The Observer, March 31, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 22
Mario Party 7 provides fun for everyone
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Mario Party is known as a continued crowd-pleaser and well-balanced game that puts video game veterans on the same playing field as rookies. The most recent installment, Mario Party 7, capitalizes on its ability to keep the players guessing who will win until the last moment, when the winner bursts forth into the winner's circle. Mario Party makes this possible by having nearly all winners determined by the roll of a die. This isn't any die, mind you – This die is one that's hellbent on destroying anyone who's winning to make sure that no one player gets too far ahead of any of the other players. Mario Party takes classic board games like Monopoly, Trouble, and Sorry! and crams them into one digital game for Nintendo's Gamecube featuring Mario and exploding with fun and excitement. Players can earn money, buy stuff, and mess with other people on the board, all in hopes of being crowned the next superstar.
The game itself is very simple. Any useful information needed is told to you by the ever-fabulous Toadsworth, an old British toad who utters amusing phrases like "Smashing!" to entertain players and punctuate the drivel on the dangers that lie in store. Players take turns rolling a die while going around the board trying to collect stars and coins, all while avoiding the devious traps that the other players have set. After everyone rolls the die, a 4-player mini-game is played. This is then repeated for a predetermined number of turns. Whoever has the most stars at the end of the game wins. This is, of course, after the elusive bonus stars are awarded, some of which are awarded to the unfortunate souls who did poorly in the game.
The randomness of who wins comes in through the multitude of different spaces on the board. Under normal conditions, there is a one in 10 chance of landing on any of the next 10 spaces in front of you – that makes sense, right? Landing on any of those spaces causes something ranging from gaining a few coins, to losing all of your coins, or to being sent halfway across the board, to happen. You'll often be just a few spaces from a star only to have another player thwart you by attacking you with an orb or having Bowser come in and destroy the entire island that you're standing on. This will undoubtedly cause you to yell and scream when you are affected; however, when an opponent loses something it will make your day all the brighter. Plus, duel spaces can really shake up the standings if someone in fourth defeats the first-place person and steals two stars, which always brightens your day. Or if someone lands on a Bowser Space if could cause everyone playing to lose all their coins or even a star.
Mini-games are the real meat of the game and are simple enough for even the most inexperienced player to handle. They do tend to be a little repetitive due to their simple nature, but each one contains its own twist to throw everyone off. The controls are simple and often are nothing more than moving, jumping, or pressing the button that appears on the screen. In addition, there are mic-mini games that use the microphone that comes with the game to challenge the players in a different way, even if it seems to think you are speaking another language some times. Plus, you can practice the mini-game as many times as you would like so that the new players get the idea of how to play it.
Unfortunately, the game can sometimes drag on. Once players begin to land on single player event squares, other participants become left out and tend to get bored, but even though the game can have long pauses between playing, it gives players a great chance to talk and have fun while playing. So pick up a copy of Mario Party 7 today, grab some friends, and have a blast thwarting each others attempts at being the next superstar.
