Mario Party 8 (Wii) Review

Today is the release date of the much anticipated Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics. While Mario and Sonic are having a party in Vancouver, let's revisit one of Mario's solo outings with Mario Party 8 for the Wii.

It's his party, and you'll buy if you want to.

Seven past console parties down and Mario still feels need to party like its 1999 with a few variations here and there. Mario Party 8 is the series' first foray on the Wii and most likely will not be the last. The Star Carnival has pitched its tent in the Mushroom Kingdom. With it, the carnival brings six new boards, over seventy new minigames, and fourteen characters (two of which being unlockable). But the question is-- does it matter?

Well, to put it simply, yes and no. The main modes you'll be cycling through are the Party Tent and Star Battle modes. The Party Tent is your standard Mario Party fare for up to 4 players (CPU or real life buddies). You'll most likely wish to play with friends as the CPU seems to always get the breaks. Nonetheless, the flow of gameplay is relatively simple. You hit the dice by punching the Wii remote forward, rolling any number from 1-10 (and if you're like me you'll usually hit a 1), moving the numbered amount of spaces, and landing on a space. Blue spaces give you coins, red spaces take away a small amount of coins, green spaces are event spaces which trigger a happening on a board (such as a Magikoopa changing the layout of the board in Shyguy's Perplex Express), Lucky Spaces give whoever lands on them a very nice bonus, Bowser Spaces cause the king of the koopas himself to cause havoc to the player or the board, and DK Spaces calls upon DK to lend a hand to players. At the end of each round-- comprised of one turn by each player-- a minigame roulette appears. These games are either a free-for-all, 2 vs 2, or 1 vs 3. It all depends on the space colors everyone has landed on. Your aim of this mode is to collect enough coins to purchase stars. The player with the most stars at the end of all of the rounds is crowned the Superstar.

Luigi says he's going to strut-- just strut.

To mix things up even further is the additional of candy. Candy is used for a variety of measures. Twice and thrice candy allows the player to hit two and three dice blocks respectively. Slowgo candy summons a slower moving dice block that allows you to move 1-5 spaces. Springo candy allows the player to hop to another player's position randomly by way of a dart throw. Cashzap candy shocks your opponent in losing half of his or her coins. Vampire candy steals anywhere from 5-30 coins from each opponent. There's a number of additional candy that offers other services or disservices to the player. Additionally, at the end of every game if selected players will be awarded bonus stars. There are three given out which range from who collected the most coins in mini-games to who consumed the most delectable candy. Carbs are apparently a worry of the past in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Boards are varied each featuring a different locale and goal. DK's Treetop Temple is the most traditional board needing players to purchase stars at random locations of the board for 20 coins each, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk requires players to move across the lengthy tropical boardwalk to reach a goomba for a star, King Boo's Haunted Hideaway is a mystical mansion where those who come across King Boo will be able to buy a star from him, Shyguy's Perplex Express is a fast-paced locomotive where those who reach Shyguy in the engine room can get a star, and finally, Koopa's Tycoon Town is where players delve into the world of Monopoly-- buying up vacant and owned hotels to receive the most stars. There's one more map which can be unlocked in Star Battle mode.

In Koopa's Tycoon Town, players into the realm of real estate,
buying the most hotels that they possibly can to earn stars.

Meanwhile, speaking of Star Battle mode, Star Battle is a one on one battle with a CPU opponent on six different boards. Each board has a specific challenge for you to accomplish such as in DK's Treetop Temple where the first player to receive two stars before the other player wins and moves onto the next board. There are no minigames in between rounds. You'll only play Dual Minigames which are one vs. one games where the winner wins a random amount of coins from the other player or Challenge Minigames which are for one-player only. Playing Star Battle is sometimes easier than winning Party Tent mode because you only have one other player to worry about instead of three.

Regarding minigames, there's a huge variety of games to play-- over seventy. Most will have you holding the Wii remote like an NES controller while others will have you pointing at the screen to move your character. The best ones use the Wii remote in fun ways such as lassoing barrels in Blazing Lassos or beating the rocks out of a Bowser statue in Punch-a-bunch. Games like Cut from the Team, however, only further cause annoyance as the lucky will win in already luck-heavy Mario Party 8.

Boo-ting Gallery has you and your teammate blast
pink boos as you infiltrate this spooky mansion.

To round out the package there's the Extra Zone where you can take your Mii and play Mario Party versions of Wii bowling as well as puzzle games with other players or denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. These aren't too exciting, and there's really not much to these games. Lastly, the Fun Bazaar is where you can spend Carnival Tickets earned by playing the Party Tent and Star Battle modes for buying minigames and figurines. This is apparently how Mario Party 8 encourages replay value as most items are 30 tickets and you only earn 20 per 10 round game.

Ultimately there's not too much of a change between this and past Mario games. I personally skipped out on Mario Parties 5-7 as the formula had just run dry. The Wii remote games are fun, but the main game is still way too heavily luck-based which will probably make skilled players become easily frustrated. The CPU seems to always catch breaks while you catch a nice dice roll of 1s. If you're going to play alone, save yourself the trouble and pick up another game. If you have another to play with, however, I encourage you to at least rent this game to try it out. If you're satisfied with the package, then pick it up and party down.

[SuperPhillip Says: 6.5/10]

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Out of This World Edition

Space is the place on this edition of the VGMs. Every song takes place during an outer space level of sorts whether you're soaring through zero gravity, taking out Chaos creatures as Dr. Eggman, or battling an evil alien race. This week we have music from NiGHTS, Super Mario Galaxy, and Star Ocean 3.

v416. NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams - Queen Bella's Ball

'm busy not being able to skip a cutscene, so I'll have to keep this short. This is a twofer on SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs. It's the normal and hard versions of Queen Bella's Ball from the adequate NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for Nintendo Wii.



v417. Ristar - Shooting Ristar

The theme of the first world in Ristar, a character that I'd love to see come back somehow. Then again, with how SEGA treats their classic properties: NiGHTS, Samba de Amigo, Super Monkey Ball, perhaps that's for the best!



v418. Super Mario Galaxy - Stardust Road

I'm a huge fan of the piano. I just love the sound of it, so here's a track featuring piano from Super Mario Galaxy's fantastic soundtrack. This poignant space-walking theme plays during the Space Junk Galaxy.



v419. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - Starless Wavelets

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time gets a lot of undeserved hate towards it. I happened to very much enjoy the game. I don't have the time to play through games that take that long now, but when I did play it I liked most of what there was to offer. Being a fan of action-RPGs helped, too.



v420. Sonic Adventure 2 - Soaring Over the Space... for Cosmic Wall

Whereas Shadow the Hedgehog has Cosmic Fall, Sonic Adventure 2 has Eggman's stage called Cosmic Wall. Sonic Adventure 2 remains one of my favorite 3D Sonics, but I guess that's like having a favorite bout of indigestion. Regardless, I enjoyed all the play styles of the game from the fast-paced Sonic and Shadow levels to the tank-shooter Tails and Eggman sections.



Head back out of orbit long enough to get a breath of fresh air. That does it for this week's favorite VGMs. Tune in next week for another five great pieces of video game music.

Rank Up! - Mario Kart

A little while we ranked the Mega Man X series from best to worst with the original X taking the crown. Today we'll be continuing this Mario Kart weekend with Rank Up! Mario Kart edition. Put the pedal to the metal, and let's get racing. We've got six competitors duking it out for the number one spot. One of the following games will make the others eat its dust.


Here are the games we'll be ranking:

Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)
Mario Kart DS (DS)
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

Since its inception on the Super Nintendo, the Mario Kart franchise has appeared on every major Nintendo platform without fail. Each game in the series brings something new to the table more often than not whether it's full 3-D, a partner element, portability, online play, or motion control. Without further ado, let's get this race started.
Get ready.... Get set... Go!

6) Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)

Let's preface this by saying that there is no sour apple in this bunch. All Mario Karts have one thing or another that make them great. Super Circuit brought the Mario Kart series to portable form with sixteen, new, colorful tracks and Mode-7 visuals. In addition to that, Super Circuit had all of the tracks from the original Mario Kart as an added bonus. That's more than double the tracks. The thing that keeps Super Circuit back in the pack is that multi-player can only happen with two people owning a GBA and a copy of the game each. This isn't as lucrative a prospect as it seems.


5) Mario Kart 64 (N64)

Super Circuit brought Mario Kart to portables, Mario Kart 64 brought the series to true 3-D. Up until Goldeneye 007, Mario Kart 64 was the ultimate destination for multi-player mayhem. What puts 64 second-to-last is a problem that would plague future entries in the Mario Kart franchise-- rubber-band AI. No, the items wouldn't be your downfall, your opponents would just gain insane bursts of speed to keep up with you. It makes the single-player action less than thrilling and more on the side of frustrating. As for the tracks, there's several memorable courses from the majestic hills and hairpin turns of Royal Raceway to the absolute best incarnation of Bowser's Castle.


4) Super Mario Kart (SNES)

The one that started it all, Super Mario Kart originated the kart racing genre and did it in style. With Mode-7 graphics, allowing faux-3-D on the Super Nintendo, a colorful cast of Mushroom Kingdom all-stars (and Donkey Kong Jr.), and multiple cups filled with hazards, twists, and turns, and Super Mario Kart reigns supreme as a terrific kart racer that outshines imitators to this day.


3) Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

The best-selling Mario Kart of all time, Mario Kart Wii took everything we loved about the series and added cheap item assaults to anger long-time fans. Despite this, the Wii version of Mario Kart had wonderful new tracks from dodging traffic on Moonview Highway to weaving through construction in Toad's Factory. Online play was added which remains one of the best online infrastructures on the system. Characters could choose between karts or bikes, and players could choose between motion and traditional controls. There was a host of unlockable characters, sixteen retro tracks from past Mario Karts, and enough curse words from losing first place to spiny shell to make Bowser blush.


2) Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)

Two times the characters for twice the fun. The main gameplay elements of Double Dash!! was placing two characters per kart. One character steered while the other was in charge of using items. This brought a whole new package full of strategy with it. Double Dash!! was also the first and only Mario Kart to feature LAN play, double item boxes, and character-specific items such as fireballs and bob-ombs. The selection of tracks is one of the series' best with the hectic and busy seven-lap Baby Park, not-your-mama's-Sunday-drive Mushroom Bridge, the Yoshi-shaped Yoshi Circuit, a ride down the slopes of DK Mountain, and the sharp twists and turns of Wario Colosseum. Double Dash!! takes second place as the catch-up AI was nowhere near as apparent as it was in the following game. In fact, it was hardly there at all. The addition of unlockables and the All-Cup, allowing players to race all sixteen courses in succession, made this Mario Kart one of the best.


1) Mario Kart DS (DS)

But not the best. The most complete Mario Kart? It certainly felt like it. Mario Kart DS was a ton of firsts: first for online play in the series, first for a mission mode where you battled bosses and collected coins in various challenges, first for a retro cup where sixteen courses from past Mario Karts were revisited and raced on from Mario Circuit on the SNES to the N64's Choco Mountain, and first for emblems to be proudly placed on karts (for better or worse). The new tracks weren't about to be upstaged by the retro ones, however. They ranged from simple (Figure-Eight Circuit) to complex (Bowser's Castle, Peach Gardens, and Rainbow Road). All of these features plus local play with two friends owning a copy of the game each makes Mario Kart DS first on the podium.


And we've arrived at the finish line tonight. Is this list to your liking/disliking? Let us know in the comments section.

Mario Kart DS (DS) Review

Yesterday we took a look at the Gamecube's version of Mario Kart. Now we're going to hop into the driver's seat of the DS installment. Tomorrow, Rank Up! returns featuring the Mario Kart franchise.

Let's Kick Asphalt

Ever since its birth in the early years of the Super Nintendo, Mario Kart has appeared on every Nintendo platform since with its competitive combat carting and wealth of multiplayer bliss. There's been three Mario Karts since the original, each bringing its own little variances to the formula, and Mario Kart DS appears to be the most revolutionary of the bunch. But can it keep up with its console predecessors?

Like most Mario Karts before it, you'll spend the most of your time taking on the computer in the Grand Prix mode. This is a series of cups spanning four races each with the winner being determined by who has the most points by the duration of the cup. Most Mario Kart fanatics would have been satisfied with just sixteen new tracks, however, Nintendo decided to beef up the amount of tracks by adding sixteen retro tracks-- that is, tracks from previous Mario Kart games. While the selection of returning tracks is debatable to some, there's no contesting that this title's Grand Prix will give you the most mileage because of them. And it's great being able to revisit old friends like Double Dash's Mushroom Bridge and Mario Kart 64's Banshee Boardwalk. As you complete each cup you earn new characters (bringing the total to 12 in all), karts, tracks, and higher speeds and difficulties to race with. And if competitive racing isn't your cup of tea, there's always the time trial mode to best your greatest times all by your lonesome.

One mission has you collecting coins within the time limit...

Aside from the standard GP and Time Trial fun, there's an entirely new set of challenges to test your racing mettle known as Mission Mode. This mode puts players in a variety of objective-based challenges such as precision-based coin-collecting and gate-passing exams. After completing a set of missions, you take on that level's boss. Yep. Boss battles... in MY Mario Kart?! You got it. These familiar foes ranging from a Big Bully to a giant Wiggler require you to either bash them off the arena or just beat them in a race a la Diddy Kong Racing.

...While another pits you against
Shifting Sand Land's monstrosity.

And what would a Mario Kart game be without a battle mode? A handful of new and returning arenas make up Mario Kart DS' Battle Mode which can be played with up to four players locally. The only difference between this battle mode and others is the gimmicky blowing into the mic to blow up deflated balloons-- the lifeline of Mario Kart battle.

Mario goes into uncharted territory-- online.

Well, of course Battle mode is offline. It's been like that in every Mario Kart game, and it should be no different because this game is completely offline, too, right? Right? RIIIIIGHT?!!

Wrong. Mario Kart DS launched the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo's first foray into online gaming. While it's a welcomed addition and a happy feeling to know that Nintendo has stepped up from the nineties, the online system is bare-bones at best-- even for the time. You can play with anyone or with friends online. Anyone isn't recommended as you'll find people who use the boring technique anyone and their mom can pick up and not have any fun doing it in snaking, or you'll race against a sore loser who will disconnect at the first sign that things aren't going his, her, or its way. Plus, there's emblems that are displayed by your online name and on your kart. Yep, enjoy seeing cartoon depictions of penises and Hitler. What a duo! Whether you play with friends or with strangers, there's only twenty of the thirty-two tracks available to race on which is unfortunate. Though you can use Action Replay to play them online illegally. Races are chosen via election with the race chosen by majority vote or (when it's a tie) randomly. Which goes to another hitch in Nintendo's online plan-- friend codes. The only way to play with a friend online is for you and your friend to exchange codes, your sixteen digit proof of existence in Nintendo's online kindergarten. Regardless of Nintendo's online infancy, Mario Kart DS is still the most complete kart racer to date, and the inclusion of online is just another spice to Mario Kart DS' souffle.

The newest Bowser's Castle is one of the best yet.

Those familiar with Mario Kart's mechanics will be able to instantly settle into a groove, wiggling the D-pad on corners and turns to power-slide. Even newcomers can sit down, learn the ins and outs of Mario Kart DS, and find their own niche in the game. Two screens mean two points of view. The top screen is your standard hud while the bottom screen acts as the race standings as well as map which can be zoomed in or out to give you a sense of items dropped on the course. And without items, Mario Kart just wouldn't be Mario Kart. There's a few new ones in addition to the already known invincibility Starman, red and green shells, banana peels, and boost-inducing Mushrooms. There's a bomb (or Bob-omb) which is used for the first time by someone other than Wario or Waluigi, that you drop behind you and hope someone gets caught up in its blast radius, a squid (or Blooper) that gushes out black ink all over your opponent's screen, obstructing their view, and a Bullet Bill which basically puts you on auto-pilot while it plows over racers ahead of you. The new items are fun, and they keep that addictive sense of balance that MK is infamous for overall.

Banshee Boardwalk is an old haunt from Mario Kart 64.

One of my favorite parts of the Mario Kart series are the incredibly designed courses, and Mario Kart DS isn't any exception. While there are some boring ones (mainly the first two Mushroom Cup races, Figure-Eight Circuit and Yoshi Falls), the ones that stand out are numerous. Riding across the gears of Tick-Tock Clock, racing through the intense action of a pinball machine, or driving through the hallowed, haunted halls of Luigi's Mansion-- there's so much variety and some great themed tracks. As aforementioned there's sixteen returning tracks which should fill that gap of nostalgia that many Mario Kart faithful were needing to fill. While the choices aren't the best, there are some that bring back fantastic memories.

The graphics hold up pretty well for a DS title.

At the time Mario Kart DS was one of the most graphically impressive DS titles available, and while it's been surpassed by other titles such as Metroid Prime Hunters and Final Fantasy III, the graphics still hold up remarkably well. The online infrastructure which was considered ancient then is still pretty unremarkable. Regardless, Mario Kart DS, at this time, is not only the best Mario Kart to date, but it's simply one of the best kart racing period.

[SuperPhillip Says: 9.5/10]

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN) Retro Review

I'm in a racing mood this week apparently. I was once again revisiting Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and I wanted to go more in-depth with the game this time around. I wanted to examine why I like the game so much, and share it with SPC readers in a review. Here it is, a new review of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! for the Gamecube.

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun.

The Mario Kart series has been around for almost two decades now with its great combination of accessible and deep gameplay. We've seen Mario race in true 3-D in Mario Kart 64, take the fun to the small screen in Super Circuit, and now partner up with two characters in one kart. Is pulling double duty a good idea, or is it just double trouble?

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! gets its name from the new feature implemented into the gameplay. This time around it's two players per kart offering up new strategies and more items to watch out for. One character drives up front while the second character is in charge of using items in back. At any time both characters can switch positions to unleash their item at rival racers.

Aside from the traditional array of items, each character in Double Dash!! has their own special item to exclusive to them. This special item is picked up the same way normal items are through item boxes strewn liberally throughout the various courses. Each characters' item is different from the next, and no item is particularly more powerful or beneficial than the next. Sure, there's several that you'll pick a character just so you can use them, but there is no cheap character in this regard. Mario and Luigi have a series of fireballs that when chucked, spread out and burn opponents caught in their path, Peach and Daisy have a heart shield which defends them against any three items, Donkey and Diddy Kong have a giant banana peel that when slammed into, breaks up into three smaller peels, Wario and Waluigi have Bob-ombs that create a large explosion when they go off, Yoshi and Birdo have homing eggs that when they break launch three items out of them, the pair of Koopa Troopas, green and red have triple shells that they automatically get, both homing and regular, and Bowser and Bowser Jr. have giant Bowser shells that bowl over anyone foolish enough to cross paths with them.

He isn't using that banana for the potassium!

Much like each character has a different item to utilize, every character is categorized in one of three weight classes: light, medium, and heavy. As you can select which kart you'd like to use, this makes a world of difference. Light characters accelerate the faster while heavy characters can bump light and medium karts off the road with ease. Two light characters can only use a light kart, but partner a light character with a medium character, and they can use a medium kart. Partner them with a heavy character, and their only choice is to use a heavy kart. The karts much like the characters have their own personalities to them. You'll find karts shaped like Yoshi, Birdo, Bowser, and shells, Wario's purple convertible, Waluigi's speedy racer, a stage coach turned into a kart, and many more. It's fun to complete cups since you'll never know what you'll unlock next.

The grand prix mode is the main attraction in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! There's four cups in all featuring four races each, and there's four cart classes total. These determine how fast everyone's karts are and the difficult of the AI opponents. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! is a different than past and present Mario Karts as the rubber-band AI is practically nonexistent. You'll face off against your occasional flying blue shell of doom that attacks the players in your first, but if you get a sizable lead, which is possible even in the higher difficulties, you can easily keep it. Opponents won't catch up to you from out of nowhere like past games. As cups on the various difficulties are completed, you unlock new karts, tracks, and even new characters making the total number of races and characters 16:20 respectively. The coolest new addition is the All-Cup mode. This pits you in a competition on all sixteen tracks in a random order save for Luigi Circuit which is always the first track and Rainbow Road which is always the last. The whole cup takes anywhere from fifty minutes to an hour pending on the difficulty, and it's a blast to play through, wondering which of the incredible tracks will be next.

Mario and Yoshi-- together again!

As stated, there's sixteen tracks in all, and Double Dash!! has some of the most creative and fun tracks in the entire series, arguably so. The Mushroom Cup features tracks with simple curves, medium dangers, and shorter tracks while the Special Cup is host to sharp turns, perilous pathways, tracks with no railings for safety, and much longer tracks. Tracks are littered with hazards and obstacles from Goombas patrolling Mario Circuit to Qataquacks parading around Peach Beach. One race you'll be aboard a luxury cruise liner while another you'll be zooming through a busy Mushroom Kingdom city at night. Some like Baby Park are complete chaos as it's seven short laps around an oval track with items flying to and fro. Laughs will be had for sure. Overall, the tracks are varied, colorful, fun, full of interesting shortcuts (though no exploits like Mario Kart 64's Rainbow Road and Wario Stadium), and there's seldom a stinker in the bunch.

Apart from the Grand Prix mode which will make up the most of your time, there's also a time trial and battle mode. Time trial is as it sounds where players race on tracks with the only foe to worry about is the clock. Each character gets a mushroom, an item that gives characters a short boost of speed, to work with in order to access otherwise impossible shortcuts. Battle mode pits up to four players in an arena where the goal is to eliminate everyone. Each player gets three lives or balloons. When hit by an item, a balloon goes away. When all balloons are gone, that player is eliminated. There's also a bonus mode called Shine Sprites where the object is to collect Shines, the main collectible in Super Mario Sunshine. These modes are enjoyable, but there's no option to play with computer-controlled players unfortunately.

Literally bowl players over with the Bowser Shell.

The basic gameplay of Double Dash!! is relatively unchanged from previous Mario Karts. You can get a starting boost at the beginning of races, you can get boosts from wiggling the control stick back and forth while in the middle of a power slide, you can grab items, and switch positions on the fly. Switching characters is done by hitting the Z button while initiating a power slide or drift is done by holding down the left or right shoulder buttons. Unlike past Mario Karts, your karts do not jump when the start a power slide. This make tick veteran players off at first, but it's easy to come to grips with and master.

The visuals of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! are exactly what you'd expect from the series-- vibrant, colorful visuals that look good in still-form and in motion. There's never a case of slowdown, and everything's locked at an adequate framerate. Character models are animated wonderfully, and environmental touches on tracks from the tide coming in to trees swaying back and forth are pleasant. It's always hilarious to see a player hit with a powerful item, and the player in back gets dragged behind in comedic fashion. The soundtrack is composed by the pair of Kenta Nagata and Shiobu Tanaka, the former who did work on Mario Kart 64. The music is suitably bouncy, memorable, and fun to listen to. It may be too cheery for some, but it definitely works. This version of Rainbow Road's theme is undoubtedly the best.

Multi-player is the big selling point of Double Dash!!

Your mileage with this arcade racer will vary depending on whether or not you have friends or family to play with you. Otherwise, the amount of single-player content is about the same as past Mario Karts, only this time with the occasional unlockable goody. Multi-player is truly where this game shines with up to two players being able to participate in Grand Prix mode. They can compete against one another or share the same kart with one player driving and the other assigned to using items. It takes true teamwork to come out on top in later races, and it's a testament to how multi-player in this edition of Mario Kart truly shines.

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! creates a perfect mix of single-player thrills and multi-player mayhem to make a recommendation to almost anyone. With the most characters to choose from in series history, unlockable karts and characters for the first time, a bounty of beautiful and well-designed tracks, and gorgeous visuals to accompany everything, Double Dash!! races past all past console versions of Mario Kart, and steps on the podium with the gold trophy.

[SuperPhillip Says: 9.5/10]