Back in 1999, Mario and his crew could have taught Prince a thing or two about how to celebrate the coming of a new millennium. Establishing itself as a mainstay on the Nintendo 64, the Mario Party series showed up three times to blister hands and bring friends and family together to yell at each other at the top of their lungs. However, in the years since then, we’ve experienced a roller-coaster of quality as Mario's party mode has struggled to recapture its glory days. Things became too silly and convoluted, with winning being based largely on chance and luck. Mario Party: Island Tour probably won’t do anything to change your opinion of the series — nor will it win over those lost by the shortcomings of recent instalments — but it may still provide enough enjoyment for you to want a place on the guest list.
When jumping in, you have the typical option to get a party started with computer players or take advantage of the Download Play functionality of the 3DS to invite up to 3 other people – sadly there is no online play, so this is local fun only. Once you’ve got your participants in tow, the first stop for most is going to be Party Mode, where you can check out all the new game boards designed specifically for this handheld outing. There are five boards available from the get-go, regardless of settings, and another that can only be played with at least 3 human players in attendance, all with different rules and quirks — it's not about stars any more.
The boards are tagged with ratings that denote the level of skill, luck, and amount of mini-games involved. Luck is the one that may annoy many players, and outside of a couple of boards, fate factors heavily into the equation. Inexperienced players will love that they’re able to shine brighter than others at a game, but everyone else will be somewhat annoyed. Why not just flip a coin, declare a winner, and forgo the proceedings altogether? Probably because even when the boards don’t quite deliver on their potential, Nintendo usually knows how to produce a fantastic collection of mini-games, and the boards are the adhesive that give those games substance. Unfortunately, this is the area in which we have serious issues with Mario Party: Island Tour.
For instance, on Rocket Road – which visually mixes elements of Mario Galaxy with Rainbow Road from Mario Kart – players race around a track on rocket cars trying to accumulate boosters to blast their way to the goal. In the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to complete this board, you’ll be lucky to squeeze in more than a single mini-game. Because of this, it feels completely throwaway in the end, and even the less-experienced players that joined us never wanted to revisit it. Unfortunately, a couple other boards follow the same recipe as well, lowering the number of boards with any real substance down to two or three – depending on your tastes. Without a doubt, the brevity of these excursions — in conjunction with the often ridiculous rules defining each board — makes them the weakest component of Island Tour.
Thank god then for the mini-games. The last thing you want to be doing in a 4-player game is reading a lot and waiting for everyone to comprehend instructions – even less so on a handheld console that gets played on the go. With the 80 mini-games shuffled into the mix, that’s not a problem. Simplicity is the name of the game, and thankfully in this case that doesn’t mean skill is sacrificed. There are still games revolving solely around luck as usual, but they seem to be peppered in loosely enough that they won’t annoy those veteran players looking to flex their skills.
One thing that may cause a bit of moaning is the lack of asymmetrical mini-games – there are no 3 vs. 1 or 2 vs. 2 matches, only free-for-all. You’d think this would present a problem, but it doesn't. Keeping things easy to understand and streamlining directions does wonders for the rate of play. No longer did we have to sit and wait for the newcomer to read through their individual directions or play with the buttons on the controller in preparation. Often, a single sentence is all that’s needed to instantaneously comprehend the agenda, and it pays off in a big way.
Not only are traditional control methods used to participate in the mini-games, but there’s also a nice mix of activities that utilize the gyroscopic and touchscreen capabilities of the 3DS. In a mini-game called “Point ‘n’ Shoot”, players move the system around them to find characters hiding in the virtual environment on-screen. In “Starring Artist”, the stylus is used on the touchscreen to copy the pattern of constellations portrayed on the upper display. Beyond that, there are a few puzzle games tucked away in Free Play that are fun to kill time with — a game that uses the microphone to capture your best impressions of popular Nintendo characters, and even a couple that use AR Cards. For our money, this is one of the tightest collections of mini-games to be featured in the Mario Party series, optimized perfectly for pick-up-and-play sessions.
One issue, however, is how inconsequential winning mini-games is becoming in the grand scheme of things. In the most traditional board, called Perilous Palace Path (the longest that lasts 45-60 minutes), players will compete in mini-games for additional dice blocks instead of stars or anything else, allowing them to get an extra step on the competition when running for the finish line. However, getting ahead of the pack isn’t necessarily a good thing, as there are the occasional roadblocks that need to be overcame in order to advance. For example, guessing from one of three buttons to lower a bridge, or knocking health bars off of a Whomp by rolling the dice, thus clearing the way to the goal. Often, lingering behind and being the 2nd or 3rd person to reach these points is more ideal than getting there first. A player can win every single mini-game and still lose at the board – that happened to us several times.
Thankfully, pushing through Party Mode isn't the only way you can get down with the mini-games. Hot-Air Hijinks puts four players, CPU or human, into hot-air balloons and has them competing to be the first to reach 3, 5, or 7 wins. If you simply want to play game-after-game while duking it out for top honours, this is the way to go. And for the rest of you who only have time to squeeze in a couple of matches — or want to play only your favourite mini-games — there's always Free Play.
Bowser’s Tower, a single-player focused mode, is mostly fluff in its repetitive and lengthy design, but it still offers a bit of purpose to those playing alone. One floor at a time, one of two mini-games will be randomly selected, requiring you to win if you want to advance. Every five floors or so are boss battles that deviate slightly from standard mini-game design, providing players with just enough reason to keep climbing all the way to the top – there you’ll face off with Bowser himself, in a scene similar to the final face-off in Super Mario World. We can’t help but feel that Bowser's Tower was almost effortlessly constructed in an attempt to bulk up the package for those playing alone, but there is at least a little fun to be had here – even if only for the boss battles.
Another single player mode, Time Attack, will have you replaying the same 10 mini-games time and time again to set record times. This makes for a solid way to spend 10 minutes, but the life-expectancy of this mode is questionable. There's also a StreetPass mini-game mode, which we sadly weren't able to enjoy at the time of writing as no one else we knew had the game prior to release. According to Nintendo's website this mode is "your invitation to win some matches against other people playing Mario Party: Island Tour, unlock special collectables, and more." For now, we'll just consider this a potential bonus.
Participating in any of the modes earns Mario Party Points which can be used to purchase collectables that grant access to character voice clips and the music featured throughout the game. We imagine most people won’t spend time listening to these audio tracks, but unlocking them instils a feeling of progression, and that can only be considered a good thing in a party game. There are other unlockables as well, but we're not sure exactly how far they go. In the 15 or more hours we spent partying with Mario, we unlocked a hidden playable character and an extra board - making for 10 characters and 7 game boards.
The visuals in Island Tour are satisfactory, getting the job done without doing anything to wow. The majority of our review was played on a 3DS XL and there seemed to be more rough, pixelated edges than in other games that we've played recently. It looks slightly better on a standard model 3DS, yet those edges are still apparent. The use of stereoscopic 3D doesn't add much to the antics, and is never used to enhance any games or puzzles — but it also doesn't get in the way. When involved in games that instruct the 3DS to be titled all over the place, the 3D is either automatically subdued or completely inactive.
The Mario Party series isn't changing much, and when it does, it doesn't seem to be for the better. The pieces of Island Tour that work the best are the ones sticking to the form established early in the series — fun, accessible mini-games that don't over-complicate things. It's the game boards that need better ideas, and the "less is more" approach would suit future instalments better. The focus on luck, swapping places at random, and — specific to this instalment — the short length all conspire to hamper what could easily have been a much more enjoyable experience. There's still a ton of rowdy multiplayer fun to be had, but it's unfortunate that a whole portion of the game is so hit-or-miss.
Conclusion
Even with the misfires and shortcomings plaguing the game boards, we believe Mario Party: Island Tour may still be a sound purchase for kids, families or anyone looking to play with friends. Those seeking a long-lasting single-player experience may want to steer clear though, as there isn't enough depth to the solo-focused modes to keep you engaged for very long. Island Tour doesn't do much different from it predecessors, and the throwaway boards — coupled with some forgettable game modes — definitely hurt the overall experience in a big way. Thankfully, the great collection of mini-games ensures that there may be enough reason for many people to roll the dice.
Comments 98
Kinda disappointing score...
So there's not a traditional looping board to play on (and by extension no team minigames)?
But still.... Can't wait to get this this
Meh... If I want to play Mario Party, I'll just plug in my N64.
Awww... Shucks.
@Morpheel Nope. All the boards are about getting from A to B.
Well, it's at least above average going by the score system. I'll judge when I play it for myself. Screw what anyone else says, Party 9 is one of my favourites so I'll probably have fun with this game in some way.
I'll buy the one cartridge on behalf of me and my friends.
@DRL oh well, what a lost opportunity. They should've added at least one. Even as an unlockable.
Still... Minigames!
Still getting it later sometime. I can't wait to play with my younger siblings. Like I give a damn what other people say.
I didn't have very high expectations for this one anyways.
like i said before... a Mario Party game for handhelds? no thanks
these games were meant to be played on a console... and online multiplayer for these games are not needed... this game was meant to be played in local multiplayer.. with your family/friends/girlfriend, etc.
won't buy
@Morpheel ...Yeah just saw that...it sucks. :c
Ah well I'm not buying it, but like I said its on my wish list, lol
Low score but still a sound choice for kids. So I will probably still buy. Even at it's worst it's still a fun albeit shallow time waster
This sounds like one of the worst Mario Party games ever. I stopped playing them after 8, which was the first Mario Party in years to have truly disappointed me.
@Romeo The games do support download play. DS is one of the best in the series, if a bit lacking in mini-games.
The mini-games are always great...the party is sub-par...when are they going to nail another Mario Party, eh?
Oh I was expecting a low score to be honest . But it's a nice choice if you want to have fun in multiplayer with friends on a handheld.
Still getting this. I love mini games and have two kids to play with as well.
I always enjoyed the Mario Party series on GameCube with friends and family. I've had every iteration up through Mario Party 8 and never really understood why this series received such negative responses from some people. It's got clean, great pick-up-and-play, simple mini-games that you don't have to spend half the day learning or teaching everyone how to do this or that, which is a nice option to have when playing with less experienced players.
While I'm glad to see Wii Party available for Wii U (and I'll probably give it a try at some point), I kind of miss the Mario Party series on consoles. I'm sure the 3DS and DS versions are fun, but I (and I'm sure many other gamers) don't have any friends or relatives that A) own a 3DS/DS and/or B) own copies of the same game(s). I realize the business strategy is to sell more game copies and more systems, but this is a SERIOUS impediment to my choosing to purchase ANY multiplayer-centric title for a portable system.
If you're listening, Nintendo, please bring Mario Party to Wii U (and while you're at it, a Wii U version of Advance Wars (with local multiplayer mode where the person whose turn it is moves their units using the Wii U Gamepad away from their opponents' view) would be AWESOME!
Oooooh. Wasn't expecting Nintendo to pull a three-peat with this one anyways.
wasnt expecting a 6, might re-think getting this and spend my $ elsewhere, nice review thanks.
Well I'm kinda disappointed by the non-circuitous design of the boards, but all in all it could still end up being fun, so I'm still gonna go for it. I don't really care about the single player anyway, so that's not a major loss for me. I'm getting this to play with my friends.
Got a chance to play this game with a friend at a game event.
We spent a whole hour on it (good thing there was noone in line for try the game XD) and it was damn fun, with laughs and insults flying as only good local multiplayer games can cause.
On the other side however that hour was enough for notice how luck can still reign even too strong in many cases (getting almost an annoying factor) and I totally feared the game wouldn't hold up well in single player.
Luckily in Europe the game will take time for arrive, totally fighted if buying it or not; from a side I can only agree with the review, but on the other side that demo was so much fun DX
Pre-order... cancelled!
Luck reigns too strong in most of the Nintendo games intended to be played by anybody. (Mario Kart Wii is terrible for that.)
@CountWavula lol I agree
Expected result. No online play is ridiculous in 2013.
Who in there right mind thought it would be a good idea to make a multiplayer game like this, but not include online play?
Damn, I was looking forward to this one. Might pick it up for cheap later down the line, but in the meantime I have plenty of other games to get off my wishlist.
Darnit. I actually had relatively high hopes for this entry in the series. I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer for a must-have new game in the Mario Party franchise. This version just seems to have too many issues to justify purchasing it.
I did not know this was a 3DS release I assumed it was Wii U
Wow. That must be the lowest score for a Mario game on the entire site.
I don't really see the need for Mario Party to have online play. Just like with past Mario Party games, I always have friends and family to play multiplayer with. Having it on the handheld, means I can just go to the local college and play with my friends while were waiting for a class to start or something.
Regardless of the review, I am getting this game. I'm a fan of the series shrugs what can I say?
@RaymanFan2 Close. Mario Clock got a 4!
As far as legit games though, one of the Mario/Sonic Olympic games last year got a 5.
Picked this up at the Xbone midnight launch, The Hot-Air Hi-jinx mode is definitely the way to go when playing with friends. I've enjoyed most of the mini-games so far. There's usually a couple in these games I don't like, but for this installment I haven't had that problem so far.
My family of many non gamers even like Mario Party and had a blast with the DS version, so i'm going to get this.
I'll decide for myself how much I'll like it.
I think I'll pass on getting this game.
As much as I love Mario Party
mario party was always meant for multiplayer. the only reason they added s single player was because they made the game on a handheld.
Didn't expect that low of a score. I didn't really like the A to B style in Mario Party 9. It was a breath of fresh air for the series, but the replay value went way down for me, due to that aspect.
Mario Party died after the seventh game. The new ones arent as fun as they used to be :/
Certainly getting this one once it comes out in Europe. I've gotten every single Mario Party to date (including the E-Reader version), and I've enjoyed them all so far!
@Yasume Really, it would be hard for online play, and you can't blame them for not including online play. They said that one of the boards takes 45-60 minutes. You can have some people taking an hour to make a decision, some people rage and quit in the middle of a mini game or game board, or have a person's 3DS/3DS XL/2DS die in the middle of the game, or have somebody just go and do something else while in the middle of a game. Adding online play could just bring the game down even more, even though it does seem like a good idea without the possibility of stupid people.
I don't know about this game. IGN disliked its mini games, while you disliked its game boards. Nothing good to everybody, apparently. How about that?
Since when does an "above average" score mean "avoid like the plague, disappointments for everyone, worst game in the history of mario"?
Seriously guys, lighten up.
No online? In 2013? I know it's better in local multiplayer but online would add so much value compared to playing in single player. Come on, Nintendo.
@Morpheel Apparently, the people on here still can't accept the fact that a 6 or a higher is still a good score, pretty sad, really.
Meh who cares Mario Party 2 will always be my favorite Mario Party game ever.
Mario Party was always so good at destroying controllers--making control sticks flimsy, hastening button weardown, etc--that it seems crazy to me to put one on an expensive handheld.
Also, no online play is a bummer. With a game like this it could be a really different experience.
Aww... What a disappointing score.
I'll still try to get it, but it isn't very high on my priority list anymore. (I still haven't gotten Sonic Lost World and Pokémon Y yet!)
Still definitely getting it xd
I like the core concept of Mario Party, but I can't really remember the last time I've enjoyed playing one. I guess that game just isn't for us anymore. I like to have a game to enjoy local multiplayer with friends, but this again doesn't seem worth the investment in everyone getting it to play together.
I wish I could have a game that had just the mini games (Say the best 150 from all the Mario Party games) no luck based things in it. (I really like Warioware and the actual mini games in Mario Party).
You play one mario party game, you've played them all. Still nice to have as an option though.
I guess I sorta saw this coming, as there haven't been any well-recieved Mario Party titles in quite some time. That being said it still looks to be a solid game for those wanting their Mario Party fix, and for some that will be enough.
Wow that's a big bummer, I was hoping this would cater quite a bit to single players but I guess not. I may still pick it up next year for larfs though.
Hmm... Still going to get it. Seem like a fair above average score (I question why people think 6s & 7s are bad scores). I been having a love/ hate complex with Mario party with its pros and cons over the years. So the best solution for me is to just play the game and make my call on it.
Why would they put this game on a handheld without online in 2013? How many people have 3 other 3DS's laying around?
Just plain stupid. I like the series, but I'm skipping this one.
Do you realize how many times 'thankfully' is said?
I was not expecting that score, but the only MarioParty i have ever played is MarioPartyDS, so my knowledge is limited.
I was hoping for an online mode but...oh well if it becomes a bargain bin thing I might pick it up.
there's a lot of pros and cons to this game, lots of cons actually. However it's not as bad as what Mario Party 9 did and the minigames are really fun as usual, so I'm still enjoying it. I really hate that I can't save a game in progress and do something else with my 3ds though. Odd, since every other Mario Party ever has had a save feature...
@Shade_Koopa I know one person who has a 3DS.
They live 2 hours away.
Yeah.
@Dark-Luigi Or maybe people just expect more from a first-party title.
Man, I just don't understand how the N64 Mario Parties were some of the best multiplayer fun I've had but every release since then hasn't matched up. Mario Party 9 was very lacklustre after they changed the formula (I haven't gone back to it since release), and now these mistakes have been repeated here. I miss the good old days of non-linear boards and length determined by you. Just bring Mario Party 1-3 to the Wii U Virtual Console and I'll be happy.
@Mewthree456
Automatically replace a dropout with an AI and problem solved. It's not an excuse.
Nintendo, please just do Mario Party Collection HD for the Wii U. It could be the first three games with updated graphics, maybe add in some extra content, and possibly pooling all the minigames together so you can play minigames from any of the three games on each board? Even without those added features, I'd pay full price for an HD trilogy release! Better than this in my opinion...
I will get this when it goes on a decent sale.
There's more to this review than the score, guys. Dave might have thought Island Tour was above average, but I would doubtlessly hate the game if there's any truth to his grievances.
@Yasume But not every game in 2013 has to have online play. You probably can't just as easily replace an AI with another player. You don't know what difficulty for the AI, the character of the AI, and how much progress the AI has. It can't instantly save, so the AI would have to start all over again, and the AI could be made the most difficult, so by the time you finish, it probably won't be an "online" game because probably everybody else will drop out. It's not really an excuse; it's a perfect reason for getting the deadline and making the game better by not having a faulty online mode to ruin it.
Seriously...why are there so many Mario Party games? We haven't had a new F-Zero game in 9 years .....but rest assured we are going to have plenty of these 'party' games to go around.
Why do they keep making terrible Mario Party games? I bought Mario Party 9 for Wii once assuming it'd just be good old Mario Party, but they changed everything and turned it into an abomination. This sounds like more of the same.
Nintendo has had the opportunity to add online play to their Party games (Wii Party/Mario Party) countless times...there's no excuse for it, and it's looking like they're never going to add online. I'm content with playing it on the N64; until they add online play, no buy.
Nintendo is really trying their best with Mario Party honestly but they aren't going to be as good as the N64 ones or the early GameCube ( 4 and 5) ones. Plus this is 2013/2014 why don't we have online play with a game like this? That would be perfect for a Mario Party game, because not everyone has people in their immediate vicinity that can play games.
to me this is a multiplayer game which I wont buy cause I dont play with my friends anymore. I had ton of fun with DS version though.
This series has looooooong outstayed its welcome. Kill it already.
No bad.
Mario Party stopped being the king of party games after 4, with the possible exceptions of 8 and DS. Those ones are still enjoyable.
At first I was really kicking myself for not adding this to my Super Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds purchase. Not so much now.
In the future, Nintendo needs to not release 3 products the very same time. That's poor planning.
Mario Party and online multiplayer should NEVER happen. Local multiplayer is the best with games like Mario Party because after majorly destroying your friend in a minigame or getting an insane amount of coins by sheer luck, it's always more fun to be able to gloat personally than over a headset or to yourself.
I just don't see the appeal of playing a board game with someone over the internet. And I've tried it before resulting in hours, if not days, before they make their next move.
@CountWavula I agree, too!
Mario Party 2 is my favourite. Luckily I got it on Wii virtual console. The first wasn't bad.... but there was some much emphasis on rotating the control-stick, you'd burn your hand. I can't remember if I had played 8 or 9. Neither of them were fun. Since I mostly play alone, I'm not interested in this. At all.
Online multiplayer isn't a terrible idea... but it is a lot more fun when it's local, and you can throw a controller at your sister's head, after losing to them.
If they make another Mario Party and put it on WiiU i'll buy it 3 times! I honestly can't believe they put it on the 3ds only instead of doing a WiiU/3DS release. QQ Maybe next year.
If they keep releasing titles like this, I think is time to kill the series. I remeber on the gamecube they were realising one every year, and I never got tired of playing them. Then 8 came out, played it once. Why did they change the formula? It's so bad now
@xMentec 8 was the last Mario Party developed by Hudson, which may have something to do with it.
No online, no party
damn there is no 3vs1 or 2vs2. I remember when i played with my friends Mario Party 3 on the N64 it was sooo much fun
After reading this article, I almost think that I made a right decision to not buy it. No online mode means I seldom have chance to play this game with friend. Short single-player experience means that's not a game for me to play along. Some mode requires 4 human means I may never have chance to play them. Lastly, maybe I will only know it by Jan next year, but if the region-lock policy is same as Mario Kart 7 and Mario Tennis Open, that means I even can't invite my friend without 3DS to play the game with me by using my another 3DS from different region, and can't play with my friends who have 3DS from different region. Overall, no matter this is a good game or not, all those stupid policy or decisions make this game not something I can even play for most parts.
ill get this when my frends have 3dss.
Bought it for my boys. One copy, and 1 3DS XL LMITED ZELDA edition, 1 3DS and 2 2DSs in my household= FUN for everyone. (one of the 3DS's has a hinge broken, will turn that in soon for repairs). So much fun with this. Haven't played a Mario Party game since Mario Party 2.
got this today via gamefly. played it around 2 hours and going back in the mail tomorrow.. Should of been a 10 buck download game Tops. Major rip off at 40
Oooo This looks so good im getting it! I still play Mario Party DS and this looks 2x as good!
It looks like a typical mario party and since I personally haven't gotten one since 6 I'll give it a shot
Puts on Shades It looks like they really rolled the dice on this game. YEEAAAAAAAAA!!
@AtlanteanMan the multiplayer is download play - one cart for 4 consoles.
There are 4 3DSs in my house, so I will get this so we can all play together.
The game was pretty stale to be honest
Not a bad game, Repetitive but fun. I would recommend to anyone wanting a fun multi player game, the one person download play saves it from being garbage though!
I love it join the party ; D
"There's also a StreetPass mini-game mode, which we sadly weren't able to enjoy at the time of writing as no one else we knew had the game prior to release."
... You can set up StreetPass with the same cartridge in as many 3DS as you want, @DRL
You don´t need to be playing the game to share... why am I explaining this to a Nintendolife writer? Why do I need to? I feel weird =/
Anyway, if you had one game but several 3DS you could've easily StreetPass using the game's features.
Sounds to me like Nintendo may need to get the N64 virtual console up and running on 3DS and Wii U just to have Mario Party 2 & 3 back.
Huh, i actually thought it would have better score. I'll just save my money...
I actually like Island Party. I find it still pretty fun and whatnot, and I like the Streetpass compatibility. It Is disappointing that there is no online component, even in the minigames.
Tap here to load 98 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...