Mario Party 8

The world's most popular party video game is getting a lot crazier in Mario Party 8. Whether you're shaking up cola cans or lassoing barrels, you and your friends will be drawn into the action like never before using the Wii Remote. Mario Party 8 also includes dozens of new mini-games, six new party boards and many new game modes. In a series first, players can transform their characters into many forms, such as player-smashing boulders and coin-sucking vampires. Mario Party 8 also includes "extra-large" mini-games like Star Carnival Bowling and Table Menace. One to four players can play Mario Party 8, each with a Wii Remote. Mario Party games are a celebration of all things Mario, so you can play as 14 classic characters, the widest selection yet for the series, including newcomers Hammer Bro and Blooper. You'll also bump into many old friends and foes that span 20+ years of Mario games.

Following tradition, Mario Party 8 takes the social, strategic game play of board games and adds breaks for quick, action-oriented mini-games. Several variations for these boards tweak the main goals to enhance game play for solo sessions, two-player games and three- to four-player games.

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 take turns rolling dice and moving across the game board, with the goal being to amass 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.

Voice Actors

• Isaac Marshall as Birdo
• Charles Martinet as Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi and MC Ballyhoo
• Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy
• Takashi Nagasako as Donkey Kong
• Eric Newsome as Bowser
• Samantha Kelly as Princess Peach, Toad, Toadette, Minny Kong
• Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi

Boards

While some of the game boards are classic Mario Party in nature, with players attempting to reach locations where 20 coins can be traded for a star, others are more varied. For example, "Koopa's Tycoon Town" involves players investing coins into hotels (as in Monopoly) 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, completely changing the relative positions of all players. There are six boards total in Mario Party 8. They are as follows:

• DK's Treetop Temple
• Goomba's Booty Boardwalk
• King Boo's Haunted Hideaway
• Shy Guy's Perplex Express
• Koopa's Tycoon Town
• Bowser's Warped Orbit

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 eight different types of minigames: 4 player "everyone for themselves", 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, Duel, Challenge, Extra, and Last.

Playable characters

Playable characters returning from the previous titles include Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Dry Bones, Boo, Toad, and Toadette. In addition, two new characters have been added to the roster: Blooper and Hammer Bro, This provides a total of 14 playable characters once all have been unlocked. Bowser, Donkey Kong, King Boo, Shy Guys, Koopa Troopas and Goombas have secondary roles throughout minigames, boards and menus. Other Mario characters and enemies make minor appearance, for example Bob-ombs appear in a minigame.

Players can also use Miis in any "Extras Zone" minigames unlocked via the "Fun Bazaar", although Miis are not otherwise usable during normal gameplay. Miis can also be seen in the background of the Minigames Tent and in minigames.

• Mario Party 8 at Nintendo Europe