Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8 is an upcoming video game for the Wii. It was announced during Nintendo's press conference on September 14, 2006. It will be the tenth game in the series (eleventh in Japan) and the first to be released on Nintendo's new console. The first videos and screenshots for the game were revealed during the Nintendo World event in Japan on November 3, 2006. The game is slated to be released March 5, 2007.

Features
Little is known about the game in general and how it will use the Wii Remote's capabilities to its advantage. However, the following information has been disclosed:


 * Characters will let out an exclamation through the Wii Remote speaker the player is controlling, signifying it is his/her turn to play.


 * There has been mention of transformers titled "candy powerups" that can affect gameplay that will be bought at shops scattered about the various game boards. These powerups, resembling the Orb system present in Mario Party 6 and Mario Party 7, will "transform" characters into different things to suit situations. There are many different types of candy in the game, such us Bowlo Candy (transforms your player into a large red bowling ball that flattens everone in your path, stealing their coins in the process), Springo Candy (your character's legs morph into a metal spring and you can bounce to the location of someone else on the board), Bitsize Candy (your player becomes an 8-bit version of themself and you receive coins for every space you pass over for that turn), two types of candies that change the number of Dice Blocks available to you during that turn, and several others that transform characters into anything from vampires with the ability to suck coins from other players, airplanes capable of flying over dangerous traps set by opponents, and several other creatures that can stomp on and carry away your enemies.


 * The game is known to have over 70 new mini-games that all utilize the Wii's capabilities as well as 6 new boards, and 12 different modes of play.

Story
Nothing is known about the storyline and how the characters are involved, thus far. According to a recent scan of a Japanese magazine, there will be approximately 75 new mini-games. There is a new host named MC Ballyhoo, who wears a talking hat named Big Top. A circus theme seems to be present within the game, but this is unconfirmed.

Characters
Mario Party 8 has been confirmed to have 14 different playable characters in the game. Not dissimilar to Mario Party 7 where Dry Bones and Birdo first made their appearance in the series, two new characters will join the party.

The two new characters to first appear as playable characters in the Mario Party series have been confirmed to be:
 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Toad
 * Boo
 * Toadette
 * Birdo
 * Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bro.
 * Blooper

It is noteworthy that these new characters both made cameo appearances in Mario Party 7. Currently, it is unknown which other characters from the Mario universe will appear as cameos in the game. It is also unknown whether or not the game will exceed 14 characters. Bowser returns as a space, it is confirmed that Donkey Kong has a space (he also has his own board). Shy Guy also runs the "candy shops," but it is unknown if he runs them all.

Boards
Little is known about the features of the boards and how they differentiate themselves from preceding Mario Party games, except the fact that the spaces are square instead of circular. Thus far, three boards have been revealed for the game. They are:


 * DK's Treetop Temple is a multi-leveled, jungle-themed board that features DK's Barrel Cannon. Apparently, if someone lands near the cannon, he or she will be fired sky-high, often within reach of a star. There is also a Star Space in front of DK's statue. He will sell you a star for 20 coins (similar to DK's board in Mario Party). There also seems to be some sort of barrel-shaped elevator that may be used as a transport between the different levels of the game board.
 * King Boo's Haunted Hideaway is a haunted mansion-themed board, similar to Horror Land in Mario Party 2. King Boo will be hiding somewhere on the game board, and when he is found, he will give the character who found him a star. He'll then hide again and the process will repeat itself. There also appears to be a Whomp on the game board that blocks the path of players passing through his area of the game board. In one screenshot, it looks like he's demanding that Toadette gives him some coins so that she can pass by him.


 * Goomba's Booty Boardwalk appears to be a game board set on a peninsula or large island. It features a volcano, and some sort of dolphin that seems to carry players to an island isolated from the rest of the board. This smaller island has four Goomba statues and a treasure chest on it. The "beach-town" portion of this board is based on Isle Delfino, as it features many Piantas selling pineapples, guavas, mangos, and other delicacies at fruit shops scattered across the board. Players probably won't be able to buy the fruit thmselves, though. In one screenshot, it looks like a Pianta is throwing Mario a couple spaces back because he landed on a "?" Space. Another screenshot has a medium-sized boat with a Pianta on it in the background.


 * Koopa's Tycoon Town is a game board in which there are several hotels, owned by wealthy Koopas, that players can invest in with the coins they have earned. The more money you invest into a hotel, the better its ratings become. All of the hotels start out as one-star joints, but if you invest enough money into one, it will eventually become a two-star hotel, then a three-star hotel, and finally, a four-star hotel. The number of stars you earn depends on the hotel's rating after you invest in it. Numerous players can invest in one hotel, so you must fight for the stars. If you're lucky, a Koopa may roll up in his car and drive you to an isolated hotel that others can't invest in. Numerous other Koopas and Goombas make cameos sitting on park benches throughout the game board.


 * Bowser's Warped Vortex is for now shrouded in mystery, but we do know that stealing stars from other players will be customary on this game board, and that it is the only game board that is not playable from the start of the game, and has to be unlocked somehow.

Trivia

 * This is the second Mario Party to not include Waluigi on the box-art even though he has been a playable character since Mario Party 3.

Links

 * Movie
 * Screenshots