Introduction 

On YouTube, I have a video series called "A Look at Imports." Starting with this blog, I'd like to expand on that series by talking about games that I didn't include and games that I do have videos of but would like to talk about things I never mentioned in the videos. As I've acquired numerous imported items over the years, this series could include peripherals and other gaming-related items in the future. 

I'd like to start off by talking about a scarce promotional Mario Party 4 disc that I bought in 2018, known as the Mario Party 4 Event Disc. This is one of the imports that I have a video of on YouTube, but as mentioned above I'd like to talk about things not shown or mentioned in the videos.

The Mario Party 4 Event Disc 

Finding out about it

I found this disc on eBay in 2018. There were at least two listed, and they were both sealed. I noticed the cover was different than most copies of Mario Party 4. Wanting to find out more about it before buying it, I did a Google search. At the time, I could only find one page about it. The only information was the discs title ("Mario Party 4 Event Disc"), and a picture. The fact that it is called an "Event Disc" made me wonder if it was suppose to be for a Japanese tournament, like Super Smash Bros. Melee (which has its own tournament disc in Japan).

The disc wasn't cheap (and probably costs more now). I won't say how much I paid, but it cost more than ten times as much as a regular Japanese copy of Mario Party 4.

The cover and Disc 

The slipcover shows the Mario Party 4 logo. The bottom part of the slipcover and the words on the top of the disc say "Mario Party 4 Event Disc." It's clearly a promo item.

The game

There's not a whole lot to it. After putting the disc into a GameCube, the Mario Party 4 title screen appears (in Japanese, of course). Pressing Start takes you to the Mini-Game mode.

Only two options can be selected: Free Play and Battle Mode.

Up to four players can play, and all eight playable characters from the full version of the game can be selected.

Only the 4-Player and Battle Mini-Games can be played. There are 16 4-Player games and 6 Battle games for a total of 22 Mini-Games.

The second option is the Battle Mode. Like the Free Play option, up to four players can play and all eight playable characters from the full version are available.

Again, only the 4-Player and Battle Mini-Games can be played. The Battle Mode in the full version of the game has options for 5 wins and 7 wins, but the Battle Mode on this disc only has the 3 win option. The first player who wins three times is the winner.

In this mode, the Mini-Games are selected randomly.

Other than the lack of content, everything included looks and sounds pretty much the same as the full game of Mario Party 4. Could there be other content hidden in the disc's memory?

Conclusion

Not much else to say. I'm still not sure what this disc's purpose was. Was it actually used in a tournament like Super Smash Bros. Melee? Or planned to be used in a tournament? Was it a giveaway? Who knows. I'd be interested in finding out if there's anything on the disc that is unused. Sadly, the disc is scarce. Not many people know about it.

If you're interested, I have a video on YouTube showing all of the mini-games and features available on this disc. 

-MegaMan52