Mario party is one of those game series that once it was seen that it was a complete hit they come up with a big amount of sequels. The original Mario Party brought Mario in a board style of game that consists of collecting the most stars and coins in the game. To gain coins you had through go to minigames that had battles against everyone or teams. Mario Party is a simple fun clever idea and that is why sometimes you might not mind playing another Mario party. However the tradition has been of a new year and a new Mario Party comes. Mario Party 4 the first Mario Party on the Gamecube brought Mario on the great console with pretty nice graphics and probably the best looking Mario party game, great boards and cool minigames. Next year comes Mario Party 5 that took the graphics in a bad direction by making them simple colors and designs instead of cool effects and vibrant colors. The boards were also not much interesting however the minigames were still a lot of fun. Yet another year arrives and so Mario Party 6 arrive that brought quite a lot of changes to the series just not enough tough. In Mario party 6 was the introduction of microphone minigames that were quite a lot of fun and the highlight of the game, it also brought a day and night system for the boards. In this system it made the boards go from day to night and later go back from night to day. It was not that much of a big deal plus combining the fact that Mario Party 6 has the most simplistic minigames collection and that the boards are the least interesting. Is too bad the microphone was not use has much has it should be. Now Mario Party 7 is here with more new minigames and new ideas but will it finally be the true Mario party sequel? Keep reading and find out.
Mario and friends once again decide to go on vacations this time traveling through the seas in a cruise ship. All Mario's friends have been invited and they all come to join the party. Yet they forgot about someone that will be very mad. It is none other than Bowser that gets really mad that he was not invited to the party after all he has done for them. With so much anger he decides to go and ruin the party but Mario and friends are ready to take care of Bowser and of all his attacks. Is still pretty much the same usual storyline that you might expect from Mario still the cruise shi vacation is an interesting idea.
When it comes to the gameplay Mario Party 7 is still very similar to his previous title. You are able to choose one of Mario friends to play with and go through interactive boards that have different gameplay ideas involve. What is good this time around is that the boards are more varied and offer many different styles. One of these boards include a Chinese theme area by reaching mountain that in the peak has a temple that will give you the star yet you will need a certain amount of coins to get the star or else it will throw you back to the beginning of the board. Another board has many windmills in which you become owner of that windmill and you will receive a star but if somebody else pays more money for the windmill it will steal that star you got from that windmill. The ideas on these different boards make things more challenging and much more interesting when playing in multiplayer.
The board activities and spaces are still pretty much the same. The store is still there for you to buy orbs that are traps that you put in the spaces so you can take out coins or stars, change positions, etc. to those that fall in it. The Donkey Kong space is still there so you can play a mini-game against Donkey Kong to win more coins. The Bowser space also returns has usual to remove coins from you or take you to a mini-game and if you lose he will take out most of your coins. And around the board you will find special areas where certain characters will ask you if you want to take a ride somewhere or play a mini-game to get more coins. And there is also the microphone space to play a microphone singleplayer game. Still the one that wins is still the person with the most collected stars in the game and if they are in a tied then the person with the most coins.
Mario Party 7 features even more new mini-games with about 86 of them in total. The minigames are certainly a much better improvement over Mario Party 6 they are more complex, deeper and more different from each other. The game features from button mashing minigames, shooting mini games, platforming minigames and so much more. The duel minigames between 2 persons are also back one of them has you going through an obstacle course race that is exciting and sometimes challenging depending the opponent. A great teamwork 2 vs. 2 minigames has you shooting spiders to progress to the next area while another one has you bringing a key to your partner and your partner hurries to open the chest and then gives you the treasure. Overall the minigames are once again exciting and fun has they should be.
Sadly playing the game in singleplayer is still not so much exciting has it is in multiplayer. You still have to wait for your opponents make their turns on the boards which can makes things be rather boring, and is just more exciting to play against people in multiplayer because they are more challenging and just fun to beat your friends. With A.I while the minigames are still fun there is nobody to laugh with and just no excitement. Yet Mario Party 7 offers more microphone Minigames and an 8 player mode that can also be played with the A.I and can still be quite exciting.
The Microphone mode is once again back the one and only feature that truly shined in Mario Party 6. Yet is sad to say it does not offer so much has it did before. The new microphone minigames are really great from sending chain chomps to your opponents to controlling a car by saying the directions to take it's all pretty interesting and original. However that's just about it. There is no Trivia Quiz like Mario Party 6 had that was up to 4 players and you had to count, guess the character and other basic elements. There is also no small platformer level like 6 also had in which you controlled a character and hold the star and you would select the directions the character to take, jump, call teammates and such. The use of the microphone has been put in this version in very little use which is truly a huge disappointment for such a great idea.
The new mode and probably the best thing of Mario Party 7 is the 8 player mode. Up to 8 players can play in exciting minigames that include avoiding hammers, jump rope, teamwork in boat race, etc. It is truly fun and amazing to have that amount of players all together playing the game even if it's sharing controller and even against the A.I is still cool to have almost all Mario characters together competing like a tournament. Yet there is still not enough of it because it's only a few minigames you can play with and when on the boards you can't play these minigames nor play with 8 players on the boards.
In terms of graphics Mario Party 7 still looks almost exactly like Mario Party 5 and 6 with soft colors instead of vibrant ones and simple designs instead of more realistic or cartoony environments. The characters still look just like every Mario Party game on the Gamecube and while is not bad there is always room for a change. What is only good enough is that this time the boards are much more different from each other but other then that everything else is still almost exactly the same has previous titles.
In the Audio department Mario Party 7 has also barely changed from his predecessors. There is still no voiceovers in the game which is a shame that you will have to go through a ton of reading that you might has well not like and want to skip. The soundtrack still sounds way simplistic and while at times it does fit with the action and the boards for example: the pagoda peak the Chinese style board has a background music that is also very Chinese style too. While that is truly great in some other areas is just more of the same we heard before. It feels like most of the songs are just remix of previous songs in previous installments.
Has mentioned before playing in singleplayer can be truly slow and boring waiting for your turn and waiting for the mini-game and since the minigames are very short you will spend more time on the boards. But if you have a pair of 4 friends or even better 8 friends there is no denying that this is truly one of the best multiplayer experiences. With over 86 minigames that bring a lot of fun for everyone offering different types of gameplay but not only that but also the exciting and thrilling 8 player mode with up to 8 players to play against that truly becomes one of the most ultimate parties ever.
Overall when it comes to it Mario Party 7 despite being more of the same once again it still offers once again fun minigames that most of them are different plus the modes of microphone and 8 player mode offer quite more into the whole package. If you are looking for a game to play with lots of friends then this is an excellent must pick up title but if you are going to play alone you might has well skip this one or just give it a rent to check out the minigames.
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