Mario Party 4 Retrospective: A Rollercoaster of Emotions

00:00 Intro
00:31 New Mechanics
04:22 Items
09:32 Team Match
10:04 Boards
18:41 Minigames
23:17 Custom Minigame Sets
23:49 Side Modes
25:01 Beginner Friendliness
26:05 Conclusion (Mario Party Rankings)

After a rather successful run on the Nintendo 64, the Mario Party series was really hitting its stride for this upcoming console generation. Mario Party 3 was a great Mario Party game with a lot of great ideas that just needed to be refined and smoothened out. Mario Party 4 has a reputation for having some of the greatest minigames in the series, but does it live up to its hype? Is Mario Party 4 a sensational soirée or a bland bash? Well, welcome back to Mark’s Rec Room, where today we will be talking about Mario Party 4, the one with the banger minigames. If you are interested in a comprehensive Mario Party series review, I will be taking a critical look at all of the Mario Party games in this series. From N64 Mario Party to Gamecube Mario Party to even Mario Party DS and Mario Party Superstars, this retrospective series will have it all, so definitely subscribe to keep up with it! Mario Party 5 review coming soon. :) If you get this far in the description, leave a comment telling me what your favorite Mario Party 4 minigame is.

#MarioParty4 #MarioParty #MarksRecRoom

[marksrecroom]

thanks so much for watching!! what’s your favorite mario party 4 minigame?

[silokhawk]

This is a super solid overview man!
Your stuff definitely deserves more views given the quality editing 👌

[MatthewSmart]

Mario Party 4 is this mental battle for me of quality vs nostalgia. I replayed the game last year, and its shortcoming are very apparent to me now. While Mario Party has always had a blend of luck and strategy, the boards in this one go too far into the luck sphere to the point where player agency feels non-existent, which makes them far less engaging to play, especially with how they changed the mushrooms. There's a reason why they reverted back to the status quo in later entries. And while the minigames are great with my personal favorite probably being Revers-a-Bomb for its frantic pace, they're not enough to save a mediocre board experience, especially with the smaller pool to pick from meaning you're bound to run into more repeats. That being said, this is the first Mario game I ever played and the game that got me into this whole hobby entirely. I remember having the time of my life learning about these characters I never knew before and getting to play around with them in these fun environments, and I've been a lifelong fan since. The music tugs at my heartstrings, the extras are neat, and there's a special uniqueness to this entry with the presents you could unlock in the story mode and the fact that it's the only entry with FMV cutscenes, albeit very dated ones. It's far from my favorite Mario Party game, and the later installments on the GameCube definitely improved on the formula, but 4 will always hold a special place in my heart.

[CathyDotUK]

Mario party 4 music will always make me feel emotion

[officertom]

There is also the possibility to pass Bowser on Bowser's Gnarly Party while wearing the Bowser Suit! Yesterday I watched a video about this and Bowser's reaction is that he notices that you look just like him and he gives you 50 coins as a reward! Also on Koopa's Seaside Soiree you can simply choose the direction at Ukiki's Banana Junction while wearing the Bowser Suit. The character will walk onto the banana peel removing it and a text appears stating that Bowser doesn't slip on banana peels. Then you can just choose to go up or down.

[SlipMaker]

On top of playing the game for likely hundreds of hours as a kid, once in college I spent a summer beating the story mode as every character. In all that time, over all those games, I NEVER saw Big Boo get summoned, I NEVER saw someone win the last five turns drawings, and I only saw a Bowser suit drop once.

[Mornings]

"The mushroom you get is predetermined" thanks for ruining the game for me LOL

[danechristian]

Why does MP4 have so many infinites?? Its kinda hilarious one of the devs was feeling devious with the board designs

[charandfriends]

This one broke my heart 😭 Mario Party 4 is til this day probably my fav game of all time yeah sure some of the boards have glaring problems but I can easily call out MP2 and especially 3 for the same reasons. On the whole valid criticism just sad that I’ve been seeing MP4 more and more dogged on over the years

[DekuDude]

Nice video overall, but I highly disagree about the mushrooms because you have to calculate more and even then there is an exciting risk. I think this is the most balanced Mario Party in the series. I Always had the feeling that the most skilled player has the best chances but in every round it is still possible that you can be so lucky to turn it around. The feature to create a minigame list is incredible for the fun factor.

Regarding the boards: These infinites which can be outplayed with items or the space which let you jump to another player ensure to hold the star count low so that the bonus stars get more important which are more skillbased (winning minigames and collecting coins).

But yeah Mario Part 4 is not perfect but it is the one I like the most because it offers so much fun in minigames and the best balance.

[muffinfighter]

I honestly think that if they just used MP2 and MP3 as a blueprint (items, boards etc.) for a new game, it would be immediately one of the best Mario Party games.

[fizzyfuzz]

I really appreciate how you try to look at these as clear headed and bias free as possible. This was my first real MP I believe and I loved the look of the boards, but you really break everything down so well. It seems like only 6 lacks deal breaking bs somewhere, or it has the least while visually still really holding up.

[TheDucksEye]

Really excellent analysis. Mario Party 4 has always been the entry I shelve the fastest. It shares a feeling of subliminal dread from the board's featurelessness with 8 & later Super Mario Party (although distinctly less empty feeling in other aspects) suffered. At time's it an severely empty feeling game, no other entry has me staring back at my reflection through the tv wondering why I'm playing than 4, ironically very little party feeling haha.

[BigShowGunnoe]

17:15 yes! we agree on the best board in this game!

[MegaDude]

You know, all they had to do for dueks was just let you play the boss mini games (excluding Bowser's) as duel mini games. Freeplay lets you do it, so why not?

[FreyjaHerself]

One thing I always hated about mario party 4 was the visual aesthetic of the boards. I hate that they all exist as floating stainless steel meshs over the board you wish you actually played on.

Certainly doesn't help that they almost all suck to play on.

I think the worst offender visually is boo's board. The board isn't even floating over a place it's just in the void with some ghostly furniture... probably my least favorite board in the whole series, visually.

[dabluepittoo-aqua]

Fun Fact: In my very first game of MP4, I landed on a Bowser space, got Bowser and got a Bowser Suit. My mind was blown.

[chewie_lombax]

Over the last few videos I’ve started anticipating a new Mark vid whenever they happen! Super stoked to have found your channel.

[Graymage]

All the worst maps are ones with infinites. Like mmm I love running in circles waiting to make any meaningful decisions!

[starman]

Fantastic video of this classic game!

This is actually my favorite Mario Party game, primarily from nostalgia as it was also my first Mario Party game, oh I wish I could relive those childhood memories!