It's a Party in here!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Lots of fun, multiplayer with only one gamecard, many extras and minigames.

Cons: Some minigames can be annoying or very hard, luck plays a big part.

The Bottom Line: 
Another strong Mario Party game, even better because it is on DS.

Author's Review
Mario Party DS is the latest of the Mario Party games, just this time it's HANDHELD! I enjoyed all of the previous Mario Party games so I just had to get my paws on this one.

If you are new to Mario Party games, let me explain how the game works. You can choose to play as one of eight Mario characters: Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waliugi, Yoshi, Toad, Daisy, and Princess Peach. There are a few different modes you can play in the game. In the Story, Party, and Multiplayer modes, each game "board" is laid out much like a board game, you hit a changing dice block to see how many spaces you move, and then move accordingly, trying to get to Stars to purchase them with coins(which you collect by winning Minigames vs the other player or in spaces on the board). There are various traps and goodies in every board. After each turn, the players all compete in one of the 74 different Mingames. Some concepts for the Minigames are borrowed from previous Mario Party Minigames, but some are new altogether. Most games use the regular DS buttons, but some utilize the Stylus and 4 use the built-in microphone. Most of the Minigames are great fun, but just like in the previous Mario Party games, there are always the few that are near impossible to do well in!

Depending on the board you play in, the way to getting stars differs:
Wiggler's Garden - A star is placed randomly on the board and you try to get to it before the other players to purchase it for 20 coins. After someone purchases a star, a new star appears in another random space.
Toadette's Music Room - You trade various amounts of coins to musical notes that scatter randomly on the board, one at a time. The first is 5 coins, then 10, etc, up to 30 coins before it goes back down to 5.
DK's Stone Statue - There is a Star Splurge spot at the top of a large hill where stars cost 20 coins each and you can buy as many as you can afford when you reach that spot.
Kamek's Library - Three Magic jars are randomly placed on the board at a time and one contains a star, the others contain coins, and a trap, respectively. When the Magic jar containing the star is opened, three new jars are placed.

In the one-player Story Mode, after you beat each board, you have to beat a Boss, in the style of other Mario games, to get to the next board. When you beat all the boards, including Bowser's special (filled with traps) board and then beat Bowser in a boss battle, you unlock another board to play on in the other Modes, Bowser's Pinball Machine.

In the Puzzle Mode are classic games from previous Mario Party games: "Mario's Puzzle Party", "Bob-omb Breakers", "Piece Out", "Block Star", "Triangle Twisters" and "Stick and Spin". These games can be played single or multi-player. These Puzzle games are a delightful extra to the game. The Story and Puzzle Modes make the game worthwhile for players that have no friends with DS's to play the game with as well.

In Multiplayer Mode, which has the most emphasis in the game, you can play with up to 3 friends that have Nintendo DS's using only one game card! The game is fun alone, but even greater fun if you have a friend to compete with. Along with the regular Party boards, there are two special games to play with one friend: "Pen Pals" and "Desert Duel". In Pen Pals, you and your friend have giant pens which you use to try and cooperate to circle two rivals. In "Desert Duel", which I think is just as fun as the Party Mode, you and your rival compete to cover a checker-like board with your colour by rolling the dice to move around the board. You get one point for each square you cover with your colour on the board. There are three stars and three extra dice blocks hidden in some squares; if you find a Star in one of the squares, 5 points are added to your score, and if you find a hidden dice block, you get to move even more spaces. You can also duel your rival player in a Minigame to steal one of their stars! This is a quick and easy game to play that is really addictive.

Luck and chance play a large part in the gameplay. I would go so far as to say that the game is 75% luck and 25% skill. (Maybe a larger percent skill in the Story mode Boss Battles.) The luck and chance can either be a very good thing or a terrible thing for you, depending on who is getting the luck! After a while you learn not to take losses to heart because of all the luck involved, so the game stays fun.

The graphics are typical of DS games, with the quality and appearance not bad, but not breathtaking; somewhere in-between PS1 and Nintendo 64 quality and appearance. As with the previous Mario Party games, the music is comprised catchy and cute melodies that are never too annoying.

The game utilizes every feature of the DS, has some of the most fun Minigames of any of the Mario Party series, and tons of extras, making it one of the best in the series. If you want a game that is fun when you are bored and even more fun when you have some equally-bored friends to play it with, then head on out and buy Mario Party DS ASAP.