MARIO PARTY 5

Obviously, you know what the gameplay is about. You move around the board, play mini-games, get stars, then BOOM! Game's over. Well, in between all this, there are new features.

For one thing, you get to play as three new characters: Toad, Boo and Baby Bowser(also known as Koopa Kid). However, there is a drawback-you cannot play as Donkey Kong. He, instead gets his own space! In addition, if you liked Paper Mario, then you'll love this little-big feature. The Paper Mario Star Spirits are back!

Plus, like any other game, there are a total of 60 new Mini Games! They range from popping baloons to shining Chomp-Chomps with flashlights. The possibilites are endless!

One more thing before I end this review. Now, there are also three bonus games;Card Party, Ice Hockey and Beach Volleyball! Each of these games are fun. Plus, there is a battle-type game, where you can construct different machines to defeat your opponent and test them out in trial battles.

Overall, I love this game, and I highly reccommend it to anyone who has liked the other Mario Party games.

There are several different modes (some of which will not be mentioned in this review). The main game is a somewhat lame board game. Entertaining at first, but soon gets dreadfully boring. This, however, is how you unlock new mini games (the heart of the title), so it is your task to bear with it for the time being.

The mini games are awesome. Most of them. Okay, some of them. But the ones that are great are plentiful enough to make up for the bad ones. And once they are unlocked, you can go back and play them anytime without having to go through the board game. I particularly don't like button mashers (hit A as fast as you can and break your controller!!). Other games, like Pushy Penguins, are so much fun it's ridiculous. Hotel Goomba is a neat little puzzle game. And there's some sports-related mini games, as well (baseball, speed skating, etc.).

My favourite part of Mario Party 5 is Bonus Mode. That mode on it's own could easily be it's own title. You can play four-player ice hockey, beach volleyball, and a fun board/card game. Each of the three games have different options you can set to make things more interesting. For example, beach volleyball can be played with an exploding ball (kind of like hot potato.. the timer counts down and then, um, explodes. Point over.)

Overall, MP5 is a fairly average game. You won't have a huge amount of fun playing by yourself. This is definately a multiplayer game. And it's lots of fun! There aren't too many titles out there that anyone can just pick up and play. There is almost no learning curve, and it's safe for all ages. Four stars for jolly good FUN!