Mario Party 7

The Mario Party franchise returns with its seventh installation, hoping to pack more of a punch then last attempts. First announced at E3 2005, the game is scheduled for a November 2005 release date; I’m sure you’ll be waiting in your local EBgames store at 12AM to make sure to get the first copy, am I right? No?

Yes, it has let everyone down the last 3 titles I know, but hopefully it’ll come out a changed game. To tell you the truth, it’s turning out to have about the same review score as 5, based on the graphics and the features they have announced so far for it.

For one thing, Nintendo seems to think the Mushroom Kingdom is better off in sunlight 24 hours a day, because they have dropped the day/night feature. Don’t fret though, they have decided to keep the idea of shouting into a microphone hoping it will work. It will use the same one and technique as it did with 6. It has the same modes as in 6, the “Speak-up” quiz game, “Star Sprint”, a game that has you running tail between your legs with a star in your hand while avoiding obstacles or any mic mini-game. They’ve also added a new option Grand Priz, which has not been said about what it is for. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and duel mode (Mario Party 5) come to mind though.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! This time around you’ll be renevating your room to make it bigger, as the party can now hold 8 players! Don’t get your hopes to high, remember this is one of those “it makes money, do another one” games, so we won’t be seeing wireless/online connections. Heck, we won’t even see a accessory to allow 8 controllers, as you’ll be expected to fight over a controller with a friend. Of course, if you have sharing issues or don’t have 8 friends to play with (likely) then you can choose from the traditional 4-player mode.

To stop injuries during character selection during 8-player mode Nintendo has added two new characters to the bunch. These include Dry Bones, the decayed and slightly…..dead koopa and Birdo, the pink bird with the right to shoot eggs. Along with them come the original cast including Mario, Yoshi, Koopa Kid, Toadette and more.

Now in comes the goodies. It seems that Nintendo has been going up by 10 each series when it comes to Mini-games. 1 started with a mere 30 and it has gone up to the now brilliant number that we will all come to love, 80! That’s right, 80 mini-games will be squeezed into this bad boy. Some old, some new, but all with their own original concept. Nintendo has stated that gamers are tired of seeing different mini-games with the same concepts and that is about to change, so expect a lot of variation.

The lucky rodents that actually got into E3 were lucky enough to play a sample of 6 mini-games including Bubble Brawl, Picture This, Pokey Pummel, Track and Yield, Target Tag and Monty's Revenge. Bubble Brawl’s objective for you is get everyone out of a huge bubble that you just so happened to come across along your journey through the Mushroom Kingdom. Pokey Pummel is exactly how it sounds. You and your friends are stuck in Dry Dry Desert, and you know the desert can make you do some weird things. Well, in this case you’ll be testing your trigger finger by franticly hammering away with a pack of nearby Pokeys.

Another mini-game brings you back to the Paper Mario ages, and will have you flipping through a picture book trying to spot a match of symbols. Based on the screenshots you can easily tell the objective of them, so check them out.

Well, it’s open to debate how much the gaming world needs a 7th Mario Party, but if anyone can make it to it without being subjected to beatings on their way out of the game studio it’s Nintendo, so props to them. As much as I’d like to say that this series has taken the drop and is now forgotten, it isn’t. Nobody has forgotten about it, and the game is still much anticipated around the world