Mario Party  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   strangely before the Japanese release on November   It was released on November   in Europe being heavily criticised for being Nintendos big GameCube Game for Christmas  as Metroid Prime was delayed until March   Mario Party  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  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  retains the Story Mode found in Mario Party   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  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 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    into a pot First place gets  of the pot second place gets  and a random player gets any coins lost in rounding   Every Mario Party contains  to  minigames of a few different types Fourplayer games are a freeforall in which all players compete against each other on and on 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  coins each  A new addition to the Mario Party series was the Bowser minigames Players play in a very elaborate minigame that ends when one player is eliminated in various ways See Bowser minigame section below The loser loses a prespecified item usually coins or items  Gameplay Boards  Toads Midway Madness  Goombas Greedy Gala  Koopas Seaside Soiree  Shy Guys Jungle Jam  Boos Haunted Bash  Bowsers 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 opponents 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 on it plays a game like pinball that chooses the two players involved as well as what will be given taken or swapped  Board Events Item Shop You can buy items here that will help you gain an advantage in the game If you have three items have no coins or its the last turn you wont be able to buy anything Lottery Shop Pay  coins to play a lottery game There is either the scratcher ticket game where the player chooses  out of  tickets win a prize A  will give  coins a  will give  coins a  will give a Mega Mushroom and a Try Again gives nothing Another game is the Ball Game based purely on chance Spin the machine and get a ball A gold ball gives  coins a pink ball gives  coins a blue ball gives a Mega Mushroom and a white ball gives nothing Lucky Party Ticket The first time you enter in the Lottery shop you will receive a Lucky Party Ticket During the last  turns a Lottery Drawing will take place The winner will receive a star  Boo House Here players can hire Boo to steal coins at a  coin cost or a star at a  coin cost Pipes Pipes need a mini mushroom to get past Usually have a mini mini game on the other side of it Minimini games These are mini games in which you can only play if you are using a mini mushroom You usually win coins or items if you win the minimini game  Items Mini Mushroom  coins Makes you smaller so you can pass through small pipes on the gameboard and play ingame minigames or Mini Minigames but lets you roll the dice block only from one to five Mega Mushroom  coins Makes you bigger so you can stomp on players in your path to take ten coins from them and lets you move using two dice blocks you dont stop for Stars or board events Super Mini Mushroom  coins Same as the Mini Mushroom but lets you roll using two dice blocks that roll from one to five Super Mega Mushroom  coins Same as the Mega Mushroom but lets you roll using three dice blocks MiniMega Hammer  coins Causes a random player excluding the user to feel the effects of either a Mini Mushroom or a Mega Mushroom Swap Card  coins Lets you exchange items with another player that a roulette decides Warp Pipe  coins Lets you swap places with another player that a roulette decides Gaddlight  coins Protects you one time from a Boo that would steal your stars or coins Chomp Call  coins Changes the location of the star Sparky Sticker  coins Placed on the space you are currently on makes whoever passes the space lose ten coins and the effects of any mushrooms in use Boos Crystal Ball  coins Boo will steal coins pay  coins or a Star pay  coins from an opponent Magic Lamp  coins Takes you directly to the star Item Bag  coins Gives you up to three random items fills your inventory of items to the maximum which is three Bowser Suit random Bowser gift Takes  coins from every player you pass on that turn  Minigames Coin collecting minigames appear in orange P Manta Rings Players swim underwatertrying to go through rings Golden rings placed by the Manta Ray from Super Mario  areworth three normal rings and players who hit underwater obstacles such as bloopers or an eel lose points Slime Time Players are stuck to the slime in the title and must escape by running up a straight path to a circular safety point This game involves rapidly hitting the A button  Booksquirm Players are in a book with circular crescentshaped and starshaped holes As the pages in the book turn players must run to a hole in the book Mario Medley A swimming game Players do one length of a pool swimming the backstroke butterfly and front crawl However players have a heartbeat limiter  Avalanche Players quickly ski down a mountain avoiding an avalanche and rock obstacles along the way Jumps help players speed while running into the sheer cliffs on either side impede it Domination Players use hammers to set up Whomp dominoes This is another game that involves quickly hitting the A button  Paratrooper Plunge Players fall through the sky attempting to collect coins and coin bags while avoiding Shy Guys and Parakoopas Players who hit the flying enemies four times are eliminated Toads Quick Draw Players use pop guns to shoot down the balloon corresponding to the flag that Toad raises Players who shoot the correct balloon first three times win Three Throw Players try to get baskets on the moving hoops There are three rows of basketball hoops and the middle hoops are worth two normal hoops