Before we can begin our mindless modus operandi of fun, there’s a story that gels with the context of the game. While in the past these stories have played little involvement in how the game plays, Mario Party 6 offers a completely new story where gamers must settle an argument between the sun and the moon of who is more impressive. Being the modest hero he is, Mario presents the idea that he and his friends will let the power of the stars settle the conflict. And what better way to do this than to party through mini-games and collecting coins and stars. The usual batch of suspects are back to the scene, while new character Toadette decides she wants a go at the fun. There is no difference between character abilities, so players are left to choose their favourite mascot.
To determine who really is the superstar, players will be able to select from half a dozen new game boards, such as E. Gadd's Garage, Snowflake Lake, and Clockwork Castle, hit dice blocks and try to collect as many stars as possible. This time round, each board is completely different in the way they are presented and played. While in the past each board has been somewhat similar in how stars are acquired, Mario Party 6 offers a new and exciting mix to the table. In Snowflake Lake players will start the game with a certain amount of stars. The only way to acquire new stars is to ride on the vicious chain-chomps and steal other player’s stars. While in another case, Clockwork Castle will have a single altar where you can buy stars at the usual rate of 20coins, but during the night they can be sold for the respectable price of 5coins or even the ridiculous price of 50coins. This is an aspect that the series has usually lacked, but Mario Party 6 executes a new style of gameplay and enjoyment in each level that makes them different and just as enjoyable as the next.
In accession, Mario Party 6’s game-boards are presented in a much more quicker fashion than previous titles. Characters move faster on game boards, you don’t have to watch computer-controlled characters buy their items and gamers no longer receive items from gumball machines, rather there are ‘orb spaces’ that quickly passes off a single orb to you. Once again, these orbs play an important role on the game board. Some orbs will contain power-ups that’ll enable players to switch positions with others, slow down their dice roll, roll the dice three times, and even the power to go straight to the star space. Orbs no longer cost money to use, unless you purchase them from a item shop. In contrast to previous titles, Mario Party 6 offers one of the fastest and enjoyable game board experiences out of the entire series.
No really, those are Gamecube graphics.
Mario Party 6 welcomes a new batch of mini-games that are well suited to the Mario Party franchise. They’re simple to play, luck based and are all enjoyable to their core. While a lot of the mechanics implemented will no doubt feel somewhat familiar to fans, this doesn’t deny the fact that they are enjoyable to play. Ironically, this is the series’ strong point, and just one of the reasons why most gamers always find themselves enjoying the Mario Party experience. The game is easy to pick up and that’s enough reason for Mario Party 6 to be congratulated, because this game, and the series, offers that excellent ‘pick-up and play’ sort of gameplay that most multiplayer experiences lack. And better yet, anyone can be captivated by this game’s simplicity – young and old.
Bridging from that typical smash a certain button to move formula, Mario Party 6 introduces the new style of gameplay through Nintendo’s new Mic. Device. There are several modes that are mic. Exclusive such as a Quiz game where two players will answer questions through their mics., or even racers where gamers will command their characters what to do. In addition to the mic. Mode games, the device can be used during game boards. There are a total of five 1Vs3 mini-games, in which players speak into the microphone while others make do with controllers. Each mini-game is pretty exciting to play when having the mic. in your power. For example, there is a mini-game where gamers will command a juggernaut of a machine that has several weapons embedded on it. If you yell out ‘FIRE’ the machine will pull out a flame-thrower in attempt to hit the opposing characters, if you yell out ‘MISSILE’ a bunch of missiles will fly out of the machine. While gamers will get a kick out of playing these mini-games for a few days, the novelty of these games wear off rather quickly.
“MISSILE”
Aside from the new Mic. Device, Mario Party 6 offers a completely new and somewhat intriguing new style of gameplay. In relation to the game’s story, the game implements the day-night system throughout the entire game – during mini-games and game boards. In the case of game boards, each setting will last for three turns and during that time the day and night system works perfectly well with each board. While it may just seem like a nice backdrop for the boards, these settings play vital roles in the way each board can be played. For example, on one board, there are certain payable areas that can be unlocked. During the day pink-boo (the one who steals off others) is dormant, while at night he is wide awake and ready to steal off his unexpected prey at request. In addition, a lot of the paths in the boards can often change as well as new gameplay elements unlocked due to the timely day-night system, which keeps gamers a lot more focused on the game board, instead of simple hitting the dice block when asked.
While not being the only area affected, the mini-games also have their fair share of change due to the day-night system. There are exclusive mini-games that can only be played at night, while there are others that can only be played during the day. In addition to this, there’s a selective batch of mini-games that alter depending if it’s day or night. For example, in one 1Vs3 mini-games the single player will have three monkeys on their side during the day, while they’ll have three Shyguys during the night. While there are no real dramatic changes to mini-games because of this, it’s still good to see the change regardless.
As far as presentation goes, Mario Party 6 is completely unchanged from Mario Party 5. While there are a few noticeable changes in the vibrant environments in terms of textures, the character models are jaggy and outdated compared to games such as Mario Power Tennis. It’s an obvious case of ‘rush the game out without any consideration’. There are absolutely no significant changes in graphics, and the audio side of things are no different. While the game offers a selection of new tunes, they just seem like drowned music expected on a N64 title.
Hang-Time!
While Mario Party 6 offers a somewhat fresh experience to fans, it just doesn’t seem worth it when you have to dish out $89. Yes, the game is exciting and is one of the best out of the series, but the game has failed to change significantly at all. Fun new mini-games? Check. Exciting new game-boards? Check. New gameplay modes? Check. New gimmick that gets old fast? Check. Worth releasing so soon? No.
I can honestly admit that I could’ve held off for another year before a new Mario Party game was released, since I was still having fun with Mario Party 5 before the sixth instalment was released. Nintendo and Hudson need to seriously sit-down and rework the formula of this game, and actually make it significantly different to previous titles.
Yes, Mario Party 6 is a fantastic game. If you’re new to the series this is a recommended title to start with, but for us Mario Party veterans that still have Mario Party 5 or Mario Party 4 it’s probably not worth it. But if you absolutely must have this title, wait until it has a significant price-drop.
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