What Mario Party is the best and easy to recommend?

I found Mario Party 2 for my N64 for only $5 and thought why not. I played it for the first time today and had a friggin blast with the friends with alot of backstabbing xP

So I began wondering. Is there a better version of Mario Party I should find for when I have friends or family over? or should I stick to just having Mario Party 2. Since I would rather try looking for one of the better ones before its to late.

Also I want one before the Wii version since the wii one just sucked in general.

Also if the game isn't on the list just say so in your post.

I loved Crazy Cutters in Mario Party 1 & 2. :P Mario Party 3 was the best on the N64.

Mario Party 4-7 on the Gamecube are all pretty similar. The main difference between them is how the items are obtained.

Mario Party 8 on the Wii is pretty terrible.

from good to bad

7

5

1

4

6

3

2

hand held

ds

gba

8 is the only wii version of the game so i cant call it right now, until 9 at least