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Mario Party 7

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Mario Party 7
Packaging artwork
Developer(s)Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Shuichiro Nishiya
Producer(s)Hiroshi Sato
Composer(s)Hironobu Yahata
Shinya Outouge
SeriesMario Party
Platform(s)GameCube
Release
  • NA: November 7, 2005
  • JP: November 10, 2005
  • UK: January 27, 2006
  • EU: February 10, 2006
  • AU: June 8, 2006
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Party 7 (Japanese: マリオパーティ7, Hepburn: Mario Pāti Sebun) is a 2005 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the seventh main installment in the Mario Party series, as well as the fourth and final game in the series to be released for the GameCube. The game was first released in North America and Japan in November 2005, and was released in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia in January, February, and June of the following year, respectively.

Like most installments in the Mario Party series, Mario Party 7 features characters of the Mario franchise competing in an interactive board game with a variety of minigames, many of which make use of the microphone peripheral introduced in Mario Party 6. Mario Party 7 also introduces game modes and minigames that involve up to eight players competing simultaneously. The game features twelve playable characters (two of whom are unlockable), six game boards, and more than eighty minigames.

Mario Party 7 received mixed reviews from critics, who generally praised its minigames and eight-player mechanics, though criticized its single-player modes. The game has sold more than two million copies worldwide, making it the 11th best-selling GameCube video game. Mario Party 7 was succeeded by Mario Party 8 for the Wii in 2007.

Gameplay

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See also: Mario Party § Gameplay
Mario Party 7 features eight-player minigames, in which eight players can compete in four teams of two. Here, Princess Peach, Mario, Boo, Luigi, Toad, Wario, Princess Daisy, and Waluigi simultaneously attempt to jump rope in the minigame "Grin and Bar It".

The goal of Mario Party 7 is to gather stars, but each game board requires it in a different way. For the first time ever in the Mario Party series, eight players may participate in either Party Cruise or Deluxe Cruise (the 8-player equivalent of the Mini-Game Cruise).[1][2][3] Players are split into teams of two and are required to share a controller, with the first player using the L button and the Control Stick in mini-games, while the second player uses the R button and the C-stick.

While a mode for a solo player itself isn't new to the Mario Party series, this game's take is very different from any of the previous six games. One player competes against another (controlled by either a human or artificial intelligence), trying to complete the set objective on the board map before the other can. Tasks range from collecting a set number of stars to having a set number of coins on a space. Up to ten slots of different characters with different phrases may be saved. Once a player has completed all six boards, they are added to the rankings section, where it shows the players who took the least turns to complete them.

There are 88 minigames in Mario Party 7, the most in the series up to this point. Like all except Mario Party 2, no minigames from previous editions appear. There are nine types of minigames in the game: 4-player, 1-vs.-3, 2-vs.-2, Battle, Duel, 8-player, DK, Bowser, and Rare. For 4-player and 1-vs.-3, there are an additional five minigames that can be played with the microphone. In 8-player minigames, one player uses the Control Stick and L, and the other player uses the C stick and R. The minigame controls range from pressing a button repeatedly to using the control stick and several buttons. There are extra minigames which the player must purchase in-game to unlock.

Another new addition to this game is "Bowser Time!". This is an event that only occurs every five turns during a Party Cruise match. After each minigame, the meter on the screen will increase by 20% and when the meter is full, Bowser will appear and hinders the players depending on which board that the characters are currently playing. Based on the board, Bowser may destroy bridges, take stars from players, or change star locations. On almost every board at some time, Bowser may take a photo as a "memento" of the vacation and take the players' coins. At other times, he may open a shop that sells the players useless and expensive items, which are then taken by Koopa Kid. "Bowser Time!" may only occur once, or up to nine times, depending on the number of turns played.

This was also the first game in the Mario Party series to have removed the autoplay capability in Party mode (where all players can be manually set to AI, thus enabling the game to "play itself" without any human player). The game will not allow there to be less than one active human player at any time, unless a code is used.

Plot

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While taking a walk, Mario runs into Toadsworth, who announces that he is planning a luxury cruise around the world and invites Mario to come along. Excited at this news, Mario accepts the invitation and goes to spread the word about the trip. Bowser later finds out about this and is furious about not being invited, so he and his sidekick, Koopa Kid, plot revenge.

In Solo Mode, the player progresses through each stop by competing with another player to collect stars on each board, with the various places visited being Grand Canal, Pagoda Peak, Pyramid Park, Neon Heights, and Windmillville (which has the player fix windmills instead of collecting stars). When the player beats all the other boards, Bowser invites the player to the last board of the game, "Bowser's Enchanted Inferno".

In Bowser's Enchanted Inferno, Toadsworth tells the players that they must collect a star in order to confront Bowser. After collecting the star, the player meets with Bowser, and they engage in battle at a tall tower. The player eventually defeats Bowser, who ends up stranded on a small island with Koopa Kid. As the player who defeated Bowser mocks him in the distance, an angered Bowser vows revenge again.

Reception

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Critical response

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The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4] In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 30 out of 40.[8] IGN gave the game a 7 out of 10, stating solely it was "a slumber party".[14]

Sales

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As of 2006, the game had sold 1.86 million copies worldwide.[17] As of December 31, 2020, worldwide sales had reached 2.08 million units, making Mario Party 7 the 11th best-selling GameCube video game.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Shirley, Jeff (May 19, 2005). "Mario Party 7". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Graves, Robert (November 7, 2005). "Mario Party 7 Breaks Out". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Williams, Bryn (May 18, 2005). "Mario Party 7". GameSpy. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Mario Party 7 for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Rea, Jared (December 14, 2005). "Mario Party 7". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  6. ^ EGM staff (January 2006). "Mario Party 7". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 199. p. 125.
  7. ^ Gibson, Ellie (February 1, 2006). "Mario Party 7". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 17, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Famitsu Scores: Mario Party 7, Touch! Golf, NBA Live '06, Psi Ops, Getaway". Nerd Mentality. November 2, 2005. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  9. ^ Juba, Joe (December 2005). "Mario Party 7". Game Informer. No. 152. p. 178. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  10. ^ "Mario Party 7". GamePro. January 2006. p. 80.
  11. ^ Davis, Ryan (November 11, 2005). "Mario Party 7 Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  12. ^ Kosak, Dave (November 29, 2005). "GameSpy: Mario Party 7". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  13. ^ Fischer, Russ (April 5, 2006). "Mario Party 7 review". GamesRadar+. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (November 7, 2005). "Mario Party 7". IGN. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  15. ^ "Mario Party 7". Nintendo Power. Vol. 199. January 2006. p. 110.
  16. ^ Daugherty, Josh (November 28, 2005). "Mario Party 7 Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  17. ^ "Nintendo 2006 Annual Report" (PDF). Nintendo. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  18. ^ 2020CESAゲーム白書 (2020 CESA Games White Papers). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2020. p. 241. ISBN 978-4-902346-42-8.
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