7th ones a charm!
Game play 10/10
The game play is mostly based on minigames. In between minigames you roll a die to move around the playing board, after all four players have finished their turns you begin the minigame, which is determined by a roulette. The game play is solid and very easy to master. You can adjust the difficulty of the computer players if your looking for a challenge. The multiplayer mode allows you to play with four players alone, or on a team. In Deluxe Cruise you can play with eight players, a major edition to the Mario Party Franchise. In Deluxe Cruise each player has a partner that they share a controller with, so you only need four controllers to play.
Sound 9/10
The sound combines catchy tunes with excellent sound effects to make an interesting and memorable experience. There is a wide variety of music, each minigame and game board has a different theme song. There’s not much to say about the voice acting though, you barely hear any of the characters talking throughout the game.
Graphics 8/10
The graphics are fairly good for a gamecube game. The graphics look a bit to animated compared to some other games. Aside from the cartoony graphics they are still good for a gamecube game, they don’t look blocky at all and the graphics are probably the best for a Mario Party game. During the minigames you can view the full screen, but in certain minigames you use splitscreen mode.
Control 10/10
The controls are different for each minigame, they are explained at the beginning of each minigame, and the controls are very easy to understand. The camera is excellent, it is always centered on the character, or characters. The playing field is usually small enough so that you can see the entire thing, which is usually a plus.
Multiplayer 10/10
Multiplayer is what Mario Party is all about. Multiplayer can make two players best friends or the worst of enemies. There is a normal four player mode, and Deluxe cruise which allows eight players to play with four controllers, each player shares a controller with their teammate. Each minigame in Deluxe cruise is eight player, some of the minigames you are playing with the person you are sharing the controller with, other times you are all playing against each other.
Minigames 10/10
The keystone of the Mario party series, without the minigames Mario party would just be a dull board game, but the minigames transformed it into the popular series it is today. There are eleven types of minigames, some involve getting a point goal before the other players, getting the best time in a racing game, or defeating the other players with some sort of weapon or machine. The Bowser minigames can either be one player or 4-player, the losers of these minigames lose either half or all of their coins, which are the currency of the game. Another interesting type of minigame is the mic minigame section. The gamecube mic is included with the game so anyone can play. The mic easily plugs into the memory card slot B. There is a 4-player minigame mode and a one player minigame mode.
Overall score 9/10
In my opinion this is one of the best Mario party titles and it will keep you entertained for days, or maybe even months. So feel free too grab a friend and throw your own Mario party!