Great Game for All Ages - A Must for All Wii Collections

This game is a staple if you own a Wii system. It is fun to play alone, but excels when played with friends.

The game is very similar to previous Mario Party venues on earlier systems, such as the Nintendo Game Cube. The graphics are better on the newest version, but lacks the imagination of the earlier versions. However, to be fair, I'm sure that it is difficult to re-invent a game over and over for new additions. All in all, this game is worthy the share the title of its predecessors. There are some additional characters which previously were not offered in Mario Party.

Gameplay, like with all Mario Party games, is based on a board game with several mini games. The overall theme for this particular version is a carnival, with individual tents allowing the player to play a board game, minigames that have been unlocked, a battle arena to play specific challenges against opponents, a rewards tent and a fun bazaar. The host of the game is a little frightening looking to me.

There are several board games, each board featuring a different set of goals. In one board, players collect properties like in Monopoly. In another, players must purchase stars and the player with the most stars win. In yet another version, players are all given a number of stars to start with and steal them from each other throughout the game until a certain number of turns passes. The player with the most stars wins.

Players roll dice and move around the board, choosing paths and collecting (or losing) coins and candy pieces (the candy gives special abilities). The winner is determined based on the individual rules of the game board. At the end of each round, a mini game is played to award the winner an amount of coins. Some mini games are played in teams, sometimes by the individual. Mini games also pop up during challenges and special squares. The game sounds much more complicated than what it is and is fun for anyone over the age of 4.

Minigames involve a variety of activities with the remote. In most, only the Wii remote is used without the nunchuk. Examples of minigames are: pouring sand onto a scale to reach certain weights, rowing a boat around various obstacles, tracing over different shapes with spray paint, races of various types, collecting various items on the screen before your opponents do, shooting games, roping games and many more.

Solo play unlocks additional characters, minigames and the final board. The final board is the Bowser board which is a topsy-turvey crazy game that is impossible to determine a winner before the end.

Other features include the use of miis, which is a fun feature.

At the end of each completed game board, the individual account is awarded points which they can use to buy items in the specialty bazaar. This is actually a fun part of the game, because you can buy cute little figurines. After you purchase one, you can move to another part of the bazaar and put it on parade. The parade gets longer with each figurine that you purchase. During the parade, if you click on the figurine it will perform a surprising action. Some are a little dull, but others are adorably inventive.

This is one of the best games for the Wii system. If you own a Wii, you should add this to your collection. The game has been out for quite some time and I hope they release a new version soon!