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 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. 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 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: Note: Hammer Bro. and Blooper have to be unlocked 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), but it is unknown if Koopa Kid will also return as a space-character. Shy Guy also runs the candy shops in Shy Guy's Perplex Express, in Koopa's Tycoon Town is it known that a Koopa runs the shops, in DK's Treetop Temple a Spear Guy runs the shops, in Goomba's Booty Boardwalk a Pianta runs the shops and in King Boo's Haunted Hideway a Pink Boo runs the shops. Also, Bandits are confirmed to appear on Shy Guy's Perplex Express. Mario Party 8 screenshots from Gamespot of the Netherlands
 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Toad
 * Boo
 * Toadette
 * Birdo
 * Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bro.
 * Blooper

Players will also be able to take control of Miis in the Extra mode.

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, five boards have been revealed for the game, though there will be six in total when the game comes out. The confirmed boards 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 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 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. A Pink Boo is also seen on the board, but it's behind the counter of what may be a Boo Shop from Mario Party 6 (however it looks suspiciously like a Candy Shop).


 * 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 that looks 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, mangoes, 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. Strangely, yet another screenshot depicts four seagulls flying through the air above the game board with lengths of string attached to their feet. The free ends of these lengths of string are attached to a wooden board with a bust of Wario's head on it!


 * 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.


 * Shy Guy's Perplex Express is a board about which not much is known. All that is known, as the name implies, is that it is based in a railway town. Shy Guys are said to drive and be passengers on the trains. Bandits appear when a player lands on a ? Space.


 * Bowser's Warped Orbit 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.

Mini-games

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

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 (affect diceroll)
 * Twice Candy lets the player roll two Dice Blocks instead of one. Identical to the Mushroom item from previous Mario Parties.


 * Thrice Candy lets the player roll three Dice Blocks instead of one. Identical to the Golden Mushroom item from previous Mario Parties.


 * Slowgo Candy lets the player roll the Dice Block slowly, but only from 1-5.

Green Candies (affect other players)
 * Springo Candy transforms the player into a spring, and lets him or her travel to a random opponent.


 * Cashzap Candy takes half of a random opponent's coins.


 * Vampire Candy turns the player into a vampire. The player will take a random number of coins from each opponent.

Yellow Candies (affect players as you pass them on the board)
 * Bitsize Candy turns the player into a pixellated form of themselves, and gains 3 coins per space he or she touches.


 * Bloway Candy transforms the player into a Twister that sends opponents in its path back to start.


 * Bowlo Candy turns the player into a bowling ball, and removes 10 coins for each opponent he or she passes.


 * Weeglee Candy turns the player into three smaller versions of themselves, and lets him or her take 1 candy from each player he or she passes on the board.

Blue Candies (more powerful candies with stronger effects)
 * Thwomp Candy transforms the player into a Thwomp. Any opponent in the player's path loses half of their coins.


 * Bullet Candy transforms the player into a Bullet Bill. The player rolls three Dice Blocks, and steals 1 Star from each opponent he or she passes.


 * Bowser Candy transforms the player into Bowser. The player rolls two Dice Blocks, and steals 3 Stars from each opponent he or she passes.


 * Duelo Candy allows the player to roll two Dice Blocks. If the player reaches an opponent on the board, he or she can challenge the other player to a Duel mini-game.

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.

Links

 * Official Site (USA)
 * Movie
 * Screenshots