Mario Party 4 is the GameCube incarnation of the mega-popular Mario Party series. In Mario Party, 4 players can join up to play a “board game” on the GameCube. Players roll the dice and move around the board. After the end of every round, a mini-game is played to liven things up. Mini-games are also played at times when certain spots are landed on. The game provides for a frantic frenzy between 4 players. Mario Party 4 will also have new features. The new Mini-Giant systems lets players use item on the board to grow larger or smaller in order to access different areas of the game boards and trigger special events. Also, players can team up for the entire game and have 2 on 2 matches in Tag Battle. A handicap feature allows players of varying skill levels to play against each other.

At the Nintendo Pre E3 Media Briefing we saw numerous new mini games. One game had players shooting basketballs at moving hoops. One had them tracing a bit line with a crayon. One involved knocking a row of thowmps over like dominos. In roller coaster level players had to lean to keep their train on the tracks. Another level had players on top of a giant book that had falling pages with holes in them. Players had to stand so when the page fell they would be in the hole and not die. There was also a game that took place on a lava pit with a giant chomp. Planet GameCube will have more on Mario Party 4 after we get to play it on the show floor.

Last updated: 01/12/2001

OK, at the time we kick off this preview, there's been no word from Nintendo that they're going to do a Gamecube version of Mario Party. Still, there's a really good chance that this beloved series will show up on Gamecube. Three installments of the Mario Party series and Sony and Sega have developed their own "party games" around their mascot characters, Sonic and Crash. Leave it to Nintendo to go and invent a new genre. Tendo Box recently reported the rumor that a Mario Party could actually end up being a launch title and feature online network play. We'd definitely love to see it & won't be surprised if this rumor turns out to be true.