lawn, that seemed superficially pretty, but when I picked it up, it was sh!t. That's what this game does. Screen shots are deceiving. Pick up and play the game, and realize what kind of detail Nintendo's going for. There's a minigame on a cake. Give me a break. Even that's ugly looking. BTW, that was a true story. I'm not lying, Jose did that, and he's buried in my backyard. This isn't crazy example, people. Play Dough won't change colors, no matter what happens to it.
Sound: The music casts aside all classic tunes and just makes you want to rip out your ears in hpoes that you'll pull a Piccolo later on and regrow them. We aren't Namekian, ya know. The Mario voices really don't help. It's a very little factor in easing such intense pain. The sound effects... okay, how about an extra point for shameless goofs?
Value: None. Not your money's worth. If you play this game, you will die.(Obvious reference to The Ring, and Manequinn as portrayed on Family Guy)
Tilt: As a fan of the original games, I'm appalled. I'd puke if I wasn't in the school library right now.(Yes, Seniors have way too much free time in Study Halls...)