Mario Party

Mario Party is a video game based on a board game, and the first of the expansive Mario Party series. Players choose one of six characters and move around the board. As they go around, they collect coins and various other items that can help them or hinder others in their quest to collect Stars. Twenty coins are required to buy a star (or 50, if you want to steal one from an opponent).

What sets this game apart from others is the mini-games that follow each round. The players will be grouped together in groups of two, three against one, or everyone for themselves. They then compete in a game that tests their reflexes, puzzle solving skills, or plain luck. The winners will be awarded coins and the losers may lose coins.

However, being good at the game isn't enough to win. Luck is also important. It's possible to go from first to last in a single turn if another character is lucky.

Story
One day Mario and friends are sitting around arguing over who is the Super Star. Wario states that a Super Star must be strong, to which Donkey Kong agrees. Both get into an argument over who is stronger. Toad says that maybe Mario would make a good superstar, or Peach, or even the energetic Yoshi. The gang starts to close in on Toad,who shouts out that he has an idea of what they should do. He suggests that the crew take the Warp Pipe in Mushroom Village, and find out who is the Super Star of their adventures. He warns that the road will be dangerous and that being the super star requires not only strength, but courage, wisdom and kindness. Luigi bravely agrees first to this plan and steps off to find the warp pipe. Wario follows and the group agrees to the plan and also set off to find the warp pipe and become the next Super Star.

Boards
The original Mario Party had eight game boards, more than any other game to date (not counting the Duel boards from Mario Party 3).


 * DK's Jungle Adventure
 * Peach's Birthday Cake
 * Yoshi's Tropical Island
 * Wario's Battle Canyon
 * Luigi's Engine Room
 * Mario's Rainbow Castle
 * Bowser's Magma Mountain - Bought for 980 coins
 * Eternal Star - Unlockable after 100 stars are gathered and all other boards are played once

Spaces
There is also a Star Space. When a player passes here, he/she can obtain a Star only if he/she has at least 20 Coins.

General

 * Nintendo gave away a free Mario Party glove for a while after Mario Party's release. The reason being, albeit a silly one, was that many gamers got blisters and such on the palms of their hands.  This was on the count of the mini-games that involved spinning the analog stick around as fast as possible. Nintendo suggested that the gamers should use the thumb to spin the analog stick, but this method was a lot slower than rotating with the palm of the hand. The glove that Nintendo sent to the gamers had no logo, nor did it have any Nintendo characters on it. Receiving the glove required proof of purchase of the first game of the series. It is interesting to note that the glove was not available, and the glove give-away did not surface until after the release of Mario Party 2. It is also very interesting to note that future Mario Party games replaced spin-the-analog-stick minigames with button mashing minigames.
 * The Dice Block that Mario is hitting on the cover of the game shows a 3, leading many gamers to mistakenly believe that this game was Mario Party 3 after the third game was released.
 * Mario Kart Slot Cars, a promotion for Mario Kart DS, appears to be inspired by the Slot Car Derby mini-game.
 * In the end credits (which can also be viewed in the Mushroom Bank), part of the music is a harmony remix of the main theme song of the Mario Bros.

4-Player minigames

 * Bumper Balls is based off bumper cars.
 * Hot Bob-omb is based off of "Hot Potato".
 * Key-pa-Way is a pun on "Keep Away".
 * Musical Mushroom is based off of "Musical Chairs"
 * Shy Guy Says is based off of "Simon Says"

2 vs. 2 minigames

 * Bombsketball is a pun on basketball.

1 player minigames

 * Whack-a-plant is based on Whack-a-mole.