Editing Mario Party 4 (section)

==Gameplay==
{{see also|Mario Party#Gameplay}}
[[File:Mario Party 4 gameplay.jpg|thumb|left|Characters must hit a dice block to move forward on the board; the mushroom represents an Item Shop.]]

''Mario Party 4'' is based on an interactive [[board game]] played by four characters from the ''Mario'' franchise, which are controlled either by the player or the game's [[Artificial intelligence in video games|artificial intelligence]]. The game features eight [[Player character|playable character]]s, although they do not have any different gameplay attributes from each other (save for favoring certain [[Item (game terminology)|item]]s when controlled by the AI<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.6-9</ref>). Players can arrange their characters into opposing pairs, or play independently in a [[battle royal]]e.<ref name="Eurogamer review"/> As with most board games, each participant takes turns in rolling a [[dice]] block (1 to 10) to determine the number of spaces moved on the board. There are 60 [[minigame]]s, one of which follows each round of four turns,<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.14</ref> which yields a coin prize for the winner. Twenty coins are required to purchase a star, with the victor being the character with the most stars at the end of the game.<ref name="IGN review"/> The length of a game can vary as the predetermined number of minigames is adjustable in multiples of 5 (min.10 max.50). Stars are usually attained by purchase at the specific space on the [[game board]] where it is set, with the star location changing to another space after every acquisition. Three extra stars can be obtained if "Bonus mode" is switched on, with a star each awarded to the player with the most minigames won, most coins collected, and most happening spaces visited.<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.32</ref>

''Mario Party 4'' features six boards, five of which take their name from a secondary ''Mario'' character, such as [[Goomba]].<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.33</ref> The boards are themed to correspond with their titular character, and contain specialized features to reflect this, such as the [[roulette]] wheel in the [[casino]]-based "Goomba's Greedy Gala". The on-board characters follow a set route, although this becomes optional when arriving at a junction.<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.19</ref> The boards also contain multiple "Events", which are generic stations placed on every board. These include "Lottery Shops", where money is gambled on item prizes, and "Boo Houses", where [[List of Mario franchise characters#Enemy_characters|Boo]] is paid to steal either coins or a star from an opponent. The majority of spaces on the boards are denoted by either blue or red circles, with blue granting coins and red deducting them.<ref name="Eurogamer review"/> Alternative spaces are also available, such as "happening spaces", which trigger an event exclusive to the current board. "Mushroom Spaces" grant the user either a "Mega" or "Mini" Mushroom—"Mega Mushrooms" extend the movement range while "Mini Mushrooms" curtail it. Additionally, giant characters will bypass "Events" and stars while reduced characters can access special areas on the board via pipes.<ref name="Gaming Age review"/>

The minigames in ''Mario Party 4'' are short, unrelated events with a specified objective that the players must attempt to meet to earn coins as a reward. Minigames are unlocked during the main "Party Mode", although they can be played outside of the game board context in "Minigame Mode".<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.42</ref> This allows the player to either freely play minigames; select which minigames they want, and control conditions for victory in a match, such as the "3-win-match"; or play 2 vs. 2 minigames to claim a space on a [[tic-tac-toe]] board. Minigames are split into seven categories: "4-player", "1 vs 3", "2 vs 2",<ref name="Eurogamer review"/> "Battle", "Bowser", "Story", etc.. The first three occur randomly after each set of turns during a party, while "Battle" can only be triggered by landing on the corresponding space on the board. Unlike regular minigames, the players must contribute their money and then compete to reclaim it or earn more by winning the minigame. There are also rarer groups of minigames, such as the [[Bowser]] minigames requiring the loser to forfeit items or coins and the minigames,<ref name="Gaming Age review"/> which can only be accessed by characters reduced by the "Mini Mushroom". A set of minigames that cannot be played during normal conditions are located in the "Extra room", featuring Thwomp and Whomp.<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.51</ref>

The game features a loose plot in that the player must progress through Story Mode to earn presents from the eponymous characters of the pertaining boards. These are presents that had been brought to the player's birthday party in the game,<ref>''Mario Party 4'' Instruction Booklet, pg.5</ref> which must be completed by earning the most stars in a board game and subsequently defeating the present giver in a special one-on-one Story minigame. This is all contained within the "Party Cube", which grants the wishes of its users; the story's climax comes in the form of Bowser, who wishes to disrupt the party with his own board, hosted by Koopa Kid. Also, unlike its predecessor, [[Princess Daisy]] and [[Waluigi]] are now playable in Story Mode.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mirabella III|first=Fran|date=November 24, 2018|orig-date=October 14, 2002|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/10/14/mario-party-4|title=Mario Party 4|website=[[IGN]]|access-date=July 12, 2024|archive-date=April 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413065938/https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/10/14/mario-party-4|url-status=live}}</ref>