Mario Party 4

Mario Party 4
The North American box art for Mario Party 4.
Information
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Mario Party
Release date	Original release: November 8, 2002 October 21, 2002 2002 October 21, 2002 / November 29, 2002 November 29, 2002 November 29, 2002 Player's Choice Release: October 10, 2003
Genre(s)	Party
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: Everyone OFLC: G8+ (General) PEGI: Three years and older
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Navigation
Predecessor	Mario Party 3 (2000)
Successor	Mario Party 5 (2003)

Mario Party 4 is the fourth installment of the Mario Party series and the first for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo in 2002.

The game follows the original style of board game gameplay, as well as the use of many items and mini-games. Like with previous Mario Party games, the object is to have the most Stars by the end than one's opponents. Mario Party 4 is the first Mario Party game that allows players to team up. This is the first Mario Party game not released in December for Japan.

Plot

The title screen for Mario Party 4.

During a pleasant day in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and his friends are lounging around outside Princess Peach's castle when a mysterious floating present appeared. Shocked by what they saw, they moved closer to the mysterious present, when it suddenly changed shape and opened revealing Toad, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Boo, and Shy Guy to be inside. Toad then proceeds to explain that with the help of the party cube, they would be celebrating Mario's birthday (the character whose birthday it is depends on the character selected for story mode). Toad then declares the party started and the game begins.

The character chosen must then go through all the boards of the game, each hosted by the board's creator: Toad, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Boo, Shy Guy, and later Koopa Kid (Mini Bowser in Europe and Australia). After the player has won on the chosen board, they will be presented with a gift by the hosting character, only to find out that in order to claim the present, they must beat the host character in a duel mini-game. Once all the main boards have been finished, Bowser will show up and disrupt the party, claiming that he, too, has a present for the player and demands that they play on his board. Once the player wins on Bowser's board, Bowser will challenge the player to his final duel. Once Bowser loses, he will trudge off slowly, mumbling sadly to himself, and he will drop a present behind; Mini Bowser will then appear and tell the player that Bowser had always intended to give them the present. After the last present has been received (the last present is always Bowser-themed), Toad will announce that one more present still has to be given. A Power Star will then show up and give the player a constellation of themselves. After this, the ending credits will play and the story mode is completed.

Characters

Playable characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Princess Peach
• Princess Daisy
• Donkey Kong
• Yoshi

Default Partners

• Mario and Luigi
• Wario and Waluigi
• Peach and Daisy
• Donkey Kong and Yoshi

Other characters

• Toad
• Goomba
• Shy Guy
• Boo
• Koopa Troopa
• Shy Guy Well
• Big Boo
• Genie of the Lamp
• Thwomp
• Whomp
• Ztar
• Koopa Kid
• Bowser

Boards

All of the boards in this game were made and hosted by each of the enemies who found the Party Cube.

• Toad's Midway Madness
• Shy Guy's Jungle Jam
• Goomba's Greedy Gala
• Boo's Haunted Bash
• Koopa's Seaside Soiree
• Bowser's Gnarly Party

Items

• Mega Mushroom - Officially debuted in this game, a player who uses it is able to have 2 Dice Blocks (2-20 spaces). Also, if a player rolls the same number on both Dice Blocks, they get a bonus 10 coins (30 coins for two "7's"). (This replaces the Mushroom from Mario Party 2 and 3.) The player passes everything (including Item Shops and the Star Space) except for Bowser on Bowser's Gnarly Party.
• Mini Mushroom - A player who uses this item will shrink and rolls one 1-5 Dice Block (for 1-5 spaces). However, they will be able to earn Coins by playing "Mini Mini-Games."
• Super Mega Mushroom - This item has the same effects as the regular Mega Mushroom. However, the player rolls 3 Dice Blocks (for 3-30 spaces). If the player rolls the same numbers, they get a bonus 10 coins (30 coins for three "3's" or 50 for three "7's"). (This replaces the Golden Mushroom from the previous two installments.)
• Super Mini Mushroom - This item has the same effects as the regular Mini Mushroom, except that a player can roll two 1-5 dice blocks instead of 1 (for 2-10 spaces). However it is possible to move the normal number of spaces with the regular Dice Block. The player cannot get a total of "1", but can get a total of 2-10. If the player rolls the same numbers (two 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, or 5's), they get a bonus 10 coins.
• Chomp Call - This item can be used to call out Chain Chomps. The Chain Chomps surround the host of the board. Then they (the Chain Chomps) scare both them and the Star Space to a new location of the board. (This somehow replaces the Lucky Lamp from Mario Party 3.)
• Warp Pipe - Allows a player to switch positions with a randomly selected player.
• Swap Card - The Swap Card randomly choose another player via roulette and the player who used it swaps items with the chosen player.
• Mini-Mega Hammer - Chooses an opponent to be Mega or Mini by hitting them on the head with the hammer. However, the player cannot inflict their own effect (Mega or Mini). The opponent --which the player chooses-- feels the effects of a Mega or Mini Mushroom on the next turn (determined by what mushroom appears on the hammer when the alternating between the two mushrooms is stopped by pressing the A button).
• Boo's Crystal Ball - Summon a Boo to steal coins or stars from an opponent. The cost for stealing coins is 5 coins while the one for stealing a star is 50 coins. The victim can tap "A" and lose less coins (if the player --who summoned the Boo-- is stealing coins). But they can't fight back (if the player --who summoned the Boo-- steals a star). If the victim has a Gaddlight, they can use this item to chase away the Boo (when he runs after their coins or stars). Then the Boo, he does not steal anything from the victim. And the player --who summoned the Boo-- ends up wasting 5 coins (to steal coins) or 50 coins (to steal a star) for nothing. (This replaces the Boo Bell from the previous two installments. But the Boo Bell replaced Boo’s Crystal Ball in Mario Party Superstars)
• Gaddlight - Use this item to scare away a Boo (from a Boo's Crystal Ball or Boo House) who is after your stars or coins. This item does not work on the Big Boo --in Boo's Haunted Bash-- however (even if all three targeted players have a Gaddlight). (This replaces the Boo Repellent from the previous two installments.)
• Sparky Sticker - Use this item to place it directly below where they are standing. If any opponent tries to pass it, any player currently on said space loses 10 coins plus the effects of a Mega Mushroom or a Mini Mushroom.
• Item Bag - Receive three random items.
• Magic Lamp - Summons the Genie of the Lamp and takes you directly to the Star Space. The player still must trade 20 coins for a star (unless the Last Five Turns Event shows "Star Present" --where stars via the Star Space are free). The item reprised itself from Mario Party 3.
• Bowser Suit - Can only be obtained randomly by Bowser (via the Bowser Space). The player who uses it steals 30 coins from each opponent. This item passes Item Shops and Star Spaces. The two exceptions are the Ukiki (in Koopa's Seaside Soiree) and Bowser (in Bowser's Gnarly Party). In Koopa's Seaside Soiree, the player can choose any direction (as Bowser is unable to slip on banana peels). In Bowser's Gnarly Party, Bowser (for the player who --gets to him-- uses a Bowser Suit) gives the player 50 coins.

Trivia

• This is the last installment of the Mario Party series:
  • where Donkey Kong is playable.
    • He returns in the home console games Mario Party 10, Super Mario Party, Mario Party Superstars, and Super Mario Party Jamboree.
  • to --if counting the home console games-- have only playable protagonists (not counting Mario, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Waluigi who have been both a protagonist and a villain) prior to Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree. (However, this is the last one to have only playable protagonists until Mario Party Superstars.)
    • In the next installment Mario Party 5, Boo and Koopa Kid/Bowser Jr. are the first two villains to be playable characters in the Mario Party series.
      • Koopa Kid (the latter of the first two antagonists) was playable until Mario Party 5 and 6. In Mario Party 7, he is a space character. And in later home console games (beginning with Mario Party 9), he is succeeded by Bowser Jr.. However, Bowser Jr. he is playable in two later home console games (that being, Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree).
    • The later installment Mario Party: Island Tour --though this is a handheld game-- has Boo and Bowser Jr. --the successor to Koopa Kid from the first 7 installments (beginning with Mario Party DS)-- as playable characters (making Island Tour having two villains as playable characters).
    • While most of the future home console games --after this installment and beginning with Mario Party 5-- start having antagonists as playable characters (such as Boo and Koopa Kid/Bowser Jr.), the most recent home console game Mario Party Superstars is the fifth and most recent one to have only playable protagonists. (There are ten playable characters in the said game. And those characters are all playable protagonists. That is, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, and Birdo.)
• Mario Party 4 is notable for being the first Mario Party game to have a plot revolving around an actual party. The theme is based on a birthday party where there are presents, cake, balloons, and streamers.
• Mario Party 4 is also notable for being the only game in the Mario Party series that doesn't contain Piranha Plants in any board, mini-game, item or any other place at all. A Piranha Plant only makes a brief cameo in the background of the Option Room.
• This is the first Mario game to have Princess Peach and Princess Daisy in their current main dresses, and where Princess Daisy's hair is short.
• Strangely, in one of the mini-games, if either Princess Peach or Princess Daisy are competing, they show the bottoms of their dresses as containing stilted white legs.
• This is the first Mario Party game for the Nintendo GameCube.
• This game completes a revamp in the 3-D art direction of the Mario franchise that started with Luigi's Mansion and continued with Super Mario Sunshine.
• With the exception of Mario Party Superstars, all the board hosts later became playable characters in later home console games in the Mario Party series (through Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree). So Toad --host of Toad's Midway Madness-- became playable in the home console games Mario Party 5 through 10 (and handheld games --including Mario Party DS, Island Tour, and Star Rush) and Super Mario Party Jamboree. Boo --host of Boo's Haunted Bash-- became playable in future home console games from Mario Party 5 to Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree (except for Mario Party 9 and 10). Shy Guy and Koopa Troopa --the hosts of their respective boards (Shy Guy's Jungle Jam and Koopa's Seaside Soiree)-- were playable in three later home console games Mario Party 9, Super Mario Party, and Super Mario Party Jamboree. Goomba --host of Goomba's Greedy Gala-- became playable in the two later home console games (Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree). And Koopa Kid --the host of Bowser's Gnarly Party-- was playable in Mario Party 5 and 6 (the last two of the first 6 games).
  • Toad reverted back to being a board host in Mario Party: The Top 100, Super Mario Party, and Mario Party Superstars.
    • And by extension, for Toadette, she started as a playable character in Mario Party 6 and returned as a playable character in Mario Party 7, 8, 10, and Star Rush. She was a board host in Mario Party DS, Super Mario Party, and Mario Party Superstars.
    • However, Toad, Toadette, and Bowser Jr. (the successor to Koopa Kid) are going to reprise their playable roles in Super Mario Party Jamboree this October.
  • Koopa Kid lost his playable character status in Mario Party 7 (and instead became a space character). He did not return in Mario Party 8. But beginning with Mario Party DS, he was succeeded by Bowser Jr..
    • Bowser Jr. (who succeeded Koopa Kid in later installments) was a playable character in three later installments. That is, Mario Party: Island Tour, Super Mario Party, and Super Mario Party Jamboree.
      • If counting just the home console games, he --Bowser Jr.-- was playable in the two home console games (after Mario Party 9 and 10). That is, Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree.
  • Toad and Boo are the only two hosts in this game to be playable in more than one or two later home console games of the Mario Party series. And they have been playable characters in the most later home console games. Toad (if not counting the handheld games Mario Party DS, Island Tour, and Star Rush) was playable in all the home console games in the series after Mario Party 4, but only until Mario Party 9 and 10. He (along with Toadette) did not return as a fully playable character until Super Mario Party Jamboree. Boo --not counting the handheld game (Mario Party: Island Tour)-- was playable in all the later home console games through Super Mario Party and Super Mario Party Jamboree (except for Mario Party 9, 10, and Mario Party Superstars).
    • For the two characters Toad and Boo --who previously appeared as hosts in the first four installments-- Toad was playable in seven later home console games (Mario Party 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and Super Mario Party Jamboree), while Boo was playable in six (Mario Party 5, 6, 7, 8, Super Mario Party, and Super Mario Party Jamboree).
• This is the first installment in the series:
  • to not have any Duel minigames excluding story mode minigames.
  • where Daisy and Waluigi are now playable in Story Mode.
  • where Daisy's hair length is short, but to have her and Princess Peach in their current main dresses.
• Part of the music from Toad's Midway Madness comes from Neo Green Hill Zone in Sonic Advance.
  • If either princess are present in minigames, they show the bottoms of their dresses as containing stilted white legs.

Gallery

To view Mario Party 4's image gallery, click here.