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Mario Party 4

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Mario Party 4
North American box art
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Kenji Kikuchi
Producer(s)
  • Shinji Hatano
  • Shinichi Nakamoto
Designer(s)Fumihisa Sato
Composer(s)Ichiro Shimakura
SeriesMario Party
Platform(s)GameCube
Release
  • NA: October 21, 2002
  • JP: November 8, 2002
  • PAL: November 29, 2002
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Party 4[a] is a 2002 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fourth installment in the Mario Party series and the first one to be released for GameCube. Like the previous games in the series, it features eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, and Waluigi from the Mario franchise, who can be directed as characters on six themed game boards. The objective of the game is to earn as many coins and stars as possible. Each character's movement is determined by a roll of a dice, with a roll from each player forming a single turn. Each round is followed by a minigame in which characters compete for coins they can use to purchase items and stars. Besides the standard multiplayer mode, the game also features a singleplayer campaign in which the player plays the game with artificial intelligence-controlled players.

Mario Party 4 was announced in March 2002 and was later showcased at E3 2002. The game received mixed or average reviews, with complaints going to the singleplayer mode, the design of game boards, and sound effects, while the graphics and controls were praised. It won the Family Game of the Year award at the Interactive Achievement Awards of 2003. The game was followed by Mario Party 5 for the same console in 2003.

Gameplay

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See also: Mario Party § Gameplay
Characters must hit a dice block to move forward on the board; the mushroom represents an Item Shop.

Mario Party 4 is a puzzle and party video game based on an interactive board game played by four characters from the Mario franchise.[1][2] The game features eight playable characters in total, Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, and Waluigi.[1] In the game, which features six game boards, players roll a dice and walk on squares which either add or subtract player's coins or randomly trigger one of the 50 minigames.[1][2] The goal of the game is to collect the most coins and stars;[1] stars can be acquired when a player reaches a square with a star on it,[3] or by either winning the most minigames, most coins, or landing on the most "Happening Spaces" squares.[2] A minigame is played at the end of each round.[4] There are two types of mushrooms that the player can acquire: a mega mushroom, which gives the player an extra dice, increases the player's size, and the ability to steal 10 coins from another player, and a mini mushroom, which shrinks the player and limits the dice to first five numbers, but allows the player to go through pipes, which allow the player to access shortcuts on the board.[1] Items that can additionally be bought from a store include pipes, a genie lamp,[2] which teleports the player to a star on the board,[5] and the Boo's crystal ball, which allows the player to steal another player's star.[3] The length of a single game can vary; it can last between 10 and 50 turns.[4]

The six game boards are interactive and feature various designs, such as a ghost-themed or tropical-themed board. On the Koopa's Seaside Soiree game board, the player can interact with animals that can either allow the player to access shortcuts or randomize the player's direction,[6] while on the ghost-themed Boo board, a ghost train transports the player around the board.[3] The "reversal of fortune" space on the board allows the player to switch coins and stars with a random player.[3] Mario Party 4 features a variety of minigames, categorized as either a deathmatch (free-for-all) mode, a two-on-two, or one-on-three battle mode; these modes include games such as drag racing, skiing,[1] dominos,[6] soccer, and snowball dodging.[4] Booksquirm is a minigame in which the player has to avoid being crushed in a book, while Dungeon Duos has two players travel through a passageway.[2] Most of the minigames fall under the free-for-all mode. Upon winning a minigame, a player receives coins as a prize,[6] while upon completing the entire game, the player will win a special prize depending on the player's character.[5] Mario Party 4 introduces the ability to practice minigames before playing them in a game with other players.[7]

Besides the standard multiplayer mode, the game offers a "pure minigame mode" and a singleplayer campaign called the "Story Mode",[6] which allows the player to play alone with three artificial intelligence (AI)-controlled players.[1] The game supports progressive scan for HDTV players.[6]

Development and release

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Mario Party 4 was developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo.[8] It is the first Mario Party game to be released for GameCube.[6] The game was first announced in a March 2002 Nintendo press conference in Tokyo, with the announcements made by Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata.[9] It was targeted as part of the 2002 roster of Nintendo games, which they rated as their "biggest year" for software at the time. Nintendo presented a playable demonstration of the game at E3 2002, featuring a limited set of minigames.[10][11] The game was released on October 21, 2002, in North America, November 8 in Japan, and November 29 in Europe.[8][12]

Reception

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Mario Party 4 received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[13] In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 30 out of 40.[15]

Reviewers positively received the minigames of Mario Party 4.[4][6] Fran Mirabella III of IGN praised the minigames as entertaining due to their "freshness...in combination with unbridled multiplayer action", while Johnny Liu of GameRevolution commended the Booksquirm and Dungeon Duos minigames.[2] Andrew Reiner of Game Informer, however, described the boards as confusing and "poorly designed", and the minigames as having bad design and control system.[16] Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer disliked the "reversal of fortune" space, calling it "unfair", and the big size of game boards, adding that "interest wanes very quickly in a group of four".[1] Michael Cole of Nintendo World Report commended the "mega-mini" system with mushrooms.[17] Reviewers also disliked the singleplayer mode for having the player watch AI-controlled players take turns.[1][2][5][7] Ryan Steddy of Nintendo Life described the singleplayer mode as a "dull add-on".[3]

Additionally, reviewers commended the improvement of the game's graphics, particularly those of the characters.[1][6][7][17] Liu and Mirabella III noted that the graphics were an improvement of the previous installments featured on the Nintendo 64.[2][6] Ryan Davis of GameSpot praised the lighting and particle effects.[4] Liu, however, also noted that the graphics were not greatly detailed.[2] Although Bad Hare of GamePro commended the music,[7] Mirabella III did not consider it to be fun.[6] Bramwell and Mirabella III disliked the sound effects,[1][6] while Cole disliked the voice acting.[17] Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame had mixed opinions on the sound effects.[14]

Bramwell, Hare, and Bryn Williams of GameSpy praised the game's controls.[1][5][7] However, Bramwell noted that if a player's reaction is slow it would ofen result in losing minigames.[1]

TheGamer ranked Mario Party 4 the best entry in the series.[18] Den of Geek viewed it as the fourth best game in the Mario Party series, citing its minigames.[19]

Sales and accolades

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Mario Party 4 won "Family Game of the Year" during the AIAS' 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[20] It was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Best Party Game on GameCube" award, which went to Super Monkey Ball 2.[21]

The game sold 1,100,000 units from its release to December 27, 2007, in North America,[22] and an additional 900,000 copies in Japan, bringing its overall sales to 2,000,000.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Mario Party 4 (Japanese: マリオパーティ4, Hepburn: Mario Pātī Fō)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Bramwell, Tom (November 28, 2002). "Mario Party 4 Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liu, Johnny (November 1, 2002). "Mario Party 4 Review". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Steddy, Ryan (June 6, 2006). "Mario Party 4 Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Davis, Ryan (November 6, 2002). "Mario Party 4 Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Williams, Bryn (October 20, 2002). "Mario Party 4". GameSpy. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mirabella III, Fran (October 14, 2002). "Mario Party 4". IGN. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hare, Bad (November 20, 2002). "Mario Party 4". GamePro. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Hagues, Alana (February 12, 2025). "Best Mario Party Games Of All Time". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on June 9, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  9. ^ "Nintendo Promises Big in 2002". IGN. March 28, 2002. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  10. ^ Frankle, Gavin (May 22, 2002). "E3 2002: Mario Party 4". IGN. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  11. ^ Villoria, Gerald (May 21, 2002). "E3 2002 Mario Party 4 impressions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  12. ^ "Mario Party 4". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on May 13, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  13. ^ a b "Mario Party 4 for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Marriott, Scott Alan. "Mario Party 4". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  15. ^ a b "ニンテンドーゲームキューブ - マリオパーティ4" [Nintendo GameCube - Mario Party 4]. Famitsu. Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 102.
  16. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew (December 2002). "Mario Party 4". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d Cole, Michael (October 31, 2002). "Mario Party 4". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on February 23, 2025. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  18. ^ "Mario Party: Ranking Every Game From Worst To Best". TheGamer. June 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  19. ^ "Mario Party: Ranking the Games". Den of Geek. August 12, 2014. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
  20. ^ M. Wiley (February 28, 2003). "AIAS Awards Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  21. ^ GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
  22. ^ "US Platinum Videogame Chart". The Magic Box. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  23. ^ "Nintendo Gamecube Japanese Ranking". Garaph (Media Create). May 6, 2007. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
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