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. Characters can use Springo Candy to have their legs become a metal spring and bounce to the position of another character on the board, use Bowlo Candy to roll over enemies in their path and steal their coins at the same time, use Bitsize Candy to become an 8-bit version of themselves and make coin blocks appear on every space in front of them, become creatures that can smash and stomp over enemies, transform into an airplane to fly over booby traps, or turn into a vampire to suck coins from other players.


 * 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 sentient 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, because if it seems to be unlikely, it will no longer provide characters from the following sequel onwards. Otherwise, who knows what happens when it does provide more characters. Bowser returns as a space,it is confirmed that Donkey Kong has a space (he does have 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.


 * The name of this game board is unknown, but it is a beach-themed board that is based on Isle Delfino. Piantas appear on the board, and in one screenshot, it looks like a Pianta is picking up Mario and tossing him back a few spaces because he landed on a "?" Space.


 * 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.


 * 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 island has four Goomba statues and a treasure chest on it.


 * Koopa's Tycoon Town is a game board in which there are several hotels, owned by Koopa, 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. If you make a hotel become a four-star joint, you earn a star yourself. Numerous players can invest in one hotel, so you must fight for the stars. If your lucky, Koopa may roll up in his car and drive you to an isolated hotel that others can't invest in.


 * 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.

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