Certain yearly franchises receive the scorn of "hardcore" gamers for their lack of innovation year over year. Sports franchises are the most often criticized for "roster updates" and other nominal changes, but other games are roundly skewered as well. One of the most prominent examples of this is the Mario Party series, the Hudson Soft series of mini-games published on an annual basis.

Now, opinions on the Mario Party series vary pretty wildly, but it's always had its fan base. Despite the fact that many have contended that the series has been on a "slide" for years, sales continue to validate the release of new incarnations. With Mario Party 8 making the jump to the Wii, the franchise may have gotten the shot in the arm it needed to continue releasing strongly for the next several years.

We take a closer look at Mario Party 8, dissecting what it takes to party on into the night.

There's a party up at Redmond
According to the NPD, Mario Party 8 was the second best selling title overall during the May reporting period and the best selling title on the Wii platform. The game sold through 314,400 units for the month, racking up sales of roughly $15.4 million.

The Mario Party series has always been a popular series sales wise, though evidence suggests that sales had been cooling with each yearly incarnation. Mario Party 8 on the Wii, however, seems to be the breath of fresh air that the franchise needed. With over 300k sold so far in the U.S. alone, there's no reason to believe that the success won't continue in Europe and Japan, reaching and perhaps exceeding the sales heights of its predecessors.

It is also to Nintendo's great credit how they've scheduled their game releases since the Wii's initial launch. The Wii's debut was highlighted by Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports, the pack-in game, which was followed up in January with WarioWare: Smooth Moves. The next month saw the well timed release of Wii Play (with a pack-in Wii Remote) and Super Paper Mario boosted the Wii's portfolio in April. By the time late May rolled around, Wii fans were hungry for a new title with a new set of mini-games, and Mario Party 8 fit the bill nicely.

Luigi shows his lasso expertise... next he'll be starring in a Western

The People's Party
Those familiar with the Mario Party series will be immediately familiar with the surroundings. The core of the game has players moving around a board, acquiring items and participating in mini-games with other players along the way. Not surprisingly, what differentiates Mario Party 8 from its predecessors is the use of motion sensing controls. The use of the Wii Remote to do anything from jump rope, paddle a boat or shoot at the screen really lends itself to the casual, pick-up-and-play nature of the mini-games.

The game was, however, given a very lukewarm reception by critics, averaging a 68% on GameRankings.com. The most often cited criticism is the randomness that the board game structure lends to sessions. The game's overall presentation has also failed to impress. That said, a number of reviewers still found the game to be quite enjoyable.

"With the downhill direction of the Mario Party series, Hudson Soft reworked the series with the improved Mario Party 8," said Robert Workman in GameDaily's review. "While the general format of the game remains the same, the inclusion of Wii-related controls perk up the proceedings tremendously. Players use their Miis to compete in contests against Mario and company. Even with a slightly underwhelming presentation and no online play, this Party rocks again."

It's worth noting, though, that despite the harsh criticism by "hardcore" gamers and certain reviewers, Mario Party 8 wasn't created specifically to appeal to them anyway. Casual gamers, and specifically families and those bellow the age of 8, probably don't dislike the randomness that the board game structure brings. In fact, that might be the reason why they like it, since it means that everyone can pick it up and play and possibly win. It's the latest in a series of games that Nintendo has released which have successfully bypassed the "core" gamer set and reached sales success.

Wii would like to party
The audience that Nintendo is really seeking with Mario Party 8 is reflected in the game's TV spots. The latest in the "Wii Would Like to Play" series of advertisements shows a birthday party, retirement party and a slumber party. In all of these ads, the core message is that regular people, from families, to young girls and the elderly, can all have fun with Mario Party 8.

It's easy to say that a Mario Party 9 is an inevitability (and c'mon Nintendo, couldn't this one have been called Mario Party Wii?). What's more fun to muse about is whether or not Nintendo will keep up this remarkable string of successes on the software front and corresponding sales on the hardware front with Wii. At this point, smart money's on the house that Mario built partying on into the night for many years to come.