Mario Party 3
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Game Information
Release Date: May 7, 2001
Developers: Hudson Soft
Publishers: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo 64
Genre: Party
Players: 1-4

Synopsis
Mario and friends are throwing a party and you're invited. It's their biggest bash yet, with seventy totally new Mini-Games and five brand new adventure boards. You'll be the life of the party as you punch, pound and stampede right over your opponents in a multiplayer melee or go head-to-head in the new two-player duel mode. You can even unlock new characters in the one-player challenge. With so much fun and excitement, this is a bash you'll just have to crash!

Plot
The game begins with a brand new bright star was born somewhere in the universe known as the Millennium Star. Since it was a new born star it had fallen from space and landed where Mario and his friends were hanging out with each other. As Mario and his friends were arguing about who will uphold the Millennium Star, the star begins flashing rapidly and transported them to some other dimension. Once settled in, The Millennium Star then tells them that they must prove themselves if they wish to uphold him. From there, they would have to collect 7 star stamps from different maps.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Mario Party 3 is just as addicting as it's predecessor Mario Party 2. Mario Party 3 withholds over 70+ different mini-games to play so there is an extreme variety in mini-games that are to be played. The game is is no different from the other Mario Parties, collect 20 coins and collect the star. The player with the most stars in the game wins. Mario Party 3 does offer new items to the game for players to use which separates it from its Mario Party counterparts. Players can now purchase items from different characters that sell new items added to Mario Party 3. Mario Party offers 2 new characters to the game as well, Waluigi and Daisy. And Mario Party 3 offers a new feature that wasn't included in the previous installments of Mario Party is a duel mode, along with maps specifically designed for a 1 vs 1 match which is a unique and cool feature.

New Items
Cellular Shopper - When used, the player will be able to chose to call either Toad or Mini Bowser. When the player has called, the player may shop items in the usual manner.
Boo Repellent - This item will activate itself when a player who is carrying it around is targeted by Boo. The effect it has is that it will fend off Boo.
Reverse Mushroom - When used, the player using it will choose a player to target or themselves and the next time the selected player moves, that player will have to go backwards the amount of steps as shown on the Dice Block.
Poison Mushroom - When used, the player using it will choose a player to target or themselves and the next time that the chosen player moves, that player's Dice Block will only be able to roll numbers from one to three.
Bowser Phone - When used, the player will call Bowser. Bowser will then ask who is calling him, the player chooses one of the players or themselves, Bowser will then perform his events to that player as if the player landed on a Bowser Space.
Lucky Lamp - When used, the Mushroom Jeanie will appear. She will then move the Star from its current location to somewhere else, essentially making it the counter-part of the Magic Lamp.
Item Bag -When a player purchases this item, the player will then get to hit the bag that appears above the player one to three times (this depends on the amount of items the player has prior to hitting it). The player will receive an item each time the bag is hit. The items the player receives also depends from which salesman the bag was bought.
Wacky Watch - When used, this rare item will set the game to such a time that there will be five turns left. Effectively, this can either increase or decrease the time a game is played.
Barter Box - When this rare item is used, the player who uses it will choose an opponent. What will then happen is that the player chosen and the player using the item will swap items.
Koopa Card - This item will activate automatically when a player who possesses it passes by a Koopa Bank. When activated, it will allow the player to earn all Coins deposited in the bank thus far.
Lucky Charm - When a player uses this item, they will summon Game Guy. Game Guy will then take all of the player's Coins, and a Game Guy minigame will be initiated. This can also be used to force another player to play a Game Guy mini-game.

Graphics
The graphics in Mario Party 3 haven't really gone under any extreme changes and quite similar to its predecessors Mario Party and Mario Party 2. Apart from that, the maps the players will play on look rather more detailed and clearer than the previous installments. On some parts of the maps, the player can see the textures that show low resolution and lack the proper detail and textures implemented than other other parts of the map. The mini-games themselves have their own unique background layout that draws the player's attention quite nicely. The mini-game itself look clearer and flow rather nicely than before. But don't expect it have amazing quality as it still on an old game system but shouldn't drag out the fun of the game.

Controls
The controls are no different that it's counterparts, Mario Party and Mario Party 2. The controls have a huge variety since the mini-games require players to use an advancement of different controls required to play the mini-games. As with the other Mario Party games, the game features a practice mode for players that don't understand the controls of the type of mini-game they are about to play. For returning players, those players shouldn't really experience any differences in difficulty since some of the games are quite basic or have similar controls from previous mini-games in earlier series of the Mario Party series.

Ratings
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 9.7/10
Controls: 9.7/10
Overall: 10/10