Mario Party 4 is a 2002 party video game created by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fourth game in the Mario Party series and the first one released for the GameCube. Like earlier games in the series, it includes eight characters from the Mario franchise—Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, and Waluigi—who compete on a board game. The goal of each game board is to collect the most Stars. In addition to the multiplayer mode, the game includes a single-player mode where the player competes against computer-controlled opponents.

Mario Party 4 was announced in March 2002 and shown at E3 2002. It was released in North America on October 21, 2002, in Japan on November 8, 2002, and in PAL regions on November 29, 2002. The game received mixed reviews. Some players criticized the single-player mode, the design of the game boards, and the sound effects. However, the graphics and controls were praised. It won the Family Game of the Year award at the Interactive Achievement Awards in 2003. The game was followed by Mario Party 5 for the same console in 2003.

Gameplay

Mario Party 4 is a puzzle and party video game inspired by an interactive board game featuring four characters from the Mario franchise. The game includes eight playable characters: Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, and Waluigi. The game has six game boards. Players roll a dice and move across squares that either add or subtract coins or trigger one of 50 minigames. The goal is to collect the most coins and stars. Stars can be earned by landing on a star square, winning the most minigames, collecting the most coins, or landing on the most "Happening Spaces" squares. After each round, a minigame is played. Players can find two types of mushrooms: a mega mushroom, which gives an extra dice, increases the player's size, and allows stealing 10 coins from another player; and a mini mushroom, which shrinks the player, limits the dice to numbers 1 through 5, and allows passing through pipes to access shortcuts. Additional items available for purchase include pipes, a genie lamp that moves the player to a star, and Boo's crystal ball that lets the player steal another player's star. A game can last between 10 and 50 turns.

The six game boards have different themes, such as ghost-themed or tropical-themed designs. On the Koopa's Seaside Soiree board, players can interact with animals that provide shortcuts or change movement direction. On the Boo board, a ghost train moves players around the board. The "reversal of fortune" space allows players to swap coins and stars with a random opponent. The game includes minigames grouped into deathmatch (free-for-all), two-on-two, or one-on-three battle modes. Examples include drag racing, skiing, dominoes, soccer, and snowball dodging. In "Booksquirm," players avoid being crushed by a book, while "Dungeon Duos" has two players navigating a passage. Most minigames are free-for-all. Winners receive coins as prizes, and completing the game rewards players with special prizes based on their character. Players can practice minigames before playing them with others.

The game includes a "pure minigame mode" and a singleplayer campaign called "Story Mode," where the player plays alone against three AI-controlled opponents. The game supports progressive scan for HDTV players.

Development and release

Mario Party 4 was created by Hudson Soft and released by Nintendo. It was the first Mario Party game available for the GameCube. The game was announced during a Nintendo press conference in Tokyo in March 2002, with Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata sharing the details. It was part of Nintendo's 2002 game lineup, which the company called their "biggest year" for software at the time. Nintendo showed a playable version of the game at E3 2002, which included a limited number of mini-games. The game was released on October 21, 2002, in North America, November 8 in Japan, and November 29 in Europe.

Reception

Mario Party 4 received "mixed or average" reviews, according to the review site Metacritic. In Japan, four critics from Famitsu gave the game a total score of 30 out of 40.

Reviewers praised the minigames in Mario Party 4. Fran Mirabella III of IGN said the minigames were fun because they were new and had lots of action for multiple players. Johnny Liu of GameRevolution highlighted the Booksquirm and Dungeon Duos minigames. Andrew Reiner of Game Informer said the game boards were confusing and "poorly designed," and the minigames had bad design and controls. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer disliked the "reversal of fortune" space, calling it "unfair," and the large size of the game boards, noting that "interest wanes very quickly in a group of four." Michael Cole of Nintendo World Report praised the "mega-mini" system with mushrooms. Reviewers also criticized the singleplayer mode for requiring players to watch AI-controlled characters take turns. Ryan Steddy of Nintendo Life called the singleplayer mode a "dull add-on."

Reviewers also noted improvements in the game's graphics, especially the characters. Liu and Mirabella III said the graphics were better than earlier games on the Nintendo 64. Ryan Davis of GameSpot praised the lighting and special effects. Liu also mentioned that the graphics were not highly detailed. Bad Hare of GamePro praised the music, but Mirabella III did not find it fun. Bramwell and Mirabella III disliked the sound effects, while Cole criticized the voice acting. Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame had mixed opinions about the sound effects.

Bramwell, Hare, and Bryn Williams of GameSpy praised the game's controls. However, Bramwell said that slow reactions often led to losing minigames.

TheGamer ranked Mario Party 4 as the best entry in the series. Den of Geek considered it the fourth best game in the Mario Party series, citing its minigames.

Mario Party 4 won "Family Game of the Year" at the AIAS 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. It was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Best Party Game on GameCube" award, which went to Super Monkey Ball 2.

The game sold 1,100,000 units in North America from its release to December 27, 2007, and an additional 900,000 copies in Japan, totaling 2,000,000 units sold.