Mario Party 6 is one of the best party games to come along in a while...just make sure you have friends to play it with.
This game has a ton of characters and minigames. All of them are so different and unique, Mario Party 6 doesn't get old fast. The mic is the game's big selling point. The voice-recognition program works most of the time. Every once in a while it will execute something other than what I said, but nothing's perfect. The mic minigames are especially fun when you have three friends to play it with. Actually, the entire game is more fun if you have friends to play it with. The computer will challenge you for a little while, but eventually it will get too easy. Then you'll buy the "Brutal" difficulty from the Star Bank and it will be too hard. So: play with friends. Some will be good, others will be...erm...not so good. This game isn't like Mario Party 2, where the star space moves around and everyone is in an endless chase to get it. Well, two of the maps are like that, but still: there are different ways to play this time. Whether it's riding Chain Chomps in Snowflake Lake to steal stars from opponents, chasing DK through Clockwork Castle to buy stars from him, or buying five stars at a time from Brighton or Twila in Faire Square, there are lots of ways to play. Speaking of Brighton and Twila, that's where the game's nearly nonexistant story kicks in. Mario and his friends are hanging out with the sun (Brighton) and the moon (Twila) having a party when the to celestial beings get into a fight about who's more awesome. Mario gets the bright idea to get stars to see who's better, which I quite frankly still don't understand, but whatever. You have to buy all the pages in the "Miracle Book" in the Star Bank to see the epilogue. The Star Bank is, obviously, a place where you can buy stuff for your game, like a new map, a new character, or a character's taunt. In Minigame Mode, you can play minigames you earned in Solo Mode, which is like the board game but WAY smaller and shorter. If you win a minigame, you get to keep it. There are twelve characters (I think) to choose from. The major problem is that there are only six maps, and you have to save 100 stars to buy one of them.
GRAPHICS: 9/10
The game has awesome graphics, smooth and vivid like all the other Mario titles. Worlds are all very different looking, and the pop-up book mode looks great too. There isn't much to be said for cinema scenes, but hey, it's a party game; they aren't important right now.
SOUND: 9/10
Great music, great sound effects, okay voices. They're what you'd expect from Nintendo.
VALUE: 6/10
On this section, I gave the game one point for every map it has. Six. That's it. I really wanted more maps, and a few more minigames wouldn't have hurt either.
TILT: 8/10
Overall, despite the games flaws in the Value department, this is an awesome party game. But remember: you really need to play with some friends to make this game really click. Also, if you're planning on buying it used, I'd recommend making sure you get a Mic too; it's what makes the game really, REALLY awesome with friends over. So, if you're apprehensive, go rent it. I think you'll like what you see.