Mario Party 4
Template:Infobox Mario Party 4 is the fourth game in the Mario Party series and the first for the Nintendo GameCube. Developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo, the game was initially released first in North America in October 21, 2002. It retains the basic gameplay aspects from previous Mario Party titles, where up to four players roll dice to move around a board, earning coins from landing on Spaces, events, or winning minigames played at the end of every turn to buy stars. Features introduced in previous Mario Party games such as the introduction of the usage of items from Mario Party 2 to assist players against their opponents and the ability to carry up to three items from Mario Party 3 return. New elements introduced in Mario Party 4 include the ability for players to team up in pairs in Party Mode, creating a custom minigame pack selected entirely by players of the game, and the first Mario Party game to introduce side-collectibles in the form of presents. The game is notable for introducing boards fully rendered in 3D, though the navigational board space layout remains flat until Mario Party 5. Additionally, the game completes a revamp in the 3D art direction of the Mario franchise that started with Luigi's Mansion and continued with Super Mario Sunshine.
Plot
"Toad, Koopa, and a whole host of party patrons have arrived on the mysterious Party Cube to celebrate your Birthday Party!"
"But giving you presents would be way too easy, so you're going to have to win the presents by playing a game or two!"
"Now let's get this party started!"
Mario and company are enjoying the outdoors when a mysterious cloud forms in the distance. As the cloud moves closer, a giant bag appears to be floating in the sky. The bag opens up to reveal Toad, Koopa, Goomba, Shy Guy, and Boo, who invite Mario and the gang to party in the Party Cube.
It's the player character's birthday and each host wants to give a present, but the character must play in each host's board and win a special minigame to get the present. The player character manages to get every single present from each host, but Bowser shows up and threatens to steal every present the player has, unless the player agrees to go to Bowser's board and win, and the player accepts Bowser's challenge.
The player manages to win and Koopa Kid congratulates the player for winning, but Bowser tricks the player into believing that he took all of the player's presents and the two fight in a final battle. The player manages to beat Bowser and he runs away and leaves one present behind. Koopa Kid explains that Bowser never took the player's presents.
Toad then appears and said that there is still someone who didn't give their gift to the player. The lights suddenly turn off, cuing a spotlight, then Toad points to the sky and a Star is seen, zipping across the sky revealing a constellation of the character's winning pose.
The epilogue shows the five hosts without their costumes, following after the moving Party Cube. After a few seconds, the Party Cube blasts off into space, never to be seen again.
Gameplay
Mario Party 4 retains the board gameplay from previous Mario Party installments. Four players take turns to navigate around a digital game board using a Dice Block that randomly rolls numbers 1-10, within a set amount of turns. Prior to starting out on a selected board, the four players need to roll a Dice Block that determines the order they will play in. Players who roll higher numbers in the beginning will start out earlier, and their HUD displayed on the corners of the screen are corresponding to what order they roll in. The overarching goal of the game is to purchase as much Stars with collected coins as possible, within the limit of turns; players first earn 10 coins to start out with. These stars cost 20 coins to purchase, and they are found in various, set locations on the board. Once a star is purchased, the star migrates to another location on the board, where players then need to navigate there to purchase again. Once all players have moved, a turn is passed and a mini-game is randomly selected from a roulette of mini-games and played; initially mini-game names are blocked out with question marks until they have been played at least once. These mini-games involve players doing actions with very specific rules under short time limit to outperform their competition. If the players are successful by beating their opponents, they earn 10 coins as a reward, though mini-games classified as Coin mini-games (mini-games that have their text colored yellow) has the potential of players earning more coins, and they keep those coins regardless if they collected the most or not.
Spaces of various types are scattered across the board and give several effects when landed on. The most common space, the Blue Space, gives players out 3 coins if they landed on it. On the other hand, landing on a Red Space deducts 3 coins if landed on. Other spaces include Happening Spaces, Warp Spaces, Mushroom Spaces, etc. that all have their own special effect. When a space is landed on, the player panel turns to whatever color the space they landed on was. The color of the player panel dictates the type of mini-game that will be played at the end of the turn. For example, if all players land on a Blue Space, a 4-Player type mini-game will be played. If two players land on a Blue Space and two land on a Red Space, they will play a 2-vs-2 mini-game, being paired with the character who has the same color as their player panel as each other. 1-vs-3 mini-games are played if three players land on the same-colored space and one player lands on a different-colored space. If players land on a green-colored space, their player panel color will change to either blue or red randomly. Other types of mini-games are played under only special occasions; for example, Battle mini-games can be played only if players land a Battle Space and Bowser mini-games can be played if players land on a Bowser Space and Bowser decides to play the mini-game.
Other board features that can be accessed in all boards include Item Shops, Boo Houses, and Lottery Shops. Players can choose to enter these when they pass their space, though some of these are locked away through Gates. Some boards feature board-specific features that players that function in a similar manner to these shops such as the Mystery Train from Boo's Haunted Bash or Klepto from Shy Guy's Jungle Jam. Players earn a Lucky Party Ticket when they enter the Lottery Shop for the first time, which does not have an effect until the Last Five Turns Event.
Items can be earned when players purchase them from Item Shops, obtain them from landing on Mushroom Spaces, win them in Mini Mini-games, win them in Happening Spaces, or through other means. Players can stash up to three items; if they carry more, they need to discard items. These items can be used to give players advantages over their opponents. A prominent feature of Mario Party 4 is the replacement of regular Mushrooms through the use of Mega and Mini Mushrooms, which can be routinely earned throughout the game. Mega Mushrooms cause the player to grow large, roll two sets of Dice Blocks, and squash opponent players for their coins. However, this causes them to ignore most board features, which includes passing by Star Spaces. Mini Mushrooms shrink players and make them roll a Dice Block numbered only 1-5, but they can travel through Gates to access areas of the map that cannot be accessed otherwise and play Mini Mini-games, which gives them the chance to earn free coins and items. In Bowser's Gnarly Party, Bowser reacts differently to characters depending on their current size. Players can earn more powerful variants of them with the Super Mega Mushroom and the Super Mini Mushroom, both which lets them roll an extra Dice Block. When players roll doubles or triples, they earn bonus coins, with 7's earning a greater amount of coins, where the greatest amount, rolling three 7's, rewards players with 100 coins.
A Last Five Turns Event commences when there are only five more turns in the board. The current host of the board then tallies the results of the players up and then uses a roulette to match the character mugshots on a Lucky Party Ticket, if there are any received at all. Whoever has all the matching Lucky Party Ticket character mugshots earns a free Star, though this happens very rarely. After that, the host gives the last place player a chance to stop a roulette, which affects the board's rules for the rest of the game. These include doubling the amount Blue Space give and Red Spaces take away, all Red Spaces becoming Bowser Spaces, all Red Spaces becoming Fortune Spaces, or all Stars becoming free. The game then actively notifies players of the amount of turns left.
Once the final minigame has been played, the host of the board does a final tally and announces who has the most stars and coins. If bonuses are turned on prior to starting the game, the host can additionally give out extra stars depending on if the player has fulfilled the requirements of being the best of that requirement. After the final countdown, the first place player gets rewarded as the Party Star and thus wins the game. Coins are the tiebreaker if a tie with Stars occur, and if there is a coin tie as well, the winner is determined through a Dice Block roll. Past this, players can view statistics and results to see overall performance, such as how many Spaces of a certain type was landed on and how much accumulated coins they won through mini-games.
Characters
Playable characters
Mario Party 4 has a total of eight playable characters, with all playable characters returning from Mario Party 3. All of these playable characters are usable from the beginning and are usable throughout all modes. While Mario Party 4 does not introduce any new playable characters, a minigame, Beach Volley Folley, found in the Extra Mode, features additional playable characters exclusive to that minigame. They are unlocked by playing through Battle Mode, and once Battle Mode is unlocked, those additional playable characters are usable only in Free Mode. Also, unlike Mario Party 3, Princess Daisy and Waluigi are now playable in Story Mode.
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| Mario's always been an all-around guy. Just watch out when he gets a Mega Mushroom – he really starts cruisin'! | Mario's younger brother is just wild about Mushrooms! ...But does he have any hidden abilities? | She seems to be cute and innocent, but Peach is secretly quite mischievous – watch out for her Swap Card! | Yoshi sure does love Warp Blocks! You can never tell where this unpredictable character will pop up next! |
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| Wario's a madman with his MiniMega Hammer. Be careful in duels, too, because he's a dueling master! | The strongest of the bunch, Donkey Kong loves his Mega Mushrooms. | A bit of a tom-boy, Daisy's a big fan of the Warp Pipe! | That Waluigi's a serious sneak! Watch out for his Sparky Sticker... |
Beach Volley Folley exclusive
Boards
| Image | Board Name | Description |
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Toad's Midway Madness | Players have to maneuver their way around the amusement park, with the common goal being to find Toad; he is the host of the board. A notable part of this board is the tea cup rides, that, when ridden on, change direction they will make the player take in any junction a ride is located at. Another notable part of this board is the roller coaster, which players can take to get from the bottom-left part of the board to the top-right part and vice versa. If any other players are on the roller coaster, then they will also be taken to the corner of the board that the player in the cart is to appear at. Players riding he cart may also use  to lean the cart for the player to collect Coins that are placed among the track.
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Koopa's Seaside Soiree | Players must make sure to make their way around the beach, with the common goal to find Koopa, as he is this board's host. A notable feature of this board is the Koopa Kabana. When a player passes the Kabana Space, said player will be forced to pay five coins to Koopa (if a player cannot pay the full fee, then he or she will pay to the best of their capabilities) in order to repair it. Whenever a player lands on a Happening Space that is on front of it, he or she must pay the amount of Coins already spent on the Kabana. After this, the Kabana will be destroyed. Another attraction of this board is the Dolphins, who are summoned by landing on a Happening Space that is located on a dock with a picture of a fruit on. The dolphin will then escort the player to the dock with the corresponding fruit on it. |
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Goomba's Greedy Gala | Players must make sure that they manage to obtain Stars by getting to Goomba, the host of this board. The most notable feature of this board is the roulette in the very middle of it. When players pass the roulette, a Goomba will ask for an optional payment of either five, ten or twenty Coins. The more a player pays to the Goomba, the more likely it is that the ball will land on the route closest to the Star. If the ball lands on a Star, then the player will procure 20 Coins, and they will also get to freely choose what path to trek down. Another notable feature of this board is the dice areas. When a player passes a dice area, a Goomba appears, rolls a number on a Dice Block, and the player has to beat that number by rolling higher than him. If the player rolls a higher number, they win 10 coins, but if the player rolls lower, they will be taken to the Start Space. Goomba rolling a "10" is an automatic loss and the player is sent back to the start, since they can't roll any higher. |
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Boo's Haunted Bash | The main goal of this board is for the players to reach Boo; he is the host of this board. There are two notable features on this board; the Red Boo bridges, and the Mystery Train. The Red Boo bridges work in such a way that, when a player passes by the center of the board, where the leader of the Red Boos is, he and the bridges will disappear, among with the other Red Boos. The Mystery Train is also affected by the disappearance of the Red Boos; when the Red Boos are active, the Mystery Train will be inactive and vice versa. When the Mystery Train is active, and is passed by a player, it will take the player to any graveyard on the board. The player sitting on the Mystery Train is able to control it when passing junctions. If any other players are in the path of the train, then they will be picked up as well. |
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Shy Guy's Jungle Jam | The goal for this board is for the players to get to Shy Guy; he is the host of this board. Notable parts of this board are the Shy Guy mountain and Klepto the condor. If a player lands on a Happening Space that is located in front of a Shy Guy statue, the statue will ask for the player to make either a happy wish, or to make a sad wish. If the statue finds the wish to its enjoyment, it won't change the board in any way; however, if the wish is not to the statue's liking, it will flood the river, splitting the board into two parts for three turns. When a player passes by Klepto(who is in the top-left corner part of the board), he will ask the player if he or she wants to pay five Coins to him for him to take the player to the bottom-right corner of the map. While he is taking the player to the destined location, the player can steer with the to grab coins that are in the air(and from an eruption from the volcano if it erupts).
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Bowser's Gnarly Party (unlockable) | In order for players to receive Stars on this board, they will have to get to Koopa Kid; he is the host for this board. There are two prominent features of this board; the two stone bridges, and Bowser himself. When a player crosses over a stone bridge, it will crumble apart a little. After three players cross a stone bridge, it will fully crumble apart and a new one will appear in a different direction. Bowser will randomly miniaturise all players during one turn. If a player reaches Bowser at normal size, Bowser will take away half of the player's Coins (but he will give 50 coins to the player if they have zero coins). If a player reaches Bowser while mini, Bowser will send the player to the start space in the middle of the board. If a player reaches Bowser when the player is megasized, then Bowser will challenge that player in one of the following minigames; Bowser Wrestling, or Panels of Doom. If the player loses, half of his or her Coins will be taken by the Koopa king, but if the player wins, then Bowser will leave the board until the player or any other player trades 20 coins for the next star from Koopa Kid. Then Bowser will reappear and change his position again. And if a player wears a Bowser suit and gets to Bowser, Bowser gives them 50 coins. |
Items
| Image | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
| File:Mega Mushroom.JPG | Mega Mushroom | The Mega Mushroom causes players to be giant and also allows another dice block to get rolled. If a the player rolls the same numbers (two matching numbers), they get 10 coins (30 coins for two "7's"). When players pass anyone, they steal ten coins from the player they crush. However, this item bypasses most board events (e.g. players cannot trade for any stars on a Star Space while giant or purchase items from the Item Shop). However, the exception is Bowser on Bowser's Gnarly Party where players that make it to him will do a Bowser mega minigame when they pass him, due to being their mega form. |
| File:Mini Mushroom.JPG | Mini Mushroom | The Mini Mushroom causes players to be tiny. It also restricts the dice block; instead of rolling 1-10, it only rolls 1-5. However, the Mini Mushroom can cause players to play Mini Mini-games; plus, they can move through Gates. |
| File:Super Mega Mushroom.JPG | Super Mega Mushroom | A Super Mega Mushroom has generally the same effects as a Mega Mushroom except that players roll three dice blocks instead of two. If the player rolls the same numbers (three matching numbers), they get 30 coins (50 coins for three "7's"). Like the Mega Mushroom, players again cannot trade for any stars from a Star Space while giant or purchase items from the Item Shop. All events are bypassed (item shops and Star Spaces), except Bowser on Bowser's Gnarly Party. Similar to the Mega Mushroom, if they run into Bowser, they get to do a Bowser mega minigame. |
| File:Super Mini Mushroom.JPG | Super Mini Mushroom | A Super Mini Mushroom has generally the same effects as a Mini Mushroom except that players roll two 1-5 dice blocks instead of one. Because both dice blocks only are a 1-5 dice block, it is possible to roll the normal number of spaces from the Dice Block. However, unlike the Mini Mushroom, they can't get a total of 1 (as there are 2 dice blocks instead of one); only 2-10 spaces. The player gets 10 coins if they roll the same numbers (two matching numbers); 10 coins for two "1's", two "2's", two "3's", two "4's", or two "5's". |
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Warp Pipe | When players use a Warp Pipe, a roulette that has the heads of the other characters appears. An arrow spins and players can stop the arrow. When the arrow stops on a character's head, the player swaps places with that character. |
| File:Swap Card.JPG | Swap Card | The Swap Card randomly choose another player via roulette and the player who used it swaps items with the chosen player. |
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MiniMega Hammer | When players use a MiniMega Hammer, they may choose another player to be Mega or Mini by hitting them on the head with the hammer; but they can't cause their own effect (Mega or Mini). Then, the character that player chooses is given the effects of a Mega Mushroom or a Mini Mushroom on the next turn, determined by what mushroom appears on the hammer when the alternating between the two mushrooms is stopped by pressing the A button. |
| File:Chomp Call.JPG | Chomp Call | If a Chomp Call is used, four small Chain Chomps appear and attack the host that holds the star in the star space. Afterwards, the location of the star space changes. |
| File:Boo's Crystal Ball.JPG | Boo's Crystal Ball | When a Boo Crystal Ball is used, a Boo appears and does either of the following: A) The Boo steals coins from a selected player with a five-coin fee. The victim can fight back and lose less coins by repeatedly pressing  . B) The Boo steals a star from another player with a 50 coin fee. The victim cannot fight back. However, if the victim has a Gaddlight, the victim can flash the light at Boo and chase him away when he's after their stars and coins.
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| File:Gaddlight.JPG | Gaddlight | The Gaddlight automatically lets the player chase away a Boo that is after their coins and stars. |
| File:Sparky Sticker.JPG | Sparky Sticker | When players use a Sparky Sticker, they place it directly below where they are standing. If any player tries to pass it, the player loses 10 coins plus the effects of a Mega Mushroom or a Mini Mushroom. |
| File:Item Bag.JPG | Item Bag | The effects of an Item Bag activate as soon as players purchase this item. They receive three random items. If they already have one or two items, the items found in the bag get discarded. |
| File:Genie Lamp.PNG | Magic Lamp | When players use this, they summon the Genie of the Lamp. The genie then transports them to the star space. However, they still must trade 20 coins for the star. |
| File:Bowser Suit.JPG | Bowser Suit | Players can only acquire this from Bowser when they land on a Bowser Space. If they use this, they go in a Bowser Suit. If they pass anyone else, they steal 30 coins. Like the Mega Mushroom, the Bowser Suit will bypass some board events like the Item Shops and the Star Spaces. |
Spaces
| Image | Space | Description |
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Blue Space | If players land on this space, they receive three coins. On the last five turns, the coins received may double if the losing player hits the roulette wheel and has that event as a result. |
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Red Space | If players land on this space, they lose three coins. On the last five turns, the coins lost may double if the losing player hits the roulette wheel and has that event as a result. |
| File:Happening Space4.PNG | Happening Space | If players land on this space, they trigger an event. The event varies within the board. The event may be positive or negative. |
| File:Bowser Square.PNG | Bowser Space | If players land on this space, either a Koopa Kid or Bowser appear. The Koopa Kid can take coins from either the player who landed on it or from everyone. If Bowser appears, he can cause the following events: Bowser Revolution, which he divides everyone's coins equally; Bowser Minigame where he forces everyone to play his minigames; Bowser Shuffle, which he randomly swaps places with all of the players; or Bowser Suit, which he gives the player a Bowser Suit. The latter event is rare. Sometimes, Bowser can come out after Koopa Kid on the same Bowser Space. |
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Fortune Space | If players land on this space, an event occurs, and they use the Reversal of Fortune, which resembles a pinball machine. The results may vary such as the player swapping stars with another or the player giving coins to the other. |
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Mushroom Space | If players land on this space, two boxes appear: one small, one large. The player chooses one box and may receive a Mega Mushroom or a Mini Mushroom, regardless the size of the box. |
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Warp Space | If players land on this space, an arrow spins on a roulette, showing the other three character's heads. The player can stop the roulette. If the arrow is pointing to one of the character's head, the space, which is actually a spring, launches the character to the chosen character. |
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Battle Space | If players land on this space, a Bob-omb appears and starts a battle minigame. The player who landed on the Battle Space may choose one of the two battle minigames shown. |
Extra Room
Thwomp and Whomp have a room full of bonus minigames. These minigames can be played alongside two bonus boards. Their minigames are:
One Player (Whomp's Basement Brouhaha)
Multiplayer (Thwomp's Backroom Ball)
Thwomp's Backroom Ball is like the rest of the game modes except it doesn't feature minigames, therefore the player has to stay on the game board for the entire time.
Other
Also featured is a bonus volleyball game, hosted by a Ztar. Finally, players are able to access the Present Room, which allows them to view all the presents that the player has accumulated throughout the Story Mode for each character.
Minigames
- Main article: List of Mario Party 4 minigames
Staff
- Main article: List of Mario Party 4 staff
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Party 4.
Media
- See also: List of Mario Party 4 music
Reception
Mario Party 4 received mostly mixed to positive reviews from critics. GameSpot's Ryan Davis praised the game's mini-game format, but noted that "players that who already exhausted themselves on previous Mario Party titles may not have enough here to draw them back again". Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell acknowledged the variety and thematic features of the boards, but thought they were too large, resulting in a "glacial pace" when coupled with the on-board animations. Despite this, IGN praised the boards for their thematic features on each one, which helped "ease the tediousness". New gameplay features such as the mushroom system received a negative review from multiple critics, with frustration being expressed at not being able to enter shops or purchase stars with big characters. The game's multiplayer was praised by reviews, especially in comparison to the single player mode, "Story Mode". The minigames were mainly met with a positive reaction, with critics praising their simplicity.
Mario Party 4 is the 10th best selling game for Nintendo GameCube, with approximately 2.45 million copies sold worldwide: 1.1 million copies in North America, 902,827 copies in Japan, and 450,000 copies elsewhere, as of December 31, 2009.
References to previous games
- Mario Party 2: Bowser's Bigger Blast is a remake of Bowser's Big Blast.
- Mario Party 3: Some of the playable characters voice clips are reused from this game.
- Luigi's Mansion: Luigi's design from this game is reused.
- Super Mario Sunshine: Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, and Bowser's designs from this game are reused.
References in later games
- Mario Party 5: Several voice clips are reused.
- Mario Party Advance: Many songs from Mario Party 4 are remixed in Advance including the main menu theme as Advance's passport theme.
- Mario Party DS: Bob-omb Breakers returns as a puzzle minigame.
- Mario Party: The Top 100: Fourteen minigames return in this game. A cover version of the minigame completion theme plays when completing any of the fourteen Mario Party 4 minigames.
Pre-release and unused content
The game contains files that are named E3Setup.bin, E3SetupDLL.rel and E3SetupDLL.str. When modesel.bin in the data folder and modeseldll.rel + modeseldell.str in the dll folder are replaced by the former files, a pre-release character select screen, for E3 purposes, is shown. Donkey Kong and Wario cannot be selected because at this point, their models had not yet been constructed.
The cover art initially used for the box of Mario Party 4 used artwork of the characters from the previous game on Nintendo 64.
A debug menu was found in the game's data, and includes all the minigames.
Trivia
- This is the first Mario Party game since Mario Party to not have any duel minigames excluding story mode mini-games.
- This is the first Mario Party game to have fewer minigames than its predecessor.
