The main menu is easy to navigate. It uses a few large buttons that are centred over a backdrop of a carnival. Each option represents a tent at the carnival that the Mario crew are attending. A long with the standard Party Mode, there is also a Star Battle Arena which is the main single-player game. In this tent you play against a single opponent on each of the boards available in Party Mode. A Mini-Game tent is where you may play the various mini-games on offer; Extras Zone contains eight Mii friendly mini games that aren't played in the normal modes. Finally, there is the Fun Bazaar, which is where you can spend any of the Carnival Cards that you receive to unlock bonuses. Most of the time you will be heading to either the Party Tent or the Star battle Arena, depending on the amount of human players present.

Playing the game is no different to the previous seven Mario Party games. Players take turns to roll a ten-sided die to progress along the board. The goal is to earn the most stars in a set amount of turns. At the end of each round a mini-game is played, the winner receiving 10 coins to add to his total. The coins are mainly used to buy stars but may also be used to purchase items, buy short cuts around the board and be spent on many other board specific events.

Boards have multiple paths for characters to take to try and reach the star location before their opponents. The mini games played in Mario Party 8 all start off having a fresh feel to them, as you now use the Wii remote to play. Unfortunately the feeling of new doesn't last too long - the games lack imagination and are all very similar to those found in previous titles.

Aesthetically speaking, the game looks decent. Saying that, the game has looked 'decent' since Mario Party 1 back on the N64. I'm not normally one to rate a game on its looks but I am disappointed to see that not much has been improved at all since the GameCube generation. Mario Party 8 still consists of the same basic character presentation accompanied with the same-styled boards and equally basic backdrops.
Granted, there is a little more happening in the background, but it is still the same as we have seen for the last seven installments. Considering what we know the Wii is capable of, (take a look at the character models for Super Smash Bros. Brawl) it is quite a letdown to see the first Wii Mario Party looking so bland.

Sounds in the game are rather good. You are accompanied with all the normal Mario sounds and similar Mario themed music. The music suits the game boards nicely and is varied enough to break up the would-be tedium induced by listening to the same tune for 15 rounds. If you took your time while getting into the game, or have terrible aim with the Wii remote, you may have noticed that clicking on Mario or the avatars of the other characters on the title screen will cause them to speak. Each character has a few sayings, grunts or other things to hear. This kept me entertained for a short while but it's even more fun than some of the mini-games you play.

Single-player mode is definitely not where the game shines. In fact, I found it quite dull at times. The slow gameplay coupled with the fact that you are spending most of your time watching the CPU take their turn creates a tedious game. The slow speed isn't just limited to the CPU's movement - all characters are slow around the board.

Triggered events are slow. Transitioning from Board to minigame is slow. Even some of the mini games themselves are slow. Another problem with single-player mode is the way the AI seem to have extraordinary 'luck'. Maybe I am just paranoid but on more than one occasion the CPU players have beaten the odds to claim the win in the last turn. Playing the AI in mini games is just as uninspiring. Due to their inability to think, they are always at a disadvantage in any game that uses a small amount of brainpower to win. The only thing they have is this extreme luck. That being said, once you have four human players on the board, the game can actually prove to be at least mildly entertaining. When you are playing people that can process simple logic the game becomes so much more competitive. You also don't feel quite so ripped off when you get beaten.