Let's-a Party! Mario style! :D
First things first, when you first start this awesome game, you will see a hilarious intro set in an auditorium! Mario and the gang form a new amusement park called Mario Land, but then Wario takes over and renames it Wario Land! And here's the best part, Princess Peach says that she came up with a name that everyone can agree on... Peach Land! The others fall on their backs in irony and everyone starts arguing! XD But then, Bowser comes and takes over the amusement park! Oh noes! :( And here comes another funny bit, when a red Koopa Troopa tells the Mario gang that Bowser's taking over, they're still arguing! rofl! XD Toad then says that whoever defeats Bowser first will become the Superstar, and have the amusement park named after him/her! Everyone agrees and runs off! Who will defeat Bowser first? Who knows!
For the actual gameplay, there are 6 Adventure Boards in all - Pirate Land, Western Land, Space Land, Mystery Land, Horror Land, and the unlockable Bowser Land. Right after you pick a board, I love how the character/number of players/turns menu is made! Fast-paced music plays, and the picked characters and the host all run through a tube as you pick your settings! The 6 playable characters are Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong. Since this is a party game, they don't have any unique abilities, they just play the same as each other.
Also, in this game, all the characters wear costumes for the corresponding board (with the exception of Bowser Land where they just wear their normal outfits), which is a really nice touch! Like all the Mario Party games, it plays like a traditional board game, and there's a lot of luck involved, so anything can happen! First, everyone will hit a Dice Block to see who goes first, then they all get 10 Coins to start off with! Everyone hits a Dice Block numbered 1 through 10 to move around the board, and they can land on Blue Spaces which give you coins, Red Spaces which take away your coins, and various Green Spaces such as Happening Spaces, Item Spaces, Battle Spaces, and more. You're also gonna play lots of Mini-Games as you play on the board! You'll be able to play 4-Player, 2 vs 2, 1 vs 3, Battle, Duel, and Item Mini-Games. It's probably one of the best features of the Mario Party series, the large amount of Mini-Games and everything. Most involve skill, but some are luck-based instead. Winning Mini-Games earns you 10 Coins, so win as many as you can! This is also the first Mario Party with Items, but you can only have one, rather than three like in the later games. But that's okay, no big deal!
The objective of this game is to get as many Stars as you can to win the game. Every Star you see on the board costs 20 Coins. But you can also get Stars by finding a Hidden Block that contains a Star (they can also contain 20 Coins), and by having Boo steal a Star from one of your opponents, but that costs 50 Coins for that. You can also turn on Bonus Stars to get Stars at the end of the game (you can set the game to be 20, 35, or 50 turns long) based on how many Mini-Games you won, how many Coins you got, and how many Happening Spaces you landed on. Whoever gets the most Stars will have enough power to take on Bowser, as you watch the winning player own him! He/she is then declared the Superstar!
There are some other modes too. You can purchase Mini-Games to play freely with Coins from Woody, which are acquired after playing a board. You can play the Mini-Game Stadium where the objective is to win more Coins than anyone else in Mini-Games. There is even a Mini-Game Coaster where you play every single Mini-Game on a world map! There are even lives in that mode - if you lose a Mini-Game, say good-bye to one of your lives! But there are also 1-Ups which you can get by getting 100 Coins.
On a last note, the soundtrack is amazing. They're all upbeat, fast-paced and everything! They all fit the theme of the boards and Mini-Games too! And that's all that needs to be said. XD
Overall, if you've got friends who are looking for an awesome multiplayer game, look no further than Mario Party 2! It's on the Wii Virtual Console for 1,000 Wii Points, so go right ahead and download it if you've got enough! Get it for nostalgia purposes too, if you played this back then. Whether you're new to Mario Party or not, you're gonna love this game, trust me! :D