"It's Me, Mario!"

Got a new game for the Wii today.. First, I picked up Resident Evil 4. Never got to play it, the Mrs. decided it was too gory to have in the house, considering we have children and try to run a pretty "clean" home. Not sure why I got it, really. Never liked the first one.. I guess I was just in the mood for a mindless, violent shooter, and the price was right... $29.99.. I took it back to the store. I was unable to just return it for my money, since it was opened. Even though I never played it.. However, they were running a special.. "Trade in 2 Wii games, get 1 free." I had a copy of Elebits that no one plays anymore. Normally, this game only receives a $9.00 trade in credit.. So, I traded in Elebits and my $29.99 two hour old copy of Resident Evil 4 in exchange for a $49.99 Mario Party 8 that the whole family can enjoy!
So far, it is pretty enjoyable. At its most basic level, it is nothing more than a video board game with a few twists. On the down side, you will need a Wii remote for each player, unlike Wii Sports, where my entire family of five can play even though we only have two Wii remotes. No worries, though, we just choose a short 10 turn game, which lasts about 15-25 minutes or so, then shift the remotes on to the next players. Lots of characters to choose from and lots of mini-games will keep the excitement level up for a bit. The game has the potential to get boring kind of fast, but the real fun is in playing with other people. I guess the game just acts more or less as a centerpiece for conversation, laughs, and interaction.. Like I said, its a good, clean, family game that even the adults can enjoy.

This will go great along with some of our other board game favorites, like "Life", "Chutes & Ladders", and "Guess Who". I wish I had at least gotten to shoot one zombie, though.. Oh, well, there are more shooter titles coming out for the Wii that don't involve blood, guts, and the devil.

-myk