Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8 is the eighth installment of the Mario Party series on a home console, the first Mario Party game for the Wii, and the tenth game overall in the series. It is also the last Mario Party home console game to be developed by Hudson Soft before Nd Cube received control of the series. Mario Party 8 is notable for its strong use of the Wii Remote and its motion control capabilities in Minigames. Players are required to perform various gestures in lieu of traditional button/joystick controls. Common motions include pointing-and-shooting, shaking, waving, turning, and twisting the Wii Remote. Player-created Miis are featured in this game, wherein they often show up within crowds. Miis can appear in certain Minigames, such as Sugar Rush, and may also serve as the player's character in Extra Mode. By playing regular party games (via the Party Tent), Minigames, and completing the Star Battle Arena mode, players will earn Carnival Cards, which may be spent to unlock figures and game features.

Mario Party 8 features six boards, five of which are available from the start of a fresh save. Although one board features the classic formula for obtaining a star (via reaching a changing star space and paying 20 coins), the other five boards employ unique conditions for collecting stars. Replacing the Orbs/Capsules from previous Mario Party titles is a similar item called Candy. Players can collect and use Candy, but are unable to place it on the board as traps.

Story
In Mario Party 8, the exuberant ringmaster MC Ballyhoo and his talking hat Big Top have invited Mario and the rest of the crew to the Star Carnival. Ballyhoo holds a special event, the Star Battle Arena, in which a contestant must win five successive party duels across the five standard boards. The winner will be crowned the carnival's Superstar and receive a year's supply of candy.

Once the player has claimed victory in all five duels, Ballyhoo holds an award ceremony to present a special reward. In addition to the year's supply of candy, the player is promised the magical Star Rod. Before the player may receive their reward, however, Bowser swoops in and steals the Star Rod, only to retreat back to his special board, Bowser's Warped Orbit. The player and Ballyhoo then follow Bowser for one final duel. After the player triumphs over Bowser's chosen minion (either Hammer Bro or Blooper), Bowser begrudgingly returns the Star Rod. Yet, mere seconds later, Bowser changes his mind and challenges the player to a final showdown for the Star Rod. Using the Star Rod's magical powers, the player defeats Bowser, and returns to the carnival with Ballyhoo. At long last, the player is declared the superstar, and the credits roll.

Gameplay
Just as with previous Mario Party titles, Mario Party 8 combines the social, strategic gameplay of traditional board games with quick, action-oriented Minigames. In order to win a party, a player must obtain the most stars by the end of the last turn. Additionally, players collect & win coins in order to trade for Stars, buy Candy, and use special events on the board. Each board has a unique way of obtaining stars - most require finding a unique star-space and trading a certain number of coins for a star.

Before the game starts, Ballyhoo introduces the board, and each player rolls a die to determine the order of play. On every turn, each player rolls a 1 to 10 dice to move along the game board. Prior to rolling, players may use Candy (if they posses any) and study the game board. At the end of a turn, all players enter into a randomly-chosen minigame to compete for a coin prize. Typically, the prize is 10 coins, given in whole to every player who wins the Minigame. There are a variety of Minigame arrangements: 4-player free-for-all, 1-vs-3, and 2-vs-2. There is a small chance that a Battle Minigame will be played instead of a regular Minigame. The color of the space that each player is on at the end of the turn sometimes determines what kind of Minigame arrangement will be used (i.e. if two players are on red spaces and the other two players are on blue spaces, the Minigame arrangement will most likely be 2-vs-2). Once the Minigame is finished, and the coin prize(s) have been awarded, the turn is finished. After the last turn, three random Bonus Stars are awarded (if enabled during the game setup). At this point, the player will the most stars (coin count breaks ties) is declared the Superstar, and wins the game.

Akin to similar mechanics in previous Mario Party titles, Mario Party 8 features an event called Chump Charity once the last five turns are reached. Ballyhoo reviews the player rankings and offers the player in last place either a free Duelo Candy or a coin prize. Before gameplay resumes, coin bag pickups are placed on every red space and single-coin pickups are placed on every other space. These pickups may only be collected once (by the first player who reaches the space they reside upon). If two players land on the same space or cross paths, they will only duel if one player is under the effect of Duelo Candy.

If a player encounters another while under the effects of Duelo Candy, or lands on a VS space (Star Battle Arena mode only), they will duel in a 1-on-1 Minigame. The winner throws a dart on a spinning wheel to determine what prize they will collect from the loser. Most often, the possible rewards consist of: 1 coin, 5 coins, or 10 coins.

Bonus Stars
Just like with previous Mario Party games, Bonus Stars are awarded at the end of game (if enabled during game setup). Only three of these randomly-selected stars are handed out per game.
 * Minigame Star: Awarded to the player who won the most coins in Minigames. Typically, this qualifies as the player who won the most Minigames.
 * Candy Star: Awarded to the player who used the most Candy. Both using Candy and purchasing Candy counts towards this bonus.
 * Green Star: Awarded to the player who landed on the most green spaces. Happening ? spaces are the only green spaces in the game, and thus the only spaces that count towards this bonus.
 * Running Star: Awarded to the player who traveled the most spaces. Teleportation mechanics and other means of movement besides a player's dice roll do not count towards this bonus.
 * Shopping Star: Awarded to the player who spent the most coins in the Candy Shops. Simply visiting a Candy Shop without purchasing anything does not count towards this bonus.
 * Red Star: The player who landed on the most red spaces earns this star. Landing on Bowser spaces does not count towards this bonus.

Playable characters
Mario Party 8 has a total of 15 playable characters (14 on the main roster). All 12 characters from Mario Party 7 return, and three new characters (Blooper, Hammer Bro, and Mii) have been added. Mii characters can only be used in the Extras Zone.

It is notable that the new unlockable characters both make multiple appearances in previous Mario Party installments. Blooper has appeared in various Minigames along with Hammer Bro, who also appears as an Orb and a Capsule in Mario Party 7 and Mario Party 5. To unlock Blooper and Hammer Bro, the player must complete Star Battle Arena twice. The first completion will randomly unlock either Blooper or Hammer Bro, after defeating them in the final (6th) duel. To unlock the other character, the player must then complete Star Battle Arena once more, using whichever character was unlocked during their first playthrough.

Team names
Ever since Mario Party 4, players can fight in a tag-team match. In said matches, two teams are formed from two players each. In Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 6 (but not Mario Party 7) team names have been chosen from specific character pairings. This is a returning feature in Mario Party 8. Below are the possible name combinations:

Star Battle Arena
Star Battle Arena is the solo story mode in Mario Party 8. The player chooses a character and competes against five CPU-controlled characters over five separate duels. Each of the five regular boards are played in order: DK's Treetop Temple, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, Shy Guy's Perplex Express, and Koopa's Tycoon Town. Lastly, the sixth, unlockable board, Bowser's Warped Orbit, is played for a final showdown. The general rules of of Duel Battle are used for all six duels (players take turns without regular Minigames), and each duel has a different victory condition from normal Party Tent play. As the player progresses through the duels, their CPU-controlled opponents become more adept. If a duel runs over after 30 turns, Ballyhoo will end the game and declare a tie.

The reward for defeating Bowser and beating Star Battle Arena mode is 200 Carnival Cards. Additionally, Bowser's Warped Orbit and the Minigame Wagon (in the Fun Bazaar) will be unlocked, as well as either Blooper or Hammer Bro (if it is the player's first time completing Star Battle Arena). Replaying Star Battle Arena with Blooper or Hammer Bro (whichever was unlocked) will unlock the other character.

Boards
Mario Party 8 contains six unique boards.

Candy
Much like Orbs/Capsules, there are single-use power-up items in Mario Party 8, referred to as Candy. Players can purchase Candy from a Candy Shop for coins or collect it freely from random Candy spaces on the board. Each board provides a different, partial subset of the 14 candy types (in the Candy Shops and on the board itself). Candy may only be used before a player's dice roll. It cannot be placed on the board, unlike in previous Mario Party titles. Players can hold a maximum of three Candy items.

Red Candies
These Candy items involve changes related to the Dice Block.

Green Candies
These Candy items transform the player for a very brief time, allowing them to perform a specific action.

Yellow Candies
These Candy items cause players to transform for the duration of their dice roll. Once the player's turn has finished, they will transform back.

Blue Candies
These candies are offense-oriented.

Other features

 * Minigame Tent: In this mode, players can play minigames they have unlocked elsewhere. They can play just one minigame or set up a competition using specific minigames or a set of minigames. Completing minigames earns the player cards for the player to spend at the Surprise Wagon.
 * Free Play Arcade: The Free Play Arcade allows players to play specific minigames they have unlocked elsewhere. They can obtain minigames by either competing in the Star Battle Arena, playing in Party Mode, or buying them out at the Minigame Wagon.
 * Crown Showdown: Up to four players compete for the crown which can be achieved by winning either 3, 5, or 7 minigames. Players select the rules of play including number of player, number of wins needed, and the set of minigames to be played. Minigames from a set are chosen randomly.
 * Flip-Out Frenzy: Up to four players complete in this mode. For each minigame won, players choose panels on a grid board to flip. When the player chooses a panel, all horizontal and vertical grids right next to it will also get flipped. The player with the most panels wins.
 * Tic-Tac Drop: This mode is limited to two players. The players play duel minigames, with the winner permitted to drop a ball of their own color into a a Tic-Tac-Toe grid. The first player who get all three of their balls in a row win.
 * Test for the Best: The player has to unlock certain minigames to play this and they must buy in from the Surprise Wagon at the Fun Bazaar before playing it. The player competes for the best score from playing ten minigames. It is similar to the Minigame Decathlon from previous Mario Party games, except only one player can play at a time.
 * Extras Zone: In this mode, the player can play extra minigames such as Moped Mayhem. The player can also use their Miis to participate in the Extras Zone.
 * Fun Bazaar: The Fun Bazaar is a place where the player can exchange cards for items, modes, and minigames or check records.
 * Records Board: The player can view minigame sets or the best records here. The player can also view the Staff Records after they bought them from the Surprise Wagon.
 * Minigame Wagon: Minigames can be bought here using Carnival Cards. The wagon is only accessible after completing the Star Battle Arena.
 * Carnival Wagon: The player can view any Carnival Figures they collected and watch them in a Carnival Parade.
 * Surprise Wagon: The player can trade Carnival Cards for various items such as Sound Tests, Extra Minigames, Carnival Figurines, and other stuff. Unlike what the instruction booklet says, it's always available.
 * Carnival Calliope: The player can listen to music, sounds, and voices by accessing here. Some features must be bought at the Surprise Wagon first before listening to it.

Minigames


Mario Party 8 has a total of seventy-three minigames, most which make use of the Wii Remote and its motion control capabilities, though some also require the controller to be held in a more traditional way. Unlike other Mario Party games, all minigames rather than a randomized select few are displayed in a single, large roulette corresponding to what type of minigame they are.

Critical reception
After its North American release on May 29, 2007, the game sold 314,000 units in the United States in three days, making it the best-selling home console game in the country that month. As of March 31, 2008, the game has sold 4.86 million copies worldwide. In Japan, Mario Party 8 has sold 1,239,716 copies as of the end of Q2 2008, according to Famitsu. Mario Party 8 is the 11th best-selling game for the Wii, selling 7.6 million copies worldwide, as of March 31, 2014.

As with most Mario Party games, reviews have been mixed. One of the biggest criticisms was the lack of wi-fi and widescreen. Matt Casamassina of IGN referred to the single-player mode as "torture" and commented on the visuals as "graphics don't even impress as a GCN title".

Controversy
The launch of Mario Party 8 in the United Kingdom had several difficulties. Originally scheduled for release on June 22, 2007, Nintendo announced on June 19, 2007 that the UK version of the game had been delayed to July 13 of that year due to a production issue.

Furthermore, upon the release on July 13, 2007, the game was immediately recalled. Nintendo gave a reason for the withdrawal in a press release: "[Mario Party 8] was launched in the UK today. Unfortunately we have discovered that a small number of games contain the wrong version of the disk due to an assembly error. We have therefore decided to recall all copies of the game from UK retailers so that this mistake can be corrected. We will re-launch Mario Party 8 in the UK as soon as possible and will announce a new launch date shortly. We very much regret any inconvenience caused." The European retailer GAME confirmed that the game was withdrawn from shelves because some copies included an offensive line as part of a magic spell used by Kamek in the board Shy Guy's Perplex Express: "'Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic!'" Due to "spastic" having a highly negative connotation in the United Kingdom, the game was declared banned and immediately recalled. Mario Party 8 was eventually re-released in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2007, with the offensive statement altered; copies without the word "spastic" use the word "erratic" instead.

Although it is unknown if Mario Party 8 is the direct catalyst, several first-party Nintendo games released after it have had at least a few English localization differences between the American and PAL releases, rather than the American English text being used for all regions. A similar offense in Super Paper Mario with the word "shag" was preemptively altered for the PAL release.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: Sprites of Mario and Bowser appear in Bowser's Warped Orbit and sprites of Mario appear at the Star Battle Arena, printed on the toybox of Mosh-Pit Playroom and on the wrapper of Bitsize Candy.
 * Super Mario World: The Koopa Clown Car returns.
 * Super Mario Sunshine: Piantas appear in Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, with their voice clips being recycled from this game.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The dinosaur from Dino Dino Jungle appears in DK's Treetop Temple. When a player lands on a Bowser Space in Shy Guy's Perplex Express, the Bowser face on the front of the train resembles the face on the front of the Koopa King, Bowser's signature kart.
 * Mario Power Tennis: Boo's voice clips are recycled from this game.
 * Super Mario Strikers: Hammer Bro's voice clips are recycled from this game.

References in later games

 * Mario Party DS: The playable characters' profile models and voice clips are reused in this game.
 * Mario Party 9: All the playable characters (except Toadette) reappear, with Boo, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro and Blooper becoming supporting characters. Also, some of the characters' voice clips are reused.
 * Super Mario Run: Princess Peach and Bowser's artwork are reused.
 * Mario Party: The Top 100: Three minigames return in this game. A cover version of the minigame completion theme plays when completing any of the three Mario Party 8 minigames. MC Ballyhoo and Big Top make a cameo in the Characters section of the Series Guide.

Differences from other Mario Party games

 * This is the only installment in the Mario Party series:
 * without Koopa Kid (known as Mini-Bowser in PAL regions) or Bowser Jr.
 * where the players' stats while playing in a board is not in the four corners of the screen; it is shown in a column in the top right corner.
 * to show all minigames from a selected category on the roulette wheel, instead of only three, four, five, or six.
 * in which the design of the spaces varies from board to board to fit their surrounding aesthetics better.
 * This is the first Mario Party game that does not have the minigames rules hosted by the host of the board/game, instead put as a separate section in the minigame rules screen. From Mario Party to Mario Party 7, the minigames were all hosted by the hosts of the board and/or the game.

Trivia

 * The NTSC and PAL versions use different fonts for text; the font used for the main text in the PAL version is the same as the font used from Mario Party 4 to Mario Party 7.