Mario Party 8 On Wii In June

While the hardcore Wii fanboys are not likely to get overexcited about the fact that Mario Party 8 is releasing on June 22nd, it’s still good news for families with younger children who enjoy playing together.

Mario Party 8 is effectively a virtual boardgame that you can play against up to three friends, all on one Wii, but NOT online. Each square on the board has its own mini-game – such as a snowboard race, a race on a tight rope, a boat rowing race and even a cake decoration contest.

Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi are back along with a couple of new faces, such as Blooper and Hammer Bro. You roll the dice to progress one of your favourite Mario characters around the board, landing on various squares each with their own mini-games. These range from snowboard races to tightrope races, and from cake-decoration contests to rowing races.

While it all sounds like good, clean family fun, it’s disappointing that Mario Party 8 will NOT be playable online – as this could really have made what is in all likelihood an ‘okay game for kids’ into a superb game which families and friends across the world could have played together online.

Oh well. Maybe next year.