Mario Party 9

Multiplayer - the word has come to mean a lot of different things over the years, whether it's spewing vitriol on Call Of Duty or Zerg Rushing in Star Craft. But one form of multiplayer has always had an important place in my heart since the days of 2-player Super Mario Bros. on the NES

On the couch, with your buddies.

It's a feature that has slipped off the radar for many developers out there, but one company that still seems to get this is Nintendo.

Mario Party 9 released on March 11th, 2012 for $49.99, the first time we've seen a new Mario Party in five years, a pretty long hiatus for a series which has seen fairly regular releases before.

The long-running Mario Party series shines brightest when playing with other people, making for one of the best social gaming experiences available. There's something to be said for actually talking and interacting with your friends in the same room. When you're yelling back and forth with each other, while competing for the same goals on one screen, it's intense, crazy and genuine.

If you've played any Mario Party game before, you know exactly what to expect. 1-4 players, or computers if you're lonely :( go head-to-head trying to get the most mini-stars before it's over to become the winner. You collect these mini-stars by landing on them or beating your opponents in various mini-games.

A big change this time around is that instead of each player taking their own route around the board, they all go together in a car/submarine/thingy as one 'captains' the vehicle each turn. There are also new boss battles where players need to work together to defeat them.

The magic, sadly, is completely lost when playing by yourself. It's just playing mini-games with no real depth or purpose. It gets stale really quick.

But if you've got young kids, or enjoy having friends over who aren't shy about playing video games, Mario Party 9 holds its own as a great way to play together.

Yes Mario Party 9 is far from perfect, some mini-games are complete throw-away, and it's re-hashed formula has been done to death. But when it comes right down to it, playing with friends in the same room, with loveable characters from the Nintendo universe is hard to beat.