Mario really knows how to throw a party
Mario Party 3 has the same goal as any Mario Party(If you want to know just check my Mario Party or Mario Party 2 reviews).
Mario Party 3 has great graphics, the best in the series, the boards are designed like Paper, in a similar way to Paper Mario's scenarios. There are new kinds of events related to the boards, and different traps. The sound effects aren't as good as the other game's, there isn't a song here that will stick into your head.
The Mini-Games are the same Free-For-All, 1 VS 3, 2 VS 2, Battle, Duel and Item. The new thing is that now there are lots of different Duel and Item Mini-Games, so you won't need to play the Mini-Game that is related to the board. There are also the Game Guy which is like a casino where you bet all your coins in a luck game, and if manage to beat it you can multiply your coins but if you lose you will lose all of them.
The boards are great, there are 6 from them and they have some special characteristics. For example, in the Ice Board if there is more than one character standing in the frozen lake, it will crack and change the path you are following, or in the Desert Board where there are 2 stars, but one is fake. And now you can carry 3 items in your pocket.
Unfortunatly Hudson has managed to let the Solo Mode get even more boring, now you will have to win the boards if only you against 3 CPU's which is awful since there is nobody for you to laugh at.
But they've added the Duel-Boards where you will pair with any creature that can be a Goomba, Piranha Plant and others, and will try to defeat your friend by using the creature to attack him, and after some rounds you will play a Duel Mini-Game because you will need to have coins to pay for your partner or it will vanish.
Overall Mario Party 3 just isn't as good as Mario Party 2 because it doesn't have many new features but sure there are some, and the game is still good, so get it or you are really crazy.