Thanks for reading my review of Mario Party 2 for Nintendo 64!  --kramer4077

Overall:  9.5/10--Who wants to party?!  Have a Mario party that is!  I have played all the Mario Party games and this is my second favorite one to play.  Mario Party 3 is just a tad bit better for the fact that you can hold three items instead of just one.  I just love the original Mario Party games better than the newer Wii versions.  Those are fun in their own way, but there was just something so cool about being able to play a game like this with four players on the Nintendo 64 console.  Previous game consoles like NES and Super Nintendo only allowed for two players at a time.  Anyways, Mario Party 2 is quite simply a great game to play with real friends since you can play with up to four people.  This game came out in the days before you could play against another person online...you actually had to have the friend with you in the same room!  Can you believe video games used to be played that way?   The object of the Mario Party games is to be the player who gets the most stars on after 20, 35, or 50 turns on the game board.  You collect coins as you go by landing on blue spaces or you can win them in the mini-games.  You need 20 coins to buy a star.  You can also get helpful items as you go through the game.  For example, a mushroom item will give you two dice blocks instead of one and a golden mushroom will give you three dice blocks so you can get further around the game board.  In Mario Party 3 they allow you to carry three items at a time.  In Mario Party 2 you can only carry one item.  The game-play is pretty straight-forward and easy to follow along with even if you've never played before.  Make sure you try Mario Party 2 or one of the early versions before you try a more complicated Wii version.  The Wii-mote adds a whole different element to gameplay than holding a traditional controller does!

Graphics:  10/10--The graphics are very cute and colorful.  The different characters have so many distinct animations.  You can play as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, or my personal favorite DK (they took him out of later versions, so sad...)  I had to score this category so high since the Mario characters even have the most adorable costumes on depending which location you choose to play at.  If you go to the space land the character have on little astronaut outfits and if you choose the pirate land they all have pirate hats on.  It's really the only Mario Party that ever included character costumes for the different locations. 

Sound:  10/10--All the Mario Party games have such great sound, and this one is no different.  There are catchy little songs that go with the mini-games, as well as noises that each character makes.  The sound just adds to the overall fun factor of playing Mario Party!

Addictiveness:  10/10--This game is highly addictive if you enjoy playing against real friends.  A full 20-turn game takes about an hour to play and I have such fond memories of playing the Mario Party games at Christmases and family get-togethers in the past.  Mario Party 2 is truly a fun-filled, family-friendly game that will never bore you!

Story:  The one-player mode has a nice little story.  You have to play each location once and then you unlock a special game board to play (I won't spoil the surprise   In the multiplayer mode you can just choose which location you'd like to play in and you go through setting it up.  At the end of the multiplayer mode the character with the most stars will come in and save the day depending on which location you play at.

Depth:  10/10--There is plenty going on in Mario Party 2 and you will never be bored playing it.  There are a vast amount of mini-games that you'll encounter during game-play!  You can play the one-layer mode or the multiplayer game mode.  There is also a mode where you can just play the mini-games, which can also provide more fun than playing the entire board game.  There's a mini-game stadium and a mini-game coaster.  My favorite mini-games are:
Grab Bag, where you run behind other players trying to grab coins from a bag that's on their back.
Face Lift, where you try to create the same distorted image of a face of one of the characters.
Shell Shocked, where you roll around in this canon-type costume trying to shoot the opponents.
Hexagon Heat, where you try to jump on a colored-platform before it falls away.
Crazy Cutters, where you are on a jack-hammer tool and have to trace a black outline.
Hot Rope Jump, where you jump over a fire jump rope as many times as you can.
Bowser Balloon Burst, where you try to pump up a big Bowser balloon before your opponent.

Difficulty:  8/10--Once you get the hang of how to play a Mario Party game, the rest are all similar to that.  For example, if you have played a version of Mario Party on the Wii, and you played Mario Party 2 you would understand how the game-play works.  If you have never played a Mario Party game, I suggest you start with this one or even the original Mario Party, since these versions aren't as complicated as the newer Wii versions.  Some of the mini-games can be difficult, depending on how much practice you've had at a certain game.  It is so nice that the game allows you the chance to practice a mini-game before you actually play for coins.  Take advantage of that chance to practice if it's the first time you've played that mini-game.  You should definitely play a version of Mario Party if you never have before!  You won't be sorry!