Mario Party is the game that kick-started a mammoth franchise that currently has its tenth instalment in production for the Wii U, a genius board game-esque concept involving players taking part in ridiculous mini-games and trying to collect more stars than their opponents. The random nature of the mini-games, which include both co-operative and competitive 4-player stages, tend to make the game often a luck-based rather than skill-based affair, which in turn makes it a lot more fun when playing with your buddies, and pretty much allows even the biggest newbie to have fun playing it. Though the graphics certainly weren't the best even for their time, this is a game with a jaw-dropping level of replay value, for even if you somehow get tired of playing with your buddies, there are two secret boards to unlock, and Mini-Game Island; a mode which sees you play through all 50 mini-games against relatively challenging CPU characters. The Mario Party series has evidently evolved considerably beyond this, though of the three MP games on the N64, the first is certainly the best and most consistent: it felt fresh and original, while the the next two games didn't really do much to change up the formula.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
