Mario Party 4
The North American boxart for Mario Party 4.
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date	November 8, 2002 October 21, 2002 November 29, 2002 November 3, 2002
Genre(s)	Party
Mode(s)	Single Player Multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: Everyone OFLC: G8+ (General)
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Previous game	Mario Party 3
Next game	Mario Party 5

Mario Party 4 is the fourth game in the Mario Party series, and the first for the Nintendo GameCube. It follows the original's style of board game-esque gameplay, as well as the use of many items and minigames. The game's goal, as with most of the others, is to collect stars. It is also the first Mario Party game to allow players to team up.

Plot

During a pleasant day in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and his friends are lounging around outside Princess Peach's castle when a mysterious floating present appeared. Shocked by what they saw, they moved closer to the mysterious present, when it suddenly changed shape and opened revealing Toad, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Boo and Shy Guy to be inside. Toad then proceeds to explain that with the help of the party cube, they would be celebrating Mario's birthday (the character whose birthday it is depends on the character selected for story mode). Toad then declares the party started and the game begins.

The character chosen must then go through all the boards of the game, each hosted by the board's creator (Toad, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, Boo, Shy Guy and later Koopa Kid [[[Mini Bowser]] in Europe and Australia]). After the player has won on the chosen board, they will be presented with a gift by the hosting character, only to find out that in order to claim the present, they must beat the host character in a duel mini-game. Once all the main boards have been finished, Bowser will show up and disrupt the party, claiming that he too has a present for the player and demands that they play on his board. Once the player wins on Bowser's board, Bowser will challenge the player to his final duel. Once Bowser loses he will trudge off slowly, mumbling sadly to himself and he will drop a present behind; Mini Bowser will then appear and tell the player that Bowser had always intended on giving them the present. After the last present has been received (last present is always Bowser-themed), Toad will announce that one more present still has to be given. A Power Star will then show up and give the player a constellation of themselves. After this, the ending credits will play and story mode is completed.

Playable Characters

• Mario - Red
• Luigi - Blue
• Yoshi - Green
• Princess Peach - Pink
• Wario - Purple
• Donkey Kong - Brown
• Princess Daisy- Yellow
• Waluigi - Black

Boards

All of the boards in this game were made and hosted by each of the enemies who found the party cube.

• Toad's Midway Madness
• Koopa's Seaside Soiree
• Goomba's Greedy Gala
• Boo's Haunted Bash
• Shy Guy's Jungle Jam
• Bowser's Gnarly Party

Trivia

• This is the last Mario Party in which Donkey Kong is playable.
• Mario Party 4 is notable for being the first Mario Party game to actually have a plot revolving around an actual party.
• Mario Party 4 is also notable for being the only game in the Mario Party series that doesn't feature the Piranha Plant in any board, mini-game, item or any other place at all. The Piranha Plant only makes a brief cameo in the background of the Option Room.
• This is the first Mario game to have Princess Peach and Princess Daisy in their current main dresses and where Princess Daisy's hair is short.
• After the events of Mario Party 4, Toad and Boo become playable characters. Koopa Troopa and Shy Guy are new playable characters in Mario Party 9.