Gaming Target - GameCube: Mario Party 5

Written by D'Marcus Beatty on May 29, 2003

Final Glimpse: MonopolyЕMario Style

Mario Party 5 continues the Nintendo tradition of Mario-based multiplayer games, introducing the fifth iteration of one of the most popular and well known party series. Mario Party gathers together characters from the Mario Bros games, including Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Toad, Peach, Wario, Yoshi, and many others familiar to anyone who's ever picked up a Nintendo controller.

The Mario Party games have always been an experience for the party/multiplayer crowd, so have friends in mind before purchasing. Mario Party will definitely not be a single player game. The game consists of a game board that competing players travel, much like a traditional board game. Die rolls determine how far characters move, and certain squares contain good or bad events, such as the addition or subtraction of coins, hidden objects, or the invincible star. After each player has moved, they will contend with each other in a number of competitive mini-games, of which there are over sixty. One example is a stage that has a flood of penguins rushing towards the players, who are stationed precariously on a block of ice. Players must navigate and avoid the penguins, who are moving towards the edge of the ice block and will push the characters with them. The last character left on the ice block is the winner. There are a number of similar games, such as one wherein the players must stomp through blocks to be the first to reach the bottom of the stage. The winner of each mini-game will receive coins, which, in turn, will be used to purchase stars. At the game's close, whichever player has the most coins and stars is the winner.

Two additions to this version of Mario Party are 3D maps and capsules. The former, 3D maps, allows players to check their position on the game board. The latter allows players to affix one of the aforementioned events to a set square, which adds a certain element of strategy to the gameplay.

Story mode allows for an actual single player experience. This mode shows the return of the Koopa Kids, Bowser's evil offspring, in a battle to vanquish the trio by stealing all of their coins. This mode plays out like Party Mode, except that it is a single-player and all opponents are computer-controlled. Other modes will include Super Duel, Bonus, and Mini-game modes.