Well, all you console Mario Party fans out there; your entry into portable gaming has become imminent with the announcement of Mario Party Advance. Let the party begin!

I never really was a fan of the Mario Party console series because it required you to sit in front of your TV while your character moved around the board. Occasionally, my dozing was interrupted by a mini-game challenge which I dutifully completed and went back to snoozing away while my friends took their turns. Now, with the portability factor introduced, it will be much easier to play an entire game, especially because chances are, there won’t be much else to do when your brother is sitting next to you in the car saying “Are we there yet?”

Vroom Vroom…

One downer to this great portability deal is the multiplayer limitations. I was looking forward to hooking up with three of my good friends and duking it out during a class trip to Six Flags, but Nintendo put a bit of a damper on my plans. The multiplayer will only support two simultaneous players. Never fear, you can start yourself a small tournament instead.

The primary concept of the single player game is to unlock the mini games for future use. To do this, the player must complete the single player game boards. There are 60 mini games to unlock, which can be played at any time. You also earn coins as you move around the board. These can be used to purchase Professor E. Gadd's wonderful Gaddgets, which are a must have for any Mario Partier. These little Gaddgets include a Lip Disguise-o-matic, which is supposed to let you play tricks on your friends, a finger X-Ray, which tells you what’s really inside your fingers, and a host of compatibility tests for your enjoyment.

Mario adds Monkey Rescuing to his list of occupations…

The graphics don’t look to be anything stellar, but they’ll get the job done. No flashy 3D effects here folks, just basic 2D with simulated 3D. As far as sound goes, no major details have been released. Probably just some simple remakes of the themes from the games the boards are from.

Overall, this looks promising as a portable single player party. The multiplayer features seem to be lacking a little in their depth, but they are sure to be interesting as well. Just hope for 8 player multiplayer in Mario Party DS.

Chris Hofer