|
Gaming, In My Opinion
Admit it. Everyone loved the original Mario Party for at least a week. Then the repetitive minigames and the controller-buggering controls sink in and you realise that it was a laugh for a while, but now is the time to stop. But lo and behold, another is brought out half a year later, this time without the joystick-knackering minigames and a larger emphasis on button bashing. And there were some interesting new elements like duels, items and little costumes for the players. But it was the same old Mario Party. Then there was Mario Party 3, one of the nails in our beloved N64's coffin! Gone were the costumes, as was the enjoyment of playing. And then we were safe; the Mario Party Trilogy had come and gone.
Now there's MP4. To be quite honest, it isn't even worthy of my words, let alone you playing it. Rent it out by all means, by under no circumstances waste your precious money on it, not with so many GOOD titles out and on their way (Zelda, Metroid, Eternal Darkness). The AI is back with a vengeance, as are the rules of chance. The chances of winning are about as consistent as British weather. You can be one space, ONE SPACE, away from winning the game and suddenly the loser of the round will warp to your position. Also, there's the overall feeling of familiarity. Not the good, nostalgic sensation felt while playing a Zelda game, more the bored, 'am I sure this isn't Mario Party 3?' fear. Even if you haven't played a Party game before, you'll be reduced to a mindless, button-taping potato within twenty minutes, and then it's only another ten minutes until you want to turn it off, snap the disc in two and then sharpen the edges to plunge into your sister's head, purely to stop her asking 'can we play that minigame again?'. A seemingly violent image, I admit, but after playing "Pair-O-Sailing" for the fiftieth time in fifteen minutes (I kid you not), you'll feel like this. Perhaps it's the feeling that Hudson haven't realised what a Gamecube is yet. The boards are now 'true 3D' but they only look marginally better than their pre-rendered 64-bit predecessors. And you can tell that something is wrong when a cheery Nintendo tune makes you mute the telly! There's just no soul here, no originality and no chance of beating the easiest computer players on the simplest board, even with a ten-star head start. The only good purpose this game serves is that it reminds you how much fun the original was before it rendered your controllers useless, and if you want to lose your worries this game will take away your soul with repetitive minigames, cheating AI, and life-draining tunes. Eternal Darkness? Pah!! This is the game that will drive you insane! VISUALS: Well, they're rounder...that's it. 5/10 SOUNDS: Catchy Nintendo tunes that will drive you mad. 5/10 PLAYABILITY: A five-year-old could play this game, but would he want to? 4/10 LIFESPAN: Half an hour. Tops. 2/10 VERDICT: A word of advice to Hudson - GIVE UP!! 40% |