Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8 is the latest installment of the Mario Party Series, and the first Mario Party game for the Nintendo Wii. It makes use of the advantages of the Wii Remote.

Features
With motion control players can row their way through a river race, punch a statue to pieces, steer race cars, mopeds and go-karts and handle a balancing pole while walking a tightrope. By using the pointer you can shoot at Pink Boos in a haunted house, rag and drop toppings in a cake-decorating competition, select the correct answers in game show challenges. Using the Wiimote's buttons players jump and pummel their way through a football brawl, hop and run across a field of spinning platforms. Mario Party 8 also includes dozens of new minigames, six new party boards and many new game modes. You no longer look down on the board and all of the characters, instead you focus on just your character and what they're doing. Another new feature is that players can transform their character using candy power-ups.

Story
In Mario Party 8, a whimsical ringmaster named MC Ballyhoo, along with his talking hat Big Top, has invited Mario, and the rest of the crew to his carnival, the Star Carnival. It's a perfect setting for the dynamic spectacle of the Wii game play. Mario Party 8 keeps the surprises coming with minigames that draw upon the Wii Remote’s motion, pointing and button control in a variety of ways. Players always know how to jump into the action by watching an animated tutorial that shows how to use the Wii Remote.

Following tradition, Mario Party 8 takes the social, strategic game play of board games and adds breaks for quick, action-oriented minigames. In the main mode, players travel across six boards in search of Stars, landing on spaces that are helpful (example: giving coins) or a hindrance (example: sending Bowser in to mess with the player). Several variations for these boards tweak the main goals to enhance game play for solo sessions, two-player games and three- to four-player games.

Characters
Mario Party 8 has a total of 14 playable characters. All of the characters are the ones from Mario Party 7 plus two new characters join the party! Also Miis can be played in the "Extra Zone".


 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Toad
 * Boo
 * Toadette
 * Birdo
 * Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bro. (new)
 * Blooper (new)
 * Miis (Extra Zone only)

It is noteworthy that the new unlockable characters both made cameo appearances in Mario Party 7.

Team Names
Debuting in Mario Party 5, players could fight in a tag-team match, were two players were paired together. Team names were choosen depending on which two characters were paired together. This is a returning feature. Here are all of the possible name combinations:


 * Mario-Luigi: Mario Brothers
 * Mario-Peach: Power Players
 * Mario-Yoshi: Fan Favorites
 * Mario-Wario: Big Starrios
 * Mario-Daisy: Flower Players
 * Mario-Waluigi: ‘Stache Clashers
 * Mario-Toad: Fungi Fun Guys
 * Mario-Boo: Soul Bros.
 * Mario-Toadette: Marionettes
 * Mario-Birdo: Super Snozzios
 * Mario-Dry Bones: BBQ Ribs
 * Mario-Blooper: ‘Stache Splashers
 * Mario-Hammer Bros.: Heavy Blow-Bros.


 * Luigi-Peach: Waltzing Brawlers
 * Luigi-Yoshi: Green Machine
 * Luigi-Wario: Green ‘n’ Greedy
 * Luigi-Daisy: Tango Tanglers
 * Luigi-Waluigi: Lean ‘n’ Mean
 * Luigi-Toad: Savage Sidekicks
 * Luigi-Boo: Scaredy Pants
 * Luigi-Toadette: Cha-Cha Chasers
 * Luigi-Birdo: Samba Smashers
 * Luigi-Dry Bones: Cry Bones
 * Luigi-Blooper: Blooper Scoopers
 * Luigi-Hammer Bros.: Longtime-Foe Bros.


 * Peach-Yoshi: Kind Hearts
 * Peach-Wario: Sugar ‘n’ Spies
 * Peach-Daisy: Damsels in Success
 * Peach-Waluigi: Sweet ‘n’ Sour
 * Peach-Toad: Loyal Friends
 * Peach-Boo: Boo-for-Teas
 * Peach-Toadette: High-Flair Pair
 * Peach-Birdo: Pink Superpowers
 * Peach-Dry Bones: Dry Thrones
 * Peach-Blooper: Royal Flush
 * Peach-Hammer Bros.: Glamour Hammer


 * Yoshi-Wario: Poached Eggs
 * Yoshi-Daisy: Tomboy Trouble
 * Yoshi-Waluigi: Scrambled Eggs
 * Yoshi-Toad: Good Buddies
 * Yoshi-Boo: Hovering Friends
 * Yoshi-Toadette: Flutter Friends
 * Yoshi-Birdo: Egg Explosion
 * Yoshi-Dry Bones: Sky Bones
 * Yoshi-Blooper: Double Dippers
 * Yoshi-Hammer Bros.: Hungry Hammers


 * Wario-Daisy: Mischief Makers
 * Wario-Waluigi: Double Crossers
 * Wario-Toad: Crazy Allies
 * Wario-Boo: Double-Dealers
 * Wario-Toadette: Double Agents
 * Wario-Birdo: Rotten Eggs
 * Wario-Dry Bones: Dumb-Skulls
 * Wario-Blooper: Drenched Stench
 * Wario-Hammer Bros.: Scammer Hammer


 * Daisy-Waluigi: Double-Facers
 * Daisy-Toad: Bloomy Shroomy
 * Daisy-Boo: High-Spirited Duo
 * Daisy-Toadette: Perfumed Shroomy
 * Daisy-Birdo: Gallopin’ Gal-Pals
 * Daisy-Dry Bones: Daisy Pushers
 * Daisy-Blooper: Bloopsie-Daisy
 * Daisy-Hammer Bros.: Barn Builders


 * Waluigi-Toad: Half-Cranked Duo
 * Waluigi-Boo: Total Creeps
 * Waluigi-Toadette: Half-Pranky Duo
 * Waluigi-Birdo: Double Scammy
 * Waluigi-Dry Bones: Boneheads
 * Waluigi-Blooper: Bloop ‘n’ Scoop
 * Waluigi-Hammer Bros.: Stench Henchman


 * Toad-Boo: Doom ‘n’ Shroom
 * Toad-Toadette: Zoomin’ Shrooms
 * Toad-Birdo: Surprise Attackers
 * Toad-Dry Bones: Short Ribs
 * Toad-Blooper: Spray Players
 * Toad-Hammer Bros.: Stealth Strikers


 * Boo-Toadette: Boo Duet
 * Boo-Birdo: Unfair Pair
 * Boo-Dry Bones: Scary Pair
 * Boo-Blooper: Creature Feature
 * Boo-Hammer Bros.: Bad Vibes


 * Toadette-Birdo: Pink Powerhouse
 * Toadette-Dry Bones: Double Trouble
 * Toadette-Blooper: Bloop-Dee-Doo
 * Toadette-Hammer Bros.: Smash Success


 * Birdo-Dry Bones: Bone Chokers
 * Birdo-Blooper: What-The-Bloop
 * Birdo-Hammer Bros.: Two Timers


 * Dry Bones-Blooper: Two-Toned Duo
 * Dry Bones-Hammer Bros.: What-The-Deuce


 * Blooper-Hammer Bros.: Blooper Bros.

Boards
There are cool new boards in the game. Here is a list for them all:


 * DK's Treetop Temple is a multi-leveled, jungle-themed board that features DK's Barrel Cannon. 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's also a barrel-shaped elevator that is 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 2and Boo's Haunted Bash in Mario Party 4. King Boo will be hiding somewhere on the game board, and when a player finds him twice, he will give the character who found him (twice) a star. He'll then hide again and the process will repeat itself. There is also a Whomp on the game board that blocks the path of players passing through his area of the game board.


 * Goomba's Booty Boardwalk is game board set on a peninsula or large island. It features a volcano, and a dolphin that is used to carry players to an island. 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, mangoes, and other delicacies at fruit shops scattered across the board. Landing on a ? Space will cause a Pianta to grab the character and throw him.


 * 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 the player invests into a hotel, the better its ratings become. All of the hotels start out as one-star joints, but if the player invests enough money into one, it will eventually become a two-star hotel, then a three-star hotel, and finally, a four-star hotel. Numerous players can invest in one hotel, so the player must fight for the stars.


 * Shy Guy's Perplex Express is a train board. It takes plade on a train and the control wagon will be replaced when a character lands on a DK Space or Bowser Space. To get a star, the player mnust reach the control room. After getting a star, the player will go to the top of the train and then come back down. A Bandit is seen here, and that Bandot has stolen Holly Koopa's candy.


 * Bowser's Warped Orbit is an unlockable board. It is owned by none other than Bowser. In it, players start the game with stars, and use special candy only available on this map in order to steal stars from the other players.  Most of the ? Spaces in this stage result in the motion of the players movements being reversed around the station.

Mini-games

 * See the article, Mario Party 8 (mini-games).

Spaces

 * Blue Space: Gives Player three coins
 * Red Space: Takes away three coins
 * ? Space: Activates special board-specific event
 * Bowser Space: Brings Bowser in
 * DK Space: Brings DK in
 * Lucky Space: Activates some fortunate event

Candy Abilities
There are 14 different Candy power-ups in Mario Party 8. Players can obtain a candy from a Candy Shop or a Candy space on the board.

Red Candies (affects the Dice Block)
 * Twice Candy
 * Thrice Candy
 * Slowgo Candy

Green Candies (makes impact before you move)
 * Springo Candy
 * Cashzap Candy
 * Vampire Candy

Yellow Candies (makes impact while you move)
 * Bitsize Candy
 * Bloway Candy
 * Bowlo Candy
 * Weeglee Candy

Blue Candies (makes massive impact while you move)
 * Thwomp Candy
 * Bullet Candy
 * Bowser Candy
 * Duelo Candy

Trivia

 * This is the second Mario Party to not include Waluigi on the box-art (the first was Mario Party 6), even though he has been a playable character since Mario Party 3.
 * This is the first Mario Party to have 4 Player Mini-games as also Duel Mini-games.
 * This is the first time the Star Rod has been seen since Paper Mario, if one does not count the Kirby series Star Rod's Super Smash Bros. appearances.
 * Instead of the player's stats of the Party Mode being in the four corners like the other 7 games, they are down a column in the top right corner.

Links

 * Official Site (USA)
 * Movie
 * Screenshots