Mario Party 4- what a let down

Compared to past Mario Party titles- this game is a piece of crap (for lack of a better word). It has little to no differences from the last 3, other than the fact that it left out many of the funnest elements in the game (ie. item and mini-game purchasing, mini-game island). In addition the new levels are absolute crap compared to the old ones....and forgive me if I'm wrong, but there is only one unlockable level. Also, there aren't too many new characters, which you'd expect, since it's the 4th game. " And the items......the main ones you use are mushrooms?!? As far as the mini-games are concerned, they basically forgot about making good ones, and added a truck load of crap (exp: "smash this button as fast as you can for 3 minutes! WOOOT WOOOT", or "Press A at the right time!!! WHOOOO HOOOOO WTH?. Shame, Shame, Shame Nintendo. This game was possibly the biggest waiste of $50 I have ever succeeded in doing. If this game was the first in the series, I might have given this a better score.....but coming from a series that is name recognized, has much to live up to, and is coming from Nintendo.....I believe I can honestly say two things; either Nintendo thought they could honestly sell this piece of crap, or they are simply running out of new concepts.