Mario Party

Template:Articleabout Template:Infobox Mario Party is a video game based on a board game for the Nintendo 64, and the first of the expansive Mario Party series. Players choose one of six characters and move around the board. As they go around, they collect coins and various other items that can help them or hinder others in their quest to collect Stars.

What sets this game apart from others is the mini-games that follow each round. The players will be grouped together in groups of two, three against one, or everyone for themselves. They then compete in a game that tests their reflexes, puzzle solving skills, or plain luck. The winners will be awarded coins and the losers may lose coins.

Story

The group arguing

The six playable characters

One day Mario and his friends were sitting around arguing over who is the Super Star. Wario states that a Super Star must be strong, to which Donkey Kong agrees. Both get into an argument over who is stronger. Toad says that maybe Mario would make a good superstar, or Peach, or even the energetic Yoshi. The gang starts to close in on Toad, who shouts out that he has an idea of what they should do. He suggests that the crew take the Warp Pipe in Mushroom Village, and find out who is the Super Star of their adventures. He warns that the road will be dangerous and that being the super star requires not only strength, but courage, wisdom and kindness. Luigi bravely agrees first to this plan and steps off to find the warp pipe. Wario follows and the group agrees to the plan and also set off to find the warp pipe and become the next Super Star.

Game Modes

The Mushroom Village.

Game modes are selected from a "Map" screen, Mushroom Village, that the player is led to once starting the game. Each building or feature represents a mode, and the player can select one to play a certain mode.

Listed below are the available areas for the player to access in Mario Party:

Party Mode

Party Mode is the heart of Mario Party. Four players will play on a board game, each getting a turn to roll the dice, which will determine how many spaces they will move across, just like a traditional board game. After everyone rolls, a roulette will appear which will randomly select a minigame to play. This process will repeat itself until the set amount of turns is up.

Mini-Game House

The Mini-Game House is located to the right side of the river, and resembles a mushroom with a large, red cap.

Toad

File:MPMinigame.jpg

The resident Toad of the Mini-Game house is an elderly-looking one named Puff who has a large red cap on its head, similarly shaped to the Mini-Game House itself. By speaking to him, the player is given a list of mini-games that have been played in the game so far. There are various price ranges of mini-games. Once one is bought, it can always be played for free via the orb on the table.

Pot o' Skills

File:MPPot.jpg

The Pot o' Skills leads to the Mini-Game Stadium. The Mini-Game Stadium has its own board shaped in the form of a Star, and only has 24 total spaces. Each turn, players roll the dice and advance the number of spaces, like in Party Mode. However, blue spaces do not add coins and red spaces do not subtract coins. All coins are gained or lost from mini-games which are played at the end of each turn. There is one One-Player mini-game space as well. Passing Koopa will result in 10 coins for the player. At the end of the game, the player with the most coins wins.

Mushroom Shop

File:MPShop.jpg

The inside of the Shop, with the owner to the left and the shelf with items to the right.

The Mushroom Shop is run by the Mushroom Shop Clerk and is located on the left side of the river on the map, it resembles a brown mushroom on its side. In the shop, various items can be bought with Coins earned from mini-games and Party games. Here is a listing of every item, along with its price and in-game description.

Image	Name	Price	In-game Description	Notes
File:Plus Block.jpg	Plus Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and you get the number of Coins shown.
File:Minus Block.jpg	Minus Block	100 Coins	This appears randomly, and you lose the number of Coins shown.
File:Speed Block.jpg	Speed Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and only numbers 8 to 10 will appear on the block.
File:Slow Block.jpg	Slow Block	100 Coins	This appears randomly, and only numbers 1 to 3 appear on the block.
File:Eventblock.jpg	Warp Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and players change positions on the board.
File:Event Block.jpg	Event Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and Boo, Koopa Troopa or Bowser will appear.
File:Mecha Fly Guy.jpg	Mecha Fly Guy	100 Coins	This counts how many times you rotate the Control Stick. Use it in the Mini-Game House.
File:MPRecord.jpg	Record	50 Coins	This is the Record for the Juke Box in the Option House.
File:Talkingparrot.jpg	Talking Parrot	50 Coins	This Parrot is good at mimicking characters' voices. It lives in the Option House.
File:Lucky Box.jpg	Lucky Box	400 Coins	Get 10 percent interest on Coins you collect with this Lucky Box.
File:Casino Box.jpg	Casino Box	300 Coins	Bet your Coins with this Box to get double or half of what you actually collected.
	Magma Mountain	980 Coins
	Credits	100 Coins	This lets you see the End Credits and the names of people who made the game.	Complete the Eternal Star map to obtain this.
File:No Koopa.jpg	No Koopa	500 Coins	Koopa Troopa won't appear on the map, but it won't work on some maps.	Complete the Eternal Star map to obtain this.
File:No Boo.jpg	No Boo	500 Coins	Boo won't appear on the map, but it won't work on some maps.	Complete the Eternal Star map to obtain this.
File:Gameball.jpg	Gameballs	300 Coins	This has many Gameballs with Mini-Games inside. What you get is a surprise.	This item appears after at least 25 minigames have been bought from the Mini-Game House and can be used until all minigames are bought.

Mushroom Bank

The inside of Mushroom Bank, with the two Toads with stars on their caps.

The Mushroom Bank is where players can store their coins as well as Stars and items. The bank is run by two portly Toads who are similar in every way except that one has yellow stars on his head in place of the usual dots, while the other has orange stars within yellow circles.

The Left Toad

The Toad behind the left counter is in charge of storing the items the player buys at the Mushroom Shop until they are used during a game. Here is also where the player can choose how they want to save their coins, whether with the Coin Box, Lucky Box, or Casino Box.

The Right Toad

The Toad behind the right counter will tell the player how many total coins and stars the player has saved up. He will also say how many more stars need to be collected, out of 100, in order to unlock the Eternal Star map.

Option House

The Option House is a mushroom-resembling blue-topped toward the top of the map across the river. As the name suggests, it is used to adjust the multiple Options for the game. There are other features such as the Talking Parrot and Juke Box as well.

Toad

File:Optionhousetoad.jpg

The resident Toad of the Option House can delete all saved data. Once spoken to and asked to delete all data, he takes out a remote and opens an electrical box on the other side of the house. The cover will open revealing a large red switch, and the player is asked if they are sure about deleting their data.

Talking Parrot

File:Talkingparrot.jpg

The Talking Parrot is an item that can be bought from the Mushroom Shop, and once bought, will appear on a perch in the Option House. By pressing the A button, the parrot speaks various voices from various characters in the game. These voices include:

• Boo
• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Koopa Troopa
• Luigi
• Mario
• Peach
• Toad
• Yoshi
• Wario
• The "narrator" voice that announces events in mini-games such as "Time Up!", "Game Over!", "Draw!", etc.

Sound Lever

File:MPSound.jpg

The Sound Lever is a lever that changes the sound from Mono to Stereo or vice versa. There are two speakers at the bottom with pipes leading up the lever. By pulling the lever down, one of the speakers are deactivated and the sound is changed to Mono. There is no surround sound.

Juke Box

File:MPJuke.jpg

The Juke Box allows the player to listen to any song from the game. The only perquisite is that the player must have heard the song in the game itself before it becomes available on the Juke Box. The Juke Box becomes available for use after the player buys the Record from the Mushroom Shop for 50 Coins.

Mini-Game Island

Mini-Game Island is a special challenge in which the goal is to travel all around the island and beat every minigame one by one. After beating every minigame and reaching the end, Toad will challenge the player once more to a race against him and two other CPUs in Slot Car Derby. This mode is for one player only.

Playable Characters and their Colors

red		darkgreen		deeppink
Color	Red	Color	Dark Green	Color	Pink
limegreen		yellow		Brown
Color	Green	Color	Yellow	Color	Brown

Boards

Mario Party has eight game boards, more than any other game to date (not counting the Duel boards from Mario Party 3).

DK's Jungle Adventure

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNG

DK's Jungle Adventure is Donkey Kong's board. Players aim to collect Stars in order to locate the mysterious treasure that is locked away in the jungle's ancient ruins. Four Whomps are guarding the junctions; to pass, a player must pay ten Coins. Landing on a Happening Space triggers a rolling boulder which in turn chases down any players standing in its way all the way to the path near the start of the board. If a player happens to meet Bowser on this board, they are "awarded" a useless Golden Bowser Statuette and are forced to pay him ten coins.

Peach's Birthday Cake

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

Peach's Birthday Cake is Peach's board. It is the smallest map of the ones available in Mario Party. Its main feature is the Flower Lottery, where a player plants a Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green seed (at the cost of ten coins) and grows a flower. Three flowers have a Toad face, while one flower has a Bowser face on it. After all four seeds are planted, four new ones can be chosen. This is run by a Goomba, who says if a player gets the Bowser face, he will "win" the lottery and go to Bowser, who will sell him the Bowser Cake, one of Bowser's Phony Items. If one gets a Toad face one will "lose" the lottery and go in the direction of the Star. If a player lands on a Happening Space, they have the opportunity to plant a "Strawberry Seed" at the cost of 30 coins, which grows into a Piranha Plant. Once planted, if another player with stars lands on the Happening Space with the Piranha Plant there, it will steal a star from that player, and give it to the player that planted it.

Yoshi's Tropical Island

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

Yoshi's Tropical Island is Yoshi's board. Consisting of Watermelon Island, Cantalope Island, and a small island in the middle, it was said that many Yoshis live here, but only two are shown in the middle of the board. A Pink Yoshi is on the small island and is surrounded by whirlpools, with a Blue Yoshi who can't do anything about it. Players aim to collect stars to get rid of the whirlpools and reunite the two Yoshis. The Happening Spaces make Bubba the fish take Toad to the opposite island, Bowser taking his place. Bowser sells defective Bowser Tubes to players for 30 coins. Two Thwomps block both ways to the opposite island, and request fees from players if they wanted to pass. The fee always starts at one coin, but goes up by one coin each time until it reaches the limit of 50 coins to pass.

Wario's Battle Canyon

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

Wario's Battle Canyon is Wario's board. It is set on a canyon that has been split into four areas with Bowser's area in the middle. Players aim to collect stars to stop the feud between the Bob-omb Buddies and the Bob-ombs. To get around the board, players are placed into cannons and fired to another area; the area they are sent to is determined by a spinning wheel. If a player lands on a Happening Space, the Bob-ombs will switch directions of the cannons. Bowser's area can only be reached by asking the Fly Guy in the northeast area to carry the character conversing with him to Bowser for ten coins. Bowser also has a cannon in this area to replace his bogus item. However, instead of firing at a specific part of the board, Bowser will just fire a character at a random spot.

Luigi's Engine Room

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

Luigi's Engine Room is Luigi's board. Players need to collect stars to power up the engine in the middle of the room (but actually in the back of the playing board). The main feature is the board-wide system of red and blue doors. One set would rise up to block specific paths while the other set goes down to open other paths. The doors switch at the start of every turn, when players land on certain Happening Spaces, or if a robot on the board was paid 20 coins to switch them. ? spaces on steam generators near the engine make steam rise up out of the respective generator, propelling players to a higher section. Players that went to Bowser would see his "Make As Many Coins As You Want Mecha" in action. They would get a coin from Bowser, at the cost of 20 coins. No matter where the players go, all paths end in Warp Pipes that lead to Boo, who is near the start.

Mario's Rainbow Castle

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNG

Mario's Rainbow Castle is Mario's board. It is placed on clouds with multiple towers, and is sky-themed. The main feature of this board is that the location of the Star does not change each time a player receives one. Instead, it is always located on the main tower of the map. Each time a player does receive a Star, however, the tower rotates, revealing Bowser. When the player reaches the tower while Bowser is there, he charges 40 coins for a Ztar. This does not add to the star count. The tower can also be rotated by any player landing on a Happening Space.

Bowser's Magma Mountain

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

- Bought for 980 coins

Eternal Star

Map Difficulty: File:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNGFile:Star.PNG

Unlockable after 100 stars are gathered and all other boards are played once

Spaces

	Space	Description
	Blue Space	Players will gain 3 coins from landing on this. The amount of coins received will be doubled in the last 5 turns. This space is the most common space on all boards.
	Red Space	Anybody who lands on this space will lose 3 coins. On the last 5 turns, this amount will be doubled.
	Happening Space	A variety of events will happen if anyone happens to land on this space. These events can help or harm one or more players, and they differ from board to board.
	Chance Space	A player that lands here will play a Chance Time game. The player hits three blocks, which identify two players and what one will give to the other. Game-changing events can happen here, from trading stars or coins, to giving 1 Star or 10-30 coins to someone else.
	Minigame Space	A player that lands here will play a 1-Player Mini-Game. If the player wins the minigame, they will receive coins. If they lose, then the player loses 5 coins. If the game is a Bonus Mini-Game though, the player will be rewarded the amount of coins collected, but not lose any if they get none.
	Mushroom Space	A roulette block will appear if a player lands on this space. Either the player can receive a Mushroom, which will give the Player the chance to roll another dice block, or receive a Poison Mushroom, which will force them to forego their next turn's Dice Block roll.
	Bowser Space	Any player who lands on this space will trigger a roulette, which any of these events can follow: Coins For Bowser: Bowser will take 10-30 Coins from the player. Bowser's Balloon Burst: This minigame is played just like the original Balloon Burst, but anyone who loses will get 10-50 coins taken away. Bowser's Face Lift: This minigame is played just like the original Face Lift, but players that don't get 90 points or more will lose 10-50 coins. If all players achieve more than 90 points, Bowser will steal the aforementioned amount of coins from the player who landed on his space. Bowser's Tug o' War: This minigame is like the original Tug o' War, except the losing side will lose 10-50 coins to Bowser. Bash 'n' Cash: This minigame is just like the normal Bash 'n' Cash, except the coins will disappear so none of the other players can collect them. If no coins are lost in this minigame, Bowser will steal 30 coins from the player who landed on his space. Bowser Revolution: Bowser will take everyone's coins and split them evenly among all the players. Bowser's Chance Time: This event is just like Chance Time, but Bowser has it modified so that he will always be on the receiving end of the trade. Unlike normal Chance Time, Stars cannot be lost. 100 Star Present, 1000 Coin Present, and Star Steal: These are all in gold letters when shown. The cursor will very rarely land on these events, and if it does, Bowser will leave and do nothing.

There is also a Star Space. When a player passes here, they can obtain a Star only if they have at least 20 Coins. The Star Space won't count towards the player's movements, unlike other spaces.

Minigames

Main article: List of minigames in Mario Party

Staff

Main article: Mario Party/Staff

Trivia

• Nintendo gave away a free Mario Party glove for a time after the game's release. The reason being was that many gamers got blisters and other ailments on the palms of their hands due to the mini-games that involved spinning the Control Stick around as fast as possible (This was the reason why Mario Party wasn't released on the Virtual Console). Nintendo suggested that the gamers should use the thumb to spin the Control Stick, but this method was a lot slower than rotating with the palm of the hand. Receiving the glove required proof of purchase of the first game of the series. It is interesting to note that the glove giveaway did not surface until after the release of Mario Party 2.
  • As a consequence of unbalanced difficulty and self-injury, there were no more minigames after Mario Party that involved spinning the control stick as fast as possible.
• A song entitled "Move to the Mambo!" was included with all JAP/PAL releases of the game, but never made it into the American version.

External Links

• Official Mario Party Japanese website