is a 2003 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fifth installment in the Mario Party series, and the second game in the series to be released for the GameCube. The game is set in the fictional Dream Depot, consisting of seven game boards. The single-player "Story" game mode involves the player winning multiple games against the Koopa Kids to prevent Bowser from conquering the Dream Depot. The main multiplayer game mode consists of four characters from the Mario series playing a board game, with each board having a set theme. The game also features several minigames, which are played after every set of turns. Mario Party 5 introduces the "Super Duel" mode to the franchise, which requires players to assemble and control custom made battle vehicles which can be used in combat against other machines. The game features 10 playable characters, with playable debuts to the series from Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid.
Mario Party 5 was released in North America on November 11, 2003, Japan on November 28, 2003, and in PAL regions on December 5, 2003. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who enjoyed the new minigames of the series, although a perceived lack of originality was criticized. The game became part of the Nintendo Player's Choice label in 2004, and won the Console Children's Award at the 2004 Interactive Achievement Awards. It was followed by Mario Party 6 for the GameCube in 2004.
Gameplay
thumb|alt=A horizontal rectangular video game screenshot that is a digital representation of a dessert-themed game board. A path made of checkered cookies sits on top of a giant white frosted cake with giant strawberries. A princess in an orange dress stands on a series of blue circles along the path. Character profiles with ordinal rankings and counters for stars and coins appear in each of the screen's corners.|Gameplay takes place on themed [[game boards. Shown is Princess Daisy traversing the "Sweet Dream" board, which reflect cakes and other desserts. The four players' game statistics are displayed in each corner.]]
Mario Party 5 is a party video game based on an interactive board game played by four characters from the Mario franchise. The game features 10 playable characters in total. New characters included Toad, Boo, and Baby Bowser. In the game, which features six game boards, players roll a dice and walk on squares which either add or subtract player's coins or randomly trigger one of the 70 minigames. Some mini-games are variations of mini-games from previous Mario Party games. Special mini-games include Bowser mini-games, which pit players against Bowser in a game without rewards, and DK mini-games, which feature Donkey Kong and reward all players. Additional categories—easy, action, skill, and goofy—allow the players to designate which games will appear during a play through. A new power-up system replaced older mechanics from previous games; capsules are now obtained from vending machines on the board; they have random and unclear effects. Players can place capsules on board spaces to affect whoever passes by. Additional game modes, include the single-player campaign titled Story Mode, in which the player plays with artificial intelligence (AI)-controlled players, the Super Duel mode, in which the players battle against each other in vehicles, and the Bonus mode, which includes games for four players, such as volleyball, ice hockey, and cards. where eight mini-games were available in a playable demonstration. An unspecified release date in 2003 was also publicized. Other details included that new characters would be introduced, there would be more minigames than its predecessor, and duel minigames would return. Mario Party 5 was released on November 11, 2003, in the North America, November 28 in Japan, and December 5 in Europe. Following the release, Nintendo announced Mario Party 5 as a "Player's Choice" title, which is a label for Nintendo titles that had sold more than one million copies to be sold at a bargain price.