Mario Party 4 is the fourth in a series of board game style video games for Nintendo platforms featuring popular Nintendo characters It was released on the Nintendo GameCube in North America on October 21 2002 strangely before the Japanese release on November 8 2002 It was released on November 29 2002 in Europe being heavily criticised for being Nintendo s big GameCube Game for Christmas 2002 as Metroid Prime was delayed until March 2003 Mario Party 4 was the first Mario Party that was released on the Nintendo GameCube Each board had its own host including Toad Goomba Shy Guy Koopa and Boo Mario Party 4 also contains some characters new to the franchise Thwomp and Whomp Klepto Dolphin Lakitu and Star along with two completely new characters named Genie of the Lamp and Ztar are included as well Mario Party 4 retains the Story Mode found in Mario Party 3 The game as usual contains a standard party mode in which up to four players play through a board trying to collect as many Stars as possible The Star Space would appear randomly on the board and players would have to reach it before anyone else However the Stars carry a price tag of 20 coins and player has to earn those coins by winning minigames which take place at the end of each turn after all the players have rolled the Dice Block which will always roll a number from one to ten Battle minigames are like the 4 player games but generally with many exceptions a little more elaborate Battle games are usually tense because every player has to put a certain number of coins from 5 50 into a pot First place gets 70 of the pot second place gets 30 and a random player gets any coins lost in rounding Every Mario Party contains 60 to 80 minigames of a few different types Four player games are a free for all in which all players compete against each other 2 on 2 and 1 on 3 minigames put players in groups so they have to cooperate in the minigame to win even though they are against each other in the main game In most situations winners of these games make 10 coins each A new addition to the Mario Party series was the Bowser mini games Players play in a very elaborate mini game that ends when one player is eliminated in various ways See Bowser mini game section below The loser loses a pre specified item usually coins or items Gameplay Boards Toad s Midway Madness Goomba s Greedy Gala Koopa s Seaside Soiree Shy Guy s Jungle Jam Boo s Haunted Bash Bowser s Gnarly Party Clear Story Mode to unlock it Spaces There is various spaces you can land in the game The following is a list of them and what they do Blue Space You get three coins Also there is a special feature on this game called Hidden Blocks in which a star or coins may be hidden on random blue spaces Red Space You lose three coins Green Happening Space A special board event takes place Warp Space You are sent to the same space as an opponent A spinner chooses which opponent s space you will warp to Mushroom Space Two boxes will appear one big and one small Choose one and you will be given either a Mini Mushroom or a Mega Mushroom Note The Mega Mushroom is not always in the large box and the Mini Mushroom is not always in the small box Battle Space A battle minigame will start in which players put a chosen amount of coins into a pot The better you finish in the minigame the more coins you will get back from the pot Bowser Space Bowser may steal items from players or a Bowser minigame may begin Fortune Space A reversal of fortune begins in which players may have to give coins or stars to others The player who landed