Very fun mario party! Boards are not as strong as 6 but the gameplay is a lot faster and the mini games are fun!

The variety in gameplay rules are nice to have, but I rarely mess around with the chain chomp and windmill ones.

Solid mario party, second best one on the gamecube.

Played for the Tarvould's Quest Mario Party League, viewable here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNiBuIKkhNOcetedJo2kjJwenDNYqHsFt

Probably the best of the GameCube era, weird as it feels to say that given my personal nostalgia for 6. This largely feels like the ideas from Mario Parties 5 and 6 have been refined; the Orb system's as good as it gets here, and the boardwide gimmicks are at their most universally interesting. This is the second-best use of Donkey Kong, too (first-best use being playable DK, naturally), simplifying the focus to mini-games and letting DK operate independently of Bowser. No DK is still a bummer, but the character selection overall is pretty fun - Birdo and Dry Bones are fun pulls that generally improve the rosters of whatever games they're a part of, and Toadsworth makes for a fun host, by Cor. The overall theme of a world cruise is great, easily one of the series' strongest, and Bowser Time makes for a great pacebreaker gimmick, generally not too overpowered. Lots of good, careful balance here.

With the exception of Pyramid Park (which is at least an improvement on Snowflake Lake from 6), every board is at least "good" in my book. Grand Canal and Enchanted Inferno are solid "stock" Mario Party boards. Neon Heights is a fun enough variation aided by the board's ease of navigation (and I'm always interested in international interpretations of America). I think both Pagoda Peak and Windmillville rubbed me the wrong way during Mario Party League, but that's more for bad luck/play on my part; Pagoda Peak's a strong linear board with a fun gimmick, and Windmillville is a fun resource management template for what Tycoon Town would be in the next game.

Putting so much focus on the mic mini-games does feel like a misstep here. Between that and 8-player mode, I feel like there's a huge chunk of the game I didn't get to experience during Mario Party League, moreso than a lot of the other games. Still fine either way, but it does feel a bit silly having play slow down so much every time a player hits a Mic Space.

boards = 4/5
minigames = 3.5/5
mechanics = 3.5/5
side stuff = 4/5

above average, but not quite close to the peak

This one seems to fly under the radar for a lot of people cuz it doesn't have a big flashy gimmick like most of the other MP games do. It's just another Mario Party game with a solid selection of boards and a solid selection of mini games. This would actually be in the top 3 Mario Party games for me if it weren't for BOWSER. He's the worst he's ever been in this game. I guess if MP7 had a main "gimmick", it's that Bowser will show up at certain intervals and randomly steal coins or stars from you just cuz he feels like it. It's fucking annoying. Shit like this prevents MP7 from being an AMAZING game, but it's still in the upper half of my Mario Party rankings

Mario Party 7 is my favourite of the GameCube Mario Party games. While there are things that make this distinct enough from the others to be memorable, in this case it may be mostly nostalgia. I do not recall if the ones before this one have a similar system, but this game has a system where you can unlock things using what is essentially a currency system where you get what some form of points that you can redeem to unlock new characters, a new board, the ability to taunt, and things like that. Mario Party 8 had. This system gives me motive to play the game even when there is no one to play it with, which may have contributed to further enjoyment of the game. This game also has a unique minigame type that makes use of the GameCube microphone, which was a peripheral that I don't think was used for anything outside of Mario Party 7 except maybe a select few other games. All in all. it's pretty good.

Fanculo, that jolly Bowser! Wahoo! Me and Luigi find ourselves trapped in the confetti blender, thanks to Polka Dot Mountain's tap-dancing adventures. What do you mean, pineapple, we share a kangaroo's secret recipe?! Oh dear, my tap-dancing hard-earned soup spoons. I can't even hum a harmonica made of moon cheese. You've even levitated our antique beach towel?! Astounding! It's all gone so chocolate! All because this sneaky Fanculo keeps jolly spaghetti!

Arrivederci to my unicycle collection! I've salsa-danced it. Enough is breakfast! You claim Mario Party 8 has already been half of a watermelon? Very well, let's somersault into the world of Mario Party 9! Bazinga, Nintendo! Balloon animals loom, and I've been outfoxed by Wario's sneaky pineapple. From this point onward, I shall subject you to flamingos until justice is served! Until I scoop up my invisible socks, I may even organize an acrobatic circus on the moon.

Mama mia! Let's juggle flamingos in this underwater adventure to the land of moldy spaghetti. Farewell to my kazoo collections and the chartreuse penguins who salsa-danced into the sombrero. Oh, but wait, what's this? Mario stands as half of a watermelon once again! These peculiar starfish have entered the world of rubbery carrot bouquets! Wario mentions something about intergalactic lily pads? And my favorite umbrella, pass me a harmonica made of glittering robots!

Score: 4/10