Mario Party 4
Fourth Mario Party game, first on GameCube.
Mario Party 4, a party game for the GameCube, was created by Hudson Soft and released by Nintendo in 2002. As the fourth series entry and the first on that console, it lets eight Mario characters compete on six boards to collect the most Stars. A single-player mode against computer opponents is also included.
Quick Facts
- Platforms
- GameCube
- Developer
- Hudson Soft
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Director
- Kenji Kikuchi
- Producer
- Shinji Hatano, Shinichi Nakamoto
- Designer
- Fumihisa Sato
- Composer
- Ichiro Shimakura
- Series
- Mario Party
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Mario Party 4 is a party video game where up to four characters from the Mario series compete on a virtual board. Players can choose from eight characters: Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, and Waluigi. The game includes six different boards. Each turn, a player rolls a dice and moves across spaces that can give or take coins, or set off one of fifty possible minigames. The main goal is to gather the most coins and stars. Stars are earned by landing on a star space, winning the most minigames, having the most coins, or hitting the most Happening Spaces. After every round, a minigame takes place. Two types of mushrooms are available: a mega mushroom gives an extra dice roll, makes the player bigger, and lets them steal ten coins from someone else; a mini mushroom shrinks the player, limits the dice to numbers one through five, but allows travel through pipes for shortcuts. Players can also buy items from a shop, such as pipes, a genie lamp that sends them to a star, and Boo's crystal ball for stealing another player's star. A full game can last anywhere from ten to fifty turns.
Development and release
Mario Party 4, a party game for the GameCube, was created by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo. Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata revealed it at a Nintendo press conference in Tokyo in March 2002, and it was part of the company's 2002 lineup, which they described as their biggest software year. A playable demo with a few minigames was featured at E3 2002. The game launched in North America on October 21, 2002, followed by Japan on November 8, 2002, and Europe on November 29, 2002.
Reception
Mario Party 4 received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a total score of 30 out of 40. Reviewers positively received the minigames; IGN praised their freshness combined with multiplayer action, while GameRevolution commended the Booksquirm and Dungeon Duos minigames. Extended Play singled out the Goomba's Greedy Gala board for its gameplay depth in longer games. However, Game Informer described the boards as confusing and poorly designed, and the minigames as having bad design and control. Eurogamer disliked the reversal of fortune space as unfair and found the large boards caused interest to wane quickly. Nintendo World Report commended the mega-mini mushroom system. The single-player mode was disliked for requiring the player to watch AI-controlled players take turns, with Nintendo Life calling it a dull add-on. Graphics were commended as an improvement over Nintendo 64 installments, with GameSpot praising lighting and particle effects, though GameRevolution noted they were not greatly detailed. GamePro commended the music, but IGN did not find it fun. Sound effects were disliked by Eurogamer and IGN, while AllGame had mixed opinions. Controls were praised by Eurogamer, GamePro, and GameSpy, though Eurogamer noted slow reactions often led to losing minigames. TheGamer ranked Mario Party 4 the best entry in the series, and Den of Geek ranked it fourth. It won Family Game of the Year at the AIAS 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and was nominated for GameSpot's Best Party Game on GameCube award, which went to Super Monkey Ball 2. The game sold 1,100,000 units in North America and 900,000 in Japan by December 27, 2007, for a total of 2,000,000 units.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Mario Party 4 released?
Mario Party 4 was released on October 21, 2002 in North America, on November 8, 2002 in Japan and on November 29, 2002 in PAL regions.
Who directed Mario Party 4?
Mario Party 4 was directed by Kenji Kikuchi.
Who designed Mario Party 4?
Mario Party 4 was designed by Fumihisa Sato.
Who composed the music for Mario Party 4?
The music for Mario Party 4 was composed by Ichiro Shimakura.
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