First, a confession: Before I got the review copy of this title, I may have been the only Nintendo fan on earth never to have played a Mario Party game. When I powered up the old ‘Cube, I had no idea what I would find.

I found what everyone else who has played a Mario Party title has found, an animated board game populated by Mario and his friends (and enemies), the hardest-working characters in video gaming entertainment. As board games go, Mario Party 4 falls somewhere between Candyland and Monopoly in complexity. Players roll dice, move around the board, try to earn coins and stars, and compete in mini video games for rewards.

The actual gameplay is so simple that a 3-year-old could do it-and I mean that quite literally. My six-year-old is not allowed to play on the Nintendo for a week (he was naughty), so my aid in playtesting Mario Party 4 was my 3-year-old daughter, Emma. Although I anticipated great frustration in trying to play with Emma, who is stubborn and not prone to following directions, but I was pleasantly surprised. The game’s high-quality cartoon-style graphics held her attention like a magnet. Playing most of the game consisted of taking my turn and then saying, “Press the green button, Emma,” until Emma had finished her turn. She managed quite well in that first game, taking second place (I finished last).

Moving around the main board is not exactly exciting and can become deadly boring while waiting for computer-controlled players to complete their turns. The game requires that four players play every game, so empty places are filled by the computer. All players are able to acquire items that modify their movement and/or abilities on the main board. Some can be found by landing on certain squares, others can be purchased at certain locations. These modifiers can serve to keep things interesting, but they are poorly controlled and can sometimes drastically unbalance the game.

The mini-games are where Mario Party 4’s action happens. Unfortunately, they lack any uniform standard of quality or fun. Some are challenging, others are exciting, while others are just plain frustrating. Many of the mini-games feature a simplicity of control that allowed even my daughter a fair chance of success (“Press the green button, Emma.”), but several others have frustrating, non-intuitive controls that make playing them aggravating. The sheer number and variety of these mini-games, however, keeps things interesting.

On the whole this game’s greatest appeal is for the elementary-school (and younger) crowd. Adults will appreciate some of the game’s elements and probably won’t mind sitting through a game or two with the wee ones, but it’s unlikely the older crowd will be running out to rent it for their big party. Mario Party 4, while possessing some notable flaws (like pacing and game balance), does provide a mostly worthwhile gaming experience-especially for the kiddies-and I won’t be embarrassed when my friends come over and see it on the shelf.