| Mario Party 4 | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Director | Kenji Kikuchi |
| Producers |
|
| Designer | Fumihisa Sato |
| Composer | Ichiro Shimakura |
| Series | Mario Party |
| Platform | GameCube |
| Release | |
| Genre | Party |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Mario Party 4[a] is a 2002party video game developed byHudson Soft and published byNintendo for theGameCube. It is the fourth installment in theMario Party series and the first one to be released for GameCube. Like the previous games in the series, it features eightplayable characters from theMario franchise—Mario,Luigi,Princess Peach,Yoshi,Wario,Donkey Kong,Princess Daisy, andWaluigi—competing in aboard game, with the objective of each of the sixgame boards being to earn the most Stars. Besides the standardmultiplayer mode, the game also features asingle-player campaign in which the player plays the game withartificial intelligence-controlled players.
Mario Party 4 was announced in March 2002 and was later showcased atE3 2002. The game was released in North America on October 21, 2002, Japan on November 8, 2002, and in PAL regions on November 29, 2002. The game received mixed reviews, with complaints going to the single-player mode, the design ofgame boards, and sound effects, while the graphics and controls were praised. It won theFamily Game of the Year award at theInteractive Achievement Awards of2003. The game was followed byMario Party 5 for the same console in 2003.
Mario Party 4 is apuzzle andparty video game based on an interactiveboard game played by four characters from theMario franchise.[1][2] The game features eightplayable characters in total,Mario,Princess Peach,Luigi,Donkey Kong,Princess Daisy,Yoshi,Wario, andWaluigi.[1] In the game, which features sixgame boards, players roll a dice and walk on squares which either add or subtract player's coins or randomly trigger one of the 50minigames.[1][2] The goal of the game is to collect the most coins and stars;[1] stars can be acquired when a player reaches a square with a star on it,[3] or by either winning the most minigames, most coins, or landing on the most "Happening Spaces" squares.[2] A minigame is played at the end of each round.[4] There are two types of mushrooms that the player can acquire: a mega mushroom, which gives the player an extra dice, increases the player's size, and the ability to steal 10 coins from another player, and a mini mushroom, which shrinks the player and limits the dice to first five numbers, but allows the player to go through pipes, which allow the player to access shortcuts on the board.[1]Items that can additionally be bought from a store include pipes, a genie lamp,[2] which teleports the player to a star on the board,[5] and the Boo's crystal ball, which allows the player to steal another player's star.[3] The length of a single game can vary; it can last between 10 and 50 turns.[4]
The six game boards are interactive and feature various designs, such as a ghost-themed or tropical-themed board. On the Koopa's Seaside Soiree game board, the player can interact with animals that can either allow the player to access shortcuts or randomize the player's direction,[6] while on the ghost-themed Boo board, a ghost train transports the player around the board.[3] The "reversal of fortune" space on the board allows the player to switch coins and stars with a random player.[3]Mario Party 4 features a variety of minigames, categorized as either adeathmatch (free-for-all) mode, a two-on-two, or one-on-three battle mode; these modes include games such asdrag racing, skiing,[1] dominos,[6] soccer, and snowball dodging.[4] Booksquirm is a minigame in which the player has to avoid being crushed in a book, while Dungeon Duos has two players travel through a passageway.[2] Most of the minigames fall under the free-for-all mode. Upon winning a minigame, a player receives coins as a prize,[6] while upon completing the entire game, the player will win a special prize depending on the player's character.[5]Mario Party 4 introduces the ability to practice minigames before playing them in a game with other players.[7]
Besides the standardmultiplayer mode, the game offers a "pure minigame mode" and asingleplayer campaign called the "Story Mode",[6] which allows the player to play alone with threeartificial intelligence (AI)-controlled players.[1] The game supportsprogressive scan for HDTV players.[6]
Mario Party 4 was developed byHudson Soft and published byNintendo.[8] It is the firstMario Party game to be released forGameCube.[6] The game was first announced in a March 2002 Nintendo press conference in Tokyo, with the announcements made byShigeru Miyamoto andSatoru Iwata.[9] It was targeted as part of the 2002 roster of Nintendo games, which they rated as their "biggest year" for software at the time. Nintendo presented a playable demonstration of the game atE3 2002, featuring a limited set of minigames.[10][11] The game was released on October 21, 2002, in North America, November 8 in Japan, and November 29 in Europe.[8][12]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 70/100[13] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | 3/5[14] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8.5/10, 8.5/10, 8/10[15] |
| Eurogamer | 5/10[1] |
| Famitsu | 30/40[16] |
| Game Informer | 3/10[17] |
| GamePro | 4.5/5[7] |
| GameRevolution | C+[2] |
| GameSpot | 7.2/10[4] |
| GameSpy | 3.5/5[5] |
| IGN | 6.9/10[6] |
| Nintendo Life | 8/10[3] |
| Nintendo World Report | 7/10[18] |
Mario Party 4 received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregatorMetacritic.[13] In Japan, four critics fromFamitsu gave the gamea total score of 30 out of 40.[16]
Reviewers positively received the minigames ofMario Party 4.[4][6] Fran Mirabella III ofIGN praised the minigames as entertaining due to their "freshness...in combination with unbridled multiplayer action", while Johnny Liu ofGameRevolution commended the Booksquirm and Dungeon Duos minigames.[2] Andrew Reiner ofGame Informer, however, described the boards as confusing and "poorly designed", and the minigames as having bad design and control system.[17] Tom Bramwell ofEurogamer disliked the "reversal of fortune" space, calling it "unfair", and the big size of game boards, adding that "interest wanes very quickly in a group of four".[1] Michael Cole ofNintendo World Report commended the "mega-mini" system with mushrooms.[18] Reviewers also disliked the singleplayer mode for having the player watch AI-controlled players take turns.[1][2][5][7] Ryan Steddy ofNintendo Life described the singleplayer mode as a "dull add-on".[3]
Additionally, reviewers commended the improvement of the game's graphics, particularly those of the characters.[1][6][7][18][15] Liu and Mirabella III noted that the graphics were an improvement of the previous installments featured on theNintendo 64.[2][6] Ryan Davis ofGameSpot praised the lighting and particle effects.[4] Liu, however, also noted that the graphics were not greatly detailed.[2] Although Bad Hare ofGamePro commended the music,[7] Mirabella III did not consider it to be fun.[6] Bramwell and Mirabella III disliked the sound effects,[1][6] while Cole disliked the voice acting.[18] Scott Alan Marriott ofAllGame had mixed opinions on the sound effects.[14]
Bramwell, Hare, and Bryn Williams ofGameSpy praised the game's controls.[1][5][7] However, Bramwell noted that if a player's reaction is slow it would often result in losing minigames.[1]
TheGamer rankedMario Party 4 the best entry in the series.[19]Den of Geek viewed it as the fourth best game in theMario Party series, citing its minigames.[20]
Mario Party 4 won "Family Game of the Year" during theAIAS'6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[21] It was nominated forGameSpot's annual "Best Party Game on GameCube" award, which went toSuper Monkey Ball 2.[22]
The game sold 1,100,000 units from its release to December 27, 2007, in North America,[23] and an additional 900,000 copies in Japan, bringing its overall sales to 2,000,000.[24]
| Console | |
|---|---|
| Handheld | |
