Mario Party 7 (Xavier Krantz's Version)

Story
Toadsworth has invited Mario and all his friends to go on a luxury cruise around the world. However, Toadsworth invited every character except for Bowser. Bowser is furious that he did not get to go on a luxury cruise. When the cruise ship MSS Sea Star arrives at its first destination, the passengers discover that Bowser has turned their vacation paradise into a stress-filled madhouse. After conquering the boards, the player enters Bowser's Castle for their final showdown against Bowser, in which they eventually are able to use the power of the Stars they gathered to send Bowser and the Koopa Kid crashing down. The epilogue sees the duo landing on a tiny island with a tree and feeling dizzy afterwards until they catch sight of the player, who is waving at the duo from aboard the MSS Sea Star as Bowser says that he won't forget this.

Gameplay
The goal of Mario Party 7 is to gather stars, but each board requires it in a different way. For the first time ever since the series' initial release in 1998, eight players may participate in either Party Cruise or Deluxe Cruise (the 8 player equivalent of the Mini-Game Cruise). Players are split into teams of two and are required to share a controller, with the first player using the L button and the Control Stick in mini-games, while the second player uses the R button and the C-stick. While a mode for a solo player itself isn't new to the Mario Party series, this game's take is very much different from any of the past six games. One player competes against another (either computer controlled or human played), trying to complete the set objective on the board map before the other can. Tasks range from collecting a set number of stars to having a set number of coins on a space. Up to ten slots of different characters with different phrases may be saved. Once a player has completed all six boards, they are added to the rankings section, where it shows the players who took the least turns to complete them. There are over 90 minigames from Mario Party 7. There are ten types of minigames in the game: 4-player, 1-vs.-3, 2-vs.-2, Battle, Duel, 8-player, DK, Bowser, Mic and Rare. In 8 player minigames, one player uses the Control Stick and L, and the other player uses the C stick and R. The minigame controls range from pressing a button repeatedly to using the control stick and several buttons. There are extra minigames which the player must purchase in-game to unlock. Another new addition to this game is "Bowser Time!". This is an event that only occurs every five turns during a Party Cruise match. After each minigame, the meter on the screen will increase by 20% and when the meter is full, Bowser will appear and hinders the players depending on which board that the characters are currently playing. Based on the board, Bowser may destroy bridges, take stars from players, or change star locations. On almost every board at some time, Bowser may take a photo as a "memento" of the vacation and take the players' coins. At other times, he may open a shop that sells the players useless and expensive items, which are then taken by Koopa Kid. "Bowser Time!" may only occur once, or up to nine times, depending on the number of turns played.

Playable Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Toad
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Boo
 * Toadette
 * Birdo
 * Dry Bones

Modes
Toadsworth is the host of Mario Party 7, and he guides players through the various modes of the game. At the main menu selection screen, players can get a small description for each of the six game modes and navigate different ways to play through this screen. The game modes are themed after pleasure voyages on a ship and a ship's various locations.

Party Cruise
Party Cruise is Mario Party 7's main mode. Up to four players can play the game normally, but the mode also features a 4-Team Battle, where four teams of two players can compete against one another. This game mode uses the default Mario Party rules to play: players win by collecting the most Stars on the board.

Turns and Rules

 * Turns: The number of turns that the game takes to be finished can be set between 10 and 50 turns in 5 turn intervals.
 * Rules: Players can play in Battle Royale, where four players compete in a free-for-all, Tag Battle, where four players split into two teams, and 4-Team Battle where eight players divide into four teams. Whenever players are in teams, coins, Stars, and Orbs are shared with a teammate.

Bonus Stars
Players can either opt for receiver three Bonus Stars awarded at the end of the game or not. The three Bonus Stars are randomly awarded for six of the following achievements:


 * Minigame Star: Most coins earned in minigames.
 * Action Star: Most Green Spaces landed on.
 * Orb Star: Most Orbs used.
 * Shopping Star: Most coins used to buy Orbs.
 * Red Star: Most Red Spaces landed on.
 * Running Star: Most spaces walked over in total.

Minigame Sets: By default, all available minigames are played. Players can restrict the minigames to only being Easy games, Action games, Skill games, or Weird games.

Grand Canal
Grand Canal is a board based on Venice, Italy. In Party Cruise, players can buy Stars at random, set locations for 20 coins. Once a star has been purchased, the Star Space travels to a different location on the board. In Solo Cruise, the first player to collect two Stars wins. In the right side of the board that let players ride on it for a price of ten coins for one Dice Block (or 20 for two),

Pagoda Peak
Pagoda Peak is a Chinese-themed board. An old Koopa, named Koopa Master, lives at the top of the mountain. In Party Cruise, he sells a character who reaches the peak of the mountain a Star for the amount of coins shown above his house (10, 20, 30 or 40). Each time someone buys a Star from him, the price of each additional Star goes up by ten coins (to a maximum of 40 coins; after that, it restarts to 10). In Solo Cruise, the first player to obtain 100 coins and reach Koopa Master at the peak to trade for the Star wins the game.

Pyramid Park
Pyramid Park is an Egyptian-themed board. Players need to pay to ride on Chain Chomps to steal Stars from their opponents. There are three Chain Chomps and a big red Chomp, on the left side located at the top that lets players use three Dice Blocks for ten coins. In Solo Cruise, the player who retrieves the stolen Star and gives it back to the Bowser Sphinx wins the game.

Neon Heights
Neon Heights is a USA-themed board. On this board there are three Treasure Chests, which appear in random spots. If a player reaches a chest, Koopa Kid offers to open it for 10 coins. One chest contains a Star, another 20 coins and the one one contains a Bomb-omb, which blasts the player back to Start. Once the Star has been purchased, three new chests appear. In Solo Cruise, the first player to obtain three Stars wins the game.

Windmillville
Windmillville is a Dutch-themed board. The goal of this board in Party Cruise is to buy as many windmills as possible, for each one contains a number of Stars. The red windmills are worth one Star, the larger green windmills located at both corners of the stage have two, and the largest yellow windmill located in the center of the board has three. Players have to deposit coins to own a windmill and its Stars, but opponents can buy them off by depositing more coins than the previous owner. In Solo Cruise, players need to get stars by depositing coins into broken windmills to fix them. The first player to repair three windmills and get three stars (one for each windmill) wins the game.

Bowser's Enchanted Inferno
Bowser's Enchanted Inferno! is an unlockable, Bowser-themed board. In Party Cruise, players need to find a Star for 20 coins each, the same rules as Grand Canal. In Solo Mode, players have to beat their opponent by getting a Star with the same rules as Party Cruise, then travel back to the start. Bowser then appears to take players to his castle to play the minigame Bowser's Lovely Lift, Winning that wins the game, and unlocks Bowser's board to be played in Party Cruise.

Solo Cruise
Solo Cruise is the single player mode of this game, though up to two players can participate. The gameplay is very similar to Party Cruise save for several key differences. All games pit one player against another player, either controlled by the CPU or a human player, though players need to play against the CPU player in order to progress through this mode. When players first start the mode out, they are required to register a character and name as player data. Players can also create their own pregame and victory messages.

Once everything is set up, players can pick a board; these boards are shorter than Party Cruise and offer different objectives than Party Cruise's objectives. For example, in order to win in Pyramid Park a player needs to retrieve the stolen Star and give it back to the Bowser Sphinx. The spaces also give a slightly different coin amount to a player upon landing on one in this mode. Blue Spaces give 5 coins, Red Spaces take away 5 coins, and character spaces give 10 coins. If 30 turns have passed and no player has cleared the objective yet, the game will end in a tie.

Players need to clear all boards against the CPU player before they can unlock Bowser's board Bowser's Enchanted Inferno! If they win Bowser's Minigame, Bowser's Lovely Lift, against the CPU, they unlock the board, become the Solo Cruise champion and can leave their name and comment on the ranking board.

Deluxe Cruise
Deluxe Cruise is a mode specifically created for 8 player support in Mario Party 7. In this mode, players need to share their controllers with another person; one player controls L Button and Control Stick while the other player controls R Button and Camera stick. Players can then choose the number of human or CPU players playing, up to 8 different characters, and then choose from two of the available game modes.

8-Player Free Play
Players can freely chose one of the 12 available 8-player minigame to play. Unlike the Free-Play Sub in Minigame Cruise, all 12 minigames are available from the start.

8-Player Ice Battle
Players compete with each other to reach the central island. Every time players win a minigame, an ice block is created, and once the ice block path is fully connected, the players win. Players can choose from three different rules.


 * 8-Player Battle Royale: All players compete against each other, with only individual battle minigames.
 * 8-Player Team Battles: Players split into teams of two, having four teams in total. Only team minigames are played.
 * 8-Player Combined Battles: The same as 8-Player Team Battles rules, except the minigames alternate between individual minigames and team minigames. The combined results determine the winning team.

8-Player Decathlon
Players play six or twelve selected 8 player minigames to earn the most points, dependent on how well they performed in the minigame. The game can be played in two ways: players can either play from the standard ten minigames or from five randomly selected minigames, though the top score is saved only when the standard ten minigames rule set is played. Players can view their top scores in the Duty-Free Shop. Six 8-Player minigames need to be unlocked in order to play 8-Player Decathlon

Duo of the River
One team must beat every other player in 2 vs 2 minigames. Teams that lost a minigame have a chance for a comeback victory. The game is won when there are no other players left to battle

Minigame Cruise
Players can play with the minigames they have unlocked in Party Cruise or Solo Cruise. Up to four players can participate playing one of the six modes specifically designed around minigames.

Free Play Sub
Players are able to play any unlocked minigame they choose. They may also obtain 2 Rare minigames by purchasing them in the Duty Free Shop, that can be played only in the Free Play Sub.

Volcano Peril
As the name suggests, this mode takes place in a volcano. After picking the number of victories (3, 5, 7) and the type of minigames (4-Player, 2-Vs.-2, 1-Vs.-3), the four characters race from some bolts. After each game, the character(s) who won rise one level. There is no penalty for losing. The first character (or team) to beat the required amount of games wins. They escape(s) from the volcano while the others get trapped in the skeleton of a dinosaur. In the sky, a Shy Guy n an airplane flies back and forth, spewing stars made out of smoke from the back. To play this game, players need unlock at least one 4-Player, 1-Vs.-3, or 2-Vs.-2 minigame, Duel minigames and Mic minigames excluded.

Waterfall Battle
The player must beat every other player in a Duel minigame. Players that lost a minigame have a chance for a comeback victory. The game is won when there are no other players left to battle. In order to play this mode, at least one Duel minigame has to be unlocked.

Pearl Hunt
Four characters are placed in a capsule underwater while seashells are placed around them. After beating a minigame, whoever won can select a shell. If it is a pearl with the winner's face on it, that player collects it. However, if it is not the winner's face, the shell closes. The player can find Mushrooms or Super Mushrooms to choose additional pearls in a turn, a Bomb-omb that briefly opens surrounding shells, or whirlpools that shuffles the order of the shells. The first one to collect three pearls that have their image on it wins the game, then appears in a giant shell, while the others are chased around by a shark. To play Pearl Hunt, players need to unlock at least one 4-Player minigame. If more than one person wins or it is a tie, nobody gets to open a shell.

Decathlon Castle

Players play ten selected minigames to earn the most points, dependent on how well they performed in the minigame. The game can be played in two ways: players can either play from the standard ten minigames or from five randomly selected minigames, though the top score is saved only when the standard ten minigames rule set is played. Players can view their top scores in the Duty-Free Shop. The following minigames must be unlocked to play this game: Fun Run, Pokey Pummel, Snow Ride, Target Tag, Don '' t Be Fooled, Track and Yield, Mario Tanks, Blizzard Spin, Get Out of There, The Final Countdown

King of The River
This mode is a game for one player only. Single players play a set of minigames with a limited supply of lives. Each time the player fails to win a minigame, one life is lost; if all lives are lost, the game ends. Koopa Kid shows up between 6-10 minigames, 16-20 minigames, and 26-30 minigames with a multiplayer Bowser minigame. On every five minigames, players can save their progress. It is also possible to recover any lives that are lost, but players cannot hold more than three lives. As the player plays through this game mode, they can advance to higher difficulty levels. For each difficulty level cleared, the player receives a souvenir, which will then be placed in the Duty-Free Shop. Winning King of the River on all the skill levels effectively wins the game. The prize received is a star statue, and when it is accessed in the Duty Free Shop, the surprise action is the end credits.

Trivia

 * 1) A Bridge To Short, Mic Control, and If You see it say it, are the first 4 player mic minigames
 * 2) You can now use 4 microphones for any of three 4 player Mic Minigames