Mario Party, a series that needs no introduction. Yet, an introduction would help.

In 1998, Nintendo released the first Mario Party for the N64. The goal of the game was to go around a board collecting coins and stars. The player who got the most stars won.

On October 21, 2002, Nintendo would release their 4th installment, Mario Party 4(how original). This game was the first Mario Party game that was put on the Gamecube.

The series has become infamous for being the crucible that tests the strongest of friendships. If you can remain friends with the people you're playing with after a game, consider yourselves brothers and sisters. Your friendship survived the ultimate test.

This game is my all time favorite Mario Party game. Hopefully you guys will understand why in this review.

Graphics:10
The graphics for this game are GORGEOUS! The graphics for this game were more detailed and shaded; this helped showcase the power of the Gamecube. Unfortunately, this is the only game in the franchise to use such shaded graphics(the next closest one being Mario Party 8.) Also, this is the ONLY game in the franchise to use pre-rendered cutscenes.

Sound:10
The music for this game is amazing! Koopa's Seaside Soiree is my personal favorite of the board themes. Also, the sound effects sounded nice as well. An often overlooked theme that also sounded great is the theme known in the soundtrack as, "Start the Party" which is the theme that plays in party mode while you're picking your characters and settings.

Addictive:8
I am very likely to play this game again! This game features minigames that are, in my personal opinion, the best minigames in the franchise. Unfortunately, there aren't really a lot of them compared to the previous games.

Story:6
Surprisingly enough this game's story is actually pretty good. The story is that it's your birthday(everyone has the same birthday for some reason.) and the hosts of the boards(Toad, Goomba, Koopa, Boo, and Shy Guy) have presents for you. However, as Boo says in the intro, "Those presents don't come easily." You have to play the usual Mario Party shenanigans to earn those presents. If you win the game, you have to play one final minigame against the host of the board to earn your gift(which are different for each character.)

Depth:10
There are a LOT of things to do in this game. Heck, in the story mode alone, each character has their own set of furniture to put in a little diorama house. So the game gives you incentive to play as every character. You can even check your progress in the Present Room. Here are the other modes:

Party Mode: This one is the one where you can play with your friends. The goal is to have the most stars at the end of the game. There are also a few features that were introduced/exclusive to this game. For example, the lottery. The lottery can be accessed for 5 coins and you receive a ticket as a first-time gift. You have the chance to play 1 of 2 lotteries. Either a scratch ticket (which you will hardly ever win IF AT ALL, or a Bingo style ball machine which will usually provide better results.) When you get to the last 5 turns, you will have a chance to win a lottery with the ticket you received (trust me, you will NEVER win it!) If you are lucky enough to win the prize, first off, go to Vegas and earn some money. Secondly, you will receive a star!

Minigame Mode: Here, you can play the minigames you have unlocked throughout party mode. You can even play specific minigames that occurred during the story (even the final boss fight against Bowser!) My personal favorite minigames for each category are:

Free-For-All: Booksquirm/Paths of Peril (In Mario Party Superstars, I can beat the MASTER CLASS AI in Paths of Peril!)

2 vs 2: Dungeon Duos(best minigame in the franchise!)

1 vs 3: Fish n' Drips

There is also the Extra Room, which is hosted by Thwomp, Whomp, and Ztar. There are exclusive minigames which can be played here. Here are what they are:

Mega Board Mayhem: You play a number of turns on a board. In this mode, you cannot play minigames, nor can you earn stars, the goal is to have the most coins at the end of the number of turns.

Mini Board Mad Dash: Same as Mega Board Mayhem, except that there is an area with ONLY RED SPACES, BOWSER SPACES, AND WARP SPACES! The only way to avoid this area is to use Mini/Super Mini Mushrooms.

As you play these 2 modes, you will unlock 2 more minigames:

Challenge Booksquirm: Did you love Booksquirm yet sadly your friends stunk at it so you couldn't enjoy it for long? Well turn that frown upside down because in this game, you can play this game up to 99 pages! If your friends get eliminated, you can still keep playing until you yourself get squished!

Panel Panic: In this game, you choose a space from 1-9 once you choose one, you will be forced to roll a dice block. Whatever number you roll, that number collapses and eliminates the player that is on it (it is entirely possible to mess yourself up.)

This is a long Depth section, you know what the best part is, I'M NOT EVEN CLOSE TO DONE!

There is also "Whomp's Basement Brouhaha" In this mode, there are several minigames that you will never see in party/minigame mode! These are the minigames:

Jigsaw Jitters: Basically Photo Finish with more pieces.

Barrel Baron: Your character is in a desert and has to dig for geysers using the rumble (or "!!" if you don't have rumble enabled). Small geysers are worth 1 point, the medium ones are worth 10, and the big ones are worth 100. The goal is to get as many points as possible in 60 seconds.

Mushroom Medic: Give the pill to the right patient using the rumble to detect different heartbeats (or look for the different heartbeats if rumble is off).

Doors of Doom: You have 2 doors, choose the one you think doesn't have Bowser behind it.

Bob-omb X-ing: Avoid Bob-ombs in a crosswalk. If you can survive for 10 minutes, you actually win the minigame.

Goomba Stomp: After playing Tree Stomp once, you unlock this game where the objective is to step on as many goombas as possible in 30 seconds.

After unlocking all of the above minigames, you unlock one more...Beach Volley Folly. This is a volleyball game which actually has several different modes! You can even play as the hosts as well as Kid Bowser and Bowser himself!

So...yeah...there's a lot of stuff offered in this game.

Difficulty:8
This game can be VERY difficult; especially with a few certain minigames (mainly Mario Speedwagons). Though one minigame returned that I CANNOT STAND! I am surprised this game still exists! I am referring to the one truly luck-based minigame in the game...BOWSER's BIGGER BLAST!

I HATE THIS GAME because absolutely no skill is required! You just choose a plunger and pray you don't explode!

Overall:9.7
This game is easily my favorite in the franchise. Heck I actually had to look up some of the extra stuff because even I haven't unlocked them. Also, bonus points for childhood nostalgia, I used to play this game with my family I cannot reccomend this Mario Party game enough! Go and try it, trust me, you will not regret it!

This was the Mario Party game I grew up with. Booksquirm is a personal favorite, and I can play it forever. However, the mini game selection while good, is still quite small.