is a
party video game
Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Li ...
developed by
Hudson Soft and published by
Nintendo for the
GameCube in November 2005. The seventh main installment in the
''Mario Party'' series, it makes use of the
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
peripheral introduced in ''
Mario Party 6
is the sixth installment in the ''Mario Party'' series of board game-style party video games by Nintendo and is the third game in the series made for the GameCube and was released in Japan on November 18, 2004; in North America on December 6 ...
'', and features twelve characters, including two new unlockable characters:
Birdo and Dry Bones. Koopa Kid was omitted as a playable character, after being playable in the two previous games.
''Mario Party 7'' was the fourth and last game in the series released for the GameCube, and was followed by ''
Mario Party 8
''Mario Party 8'' is a 2007 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The game is the eighth main installment in the ''Mario Party'' series, and the first title in the series released for the Wii. It was ...
'' for the
Wii in May 2007.
Gameplay
The goal of ''Mario Party 7'' is to gather stars, but each board requires it in a different way. For the first time ever since the series'
initial release in 1998, eight players may participate in either Party Cruise or Deluxe Cruise (the 8 player equivalent of the Mini-Game Cruise). Players are split into teams of two and are required to share a controller, with the first player using the L button and the Control Stick in mini-games, while the second player uses the R button and the C-stick.
While a mode for a solo player itself isn't new to the ''Mario Party'' series, this game's take is very different from any of the previous six games. One player competes against another (either computer controlled or human played), trying to complete the set objective on the board map before the other can. Tasks range from collecting a set number of stars to having a set number of coins on a space. Up to ten slots of different characters with different phrases may be saved. Once a player has completed all six boards, they are added to the rankings section, where it shows the players who took the least turns to complete them.
There are 88
minigames
A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...
in ''Mario Party 7'', the most in the series up to this point. Like all except ''
Mario Party 2
is a 1999 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The second game in the ''Mario Party'' series, it was released in Japan in December and worldwide in 2000. The game received mostly positive rev ...
'', no minigames from previous editions appear. There are nine types of minigames in the game: 4-player, 1-vs.-3, 2-vs.-2, Battle, Duel, 8-player,
DK,
Bowser
, or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...
, and Rare. For 4-player and 1-vs.-3, there are an additional five minigames that can be played with the
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publ ...
. In 8 player minigames, one player uses the Control Stick and L, and the other player uses the C stick and R. The minigame controls range from pressing a button repeatedly to using the control stick and several buttons. There are extra minigames which the player must purchase in-game to unlock.
Another new addition to this game is "Bowser Time!". This is an event that only occurs every five turns during a Party Cruise match. After each
minigame
A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...
, the meter on the screen will increase by 20% and when the meter is full, Bowser will appear and hinders the players depending on which board that the characters are currently playing. Based on the board, Bowser may destroy bridges, take stars from players, or change star locations. On almost every board at some time, Bowser may take a photo as a "memento" of the vacation and take the players' coins. At other times, he may open a shop that sells the players useless and expensive items, which are then taken by Koopa Kid. "Bowser Time!" may only occur once, or up to nine times, depending on the number of turns played.
This was also the first game in the ''Mario Party'' series to have removed the ''autoplay'' capability in Party mode (where all players can be manually set to AI, thus enabling the game to "play itself" without any human player). The game will not allow there to be less than one active human player at any time, unless a code is used.
Plot
Toadsworth has invited
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...
and all of his friends to go on a luxury cruise around the world due to all the hard work, but
Bowser
, or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...
was uninvited. However, Bowser was enraged, furious and angry about this, so he vows revenge. When the cruise ship arrives at its first destination, the passengers discover that Bowser has turned their vacation paradise into a madhouse filled with stress and horror. Mario tries to gain as many stars as possible to end this atrocity before Bowser ruins everything.
Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
[ In Japan, '']Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...
'' gave it a score of two eights and two sevens for a total of 30 out of 40.[ ]IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the game a 7 out of 10, stating solely it was "a slumber party".[
The game sold 1.86 million copies worldwide.]
References
External links
Official Japanese website
*
{{Portal bar, Video games, 2000s
2005 video games
Mario Party
Party video games
GameCube games
GameCube-only games
GameCube microphone games
Microphone-controlled computer games
Video games developed in Japan
Multiplayer and single-player video games
de:Mario Party#Mario Party 7