Mario Party 6

Mario Party 6
256px North American box art
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Shuichiro Nishiya
Composer(s)	Hironobu Yahata Shinya Outouge
Series	Mario Party
Platforms	Nintendo GameCube
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Party
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Party 6 (Japanese: マリオパーティ6, Hepburn: Mario Pāti Shikkusu) is the sixth game in the Mario Party series of board game-style video games by Nintendo and is the third title in the series made for Nintendo GameCube and was released in Japan on November 18, 2004; North America on December 6, 2004; in Europe on March 18, 2005; and in Australia on September 15, 2005. It is the first GameCube game to make use of a microphone add-on. Mario Party 6 is followed by Mario Party 7.

Gameplay

In Mario Party 6, up to four players take turns moving on board game-style stages, often playing multiplayer minigames to earn coins and stars. The object of the game is to amass the most coins and stars before completing a set number of turns. This is the first game to take out the coin bonus star, replacing it with the orb star, which is awarded to the player that used the most orbs. On multiplayer boards the sun will periodically set or rise (every three turns), producing different effects. Changes include spaces moving, different characters appearing, and changes to minigames. This is reflected in two new characters, Brighton and Twila.

All ten playable characters from Mario Party 5 return in this game (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Toad, Yoshi, Koopa Kid, Boo); Toadette is also playable as a newcomer.

Brighton and Twila, the sun and moon who watch over the Mario Party world, argue over who is more popular. Mario suggests they collect as many Stars as they can to end this.

Orbs

Orbs are special items players can either collect on the board or buy with coins at the Orb Hut. They can be used in many ways to give a player an advantage, such as stealing coins from rivals, hampering a rival's progress, or quickly obtaining stars. In Mario Party 5, these were called capsules. Unlike in Mario Party 5, the player does not have to pay to use orbs on his or her self and may find coins in Orbs. How Orbs are used is determined by the Orb's type. These are: Self, Space, Roadblock and Special. Roadblock type Orbs are one-use only and trigger when passed. Space type Orbs transform a space into a character space and only work if a rival lands on the space. Self type orbs add buffs to the player that used them. If a player stops on their own character space, they gain five Coins.

Solo Mode

Solo Mode is where a single player embarks on a special single-row board with a set number of spaces to collect minigames. The player may also choose a teammate (for 2 vs 2 minigames). Also the player plays minigames with Red, Green, and Blue Koopa Kid. The dice block for Solo Mode only has the numbers 1-6 on it. At the end of the board, there is an exclusive rare minigame space, where the player gets a rare minigame without needing to play it. If the player goes past the rare minigame space, they fall off the board and lose all of the mini games they have acquired. To win, the player must land on the rare minigame space, or quit (without getting a rare minigame).

Minigames

There are eighty-two minigames in Mario Party 6. No minigames from previous versions return. New to this edition are mic and rare minigames. In mic minigames, players must say words into the mic to perform different actions. Rare games are usually obtained by stopping on the space at the end of Solo Mode, although one is purchased in the Star Bank. The minigames are divided into 4-player, 1-vs.-3, 2-vs.-2, Battle, Duel, DK, Bowser, Mic and Rare.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score GameRankings 73.41% (based on 10 reviews)

The game received mixed to positive reviews. GameSpot gave Mario Party 6 a 6.9/10, citing great family and multiplayer fun, but the same idea of older Mario Parties. IGN gave it a 7/10. They also criticized its lack of originality and the microphone. 1UP gave Mario Party 6 a C+ due to unoriginality and other factors.

External links

• (Japanese) Japanese official site
• Mario Party 6 at MobyGames