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"Have you heard the one about the Nintendo characters and the minigames? More unlikely, have you managed to avoid it? Unless you haven't had access to electricity for the last ten years, you'll probably know all about Mario Party, which is one of the most successful and imitated casual games series.
It has had its ups and downs over the course of at least nine sequels, some of which are barely distinguishable from one another beyond the title screens, but it's never less than popular - explicably or otherwise."
Full Source:
CVG
"Despite the fact that the DS just celebrated its third birthday, Mario Party DS is the first time that the long-running party game franchise has appeared on Nintendo's current handheld, and it arrived with the odds stacked against it. Two previous handheld Mario Party titles (Mario Party Advance for the Game Boy Advance and Mario Party-e for the GBA's e-Reader) came and went without many kind words from the gaming community. And after 10 games in the series, complaints about a lack of originality in the franchise were growing louder and more frequent, especially after Mario Party 8 failed to take full advantage of the Wii's innovative control scheme."
Full Source:
Gamespy
"Who doesn't love a party? Friends, music, drinks, a quest to return to normal size after having been miniaturized by your nemesis � it's all in good fun. Mario and company therefore fight for their right to enjoy themselves in the appropriately named Mario Party DS. Like any good party, the more the merrier: a decent single-player mode and tonnes of mini-games get things rolling, but it's all about the multiplayer. Arguably, Mario Party DS is the best multiplayer game yet on Nintendo DS."
Full Source:
Pocketgamer.co.uk
"November 24,2007 - Gamers probably scoffed when Nintendo made the announcement that Mario Party would be coming to the DS. After all, of all the franchises Nintendo is in possession of, Mario Party is without a doubt the most milked. There have been three Mario Party games released on the Nintendo 64, four on the GameCube, one on the Game Boy Advance, and one on the Wii. While the games have always been fun, none have ever come close to the enjoyment the first two games provided. With this being the tenth entry in this incredibly long-running series, it can safely be said that Mario Party DS is quite solid."
Full Source:
Gamer 2.0
"Eight years and ten games after its creation, the Mario Party series hits the Nintendo DS. The franchise had been on a downhill slide in quality for a while. Mario Party 8 for the Nintendo Wii started a decent shift toward better gameplay, and thankfully the DS version does so as well. We have seen quite the amount of mini-game packages for the system, but as far as board games go Mario Party is the brand of choice, and its DS installment could very well be one of the best of the series."
Full Source:
Portable Video Gamer
"To say that Mario Party DS is just a collection of competitive minigames is like saying the Louvre is just a warehouse of paintings. These quick tests of skill aren't the usual sort of generic button-mashers you'd normally find in games of this type. Nintendo and Hudson have come up with a spectacular set of "pick up and play" challenges for this handheld installment of the ongoing franchise. They've also crammed it full of play modes and have lavished it with the sort of cheerful polish you've come to expect from Nintendo-branded games. Best of all, the developers have made it so that you need only a single cartridge to get a party going with as many as four people."
Full Source:
Gamespot
"The last time handheld gamers got a chance to join the Mario Party it was on the Game Boy Advance in one of the lamest iterations of the series: Mario Party Advance. It certainly had some merit but ultimately, even though it had the same development studio at the helm as the console renditions, it just couldn't keep up with the rest of the Hudson designs. Mario Party DS, however, is a huge leap over the last portable rendition, bringing the on-the-go versions in line with what's been made for the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii systems. And maybe that's what roots the DS game down into merely "decent" territory: it's just more of Mario Party, a decade-old tradition of varying quality mini-games strung out in a board game presentation…but now with touch-screen and microphone-blowing mini-games."
Full Source:
IGN
"This is the best Mario Party game since Gamecube days. That's quite a feat for Hudson, considering the series took an abrupt nosedive into mediocrity on the latest Wii version. The DS is the perfect platform for this series in a lot of ways; the various input methods allow for a pretty impressive variety of games across the 70-plus available. But there are a number of issues that hold this game back from party perfection."
Full Source:
IGN
"Mario Party DS is more innovative than you'd think. Wait, wait -- I know what you're thinking: When was Mario Party ever original? Isn't this the Madden of party games, with a fresh coat of paint every year? It's actually even worse than that -- this is actually the 10th game in Nintendo's long-running board game-based party series in just eight years. But it's the first truly portable version, as 2005's Mario Party Advance on the Game Boy Advance didn't include the franchise's conventional four-way multiplayer."
Full Source:
1up
"If you have ever played a Mario Party game, you pretty much know what to expect here. Not much has changed in Mario Party DS. However, instead of changing a winning (or losing, your preference) formula, Mario Party DS simply tweaks a few of the gameplay designs and pacing (for the greater good, most will agree), downgrades the graphics for the handheld's weaker hardware, and adds basic touch screen controls and then basically calls it a day. One thing that will bother lots of people is that a lot of the obvious enhancements are left out. Namely, online play, and better item balance."
Full Source:
Hooked Gamers via
Gonintendo
"Nintendo gave us a few minutes with Mario Party DS at its press event a few weeks ago, and now we've gotten our hands on a prerelease version of the game to subject it to further scrutiny. Not that too much scrutiny was really necessary--this is 100 percent, grade-A Mario Party. Anyone who has played the recent console versions should know exactly the sort of minigame/board game action they'll find in the DS game. But that's probably the most impressive thing about this package, from what we've seen so far: Hudson seems to have crammed the full Mario Party experience into the handheld, even if you have only one copy of the game."
Full Source:
Gamespot
"It seems as though Mario has been caught at a party that will never end. Mario Party 8 came out for the Wii earlier this year, but like that obnoxious guy wearing the lampshade that just doesn't know when to leave, Mario is still partying in the virtual realm. Still, his newest outing looks like it will be a huge success for the portable partygoers among us. Nintendo used the E for All Expo to provide a playable version of Mario Party DS; as a game, the Mario Party franchise just might make the most sense on a portable platform, since that means it can be played anywhere (as long as you've got friends with DSes)."
Full Source:
Games are Fun
"Mario Party is Mario Party is Mario Party…and that’s how it shall be until the end of time. You will have minigames, you will have a cast of Nintendo characters, and you will not have online. You guys know that I am not a huge fan of online, but when it comes to Mario Party I make an exception. The Mario Party series needs to move forward, and online is the next logical step. That could make the game that much more fun. I am all for local multiplayer…but come on Nintendo, this game screams online!"
Full Source:
Gonintendo
"Mario Party is one of those series that has the magic power to appeal to almost everybody, from casual gamers to hardcore Nintendo fans. New installments in the series are always welcomed... unless they end up as half-baked as Mario Party Advance. Fortunately, Nintendo has decided to give the series a second chance on handhelds and Mario Party DS should grant players on the go all the fun they have been waiting for for over two years. With an equal balance between the single- and multiplayer modes and a massive usage of the DS capabilities, this game could be a star during the holiday season."
Full Source:
Gamespy
