Written by Kyle Williams on November 23, 2004

Preview: The party goes portable.

Mario Party can arguably be called the quintessential party game. Even without online capabilities or an FPS viewpoint with guns blazing, Mario Party has always been able to deliver a satisfying and insanely fun multiplayer experience for a group of friends looking for entertainment. Now, with a simultaneous release alongside its sixth console iteration of Mario Party, Nintendo is also finally bringing the party to the Game Boy Advance, predictably titled Mario Party Advance.

Mario Party Advance makes a number of necessary changes as it moves from the console to the Game Boy Advance. The most drastic change to the experience is the shift in focus. Instead of four player battles, the Game Boy really only allows for two player versus, so the game's attention is centered more around the single player experience. Players have the choice to play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, or Yoshi. It remains to be seen if other characters are available to choose, but King Bowser and his offspring definitely make their appearance as the adversaries. New to the series is Professor E. Gadd, who will make a number of gadgets for the player to use, although the player will have to purchase them using the coins that they earn in the various mini-games. There will be about 60 mini-games for players to unlock by playing through the single-player game, which will be available to play at any time after they are discovered.

Like all Mario Parties before, the single player game will have Mario and friends traveling across one of many boards, playing assorted mini-games, and collecting coins as a reward for their mini-game prowess. Opposing Mario and friends in their goals are King Koopa and the Koopa Kids. There are numerous boards to play across in adventure mode, and players can also challenge the Koopa Kids in a battle mini-game using all of the unlocked games.

As mentioned before, there are УGaddgetsФ that can be purchased with the coins earned in the mini-games. These devices can be used to link up with a friend for various things, such as a compatibility tester, a finger X-ray, and a УLip Disguise-O-MaticФ. These УgaddgetsФ seem to have no real in-game application, and are probably only to be used with the link cable to utilize with your friends, although details are fairly scarce at this time. Players will also be able to trade these gadgets with friends, as well as trading unlocked mini-games and coins.