Thoughts:Mario Party, minigames..(+DK Jungle Beat)

[+kisrael]

Just some thoughts:

 

last night I had to bring back a copy of Gone with the Wind to Best Buy and I thought I might treat myself to something game-ish.

 

The two final canidates were Mario Party 5 or 6 (both at 50, even though the latter has special hardware...it's pretty astounding how this series keeps its value!) or DK Jungle Beat.

 

I went for Jungle Beat. I've played through the first 2 worlds so far it hasn't really grabbed me, the novelty wears thing pretty quick.

 

So I got to thinking about Mario Party. Part of the reason I didn't get 6 was because I don't really have a loyal crew of minigamers like I used to. Well, maybe it's not as bad as I fear, but still.

 

Mario Party is a great idea...minigames are a fantastic return to oldschool, atari-style gameplay, and 4 player games are fantastic.

 

I have Mario Party 1-4. The series has had some negative trends in that time...for one thing, the GC introduced some small but noticable loading times.

 

But the main thing is, the series seems to be in denial that the appeal is MINIGAMES. They make the board game bigger and weirder and harder to think about -- it becomes more and more of a game of chance, at least with the boardgames in the first one it seemed to matter if you took the path left or right, by the time 4 came around, it's just a mess. So many little things can happen, mostly by chance, I have to stare at the board for a long time if I actually wanted to try to figure the "best path" when I have a choice...and all that stuff interferes with JUST GETTING TO THE STUPID MINIGAMES. (plus, in 4, way too many of the games are 3-on-1, which is probably the least fun combination)

 

The best "board game" was that little stadium-in-the-pot in the first Mario Party; mostly blue dots, a few red to mix it up, just enough random chance so lesser players weren't totally screwed.

 

I also don't like that they lock games 'til they're seen in the boardgame, but at least on 1-4 they make it so you can have the computer play and play and play and free up everything for us in the other modes.

 

And the other modes are good, but not great. They make you pick your partners and stay with it, or whatever...really, the ideal would be something like minigame stadium, except you can say "Yay or Nay" for EVERY minigame, just pick the ones that you want to play and ignore the others -- that would be crucial. Some minigames just suck, but of course the gamewriters don't want to admit it.

 

Feh.

 

Anyway it got me thinking about minigames in general. Fuzion Frenzy is pretty good, but some of the games are hit or miss. The ones that make good use of the two sticks, like where you have to run around with one and control a running bomb with the other, are nifty.

 

I'd love to make my own "ultimate party game" for DC or something, but of course thats a TON of work, and I'm really worried about my ability to do decent AI...I'd hate to end up with something like the South Park party game, where they didn't bother with AI at all...

 

So, any recommendations for minigames? What have some of your favorites been?

I'm thinking about trying to make a"best ever" list, though of course it's mostly just of interest to myself...

[shep]

I really enjoyed the Mario Party series...well I havn't played any after 4. I loved the mini game where everyone and some shyguys to mix it up is stuck in these little plastic balls walking around in a conveyer belt and one of the player controls a crain and is to try to catch all the opposing players. Me and my friends played that one over and over. As well as the one from 4 that you play on this giant book and as the pages are turning you have to stand where the holes in the book are. That gets crazy fun.

[Atarifever]

I can't believe you didn't really like Jungle Beat. I can't put it down. Maybe it's because I'm playing it like an old arcade game and keep redoing things to beat my own times and scores and to earn all the medals. The controls felt really natural to me, and after a few minutes I started to think "Now, I wonder if someone could rig up a set of these to play RE4..." .

I've only ever played Mario Party 2, which I bought right after I purchased my N64 a few months ago. I didn't get into it very much, probably because I couldn't get anyone to play it with me (all my friends are very concerned with not looking "immature". I got over that when I turned 20 and realized I still liked cartoons). My girlfriend doesn't want to play it because she thinks she'll suck at the mini-games too much to have a chance.

[Crimefighter]

The challenge of Jungle Beat is scoring big to get the crests to open the later worlds. It gets to be quite tricky. I need to remember to trim my nails down more whenever I play it.

[+kisrael]

Actually, that reminds me, I was thinking of trying to find DKC2+3...the first DKC was a great game for an experienced person to walk a newbie through.

 

Interesting that you liked the crane game so much...it was never a favorite of my group, though it was kind of fun. It seemed easier for the 3 people than the crane operator, the crane guy only had time to make 2 or 3 misses.

[joeybastard]

I love the MP games, have all of them except the new one for the GBA. My wife and I play them all of the time. My favorite is 3, it requires the most strategy due to the way the items are used/aquired.

 

has anybody played the GBA one? Is it any good?

[+kisrael]

I love the MP games, have all of them except the new one for the GBA.  My wife and I play them all of the time.  My favorite is 3, it requires the most strategy due to the way the items are used/aquired.

 

has anybody played the GBA one?  Is it any good?

Don't know about the GBA version, I was wondering the same thing.

 

Dang I love minigames.

 

Do you like the boardgame? For me it's all about the minigames, and by the time 3 started, it seems like they were getting really complex. I think "Minigame Stadium" should be a requirement for EVERY game in the series.

 

Of course it would be nice if every new game included every old minigame, but then the repetitiveness would become even more blatant :-)

[joeybastard]

Don't know about the GBA version, I was wondering the same thing.

 

Dang I love minigames.

 

Do you like the boardgame? For me it's all about the minigames, and by the time 3 started, it seems like they were getting really complex. I think "Minigame Stadium" should be a requirement for EVERY game in the series.

 

Of course it would be nice if every new game included every old minigame, but then the repetitiveness would become even more blatant :-)

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The board game seems to be hit and miss. Some of the boards are really designed well for strategies involving the various items you can buy. I like that since it makes the game "deeper" although more complicated too. I like the minigames too but I guess it's the whole package that appeals to me. One without the other isn't as much fun to me.

[+kisrael]

The board game seems to be hit and miss.  Some of the boards are really designed well for strategies involving the various items you can buy.  I like that since it makes the game "deeper" although more complicated too.  I like the minigames too but I guess it's the whole package that appeals to me.  One without the other isn't as much fun to me.

Interesting. I guess I've never just been into boardgames all that much.