KEY POINTS:
It was only a matter of time before we got the chance to hang ten and have a Mario party sporting the Wii remotes.
So what's new to keep fans happy in Nintendo's new G-rated, board game-styled Mario Party 8?
There's the promise of new mini-games, six new party boards and new game modes.
You can now change the unique Nintendo characters into many forms, such as player-smashing boulders and coin-sucking vampires as you make a move to overtake players on the board in style.
There are some bigger than usual mini games like Star Carnival Bowling and four can play if you have enough Wii remotes.
One of the board games is a bit like Monopoly where the star count is based on the amount of property owned on and you had to outbid others as you try and invest in things like hotels.
But the overall fare would be familiar to Mario Party goers (playing by yourself withdraws from the competitive spirit) but the difference this time of course is being able to use a Wii remote.
The pretty simple action games only need subtle movements with the remote. This means that it's nowhere near as good a workout as you'll be used to in the sports games such as ten-pin bowling and boxing, where you really work up a sweat, although you do get to swing the odd baseball or use a paddle to row a boat in the fun mini-games.
Sometimes you need to hold the remote sideways gamepad style, and in more stylised sequences throw your Wii remote or go wild-west and lasso some barrels.
If you've never been there, Mario Party is like a board game in which you take turns rolling dice and moving around a snakes and ladders board, trying to collect as many stars as possible without being beaten by your oppenents or Donkey Kong.
This could have been a good opportunity to break out of the overly-familiar Mario party formula and do some innovative things with the Wii remote. Its routine mini games are not as exciting as the fun games in Rayman Raving Rabbids, nor as testing.
But I know those who love this sort of party, and they will be very happy campers.
Mad Gamer rating: 7 / 10
What do you rate as the best Wii game so far?
