Mario Party 8 Reviews

5 Comments

1. Nite says:

   July 31, 2010 at 9:22 pm

   Review by Nite for Mario Party 8
   Rating:
   Ever since Mario Party debuted on the Nintendo 64, we’ve been receiving a new game in the series on a yearly basis. The last few Mario Party games have all been tiring. Almost rehashes. However, with the Wii, Mario Party has a chance to be a lot of fun again thanks to the Wii-Remote. Unfortunately, it isn’t all its cracked up to be. The Wii-Remote controls work, but they feel like a last minute tack on, and ultimately some of the mini-games just aren’t all that fun. Finally, there are other video games chock full of mini-games that make much better use of the Wii-Remote than Mario Party 8.

   The formula for Mario Party really hasn’t changed at all over the years. You and your friends (or the computer) will roll the die, move around the board at the end of each round of rolls you’ll be thrown into a mini-game.

   The mini-games are pretty short. Most of them being around 30 seconds long. Some of them are quite fun and make good use of the wii remote, such as the game where you have to shake up a soda can, or wipe off the chomp. However, there are not a lot of these kinds of mini-games. Most other mini-games don’t make as big of an impression with the wii-remote, as most of them consist of you holding the wii remote like a basic gamepad and then tilting it left or right. Take for example, the game where you race on water skis. You don’t actually do anything outside of tilting the wii remote left and right to jump ramps. It is in moments like these where the wii remote controls just feel tacked on. And unfortunately, this comes up in quite a few mini games. There are also a lot of mini games that simply have you tilting the Wii-Remote forward and backward. Again, the controls feel tacked on in instances like this.

   The biggest slap in the face, however, is that there are a myriad of mini-games that don’t use the wii-remotes motion sensor controls at all and you’ll hold it like a gamepad, and play with it like it’s a gamepad using the D-Pad to move your character and all. It’s also to no credit that these games aren’t really all that fun.

   To the game’s credit, though, when they do make good use of the wii-remote and its motion sensor controls, they really do a bang up job. Such as the mini-game where everyone shoots at the screen while one person dodges. It’s just unfortunate that there aren’t a lot of mini-games that do so, and instead make you either play the traditional way or just simply tilt the wii remote. There are some fun games here, but the game is populated by more games that really aren’t a lot of fun.

   As usual, Mario Party games are no fun by yourself. They need to be played with friends and family. Like previous installments, multi-player can be a lot of fun–provided you get a good mini-game. Some of the games are free-for-all but there are also some games where you’ll be by yourself against three players, or working together with one other player. Mostly, though, they’re free for alls, and playing with a friend is nice just so that you can see who’s better. Multi-player has always been a strong aspect of Mario Party and it’s no different in number 8. However, much like previous installments, the game is entirely left up to chance. One moment you’re in first place, and after the very next roll you’re in last. It’s annoying sometimes because you really don’t have any control. It’s all a game based on luck. This is both a good and bad thing. Good because it makes the outcome unpredictable, and once more anyone can play this without any prior experience. It’s bad, however, because for some who like to add a little strategy to their gaming, you just can’t do it here.

   Perhaps the biggest problem facing Mario Party 8 is that it doesn’t really present a whole lot of new stuff that wasn’t in Mario Party 7. With the game making use of the Wii-Remote, one would expect the experience to be quite different. Instead it’s more of the same thing. Especially because there are other games on the Wii that are filled with mini-games that make far better use of the remote (Rayman Raving Rabbids comes to mind). In Mario Party 8 the wii remote controls either feel tacked on or you don’t really use them. It’s also hard to get past the fact that the mini-games aren’t very inventive because of this. Certainly water-skiing is fun, but when you’re just tilting left and right throughout the whole thing? You might as well have just put this on the Gamecube and let me tilt the analog stick left and right.

   Graphically, it’s no surprise that Mario Party 8 isn’t the best looking game out there. Mario Party games usually aren’t. At least it runs smoothly. There’s no slow down or frame rate issues. It really doesn’t look any different than any of the Mario Party games on the Gamecube however, and those who have a widescreen television will be disappointed to know that the game won’t take up the whole screen, and instead will give you a boarder. Luckily, graphics don’t make the game. Mario Party doesn’t look bad, it just looks dated.

   Mario Party 8 had so much potential. If they’d done more intuitive things with the Wii Remote, this may have been worth a buy. There are other mini-game collections out there that utilize the wii remote much better than this. There will be plenty of gamers out there that will be able to get past the big flaws and just have fun with it, but if you’re one who’s been playing Mario Party since the beginning, you can’t help but admit a change is in order. Unfortunately Mario Party 8 doesn’t do much for you.

   Pros:

   +When the Wii Controls are good, the games are actually quite fun
   
   +Simplistic gameplay; anyone could pick this up and play it with no problems
   
   +There are over 60 mini-games to play

   Cons:

   -There are far too many mini-games where the wii controls feel tacked on, and these games are pretty boring to play
   
   -There are far too many mini-games that don’t make use of the motion sensor controls at all
   
   -There are not a lot of very inventive mini-games
   
   -In short, the game doesn’t do much to stand out above previous Mario Party installments. You’d think with the Wii Remote, Mario Party 8 would be something new to experience, but instead it ends up not being that much of a step higher than Mario Party 7
2. Michael Kerner says:

   July 31, 2010 at 9:54 pm

   Review by Michael Kerner for Mario Party 8
   Rating:
   This past year, the Nintendo Wii has really delivered in making a promise of delivering gameplay that is fun and addictive as the game system delivered. That has been the case with great games that really showed it like Excite Truck and the dramatic The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. With all that said about great games, mini-game excitement has also delivered too with the return of the Mario Party series. It has been almost 2 years since the franchise had its last game on the Nintendo Gamecube, and worked like a charm by being innovative and fun for all ages. Now, it has finally made its way onto the Wii, but is it worth the wait.

   Mario Party 8 for the Nintendo Wii is a wild and addictive game that brings out a simplicity for gamers young and old alike, as you unlock and play over 70 minigames that are easy and fun to play. There are also a few new additions here too, as you can also unlock players including Blooper, the sea squid from the Super Mario Brothers games, and Hammer Brothers, which recently returned in a great set of guest cameos in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Superstar Baseball. The graphics are delightful but the gameplay is definitely what brings the game to its success, as you use the Wii remote to play in games like waving a magic wand and using an energy ball to strike Bowser in a one on one showdown, punching a statue to smitherines with a boxing glove, or using it you are shaking a soda can and creating a gusher in one of the duel minigames. You can also use your Mii characters that you’ve created from games like Wii Sports and have them play in the Star Carnival and play games like ping pong. The graphics are delightful and the sound carries well throughout each of the boards, but the gameplay really does deliver for new Wii owners as well as die hard Mario fans alike.

   All in all, Mario Party 8 is a delightful game that welcomes the party franchise Wii owners well. I loved what the series brought out for so many years, and I know that this edition does a great job as well. Considering there are so many great games coming out for the Nintendo Wii like Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, this one is definitely a wonderful addition to your Wii library.

   Graphics: B+

   Sound: B

   Control: B+

   Fun & Enjoyment: B+ for solo players; A- for Multiplayer Action

   Overall: B+
3. A. Hiestand says:

   July 31, 2010 at 10:12 pm

   Review by A. Hiestand for Mario Party 8
   Rating:
   My 6-year-old daughter wanted this game and saved her allowance and birthday money to buy it. She and I have had the best time playing this. I am not an avid gamer so it is just the right speed for she and I. There are some games that are so funny that she is laughing so hard while playing. She asks me all day long if I will play MP8 with her. My 11-year-old will butt in and play with us as well.

   We’ve only had it about a week and have opened up about 98% of the mini games but are still having a blast with it.

   I’ve seen some complaints about the computer always rolling 10s and getting the good prizes and squares but I have not noticed this. I find the game play to be pretty competitive. We have beat the computer characters many times and there have been times where it is neck in neck and pretty exciting right to the very end.

   I’ve even played this by myself while the kids were at school one day! Loads of fun.
4. Todd Justman says:

   July 31, 2010 at 11:01 pm

   Review by Todd Justman for Mario Party 8
   Rating:
   This is the first Wii game we’ve gotten that really engaged our 4-year-old boy. Ultimately up to now he could care less about our other Wii titles such as Cars, Carnival Games, and Playground Games.

   Our boy loves that he can play a lot of this out of the box. He can choose his character and move him around the board. Because the game leverages the Wii controller quite well he can get into the mini-games. The best feature is that you can practice each mini-game as much as you want, which is good because some of them take a few tries. The variety of games alone satisfies our short attention span family quite well. There is a train map that just hooked him big-time, so if you have a boy between the ages of 3-8 it will likely hook your boy too.

   The professional reviewers have to be taken with a grain of salt. The comic-book-guy reviewers with lame beards and questionable hygiene are not going to like a game that a 4-year-old does. One reviewer noted that much of the game is left to chance instead of skill. This is actually a big plus for parents with small kids. I am hyper-competitive so it’s not my first instinct to let the kid (or Wookie) win. But with this game my little boy came in second place on his own, so between the game itself and the adjustable difficulty levels, my kid can kick my butt at a much younger age, which keeps me in check!
5. Paul Hemenway says:

   July 31, 2010 at 11:37 pm

   Review by Paul Hemenway for Mario Party 8
   Rating:
   I’ve been playing these Mario Party games since Mario Party 5 came out for the Gamecube, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I had so much anticipation built up for this game, but it turned out that I’ll probably be trading this game in for something else after just buying it and playing a whole night of it with my friends.

   In past Mario Party games, there were all kinds of things that made playing the board aspect of the game enjoyable. Mario Party 8 fails in this area. The board is just flat out boring, and nothing really crazy happens as opposed to the previous Mario Party games. There are no spaces where rival players can take over and use them to take away your coins or stars or something like that.

   Duel games don’t carry their same appeal as they did in previous games. I used to be terrified of them because there was more at stake. Now the highest stakes are losing about 20 coins or so. If you’re a veteran Mario Party gamer like myself, you know this isn’t a big deal, and hence forth, that aspect of the game is pretty much gone.

   The mini games aren’t very fun either. Sure, there are lots of them. However, like previous reviewers have stated, they don’t really take advantage of the Wii. Over half of the games require you to play your Wii remote like an average game pad. That was disappointing. The games where you actually use the Wii remote are just okay. I still think that Nintendo could have done a better job with these as well.

   There are a few new faces in the game, which is nice to see. Graphics are decent, but not impressive. Of course, you don’t play these games for the graphics either. Plus, this game does feel like a Gamecube port, and feels a little rushed, too.

   I just think they could have done so much more with this game, and they didn’t. After I was done playing this game with my buddies for about 4 hours straight, I felt just flat out disappointed. I’ve had way more fun with previous versions of Mario Party, and ask anyone who hasn’t given this franchise a shot, you should probably give one of the earlier versions a try. Honestly, this is the worst Mario Party game I’ve played.