Mario Party 8

We all knew when the Wii launched that it would be a strong first-party system. The third-party stuff, while interesting, hasn't exactly set the world on fire and Wii owners have been waiting patiently--or not so patiently--for Nintendo to throw open their front doors, Willy Wonka-style, and introduce us to the next magical first-party game.


This pirate-y Goomba will give you a Star piece, provided you can pony up 50 coins first.
While it won't arrive with the fanboy hype of Metroid Prime 3 or Super Mario Galaxy, there's no denying that Mario Party 8 is more than capable of filling this void, and in some ways, it will probably be a bigger success for Nintendo than those other two hotly anticipated titles.

The More The Merrier
That's because the game fits perfectly in with the Wii's image as a party-friendly console. As with all parties, the more people you get involved, the better Mario Party 8 becomes, and if you can find three friends who are willing and able to buy into the game's simplistic and charming gameplay, you're almost guaranteed to have a good time. Take a look at Nintendo's current marketing plan and you'll see that this is exactly the image they want to promote, that of the Wii as a system that people will gather around to enjoy together.

Played alone, against the computer, the game is barely worth popping out of its case. But, having even one other human opponent ups the fun exponentially--you just can't get the same satisfaction out of trash talking against a faceless computerized enemy.

There's also a definite sense of refinement to the franchise formula here, a given considering that this is the eighth installment in the series. In case you've never played a Mario Party game before, the basics are pretty easy to grasp. In the main game mode, you and three other contestants run around a board collecting coins, competing in various mini-games and collecting Stars, which ultimately decides the game's outcome.

The biggest change from previous versions, obviously, lies in the use of the Wii Remote, and depending on the game, you'll either use it as a pointer to shoot onscreen objects, turn it sideways and use it as a simple joypad, or move it around to take advantage of the motion sensing capabilities. The mini-games themselves are varied and have different objectives--collect the most coins, survive until the timer runs out--but it's nothing that we haven't seen before, which isn't a bad thing at all.