Nintendo of Europe today officially announced the European release date for Mario Party 5! Read on for the press release...

Mario and his closest friends are back for more fun in Mario Party 5! Join them on the NINTENDO GAMECUBE when it launches across Europe on 5th December 2003. Just in time for Christmas the legendary Mario, Luigi, Toad, Wario, Peach, Yoshi and Waluigi will be returning to the NINTENDO GAMECUBE. Join them as they try to restore peace to Dream World by racing around a collection of all new exciting game boards.

Tons of surprises await you! Have fun with everyone's favourite characters as well as some new ones making their debut in this classic game.

Mario Party 5 has many new game boards, more than 60 new mini-games, new playable characters, an expanded one-player mode and, of course, the multi-player madness that made it famous in the first place. This sequel extends Mario Party's reign as the king of the party game!

Play the terrific new mini games to win a variety of competitions to collect coins and reach stars that are placed at random throughout the game boards - collect the most stars and coins to win each board game. Whether you are trying to dodge penguins as you balance on an ice block, are in a race to climb to the top of a beanstalk or are trying to spot the odd dancing plants, the mini games guarantee hours of fun.

Players can choose to challenge each other in new duals, traditional duals or can even play everyone against Bowser mini games. Also compete against the amazing Koop Kid Brigade, the trio of Koopa Kids who take their turns simultaneously, cutting down significantly on the wait time and letting everyone get back to the action much more quickly. You can even change the location of event spaces on the virtual game board to get one up on your competition and race to collect more stars than anyone else.

Mario Party 5 is guaranteed to be the must have game for the whole family this Christmas, providing hours of entertainment.

Mario Party 5 will be launching across Europe on 5th December 2003 at an estimated retail price of 60 Euros.