I take it back. The series peaked at 5, but 6 was just as good, and 7 was all right. However, 8 was just horrible, and for a number of reasons: motion control, no multiplayer decathlon, far too many pointless extras, being forced to do the same thing twice to unlock all of the characters, etc., etc. Heck, all of the Wii installments to Mario series seem to be lacking in multiplayer in the best modes (GP in Mario Kart, for one).