Mario Party 8 for Wii

[sirwoogie]

Ehh, just got to play Mario Party 8. I got into it about 20 minutes, and just couldn't take it anymore. It just couldn't hold my attention for many reasons:

• Way to kiddish. I'm all for some light entertainment, but it bordered on the 'Super Paper Mario intro' irritating.
• No way to skip past most of the ringmaster talk and actions. You have to suffer through it each time. Of course you can use A to swing through it quicker, but it's pretty tedious.
• To difficult just to start a game. I counted between 8-12 screens you have to get through just to start a mini-game. Gah
• The gibberish sounds the ringmaster makes while talking get old real quick
• Playing the computer. It makes you sit through and watch the computer play. Even the dialog boxes come up and the computer "progresses" through them. There has to be another way to understand computer progress without going through that crap

Maybe the game would be more fun with 2+ players, but I guess this isn't the game for me. Perhaps I'm to console old school to appreciate this one.    Are the other party series games on this level?

[NiteWalker]

Add alcohol. Becomes an instant winner.

[Howard_Casto]

Are the other party series games on this level?

You've just described Mario Party 1-7   Have you been in a nintendo-less cave for the past 10 years?

[sirwoogie]

You've just described Mario Party 1-7   Have you been in a nintendo-less cave for the past 10 years?

Actually, yes I have. Last Nintendo console I actually owned was the NES. Everything else has either been played via emulation (SNES/GBA) or ignored (GC/DS).

[shardian]

Is there an option to just play the mini-games, or do you have to unlock them by playing the board game for hours?

[MajorLag]

You were playing it alone? Theres your problem. Totally different experience with 4 people.

[AcidArmitage]

thats like playing connect-4 by yourself... Just get drunk with your friends and play... its hilarious 

[Rachel]

augh, I can't stand any of the mario parties I've played so far. The game tries way too hard to remove skill from the equation. Some of the minigames were fun, but going into the end five star lead only to come in last place thanks to spinning wheels and chance? I'd rather play chutes and ladders.

[pointdablame]

augh, I can't stand any of the mario parties I've played so far. The game tries way too hard to remove skill from the equation. Some of the minigames were fun, but going into the end five star lead only to come in last place thanks to spinning wheels and chance? I'd rather play chutes and ladders.

This post cannot be any more correct. 

I hate these damn games, friends or not.  They are fun for like 10 minutes, but last 3 hours, and even then its a crap shoot as to who wins.  Not that "winning" a Mario Party is something to talk about, but it does get extremely annoying when you win everything all game long then lose for random star awards or whatever.

[Samstag]

Sounds like it's perfect for my wife.  The Wii could turn her into a real gamer if I can just find a way to let her win once in a while.  It's practically impossible to play bad enough to give her a win in WiiSports and WiiPlay and it's usually obvious to her that I'm sandbagging.

A little randomness might be just the thing for my house

It's a good thing, too, because I mentioned I'd like it for my birthday before I saw any reviews and she's probably already got it.

[RTSDaddy2]

I'm about to give shmokes a heart attack (somebody warn him):

Mario Party 8 is ok, my wife and I bought it mainly to enjoy with our 4 year old...one thing I'm most disappointed in is that if the Wii has the power to start up with "WELCOME TO THE STAR CARNIVAL!," then why in the world is the rest of the ringmaster's comments reduced to gibberish?

The more people you add the better it gets, but even I (well documented here for my rose-colored glasses attitude toward the Wii) cannot get beyone how flat  and lifeless this looks for a new gen machine - I guess I expected more character depth, something along the way of Zelda, or the upcoming Mario and Metroid entries - you know, a little more 3D looking to add to the challenge.  Even Rayman and Wario Ware's mini-games are more visually appealing / challenging due to the depth factor introduced.

The candies and extra goodies found on the game boards are interesting, but without someone to play with I only found myself involved with it for about 5 minutes.  I will say that some of the mini-games are a challenge for me (especially the match the time one), but again I haven't played it that much yet...I do think that this game - much like Wario Ware - does give excellent instructions as to what way you are to move the Wiimote. 

It definitely is fun for our family when we're all together, but I don't know - after all I was expecting from it after seeing Rayman and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves -  if I'd even give it an 8 out of 10.

[Banacek]

You guys know that you can turn off Bonus Stars, right?

[Dervacumen]

I rented it this weekend and it's a perfect example of why I bought the Wii in the first place.  It's accessible to my kid and fun to play with her.
I'll probably buy it.

If my kid wasn't under 4 I don't think I'd find it particularly inspiring.  Actually, I think it kind of sucks for adults.

[Malacus]

Is there an option to just play the mini-games, or do you have to unlock them by playing the board game for hours?

You have to unlock each game one way or another (you can either play the games in the board game to unlock them or use the sparsely distributed 'carnival cards' to unlock them)

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My favorite way of playing isnt the board game, its the other ways, like the TicTacDrop (tictactoe meets connect4)

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the thing I absolutely HATE is the lack of a real Widescreen mode!
If you have your Wii set for widescreen all of the minigames are played with bars on the side!

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Ive liked all of the Mario Party games (though I didnt play the e-reader incarnation)
But I felt that this one had fewer games, im not sure if it actually does or not...

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I hope after the initial sales go down on this game that Nintendo releases some of the N64 Mario Parties on the VConsole (MP2 being my favorite)

-Mal