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Nothing Mini About This GameThe Mario Party series started on Nintendo's previous console and already there's been one entry on the Gamecube. Mario Party 5 is clearly the better of the two Gamecube games and adds plenty of ways to enjoy all the simple mini-games that make these titles stand out among all party games. There's a simple story tying together all the game boards that revolves around dreams. That gives you nicely varied board types to enjoy including a pirate themed one and even an underwater excursion. When you play the single player story mode, you'll try to reduce three Koopa Kids' (Bowser's minions) coins to zero while retaining at least one coin yourself. Playing by yourself exposes this series' biggest weakness and that's just how inadequate these games are against a computer opponent. Often times you feel cheated by oddly lucky dice rolls or mini-game wins at opportune times even when you think you gave it your all. If all you want to do is play the mini-games, which include quick challenges like pounding the A button as many times as possible up to Super Mario-esque levels of jumping and stomping, the developers have provided more than just the standard board for entry. You can partake in a cool one lap race where you get to move X number of spaces if you win the mini game and each turn is decided by a mini-game win. You can even wager a mushroom on the outcome hoping to get a bigger roll. There's also some neat bonus games beyond the regular action that include hockey, volleyball and a cool card game that builds a board as you go. Variety is a theme in Mario Party 5 and while single player can get dull, all of these games in multiplayer take on a life of their own. This game is primarily entertaining with four people sitting at the TV. It moves at a faster pace than Mario Party 4 and is only slows down during some annoyingly long animations that should be skippable and are pretty much unnecessary in a board game setting. When you roll the die or use a power, you just want to see the result, not watch the same hook bearing Lakitu rob another player of a coin for an extra thirty seconds of wasted time. The graphics seem cleaned up and even a little more extravagant this time around. Even the sound is improved. Boards are better designed and the new capsule system is pretty ingenious. There are capsule machines that distribute the powerups and powerdowns you can use to affect yourself and other players. What's neat is you can use these on yourself for a price or throw it onto the gameboard creating a potentially hazardous (or helpful) space for you and your opponents to land upon. Being able to influence the game and the board this way is a treat given how static the game was in the last iteration. With plenty of mini-games, all well crafted, and a lot of bonus content including a vehicle shootout that allows you to design and fight with your own craft made from purchased parts, Mario Party 5 is brimming with entertainment value. No other party game series captures the right mix of board game and video game like this one does. It relies on a modicum of knowledge of Mario and his adventures but even the novice videogamer can quickly grasp hitting A to jump. So don't hesitate to put this Mario Party on your weekend evening calendar. Mario and his pals throw a fun bash. Kid Factor:It's about as perfect as it gets for family fun to play any of the Mario Party games. The only downside is that Mom or Dad are going to be at an unfair advantage sometimes during the more complex mini games with smaller children. That's ok though because when they surprise you and win they'll be all the more excited about their victory. The faster pace of Mario Party 5 is very welcome after the slow plod of Mario Party 4. It makes that game mostly obsolete despite different mini games if only because playing these boards will whiz by, keeping both the little ones and the adults entertained.  Reviewer Recommended Ages: 3+ Genre: Party ESRB Rating: E-Everyone Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Hudson Soft Reviewer: David J. Long Score: 4 
It's about as perfect as it gets for family fun to play any of the Mario Party games. The only downside is that Mom or Dad are going to be at an unfair advantage sometimes during the more complex mini games with smaller children. That's ok though because when they surprise you and win they'll be all the more excited about their victory. The faster pace of Mario Party 5 is very welcome after the slow plod of Mario Party 4. It makes that game mostly obsolete despite different mini games if only because playing these boards will whiz by, keeping both the little ones and the adults entertained.
Kid Factor by Dave Long
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