Product Description

Play with motion control! Row your way down a river, punch a statue to pieces, steer race cars and mopeds, and handle a balancing pole while walking a tightrope. Play with the pointer. Drag and drop decorations onto cakes, shoot Boos in haunted house, quickly choose your answer in a game show. Mash those Wii Remote buttons. Jump and pummel your way through a football brawl, hop and run across an obstacle course of spinning platforms. Mario Party 8 includes six brand-new boards, dozens of minigames and many new modes. In a franchise first, you can collect special power-ups and transform your character into a boulder that smashes rivals or a coin-sucking vampire. Mario Party 8 includes "extra-large" minigames like Star Carnival Bowling and Table Menace

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #570 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Published on: 2007-05
• Released on: 2007-08-03
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .55" h x 5.43" w x 7.52" l, .44 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Preview
Although they love their sequels as much as any company, Nintendo aren’t usually ones to go in for yearly updates. The Mario Party series, developed by Bomberman creators Hudson, is their only example of the phenomena. As such, the series was always guaranteed to make an early appearance on the Wii – and with good reason too since its mix of board game antics and multiplayer mini-games are perfectly suited to the motion control of the Wii remote. Whereas some of the previous sequels have seemed a little unnecessary, this one actually feels like a brand new game. There are six new boards and fourteen different playable characters from amongst the usual Mushroom Kingdom pantheon. There’s also a new power-up system replacing the "orbs" of previous games with "candy". These allow characters to transform into different forms to avoid traps and nobble other players, ranging from an airplane, to a bowling ball and a vampire.

Of course what’s most anticipated about the game is the 70 plus different mini-games, as usual ordered into 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2 and free-for-all games. These involve such activities as using the Wii remote to ride a water ski, tightrope walking, lassoing barrels, paddling a rowing boat with a partner, shooting on a target range and being the first to give your pet Chomp a wash. The games and presentation may all seem very cute but as ever the game is an expert at tempting you to cheat and conspire against your fellow players at every opportunity, making this the one family board game you won’t mind having an argument over.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description

All the old favourites including Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi are back in this latest Mario Party installment, along with a couple of new faces, such as Blooper and Hammer Bro, who previously appeared for the first time in the original Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Players must move around the board by throwing a dice and at the end of each turn they are faced with a humorous yet challenging mini-game. This really is the perfect game to play against friends and family thanks to the multiplayer mode which allows you and your friends to team up against each other in both two versus two and one against all challenges.

Combine this zany board game action with the Wii Remote and Mario Party 8 makes for a highly-charged, dynamic experience, with unique and exciting gameplay styles on offer for each mini-game. Such mini-games include a snowboard race, a race on a tight rope, a boat rowing race and even a cake decoration contest. The Wii Remote adds a new level of comfort and novelty to gameplay as some mini-games require holding the Wii Remote vertically, sideways and even like a TV remote pointing at the screen. It also enables the player to cruise seamlessly through the game’s numerous different modes. What’s more in certain modes, players can use their very own personalised Mii characters within specific mini-games.

The game’s main mode, Party Tent, challenges players to take on the computer or up to three friends in a turn-based battle. Each board features different challenges but as a general rule, players have a set number of turns to collect as many stars as they can. Mini-games played in party mode vary depending on the number of players.

If you just can’t get enough of the many mini-games, you can devote your time entirely to playing them in the Mini-Game Tent, moving from game to game and honing your skills. Elsewhere players can put their skills to the test in the Star Battle Arena where they must take on and defeat the computer. Other zones include the Extras Zone and the Fun Bazaar all of which add fun and diverse elements to the classic game.

In addition, aspiring Mario Party 8 masters can use the game’s multiplayer capabilities to play with up to three other people. Friends and family can battle it out in Party Tent mode, Mini-Game Tent and the Extras zone.

Customer Reviews

A GREAT PICK UP AND PLAY GAME
I was hoping that because there are so many great (and classic) games relating to Mario, that this game would be another great one considering the £32.99 price tag. I was thrilled when I played this game for the first few times because it exceeded my expectations.

So what's to like about this game? First of all, there's a TON of things to do! The main part of the game has you playing as a Mario character (you get to choose from quite a few different characters including Boo, Wario, Waluigi, and Dry Bones). There are 6 different boards you can choose from (from Donkey Kong to a haunted house to a monopoly-type board), all with the same goal only completely different looks. Each player takes a turn moving around the board to collect coins and ultimately get a star. After all 4 players go, you play a minigame (some are 4 player, some are 2 vs. 2, and some are 1 vs. 3) and the winner gets coins. When a player gets a star, another star appears on another part of the board and you start all over again attempting to get the new star. With other tricks and surprises (like candy pieces that allow you to do certain things and mystery board spaces), no game is the same and there's a lot of competition.

There are other games you can play besides the main game. The second game option allows you to choose from a selection of other games. For these, you play minigames and each win puts you ahead of the other players. For example, the goal of one game is to win 5 minigames to ultimately crown yourself the winner. Another has you flipping "tiles" after every win and whoever has flipped the most tiles at the end of the game, wins.

After every game you play, you get a certain number of "carnival cards". With these carnival cards you can buy more options for even more gameplay. You can buy "figures" which are basically collectible figures of random Mario-themed items and you can display them sort of as trophys. You can also buy other really fun minigames that you can play anytime you want.

And what's not to like? As I mentioned above, the price isn't all that great. However, because most Wii games are the same price, and because this game brings a ton of entertainment to my family, I was willing to forget how much I paid for it. Still, this means that you need to REALLY like this game in order to be ok with the price. Second, when it's just two people against the system, the waiting time between turns can be a pain. Other than that, this game is all positives.

If you're interested in buying a game for your Wii that is fun for the whole family, be sure to check this one out!

Fun for all the Family
This is a great game that everyone in the family will enjoy.

Essentially an interactive board game, you can play various characters from Mario World. However, there is more to this, as certain squares on the board allow for mini games, where you compete against your opponent in small fun games.

There is so much in this game, you will be kept entertained for ages.

The only small problem, is that it doesn't fully utilise the wii's controller, as this game could easily be played with a wired controller.

However, dont let that put you off.

If you are any age you will love this, it you have kids you will love them playing this, and you will easily join in with them.

Great Fun for all The family, regardless of age

Fair show by Nintendo
Well, its really not as bad as 3 stars, truth be told, I'd given it 3.5 if I could. So let me break it down:

PROS
-Up to 4 players of fun.
-A variety of different types of gameplaying between 4 people: Tag team, Battle Royal (ie free for all), 2v2, 3v1, 1 player challenge etc.
-Good use of the wii controller. No really, they make a great use of ALL axis of the controller.
-Very easy to get the hang of the game. The controls are so simple, its quite nice.
-TONS of minigames. It'll take you a while to play all the minigames.

CONS
-Perhaps its a game that's best rented out, as opposed to purchased. The longevity and novelty of the game is quite short-lived once you unlock the majority of the minigames. Though the game feels quite fresh when you have friends over playing it for the first time, and then it becomes quite the laugh.
-The guy in the tophat (the host of the game) can get annoying quite quickly. He introduces you into the game, and I wish there was a way to skip him altogether. But I suppose you have to bare in mind that this game was made for 8-10 yr olds.

Like I said, its really not as bad as 3 stars, but just doesn't have that 4-staryness about it. But if I was to judge it as a "minigame" it merits that 4 stars I reckon.