Mario Party 7

Like the socially inept guest who still hangs around your house even after you go to bed, Mario Party may have overstayed its welcome (Ed: actually, most of us never get invited in the first place, but you get the point). Signs are pointing to the possibility that the streamers are coming down, the confetti’s getting swept up, and the long-running series has reached its end...

9th Dec, 2008 Just what in the hell is going on with Mario and Peach? It was so simple back in the old NES days of Super Mario Bros. She got herself kidnapped, he went after her with the help of Luigi, and all ended happily ever after. Or so we thought. The thing is that it didn't really. It's become ever more apparent that since that first rescue things have only ever got messier, dirtier and more manipulative in their relationship. Far from the innocent damsel and hero set-up that appeared

It's time to party like it's... that time of year again, as Nintendo preps yet another instalment of Mario Party for release on Gamecube. We're celebrating the prospect of Mario Party 7 with a plateful of sugar-covered screens, and maybe some jelly sandwiches. We'll put some candles in them later, if the internet lets us. Mario Party is one of Nintendo's most enduring franchises, but far from its best, offering collections of mad multiplayer minigames that rarely fail to result in some