Review For Mario Party DS

The long running Mario Party series moves to DS. How does this handheld version hold up?

STORY

The story mode features a very basic story tying the five boards together. It's alright for the most part, but I found some parts (especially the ending) very cheesy. I also had the impression that this story was aimed more at a younger crowd.

CONTROLS

The board game part is fairly straight format, you could use either the touch screen or the buttons to roll the dice and use items.

The minigames have a nice variety of controls that take advantage of everything the DS has to offer, even the dreaded mic blowing (though Nintendo was smart enough to give you the option to turn those minigames off).

GAMEPLAY

The storymode is very hit or miss. You have to win the board game to proceed and sometimes the A.I. gets the best of you. You could be winning, only for one of your opponments to beat you on the final turn. It took be about five tries to beat the FIRST board, so I don't know what to think about that.

The story mode also features a boss minigame after each board. While, they start not much different from the other minigames, some of the later bosses (notably the final one) are not much different from what you'd find in a regular Mario game.

There is good variety in the minigames. Like previous Mario Party games, you have games that include simple platforming or races. There are also many games that involve action with the touch screen, or blowing into the mic (which seems to be pretty much the only thing that mic is used for).

Nothing too spectacular about the other modes of the game. Pretty much, they involving playing the boards/minigames outside of storymode, though I do have to say a few of the minigame modes are creative. There is also a mode with various puzzle games and multiplayer.

GRAPHICS

The graphics looks just about the same (maybe a bit better) than the original N64 Mario Party. I do have to say that the 2D artwork used in cutscenes kind of clashes (especially since I have been used to seeing the Mario characters in 3D for so long).

SOUND

Sound isn't really too important in this game. All the stock Mario sounds are here. However, I noticed something a little off with some of the voice acting (namely Waluigi).

OVERALL

The Mario Party series has been sequeled to death on the consoles, with a new edition coming out every year. However, the series is a natural fit on the DS and it a fine addition to the Mario collection.

Ratings
S-Story C-Controls G-Gameplay GR-Graphics SO-Sound

Reviewer	S	C	G	GR	SO	Overall (NOT AN AVERAGE)
Sean Kelly	4/10	8/10	7/10	8/10	7/10	8/10 - B+

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