Mario Party 8

Wii, £29.99, cert 3+, Hudson/Nintendo, 2/5

Mario Party is one of those Nintendo franchises, like Super Smash Bros, that has habitually been received in the US and Japan with rapture, and in Europe with indifference. But would its first marriage to the Wii's unique abilities result in something with a new level of appeal? Sadly not. Mario Party 8 has two distinct elements: a voluminous collection of mini-games and a digital board game, in which players progress around various courses full of cute touches borrowed from famous Nintendo games in search of coins and stars. The boardgame side is pretty absorbing and fun, if a touch pedestrian and random, and offers a particularly good means of keeping four youngsters (or two youngsters and two adults) quiet for reasonable periods, which could come in handy in the school holidays. But the mini-games major on quantity rather than quality and lack the cheekiness and irreverence of those in WarioWare, for example. And bad structuring in the Minigames Tent (the game's main screen is a multi-tent carnival) often forces you to spend a lot of time playing games you aren't enjoying. Disappointing unless you need an automatic means of keeping the kids entertained.

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