All About Mario Party 4 Presents (Patreon)

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Mario Party 4, released in 2002 for the GameCube, has a strong focus on presents. The above excerpt is the first page of the game's manual - as it states, the party hosts have arrived to celebrate "your" birthday - "your" in this case referring to all eight playable characters - Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Daisy and Waluigi. Setting aside the improbability of all these characters having their birthdays on the same day, the goal of the game (or at least of the Story Mode) is to win presents by completing the various boards.

Since there are 8 characters and 6 boards, this makes for a total of 48 presents, which are displayed upon completion in the Present Room. However, there is a problem with the entire setup which necessitated me writing this article. When the presents are awarded to the player character in a board completion cutscene, they display a short animation - but interacting with them in the Present Room later gives you no option to view the animation again. The presents become completely static 3D models with no way of replaying the animation whatsoever.

This would be somewhat tolerable if during the cutscene, the animation played on a loop until the player dismissed it, giving you at least one chance to fully appreciate it - yet the game does not even offer you this courtesy. The animation plays exactly once when the player character opens the present and can then not be viewed again on the same save file. Say, you missed seeing what images of Bowser display on the Bowser's Television present during the animation - then you would have to replay every single board with Luigi again just to get another chance to see it.

For this reason, I have decided to record all present animations in .GIF form and compile them in one article. In addition, I will point out small details about the presents that can either be easily missed or can only be seen by moving the camera within an emulator using a camera tool. Note that all images that do not have an attribution at the bottom were recorded by me. That said, let us begin.

Mario

I will start each character's segment with an animation of all presents as they appear in the Present Room, in their static form. This also includes the brief descriptions the items show when they are selected.

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Mario earns Mario's Sofa:

This is Mario's sofa. He folds it out into a bed when guests come. 

Note that while the description says that the sofa can be folded out, neither the model nor the animation display that this is possible, and the sofa does not appear to have seams in the places it should have in order to be able to be folded.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Mario earns Mario's Television: 

This is Mario's television. It rarely works, but he rarely uses it! 

Mario not using a television is consistent with depictions of Mario's house. Neither his (and Luigi's) house in the Paper Mario series nor the Mario & Luigi series has a TV anywhere, suggesting he has little use for it.

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Mario earns Mario's Table:

This is Mario's table. It's very cute and round, just like Mario! 

The 1-up Mushroom on the table is later reused for Waluigi's Shelf, which as you will see has some problems properly displaying it.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Mario earns Mario's Refrigerator:

This is Mario's refrigerator. There's always leftover pasta inside. 

This is one of the presents that open to display something during the animation, which lasts for less than a second - and then, as explained above, can not be replayed on the same save file. Why such a level of care to model the inside of the object was put in without giving the player the ability to appreciate it is perplexing. We can take a closer look at the containers on the top shelf:

A container resembling a ramen noodle bowl with a Mini Mushroom depicted on it (probably containing aforementioned leftover pasta) and a package of something flat with a Mega Mushroom. These details are near impossible to pick out in the brief animation.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Mario earns the Mario Doll: 

This is a Mario doll. He's everyone's favorite hero. Even Luigi's! 

The Koopa host is the only host that gives every character the same present: a nesting doll of themselves. The nesting dolls all share the same animation, as well. Mario's doll is notable for depicting his mustache with 4 segments instead of 6.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Mario earns Bowser's Vase:

This is a Bowser vase. Flowers always seem to wilt the moment they go in. 

Bowser gives every character a present themed after himself rather than the character in question. The top of the vase resembles a Warp Pipe, although it's unclear if this is intentional.

Finally, at the end of the Story Mode, each character receives a final gift: a constellation in their image. Here is a high-resolution image of the Mario constellation:

Luigi 

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Luigi earns Luigi's Table: 

This is Luigi's table. It's fashionable, but not very functional. Like Luigi!

This present is unique in that it is first displayed at an angle that makes it impossible to determine what it is until it turns the correct way. 

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Luigi earns Luigi's Airbike:

This is Luigi's airbike. It shows you how many calories he's burned--zero!

Unfortunately, the bike's screen shows nothing both in the Present Room and during the animation - although this may be what the text is referencing; if the screen shows nothing, Luigi certainly didn't burn any calories.

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Luigi earns Luigi's Dumbbell:

This is Luigi's dumbbell. Luigi can't actually lift it. It's just for show.

It is rather peculiar that a dumbbell that is too heavy for Luigi to lift is depicted as being so bendy that it may be a toy instead, although this is again consistent with the descriptions being insulting to Luigi.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Luigi earns Luigi's Chair:

This is Luigi's chair. It's not very comfortable, but it sure looks neat!

Note that some of the "L" decorations on the chair are mirrored, looking like Waluigi's emblems instead. Also note the design parallel of the table having legs the same shape as the chair's back.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Luigi earns the Luigi Doll: 

This is a Luigi doll. He's the world's most unlikely hero, and Mario knows it!

The Luigi doll is nearly identical to the Mario one except for the colors and the mustache.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Luigi earns Bowser's Television:

This is a Bowser television. It only shows infomercials. Evil!

Here are the pictures shown on the TV:

Finally, Luigi's constellation:

Peach

As can be easily seen, the design of the room is based on Peach's Castle from Super Mario 64, with almost all design elements except the side of the stairs being references to how that particular version of the castle looked.

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Peach earns Peach's Chair: 

This is Peach's chair. It is gorgeous and refined, just like Peach. 

Peach's presents have a special sparkle effect that plays after their animation. The chair's back seems to be based at least slightly on Peach's hair.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Peach earns Peach's Table:

This is Peach's table. It's perfect for afternoon tea and scones. Mmmm... 

Despite the description, the table remains empty when on display in the Present Room.

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Peach earns Peach's Clock:

This is Peach's clock. It was bought the day Peach was born. 

This present is unique in that the animation does not end. Once started, the pendulum will swing back and forth until the dialogue box announcing that the present was received has been dismissed. The description raises a few questions: how did Shy Guy come into possession of a clock that was bought the day Peach was born? Or is this supposed to be "Peach's clock" as in a clock that already belonged to Peach - but then how does this qualify as a present? Then again, it is most likely that this is supposed to be dismissed together with the implication that it is every character's birthday simultaneously.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Peach earns Peach's Treasure Chest:

This is Peach's treasure chest. It's where she keeps all of her coins. 

This is another present that opens for a few frames, revealing its contents. In this case, it is Mario Party/Super Mario 64-style coins.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Peach earns the Peach Doll: 

This is a Peach doll. It looks just like our lovely, danger-prone heroine. 

Note that while Mario and Luigi's dolls depict their gloves, Peach's much longer gloves are left out of her doll, instead showing her with purely pink arms.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Peach earns Bowser's Picture:

This is a picture of Bowser. Koopa Kid made her hang it up. Ugh! 

While Bowser's presents to other characters seem slightly arbitrary, this one is definitely in-character for him based on the depiction of his feelings towards Peach in most games he appears in.

Finally, Peach's constellation:

Yoshi

Yoshi's room has a roof with two rounded sections, resembling his eyes.

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Yoshi earns Yoshi's Egg:

This is Yoshi's egg. It looks like it's about to hatch! But what's inside? 

Consider for a moment the implication of Toad gifting Yoshi an unborn child. Now Yoshi is an adoptive parent without having had a say in the matter. Of course, as some Mario games, most recently Super Mario Maker, show, Yoshi eggs can contain power-ups within them, so it is more likely that Toad decided that Yoshi would appreciate the themed packaging.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Yoshi earns Yoshi's Computer:

This is Yoshi's computer. It looks goofy, but it's really top of the line! 

This present is definitely one that a large amount of effort went into. During the animation, the power light turns on and the screen fills with text. Let us look more closely:

The text is actually Greek letters. Unfortunately, this is not real Greek text, but random letters instead. Still, the fact that Goomba gifts Yoshi a Greek computer is rather curious.

When the computer is viewed in the Present Room, it has a different display:

Here, the letters are too blurry to make out. However, note that while it may seem like the two screens reuse the same "broken egg" graphic, they are actually different drawings (look at the position of the spots).

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Yoshi earns Yoshi's Table:

This is Yoshi's table. It's mostly used for serving fresh fruit. 

The table uses a unique graphic of Yoshi's face. Let us take a closer look:

Here is the actual texture extracted from the files:

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Yoshi earns Yoshi's Shoes:

Those are Yoshi's shoes. It looks like they were just polished. Shiny! 

These shoes are slightly too long and flat in comparison to Yoshi's normal shoes, but not so much that it would be implausible for him to wear them.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Yoshi earns the Yoshi Doll: 

This is a Yoshi doll. Isn't he just the cutest hero ever? Well? Isn't he!? 

Since Yoshi's shape does not lend itself to being deformed into a nesting doll, the doll simply has a Yoshi design drawn on the front rather than trying to make it three-dimensional.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Yoshi earns Bowser's Lamp:

This is a Bowser lamp. It shines with an eerily sinister light... So hypnotic! 

Together with the computer, the lamp is one of the two electrical objects that are powered on in the Present Room. The rest - all the ones not belonging to Yoshi - are powered off.

Yoshi's constellation:

Wario

There is a part of Wario's present room that cannot be seen without moving the camera: the inside of the ceiling.

It depicts a very stylized Wario face. 

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Wario earns Wario's Motorbike:

This is Wario's motorbike. He lost his license, so he's not going anywhere. 

Wario has had several bikes throughout the years, but none were this realistic. Take a look:

This bike uses stock photos of real-life motorbike parts as textures.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Wario earns Wario's Chest:

This is Wario's chest. Sure, it looks flashy, but it's totally empty. 

The interesting detail about this chest is Wario's face on the front:

The "W" emblem on the hat is purple, not the usual blue. This is not a case of a limited color palette either, as the correct shade of blue is used for Wario's eye rings.

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Wario earns Wario's Recliner:

This is Wario's recliner. It's got a vicious massage function. 

The "W"s used for the armrests are only clearly visible in the animation - the recliner is positioned at such an angle in the Present Room that the letter becomes hard to make out.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Wario earns Wario's Burger:

This is Wario's hamburger. Wario can polish it off in one bite. 

It is rather humorous to consider the value contrast between the gifts Wario receives from the other hosts - furniture and a motorbike - and Boo's gift, a hamburger.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Wario earns the Wario Doll: 

This is a Wario doll. He might be a little too disgusting to be a hero. 

Out of all playable characters, Wario is perhaps the one most closely shaped like a nesting doll to begin with, making him suitable for this.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Wario earns Bowser's Clock:

This is a Bowser clock. It's always thirteen minutes slow. Freakish! 

The numbers on the clock's face are, as visible even from afar, in the wrong order. Here is a closer look:

And finally, Wario's constellation:

DK

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as DK earns DK's Barrel:

This is Donkey Kong's barrel. It seems to be empty right now. Poor DK... 

The barrel has the shortest and simplest animation of all presents. Please excuse the cursor in the footage - I had overlooked it during recording and had already passed the point where I could re-record it when I discovered it.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as DK earns DK's Tree:

This is Donkey Kong's tree. He takes good care of it. 

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as DK earns DK's Stand:

This is Donkey Kong's stand. It can hold up to five bananas. 

The vertical shape is rather inefficient to hold bananas; in real life, banana holders/stands are curved so that the weight of the bananas does not topple them over.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as DK earns DK's Box:

This is Donkey Kong's box. It contains Donkey Kong's treasures. 

This present has the quickest animation of them all, lasting only around half a second. The box opens to reveal three bananas, which quickly rotate before the box closes. Here is a closer look at the box's lid:

It highly resembles the graphic used for Banana Bunches in Donkey Kong 64.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as DK earns the DK Doll: 

This is a Donkey Kong doll. He's our hero from the jungle. 

In almost all depictions of Donkey Kong in 3D, the graphic for his tie is reused even if it is a doll, plush, robot, or otherwise fake version of the character. This marks one of the rare occasions where the "DK" emblem is handwritten.

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as DK earns Bowser's Object:

This is Bowser's object. It's quite, um, eye-catching...but what is it? 

To me, this resembles a tabletop game, perhaps one similar to Pop-Up Pirate, which also includes something springing out of a barrel. Of course, this could just as well be a cultural reference I am not aware of or simply a nonsensical object.

Here is DK's constellation:

Daisy 

Daisy's room has a roof resembling architecture found in real-life countries with arid climates, which is in line with the depiction of Sarasaland, her kingdom, as being primarily a desert (based on Super Mario Land's first level being desert-themed; in reality, Sarasaland consists of four distinct biomes based on Egypt, the Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island and China, respectively.)

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Daisy earns Daisy's Bed:

This is Daisy's bed. It looks hard, but it's really good for the spine. 

This particular present has very subtle glow effects that my .GIF recording software could not properly pick up on. I believe this is a limitation of the .GIF format's indexed palette and could only be remedied if I was using a different animation format; which of course also raises the issue of being much less compatible with different devices.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Daisy earns Daisy's Flowers:

These are Daisy's flowers. She picks them herself. 

Again, I realize this is supposed to not be analyzed too closely, but if Daisy picked the flowers herself, how is Goomba gifting them to her?

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Daisy earns Daisy's Table:

This is Daisy's table. I think Goomba made it for her. 

...and yet Shy Guy is the one gifting it to her? While Goomba gifts her flowers she picked herself? Perhaps I have been approaching it from the wrong vantage point. Perhaps we are simply not supposed to take the Present Room commentary as fact. This would resolve all the issues with the descriptions. I believe the usage of "I think" renders this idea not entirely implausible; there is definitely a degree of uncertainly on behalf of the narrator.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Daisy earns Daisy's Side Table:

This is Daisy's side table. Don't peek in her journal! She won't like it. 

This may be the most interesting present in terms of the reference it is hiding. The "journal" on top of the nightstand is actually a Japanese Mario Party 2 box. Let's take a closer look:

Now compare a clear version of the cover:

Curiously, Mario Party 2 was chosen for this Easter Egg even though Daisy did not appear in that game, debuting in the series in Mario Party 3 instead. 

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Daisy earns the Daisy Doll: 

This is a Daisy doll. She's our fresh-faced heroine. 

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Daisy earns Bowser's Teapot:

This is Bowser's teapot. It bubbles like magma. 

Neither the animation nor the positioning of the teapot in the Present Room show off very well that it has Bowser's tail:

And here is Daisy's constellation:

Waluigi

Waluigi's room is shaped like his emblem, and is notable for being the only room to not have enough space for all presents, forcing the Waluigi Doll to stay outside.

Completing Toad's Midway Madness as Waluigi earns Waluigi's Calendar:

This is Waluigi's calendar. Every day is Sunday?! 

The calendar is rather curious, but on a console the resolution is much too low to be able to make out any of the text.

It is actually a calendar for January 2002 - with the correct days of the week. Of course, those being correct makes the description "every day is Sunday" incorrect. Here is a closer look at Waluigi's picture on the upper half:

During the animation, we see the calendar has more than one page. How many exactly?

There are three pages, all identical, meaning that the calendar consists of nothing but three instances of January 2002 in a row.

Completing Goomba's Greedy Gala as Waluigi earns Waluigi's Shelf:

This is Waluigi's shelf. It seems to be in good repair. 

This may be the most unintentionally ironic description of a present in the game. You see, the textures on Waluigi's Shelf are actually glitched. The mushrooms are supposed to have the same face as the one on Mario's Table earlier in the article - and in fact, they do when the shelf is viewed in the Present Room - but during this animation, they look like this instead:

When I first saw this, I was almost certain that this had to be an emulation issue - after all, why would the textures display correctly in one place and have errors in another? But after researching footage of this cutscene played on original hardware, I can confirm that this issue is in fact in the base game and not dependent on the emulator. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the mushroom model is imported from Mario's Table; however, this is pure speculation on my part.

Completing Shy Guy's Jungle Jam as Waluigi earns Waluigi's Shower:

This is Waluigi's shower. It has good pressure...and spits flame!! 

The shower is modeled after a Piranha Plant, but also is literally a pipe that is painted green, evoking a Warp Pipe. The design seamlessly blends together a Warp Pipe and a Piranha Plant; although perhaps not intentionally.

Completing Boo's Haunted Bash as Waluigi earns Waluigi's Chair:

This is Waluigi's chair. It's simple, functional and tricky! 

The chair has Waluigi's emblem in purple instead of yellow, the same way Wario's Chest depicted his emblem as purple as well.

Completing Koopa's Seaside Soiree as Waluigi earns the Waluigi Doll: 

This is a Waluigi doll. It looks like it's plotting an evil new scheme! 

Completing Bowser's Gnarly Party as Waluigi earns Bowser's Bath:

This is a Bowser bath. The water is always 1,000 degrees! 

It is easily overlooked during the animation that the bathtub's eyes glow red when it heats up.

Finally, here is Waluigi's constellation:

The Rest

In addition to the presents given to the player characters during the story, there is one more room filled with small souvenirs as rewards for other achievements.

These do not have cutscenes associated with them, so the Present Room versions of them are the definitive ones. Still, let's take a look at that Boo picture frame.

It contains a low-resolution version of the image used for the memory card access screen.

If the player collects every single one of the presents, they will receive this:

The Party Star trophy, the description of which seems to be a placeholder as it neither has proper capitalization nor punctuation. I speculate that because such a low percentage of players would bother to invest the time to beat every board with every character and get all the other achievements, that this error slipped by the development team.

This concludes the showcase and analysis of all presents in Mario Party 4. As always, I welcome all criticism and feedback, and will incorporate all suggestions into future articles. 

Thank you very much for reading.