Mario Party 8
Encyclopedia
is a party
video game, the eighth installment in the Mario Party series, and is the first title in the series to be released for the Nintendo Wii
. It is also the first Mario Party title to have the ability to use Mii
characters. It was released in North America
on May 29, 2007, in Europe
on June 22, 2007, in Australia
on July 19, 2007, and in Japan
on July 26, 2007. It was originally released in the United Kingdom
on July 26, 2007. However, some retailers were reporting that it was supposedly withdrawn from shelves because some copies included the word "spastic
", which is considered a highly offensive word in the UK for referring to disability. The game was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007 with the word now used "erratic" instead.
Mario Party 8 is followed by Mario Party DS.
Like previous Mario Party Titles, Mario Party 8 features Mario series
characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigame
s, and was developed by Hudson Soft
and published by Nintendo
. Mario Party 8 received mixed reviews, receiving a Gamerankings Score of 63%. Despite some of the mixed reviews, after its release, 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. As of May 2010, the game has sold 7.6 million copies worldwide and ranks #10 on the best-selling Wii games list.
s. Finally, the Fun Bazaar has the player use their carnival cards to unlock minigames and other surprises. In the Fun Bazaar, there is a place where if you buy it with your carnival cards, the player may listen to music and character voices. Minigame records can also be viewed here. For general board-play modes, players take turns (10 to 50 turns) rolling a dice block and moving across the game board, with the goal being to getting 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.
) 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, potentially changing the relative positions of all players.
There are eight different types of minigames: 4 player free-for-all, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, Duel, Challenge, Extra, and Last.
, Luigi
, Princess Peach
, Princess Daisy, Yoshi
, Birdo
, Toad
, Toadette, Wario
, Waluigi
, Boo, Dry Bones, Blooper and Hammer Bro. Players also have the ability to use Mii
characters as well.
. It was first shown at E3 2006, which the Nintendo World demo of Mario Party 8 had six samples, including Barrel Lasso were players roll the controller like a lasso to grab barrels that are rotating around on a platform which different barrels give different point values, Can Shake which the goal is to shake a can of soda and make it shoot out the tallest stream by shaking the Wii remote
, A split-screen game called the Colored Ball Game were players are seated in a ship and marbles either green or purple in color fall from above and players hold the Wiimote horizontally in their hands and tilt it to tilt an on-screen platform that filters the marbles into like-colored tubes, Flag Raise, Jet Ski were players ride jet skis by steering by rotating the controller up and down like a steering wheel, and a 4-way split screen Shooting Gallery which players use the Wii Remote to aim at a target which the bullseye is different for each target.
. 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". 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 considered a highly offensive word in the UK for referring to disability. Just one month before, Ubisoft
had the PSP
game Mind Quiz
pulled from the shelves because of the same word. The game was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007 with the word now used "erratic" instead. A spokesperson from Nintendo said "The offending word has been replaced at code level and the software reproduced. We are confident we have taken the correct appropriate levels and action necessary and in all new versions of the game there are no issues – however we cannot 100 percent guarantee that every copy of the initial batch was returned to us and as such there may still be a small number of copies of the game in circulation.”. Nintendo also confirmed that there would be no change on pricing and stock levels will “remain unaffected for the re-launch.”.
Common Sense Media
reviewer Erin Bell awarded the game 4 stars, stating that it's "Still a good kids' party game, now Wii fun!". GamePro
's The Grim Wiiper gave the game 4 1/2 stars, stating "We all knew when the Wii launched that it would be a strong first-party system. The third-party stuff, while interesting, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and Wii owners have been waiting patiently--or not so patiently--for Nintendo to throw open their front doors, Willy Wonka-style, and introduce us to the next magical first-party game."
In contrast, Matt Casamassina of IGN
gave the game a 5.2/10, referring to the single-player mode as "torture" and commenting on the visuals as "graphics don't even impress as a GCN
title". 1UP.com
critic Dan Hsu did not enjoy the game either, which he gave the game a C rating and criticized the game's needless dialogue, repetitive cut-scenes and minigames, stating "Mario Party 8 could've used a lot more of that creativity, however, throughout the whole game. Instead, we get a really disappointing (but, as mentioned at the start of this review, inevitably still entertaining) Wii debut for the series. Perhaps the next game will truly take advantage of the Wii controls through and through."
Party game
Party games are games that some people play as forms of entertainment at social gatherings. Party games usually involve more than one player. There are a large number and styles of party games available and the one selected will depend on the atmosphere that is sought to be generated...
video game, the eighth installment in the Mario Party series, and is the first title in the series to be released for the Nintendo Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. It is also the first Mario Party title to have the ability to use Mii
Mii
A is a digital avatar used in Nintendo's Wii and Nintendo 3DS gaming consoles. They allow users to capture a likeness of themselves and others. After creating one using the Wii's Mii Channel or the Nintendo 3DS's Mii Maker, they can be used as playable characters in various titles for the...
characters. It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on May 29, 2007, in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on June 22, 2007, in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on July 19, 2007, and in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on July 26, 2007. It was originally released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on July 26, 2007. However, some retailers were reporting that it was supposedly withdrawn from shelves because some copies included the word "spastic
Spastic
The word spastic is used differently depending on location which has led to some controversy and misunderstanding. Derived via Latin from the Greek spastikos , the word originally referred to a change in muscles affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is seen in spastic diplegia and...
", which is considered a highly offensive word in the UK for referring to disability. The game was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007 with the word now used "erratic" instead.
Mario Party 8 is followed by Mario Party DS.
Mario Party DS
is a party video game for the Nintendo DS. It is a title in the Mario Party series, and was released in Japan on November 8, 2007; 11 days later, it was released in North America on November 19, 2007; in Europe on November 23, 2007, in Australia on December 6, 2007, and in South Korea on May 22, 2008...
Like previous Mario Party Titles, Mario Party 8 features Mario series
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s, and was developed by Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. Mario Party 8 received mixed reviews, receiving a Gamerankings Score of 63%. Despite some of the mixed reviews, after its release, 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. As of May 2010, the game has sold 7.6 million copies worldwide and ranks #10 on the best-selling Wii games list.
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 can also select from five different areas to play on from the Play Choices screen by selecting the Select File screen in the beginning. Here, the player is given the choices of five different areas to play on: Party Tent, Star Battle Arena, Minigame Tent, Extras Zone, and the Fun Bazaar. The Party Tent allows for characters to compete on boards in three kinds of battles: Battle Royale (four-player competition; one to four players), Tag Battle (two-vs. two; one to four players), or Duel Battle (one-on-one; one to two players). In the Star Battle Arena mode, one player faces off against one opponent on each board in which when you get to the last board, Bowser will take the star from the player and he/she will face against Hammer Bro or Blooper (which once defeated are included as playable characters) in Bowser's Warped Orbit, then once he/she defeat the character, Bowser will give you back the Star Rod and you will face in a final mini-game called Superstar Showdown. When you win the battle the player wins the game. In the Minigame Tent, players can play several non-board challenges from the minigames. The extras zone has the eight extra minigames that do not appear in board-play with your MiiMii
A is a digital avatar used in Nintendo's Wii and Nintendo 3DS gaming consoles. They allow users to capture a likeness of themselves and others. After creating one using the Wii's Mii Channel or the Nintendo 3DS's Mii Maker, they can be used as playable characters in various titles for the...
s. Finally, the Fun Bazaar has the player use their carnival cards to unlock minigames and other surprises. In the Fun Bazaar, there is a place where if you buy it with your carnival cards, the player may listen to music and character voices. Minigame records can also be viewed here. For general board-play modes, players take turns (10 to 50 turns) rolling a dice block and moving across the game board, with the goal being to getting 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.
Boards
While some of the game boards are classic Mario Party in nature, with players attempting to reach locations where they can buy a star for 20 coins (10 coins in King Boo's board and in Capt. Goomba's board stars are free because of all the spaces you need to travel to get a star), others are more varied. For example, "Koopa's Tycoon Town" involves players investing coins into hotels (as in MonopolyMonopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
) 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, potentially changing the relative positions of all players.
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 over 80 mini-games in Mario Party 8.There are eight different types of minigames: 4 player free-for-all, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, Duel, Challenge, Extra, and Last.
Playable characters
Mario Party 8 includes 14 playable characters, including MarioMario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
, Princess Peach
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
, Princess Daisy, Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
, Birdo
Birdo
Birdo, known in Japan as , is a fictional character in the Mario series of video games, who first appeared in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, which was localized for English audiences as Super Mario Bros. 2 and is an enemy to Mario...
, Toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
, Toadette, Wario
Wario
is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series. The character was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
, Waluigi
Waluigi
is a fictional character in the Mario series of video games. He accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main Mario series, oftentimes for the sake of causing mischief...
, Boo, Dry Bones, Blooper and Hammer Bro. Players also have the ability to use Mii
Mii
A is a digital avatar used in Nintendo's Wii and Nintendo 3DS gaming consoles. They allow users to capture a likeness of themselves and others. After creating one using the Wii's Mii Channel or the Nintendo 3DS's Mii Maker, they can be used as playable characters in various titles for the...
characters as well.
Development
Like previous Mario Party Titles, Mario Party 8 was developed by Hudson SoftHudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
. It was first shown at E3 2006, which the Nintendo World demo of Mario Party 8 had six samples, including Barrel Lasso were players roll the controller like a lasso to grab barrels that are rotating around on a platform which different barrels give different point values, Can Shake which the goal is to shake a can of soda and make it shoot out the tallest stream by shaking the Wii remote
Wii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
, A split-screen game called the Colored Ball Game were players are seated in a ship and marbles either green or purple in color fall from above and players hold the Wiimote horizontally in their hands and tilt it to tilt an on-screen platform that filters the marbles into like-colored tubes, Flag Raise, Jet Ski were players ride jet skis by steering by rotating the controller up and down like a steering wheel, and a 4-way split screen Shooting Gallery which players use the Wii Remote to aim at a target which the bullseye is different for each target.
Lawsuit
The game had a launch plagued by difficulties in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. 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". 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
Spastic
The word spastic is used differently depending on location which has led to some controversy and misunderstanding. Derived via Latin from the Greek spastikos , the word originally referred to a change in muscles affected by the medical condition spasticity, which is seen in spastic diplegia and...
", which is considered a highly offensive word in the UK for referring to disability. Just one month before, Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
had the PSP
PSP
PSP most commonly refers to the PlayStation Portable, a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment.PSP may also refer to:-Computing and programming:*Corel Paint Shop Pro, a graphics editor...
game Mind Quiz
Mind Quiz: Exercise Your Brain
Mind Quiz: Exercise Your Brain is a trivia game for the PlayStation Portable, similar to its Nintendo DS counterpart, Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach.- Overview :...
pulled from the shelves because of the same word. The game was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007 with the word now used "erratic" instead. A spokesperson from Nintendo said "The offending word has been replaced at code level and the software reproduced. We are confident we have taken the correct appropriate levels and action necessary and in all new versions of the game there are no issues – however we cannot 100 percent guarantee that every copy of the initial batch was returned to us and as such there may still be a small number of copies of the game in circulation.”. Nintendo also confirmed that there would be no change on pricing and stock levels will “remain unaffected for the re-launch.”.
Reception
Critical response
Mario Party 8 received mostly mixed reviews from critics. It received a Gamerankings score of 63.04% based on 70 reviews. It also received out of 100 a score of 62 based on 41 reviews, including 9 positive reviews, 25 mixed, and 7 negative.Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media , commonly known as CSM, is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization which serves as a guide for parents that has reviews for most media types, including books, movies, video games, music, and websites, and rates them in terms of violence, sex, and profanity. The website...
reviewer Erin Bell awarded the game 4 stars, stating that it's "Still a good kids' party game, now Wii fun!". GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
's The Grim Wiiper gave the game 4 1/2 stars, stating "We all knew when the Wii launched that it would be a strong first-party system. The third-party stuff, while interesting, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and Wii owners have been waiting patiently--or not so patiently--for Nintendo to throw open their front doors, Willy Wonka-style, and introduce us to the next magical first-party game."
In contrast, Matt Casamassina of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a 5.2/10, referring to the single-player mode as "torture" and commenting on the visuals as "graphics don't even impress as a GCN
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
title". 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
critic Dan Hsu did not enjoy the game either, which he gave the game a C rating and criticized the game's needless dialogue, repetitive cut-scenes and minigames, stating "Mario Party 8 could've used a lot more of that creativity, however, throughout the whole game. Instead, we get a really disappointing (but, as mentioned at the start of this review, inevitably still entertaining) Wii debut for the series. Perhaps the next game will truly take advantage of the Wii controls through and through."