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November 3, 2005 | 1:34 PM PST
by: Andrew Chappellie
About once a year we can expect a few things to happen. The holidays come by in their predetermined order, the seasons rise and fall, and we are delivered a new Mario Party game. The seventh iteration of Mario Party is upon us, and seven is a supposedly lucky number.
The Facts
Party Fever
The games typically revolve around Mario and friends taking turns on a giant playing field, each one with a certain number of spaces, or moves, before players comes full circle back to the starting point. On the board, they begin their turns by pressing a button which causes their character to jump up, hitting a random number block, determining how many spaces they may move on that turn.
After the number is set, the character moves forward as many spaces as they were designated until they reach a fork in the road, so to speak. At this point, players are given an option which way to turn. If the player looks ahead at the spaces, they may see that turning left will land them on a beneficial space, whereas turning right would have landed them on something with a harmful effect.
Beneficial and harmful effects range from losing and gaining coins that players have collected over the board, or the more dramatic effect of being forced to give half of their coins to an opponent.
In Mario Party 7, players are able to acquire special “orbs” with various effects. When their turn comes up, they have the option to use an orb by placing it on a nearby space. This orb will turn that space into the character’s insignia, and any opponent landing on that space will have to deal with whatever is affecting the location.
The new boards are all lavishly themed and decorated to fit the unique atmosphere of each one. Some of the new maps included are: Grand Canal, a board with a striking resemblance to Venice, Italy. Pagoda Peaks, a Japanese themed board based on the old Meiji era in Japan, and Neon Heights, a Hollywood/Las Vegas themed board.
In order for players to win, they’ll have to collect a number of stars that have been scattered over the playing field. Each star can be bought with a set number of coins, which are accumulated through landing on blue spaces, or winning in one of the 80 new mini-games.
Examples of these mini-games include players being put head to head against one another in a military-esque agility trial. Whoever reaches the end first, wins. Missing jumps or falling off platforms will cause them to fall off the screen, being saved by Lakitu. This will cost gamers valuable time, which in turn will further cost them valuable coins and stars essential to win.
One other mini-game in particular pays homage to Mario’s roots, entitled ”Jump, man.” In this game, players will have to maneuver their characters over an obstacle course of barrels and ropes leading to the top, and ultimately, a finish line. Jumpman was Mario’s original name in Donkey Kong for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. When Jumpman toured the states and Europe, he was dubbed “Mario” when he landed in each region’s respective NES cartridges.
Mario Party 7
Along with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Waluigi, and Donkey Kong, to name a few, Mario Party introduces Birdo and Dry Bones for players to choose when selecting whom will represent them on the playing field. Each character is outfitted with their own unique icon when their turn comes up, accompanied by fluid animations and charming voices.
The microphone once again returns from Mario Party 6 and promises to play yet another large role with the introduction of Mic Grand Prix mode. This mode requires players to have full command over their controller and their voice. Players will then play and battle through game boards and the mini-games inside each one by using a combination of buttons and voice commands.
Outlook
Mario Party 7 is lining up to be Mario’s greatest party yet. Sure, there have been a lot of Mario Party’s over the last few years, but this one looks to offer enough innovative along with tried-and-true mechanics to win gamer’s hearts over. Slated to release this November 7th, we can’t wait to bring this party home.
The Facts
- Features familiar playable characters and two new ones: Dry Bones and Birdo.
- Play and compete in over 80 new mini-games.
- New Mic Grand Prix mode.
- Up to eight players via controller sharing.
Party Fever
The games typically revolve around Mario and friends taking turns on a giant playing field, each one with a certain number of spaces, or moves, before players comes full circle back to the starting point. On the board, they begin their turns by pressing a button which causes their character to jump up, hitting a random number block, determining how many spaces they may move on that turn.
After the number is set, the character moves forward as many spaces as they were designated until they reach a fork in the road, so to speak. At this point, players are given an option which way to turn. If the player looks ahead at the spaces, they may see that turning left will land them on a beneficial space, whereas turning right would have landed them on something with a harmful effect.
Beneficial and harmful effects range from losing and gaining coins that players have collected over the board, or the more dramatic effect of being forced to give half of their coins to an opponent.
In Mario Party 7, players are able to acquire special “orbs” with various effects. When their turn comes up, they have the option to use an orb by placing it on a nearby space. This orb will turn that space into the character’s insignia, and any opponent landing on that space will have to deal with whatever is affecting the location.
The new boards are all lavishly themed and decorated to fit the unique atmosphere of each one. Some of the new maps included are: Grand Canal, a board with a striking resemblance to Venice, Italy. Pagoda Peaks, a Japanese themed board based on the old Meiji era in Japan, and Neon Heights, a Hollywood/Las Vegas themed board.
In order for players to win, they’ll have to collect a number of stars that have been scattered over the playing field. Each star can be bought with a set number of coins, which are accumulated through landing on blue spaces, or winning in one of the 80 new mini-games.
Examples of these mini-games include players being put head to head against one another in a military-esque agility trial. Whoever reaches the end first, wins. Missing jumps or falling off platforms will cause them to fall off the screen, being saved by Lakitu. This will cost gamers valuable time, which in turn will further cost them valuable coins and stars essential to win.
One other mini-game in particular pays homage to Mario’s roots, entitled ”Jump, man.” In this game, players will have to maneuver their characters over an obstacle course of barrels and ropes leading to the top, and ultimately, a finish line. Jumpman was Mario’s original name in Donkey Kong for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. When Jumpman toured the states and Europe, he was dubbed “Mario” when he landed in each region’s respective NES cartridges.
Mario Party 7
Along with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Waluigi, and Donkey Kong, to name a few, Mario Party introduces Birdo and Dry Bones for players to choose when selecting whom will represent them on the playing field. Each character is outfitted with their own unique icon when their turn comes up, accompanied by fluid animations and charming voices.
The microphone once again returns from Mario Party 6 and promises to play yet another large role with the introduction of Mic Grand Prix mode. This mode requires players to have full command over their controller and their voice. Players will then play and battle through game boards and the mini-games inside each one by using a combination of buttons and voice commands.
Outlook
Mario Party 7 is lining up to be Mario’s greatest party yet. Sure, there have been a lot of Mario Party’s over the last few years, but this one looks to offer enough innovative along with tried-and-true mechanics to win gamer’s hearts over. Slated to release this November 7th, we can’t wait to bring this party home.
November 20, 2009
