To say that the Mario Party series has had a turbulent history would be an understatement; what started out as the palm-breaking king of all party video games has lost a great deal of its reputation in recent years due to a number of less-than-stellar design decisions. Super Mario Party presents itself as a return to the good old days of proper, competitive party action, rather than a weak pseudo-co-op road trip to the end of a board where you don’t even play very many minigames - but does it really turn around the fortunes of the entire franchise? That's what we're about to find out.
Straight away, you can tell there’s something different about this game. As you boot it up you’re asked how many systems and players will be joining in, with a maximum of four players across two consoles. Of course, you can still have four players on one console as well, or that’d be total rubbish. Rather than the oh-so-familiar dredge through menus seen in the recent outings, you’re instead thrust into a small but charming hub world filled with characters from the Mario series, most of whom you can chat to if you like, and we do like. There’s no real need for this hub-world to be a part of the game, but it’s just one item on a decent list of choices that make this outing a more substantial and downright lovely experience.
From the hub, you’re shown just how much variety there is here in terms of game modes. You’ve got Partner Party, River Survival, Sound Stage, Challenge Road, Minigames, Toad’s Rec Room, Online Mariothon, and of course, the long forgotten classic, Mario Party.
Partner Party is an evolution of the style of play popularised by the 3DS entries; instead of being on a one-directional board you’re all on a grid moving around freely, trying to get Stars and outwit your enemies. This time however, as the name quite blatantly suggests, you’ll be doing so with a teammate, resulting in a 2v2 style of play. Whilst it’s not anything absolutely extraordinary, the team-based gameplay does add a nice twist to the formula, and it definitely works better with these grid-based boards than the Mario Party classic.
River Survival is another wry nod to a past Mario Party idea that divided the fanbase: the car. If you’re unaware, several later Mario Party games put all players into a single vehicle and forced them to move as a single unit, and if that doesn’t sound very Mario Party to you, then you’re bang on the money. Where River Survival changes things though is that rather than moving around a board together, you’re all freely moving down a raging body of water (sometimes known as a river), with each of you controlling it with one of four paddles.
To get to the end before the time limit expires you’ll need to work together and coordinate your movements appropriately, slam into minigame balloons to earn extra time and avoid countless obstacles. This is undoubtedly better with real people as you can actually talk to them, and if you choose to play with three CPUs you might want to prepare yourself for a few instances of Luigi Ruins the Boat Ride by Doing Absolutely Nothing.
For something that smacks so much of an element so many fans hated, River Survival is actually immensely good fun, and is a much-improved implementation of the same idea. The minigames are all unique as well, offering no competitive elements and instead relying entirely on teamwork, which is a clever spin but ultimately results in only a handful of available games. During a session you’ll probably repeat at least one minigame, which is a shame, but what games they do have are all extremely entertaining.
Sound Stage is another, totally new way to play. This is little more than a minigame challenge, but much like River Survival, it features games that are totally separate to the main board game modes. As the name suggests, all of them are based around rhythm and timing your actions to the beat, and sweet biscuits is this is a good time. The thumping beat, the satisfaction of timing your motion control movements just right; it’s just pure joy to be a part of. So much so that it’s a wonder why it’s impossible to have its excellent rhythm minigames appear in the main board games, as it would no doubt offer a wonderful change of pace to suddenly start thumping along to some classic remixed Mario tunes. It feels like the developers are testing the waters with this type of minigame, but it’s a shame they weren’t bolder and made it a more integrated part of the game.
Challenge Road is the potentially overhyped single player mode, and sadly it is just that; overhyped. You can’t even play this mode until you’ve unlocked all the minigames by playing multiplayer with CPU or humans, which seems like a mind-bogglingly poor choice. There are very few minigames that need to be unlocked anyhow, it happens after two or three games anyway, so why lock this mode away for those that want a solo romp?
Well, even if you’re gagging for it, you’re not really missing out on much, to be honest. Challenge Road is simply a one-after-the-other stint through all the game’s minigames with a borderline arbitrary challenge tacked on to give it more worth. 90 percent of these challenges range from ‘win the minigame’ to ‘get so many points in the minigame’, which means that it’s practically the same experience as just playing them in free mode. Very occasionally there’s a bit of innovation, such as requiring you win a barrel-rolling game without touching the easily-touchable water. This doesn’t spell doom when playing the game normally, but here it does, and it’s a massive shame that most of the jaunt is underbaked. It’s also short, being able to be completely conquered in just a few hours maximum, and with absolutely no reason to come back once you’re done. It’s a missed opportunity.
Minigames is an ever-so-slightly misleading name, as this actually hides another two games modes that admittedly focus almost entirely on minigames. Mariothon is simply a round of five minigames with one person being crowned the winner at the end, but Square Off is a more interesting beast. Much like a bad game show from 1998, if you win a minigame you get to select a square on a panel of sixteen, and subsequently place additional squares adjacent to any others you have. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it’s another instance of this game offering far more choice than any previous entry, and it’s extremely welcome.
Online Mariothon is presumably just that, an online version of the five minigame tournament. We say presumably because as of the time of writing the service is not currently available, so we've not been able to attest to its practicality or if it's good or not. It's a first for the series to include internet capabilities like this, but it is a shame it's not inclusive of the main game modes as well. The other option is Free Play, which is just playing minigames with no stakes. Moving on.
Toad’s Rec Room is another ‘bonus’ series of game modes that occur outside of the main game modes. This is a seemingly ramshackle collection of minigames that are admittedly too specific or long-winded to be something that happens on turn 9 in Mario Party. A handful use two systems to function, requiring you to have both undocked and face up in order to play properly. These are very much something to muck about with for a few minutes, which means yet more options for getting your Mario Party on without having to set aside a few hours and mentally prepare yourself for losing up to three friends at once. They’re certainly innovative and gimmicky, and a good party trick for the Switch to flaunt, but not much more than that. It’s the right way to do it though, as having something relying so heavily on a gimmick and requiring two consoles as part of the main game wouldn’t be a good idea.
And finally, we get onto the big daddy, the meat, the whole reason we’re here really; Mario Party. Yep, it’s certainly Mario Party, and it’s back to its argument-causing, frustration-inducing, relationship-shattering glory days, and it’s absolutely fantastic. The ‘dick moves’ of the older games have been toned down somewhat, and so you’re not going to be trading Stars with an opponent on the last three turns, which honestly is probably a good thing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of totally random instances that can turn the tide of an entire game in about thirty seconds flat though, oh no. Hidden Blocks with Stars, Golden Warp Pipes that take you directly to a Star, Lakitu offering to commit robbery of another player’s Star for you; there’s plenty of scope to bamboozle your friends and steal victory from underneath them. It’s wholly unpredictable, massively annoying at times, and that’s what makes it so bloody good.
The minigames you’ll be encountering range from ‘fine’ to completely wonderful, there’s not a duff one amongst them in our eyes. Practically all of them feel natural and easy to pick up as well, even if they’re not straightforward to master, and use a variety of traditional and motion controls for serious variety. The Joy-Con really prove themselves to be the perfect tool for the job; flipping between holding them horizontally or vertically is completely effortless, and their responsiveness prevents any of the minigames from feeling clunky, unless they’re designed to be.
Even though all but Toad’s Rec Room and Challenge Road are unlocked from the start, there’s still a good amount for you to churn through and unlock, which certainly boosts the game’s replayability. Every major game mode is host to one of five gems, which, once obtained, allow access to a number of interesting little extras, such as a sound test and other visual niceties. All of these are purchased with points that you earn from completing games, which alongside having each gem associated with a game mode, encourages you to try out everything rather than just stick to one area.
The presentation is completely lovely as well; every character has bagloads of charm and little nuances here and there really bring to light how much thought and care was put into making this the best Mario Party game it could be. A few of our personal highlights are each character actually opening up a map when you look at the board as a whole, certain characters have unique dialogue with some other characters, such as Bowser referring to Bowser Jr. as simply ‘Junior’, and Waluigi’s majestic, gangling run.
However, the absolute zenith of video game history has to be when Monty Mole is brought into a whack-a-mole style rhythm minigame, where he sweats profusely and jitters anxiously on the spot as he’s forced to become the thing he hates the most.
Conclusion
Recent Mario Party games have previously had a somewhat sterile feel to them, but with Super Mario Party that simply isn’t the case. This isn’t a cash-grab with Mario's face on the front; this is a well-constructed and beautifully realised Mario Party game which takes the series right back to its roots, but without being a straightforward rehash. There are a few interesting ideas that feel a little bit underdeveloped, but on the whole Super Mario Party is a true return to form.
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Comments 131
"...but on the whole Super Mario Party is a true return to form."
Oh thank god. The last few Mario Party games were weird and just not as good. Glad to see a return to it's roots.
Glad to hear the series is back in shape. Doesn't change that it's not for me, but I'm happy for those who're excited for it.
Good news, although it's not for me either. I don't have people over nor play online too often.
I really want this since I’m a big Mario Party fan, but I don’t have the money right now (I’m saving for Smash). I will definitely pick it up later on though.
While I'm not jumping up and down excited for it, this will be the first Mario Party game I pick up since Mario Party 8. 9 and 10 were awful so it's good to see we're heading back in the right direction for the series, even if it's not perfect.
Looking forward to Friday.
Is this any good for just two players? I might pick it up to play with the wife, but there would rarely be more than just the two of us playing and online doesn't interest me.
For some reason, even though I own all Nintendo consoles since the SNES, I never played any Mario Party until I bought Mario Party 10 on Wii U.
Is this better than MP10?
I want this game. I want to sit down and play this with my best friends! My best friends, who live in Michigan, Texas, and New Mexico. While I live in Japan.
It's 2018 Nintendo, why can't I play the full Mario Party online?!
Will buy it later, since I'm broke at the moment, but man, this does look very good! Can't wait to play this - drunk - with friends!
@BionicDodo Absolutely. It's definitely at its finest with four human people, but two is still a great time.
@BornInNorway81 Oh god yes.
Sounds good, really nice review. How many boards in the Mario Party mode? Apologies if I missed it. . Also ‘mpmpmpmpmom moves?’ I once had one of those words edited out of a comment here by a moderator 😂
Edit: I’ve had the same word bizarrely edited in my comment, despite the fact that it’s in the actual article.
Now please announce a NORTH AMERICAN JoyCon Bundle!
I'm not buying a $60 game and $80 controllers to play 4-player... I have two Pro controllers and the two JoyCons for every other multiplayer game I own.
Nice! Glad I preordered!
@AlexOlney Cheers, might pick it up.
I'm assuming if you want to play across two consoles, both need a copy of the game?
It would be really nice if this game had some form of "download play"..
@holygeez03
https://s.pacn.ws/1500/vq/super-mario-party-joycon-bundle-limited-edition-571249.3.jpg?pdw3ff
@AlexOlney @luke88 Yeah, this review didn't really clear up how many main mode boards there are.
@luke88 I was curious about the number of boards as well...
@Wesjedker
I meant in the US/North America! Edited...
Yeah I'm just going to wait for Mario Party 2. No Motion control garbage. Handheld mode. Actually real Mario Party gameplay. More than 4 boards. I'm sorry 8 out of 10 is way to generous. This is the same studio that made the garbage Mario Partys. You can't take out the stuff that makes Mario Party and call it Mario Party. Majority of these modes will be played for 5 minutes. They should have put in way more boards as that's the mode players will spend the majority of there time in. Get rid of ND Cube and get someone else to make Mario Party next time.
But... how many boards are there??
I didn't buy it because i wait the bundle with joy cons!
@AlexOlney I read there's only four maps available, how do you feel about that? Just enough, or one or two maps short?
@holygeez03 ok
I was lucky to play this the other day and it is indeed great. I would say 7.5 out of 10.
My main critique is that the boards are a little small. I miss the sprawling ones of 5 and 6. That said they do suit shorter play times and I just don't have time to play much longer than an hour (10 rounds) anymore
maybe a December buy if the priced bundle is interesting then atm in Netherlands it's priced at 110 euro's a hard pass
My October will be dedicated to Megaman 11 and Starlink
@AlexOlney Nice review. No interest at all in board games on my telly, we have a table and plenty of board games already, but you made the rest of the game sound interesting enough might pick it up anyway since we have 4 Joycon and we never use our Switch as it is.
I like the sound of the hub world, makes it seem like a real game to me. Any use, at all, for amiibo? A hub world seems like a perfect place to let our amiibo out to play and interact. Nintendo sells amiibo, Nintneod made the game, seems a perfect match.
Ok between this, smash and monopoly I am going to lose all my friends.
Looks great. I’m on board
Score is way too high again, as always - Nintendo's paycheck must have felt too good. Only four boards is a joke. Can you at least adjust the turns in the classic Mario Party mode? Can I play 50 turns if I wanted to? (probably not...)
Nintendolife, I'd like to know why you don't use decimal numbers when scoring. Many times it feels like 8 is just not enough for the game, and 9 is too much... Like in this case, I think. I see it's receiving a score of 8,5 everywhere else, and looks more fair. Same with many other games...
It would be much better for us and much more accurate if you started doing it that way, imo.
Ok but how many boards?
Can we get a review by someone other than Alex?
@AlexOlney
Can river survivor and partner party be played with two people and two COM player or 4 people only?
Sadly no one wants to play multiplayer in my house anymore so I'll probably just skip this or wait until I can find it on the cheap. Sounds like an improvement though.
I haven't played Mario Party since MP4, and the whole "no skill, all luck, no fun" of recent outings didn't help to make me want to go back. Are you telling me the controls respond to input, and precision and thinking through are rewarded again? Amazing!
@Waluigifan Well Nintendo must have paid off everyone because it's getting in the mid 7 and 8 range everywhere.
Already pre-loaded. Looking forward to play on Friday with the kids.
I don't know why this game wasn't hyped up more during the nintendo directs. I've been waiting for this game since I got the switch! Finally the time has come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love how people would rage hard if it got a 7 score, but suddenly a game is amazing if it gets an 8, seems plenty of people can't count if they think a 7 score is bad.
Besides how often do you see scores vary across sites? It's quite subjective, taste in games/films.
Well sweet biscuits, I'm looking forward to Friday!
It is nice to read that Mario Party is back to fun. It looks like a solid game with a few modes where it could have been better. Very good review from the first to the last word. Alex did a wonderful work.
Alex’s reviews are the only ones I read thoroughly instead of skim. The wordings and catch phrases crack me up. (Mighty fine review too)
Currently has a 78 on Metacritic. I’m glad that it turned out great.
I love when people like @waluigifan1 think they know more about what makes a Mario Party game than Nintendo. It reminds me of all the Metroid fanboys who thought they knew better than Tanabe.
lol. NL says 8 is GREAT when an 80/100 is simply good in all major grading scales including Metacritic which NL is part of.
@PanurgeJr it feels he is dissapointed, and i get his point because i feel a bit same. Having less and smaller boards, some other sources mention you can not choose the CPU players freely anymore, rounds are limited to max 20 rounds? And so on... It feels just dissapointed having a company not thinking through this.
Did they run out of menory storage or ideas for new boards? I dont think so. Would it have taken more than 5 minutes to add a 30 or even 50 round option? I dont think so.
The game might be good or even great but it doeant feel right. Reading all the downsides it feels mediocre and i am also not looking into a day one buy anymore.
@pullmyfinger NL is not a "Part of" Metacritic. How they decide to aggregate and label their ratings has nothing to do with how NL labels theirs. 8 is great in my book. And Nintendolife's. And IGN's. And Gamespots. Polygon says "Super Mario Party brings the franchise back to greatness".. sure seems like most of the "Major" publications consider it great... but yeah, lol.
@zufa86 That reminds me of the stupid limitations in Mario Tennis Aces. I like that they replaced the menu from older games with a hub but there should be options for rounds, etc. at the very least. And if they make Super Mario Party streamlined why not make the whole game online?
i think Nintendo should add support for up to 8 players. if super smash brothers can support up to 8 players than so should super Mario party.
they also should include support for the pro controller. of course then if they decide to do so, they should give the users different mini games depending on what controller types each player is using....
if Nintendo is going to call the new version of mario party "super"; than they should make it super. more boards, more playable characters, more mini games, multiple controller type support, as well as up to 8 player action.... it would also be nice for them to bring back some of the older game boards and game modes from older Mario party games.
@BlueOcean They might have their reasons for not bringing the boards online. I am not sure whats going to happen if your connection drops at round 18.
However it doesnt feel right to just bring the minigames to online, but maybe thats the direction they are going (quicker rounds).
Looks like exactly what I was hoping for, the amount of polished modes looks insane, that hub world looks sick and playing classic style MP with my 4 person family is going to be great!
Very happy to know it’s a return ti form for the series! I remember playing literally HUNDREDS of hours on Mario Party 8 on the Wii when I was a kid, but the next few games made me lose interest pretty quickly. I preprdered this in the hopes it would be good since I have friends/family over all the time, I’m glad it (hopefully) won’t disappoint!
So how many boards are there? Is it some kind of secret? For me the only mode I would likely play is the main Mario Party one so if it is just 4 boards then I'll pass until they add some more, whilst online seems very disappointing. I'll stick to the GameCube games for now and take a peek in a few months to see if anything has changed
Mario Party 5 is still the best!...If only because it was the favorite of me, my brother, and my two sisters. Guess we'll never play together again.
I have 4 for GameCube. Ive played it once that I can remember in the past 10 years. That was before I started gaming again. Ex and I were bored so I broke it out.
Probably won't get this. Wouldn't ever play it. Sounds like it isn't very good either. Joy con unique games would be fun maybe but meh.
This series has never really been for me, but it's nice to see that it's not a stale offering like some other recent entries.
I think I'll just grab games like MK8D and Rocket League for multiplayer goodness should the opportunity ever present itself when I have my own Switch.
@Waluigifan I'm assuming not. Nintendo doesn't like to give us options unless if it's in Smash these days. Feels like two separate company's sometimes lol
@PanurgeJr Is that why we haven't had a good Mario Party come out since Mario Party DS back in 2007?
It's kinda difficult to find people to have fun with on this for me, but I'm glad it's a respectable outing all the same. If I'm lucky I may get to spend some time with it after all. Oh how I miss the Mario Party hilarity...
Ill wait for update. More board, a real online, simply more stuffs. I'm playing this serie since the first one.
@AlexOlney Do you think it’s still worth it if you’re just one lonely person?
Mario Party's a series I want to try out, but never have friends to play with locally. It's always been a bummer, especially with this entry on Switch, which makes getting together with people easier than ever. I've been thinking of grabbing some more digital titles for on the go gameplay, and having Mario Party at the ready is sure to impress the girls Not a major priority though, but it's on my 'To Buy' list.
On the bright side, the game itself sounds great, and I love that it's taking the Switch's capabilities further. It sounds like a more experimental game with all of the modes, and packing those in with a more standard MP experience was a smart move. It says something when the most common complaints are that the game doesn't take certain aspects far enough, which makes me hope they'll continue in this direction (not that they'd stop, Mario Party always sells well, but it can sell better if they build on better ideas and formulas)
Pass. Never been a Mario party person. IF it had full fledged online play with all the modes I’d probably get it. As is its trending in the right direction but cmon, a decade or so worth of mp games and still not catering to full online modes. No.
Seems like a proper return to form for the series. Nothing spectacular, but a necessary stepping stone after the Wii U entry and the glut of 3DS entries.
Previews stated that you need 2 copies of the game for the 2-Switch multiplayer minigames, is this still the case?
So barely any single player once again, for a single, only-child girl, such as this child...yeah, I'll just continue to stick with Mario Party 1-4, Advance, DS, and Star Rush, thanks...
I tried so hard to give this game the benefit of the doubt.
Small, basic boards? It can't be that bad, more stars will be in play now and more character interactions might occur.
Only 4 boards? Disappointing, but I guess not the end of the world.
But then... the max turns is capped at 20. My friends and I always play at least 35 turns, if not 50. Having 20 as a cap kind of ruins the fun of having one momentous game of Mario Party for the night.
Everytime I cope with disappointing news, it just gets worse. Went from picking up day 1 to probably not picking up at all
Already have a launch party planned for the game with my fiance, her brother, and a friend! Haven't been this hyped for Mario Party in years!
It’s about time we got another family multiplayer game in the Switch. I wonder if they’ll ever port Wii Sports Resort over. I’d happily play an updated, HD version of that. They could even rebrand it as a Mario game and get rid of the Mii integration if they liked.
I do feel bad for the people that don't have friends/family to play the game with locally. I hope online play with the boards is added later for those people, but in my opinion local multiplayer should always come first. This digital age where people don't interact with each other face to face isn't my bag.
Great to see this being highly praised for being "back to its roots". I enjoyed 9, 10, and Star Rush for what they were, so there's no doubt that SMP would be better.
I am going to miss the Boss Mini Games, though...
Poor Mario Party 10, its the only one I've owned (although I have played 4 on the Cube) and I quite enjoyed it! No one can convince me that the Bowser mode wasn't great at least Will definitely try this new one out
Cool~...but it doesn't have Birdo, from what I can tell, so I'll pass on it.
I think it's a good thing that the rhythm games are in a separate mode, otherwise they could be very frustrating for deaf players. Great review though, Alex!
@Ryu_Niiyama haha I don't have friends to play with coz of games really (and other past stuff lol ) so I don't have that worry, just me and the GF
@Kinoen I know! Birdo is Hawt!
I hate buying games brand new because they're so expensive, and it doesn't help that lots of games appear to have so little content. Thankfully EB Games has that "Trade 3 Get It Free" promotion going on or who knows when I would have picked this up.
@NintyNate
Somebody gets it!
Pre ordered. Can't wait. I really have a big family; 12 on mom's side and 8 on my dad's. I have about almost 70 cousins.
@Kinoen I've known for too long ;p
@PanurgeJr Well it distracts him from complaining about ARMS non-stop...
@waluigifan1 When did you play it? What were the controls like? How does it compare to ARMS?
An important question: Will this wreck Joy-Cons, as the old games used to wreck N64 controllers? (depending on how aggressive the players are?)
Sorry if this has been answered already - but it's an important question at £35 a pop!
I'm so excited! Pre purchased it after this review.... Was a little worried but now I'm excited!
I wonder if they will add new maps and minigames in the form of monthly updates, or DLC.... Would really attract more people if they add things from MP1-7 (similar to the top 100)
1080p 60fps?
@the_beaver Because decimals suck....If it was good enough to be a 9, then it would have been a 9. Why are TEN numbers not good enough for you? And I say this light heartedly.
Dang, some folks get so nitpicky over the score. It's either some whining about how an 8-10 is too high and "Nintendo bias!1!1!" (Seems like these folks are just salty that they can't point and laugh and say "haha this game sucks!" ) Or its the complete opposite and saying how an 8 means it's a terrible game.
Anyways, nice to see MP return to form. I would definitely pick this up if I had people to play with regularly.
Good, this game will be under the tree this year for the kids. We all got bored with the Wii u entry, which is the only one I’ve ever played. This does look a lot better too.
I wonder if we'll get a "Best Mario Party Games - Every Mario Party Game Ranked" list.
This does not sound like a 'return to form' at all. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 are the jewels in the series, while 4, 5, 8, 9, and 10 are the missteps. (Although, one could just say everything after 7 are the worst, to include the folks who first experienced MP through 4 and 5. They are not terrible games, just not as good as the others from 1-7.) 2, 3, and 6 all represent 'true to form' for the series, and from the sounds of all the reviews, the game is nothing like them at all. I'm only talking console outings here, by the by.
Those games were ooozing with personality. @Nookingtons has it nailed - this one just seems so soulless. @waluigifan1 has it right too - ND Cube, please go away. It started when they birthed Wii Party, an absolutely awful affair (ugh). Their handling of the Mario Party series has been poor ever since.
I am beyond disappointed. A small number of good boards, I can live with. A 20 round maximum? What the...? Do they even lift, bro? While not a virtual console advocate...I have to fold here. Please just remaster the older ones and lump them together in a collection.
I'm starting to hear the downsides of the game.. Four boards and 20 turns max is disappointing, but understandable. If they're all standard it's fine; the gimmicky boards from the more recent games were not as fun, like Mario Party 6...there were only like two or three good ones. And most games are 20 turns anyway. We didn't need 50, but a 30 turn round would have been a nice option...
Upsetting that Nintendo didn't make this the Mario Party with those errors (2/3 might still be better), but I'm otherwise really hype! The Switch needed a Mario Party and it looks like one of the best (those mini-games look great)! It's just too bad it couldn't be the best.
Oh yeah and that partner dice block mechanic, is wow, a game changer! Oh and the slow dice block is in the game too. Lots of strategy in this one!
This game sort of seems rushed and light on content to me. I’ll wait for Super Mario Party 2 or at least see if anything is added via DLC.
@wiggleronacid Same exact feelings here. When I first heard about this game I was really happy. Now 😣. Obliged to buy two new joy con mire than that... 😥
@Painkiller_Mike For me there's a HUGE difference between 8 and 9, between 9 and 10, and so. I undertand it's ok for you, but not so much for me, I feel many games deserve a bit more than what they get, and many others a bit less. But as I say, that's just my opinion.
And these reviews have all convinced me. I just preloaded the game and texted my friends - we’re having a Mario Party party this weekend.
@KryptoniteKrunch Much like a lot of Nintendo games, it's the opinions of people who've never even played it yet the scores are completely wrong. I wish I had their psychic powers.
@lillith All they need to do is make a greatest hits package of the older Mario Partys and just copy what Hudson did.
@WiltonRoots ARMS looks like a masterpiece. I can say while ARMS has terrible gameplay at least it doesn't look generic and lifeless. Mario Tennis and Super Mario Party are worse games.
I’m excited!!!!!! I need 3 friends now
@WiltonRoots
Haha yup.
To those complaining that a 10 point rating system isn’t ‘nuanced’ enough to ascertain a game’s quality, I’d like to point out the several thousand words sitting above said number with that exact purpose.
Just read the review and add in the extra decimal point where you think it lies based on that. Or better yet, play the game and score it out if your only meticulously crafted 15,000 point rating system. But for reviews to a general audience, a 10 point system gives enough information to be a broad indicator of quality, while leaving enough room for some personal taste, and crucially, letting the words do most of the talking.
You shouldn’t expect a single number to be doing all the work in the first place.
To all the jokers hating on this review how about you actually play the game before going off on NL and Nintendo. Just an idea
@0muros Yep. The worst part about it is that the game looks great. The overall production value, nice graphics, smooth animations, and mini-games look awesome. But weird design decisions and omissions really hurt the title, especially as a $60 game. Adding a couple more number-of-turn options is probably as easy as adding a number or two to an array. Such a shame, I'm really 50/50 on purchasing this game now.
@wiggleronacid To pass the message to Nintendo, the best way is to control ourself and wait to buy it. They gonna move their game designer butt when they gonna look at the revenue for the game. But in all case, everyone as you mention with your points(good graphic, colorful, great looking mini games) will be lure by that and they gonna buy it. The Switch is the Pass or break console. They are not allow to fail with so so games and medium capacity of the console. I'm expecting a ton of update for this title to put the 8 on 10 to 9/10.
they should remake mario party 3 with online the board games on that one were awesome.
I tried to be interested in this one after all the early signs looked positive that it would be like the original games again, but there are still too many issues I have with this game to justify its full price tag. 4 boards is not enough, they are too small and bland compared to classic boards, online shouldn't be restricted to just minigames and requiring Joy Cons really blows. I haven't used those in months. Without online I have nobody to play with either so there's really no point if the core board game doesn't interest me. Maybe next time we can have a Mario Party that brings back all the best boards and minigames of the past, like Smash did? I'd settle for a 1-3 HD remaster too with added online.
So. How many boards? Still no answer on the article that claims only 4 boards... and in spite of numerous polite inquiries to the author of this review, no answer here either. Neat.
This is the first time I have pre-ordered and pre-installed an online purchase. Whole house waiting for Saturday.
Been looking forward to this for years. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a new franchise and that in the near future we will see Super Mario Party 2 etc.
Glad I pre-ordered for double gold coins.
By the way: The 2-Switch-game-modes should work with one purchase of the download game - via game sharing:
EDIT: Sorry, this doesn't seem to work. I can start two games this way - but once I try to connect them, I get a network error.
No online... what is this, 2018 or something!
I read this whole thing in Alex's voice and I didn't even read the author credit. I've watched entirely too much YouTube.
Looking forward to family fight nights again!
I pre-ordered the digital version of this one! I'm excited to play!!
Just checked out Alex’s online play through and It’s not great. I don’t think it’s a good look for Nintendo; their first major release after the launch of Nintendo Switch online, one that is perfect for online play with friends, features online play implemented in a terribly lacklustre way.
As many defenders of the online service like to point out when some of us complain - we knew this was coming. Well, Nintendo knew this was coming too and yet this is the first online game they’ve got after the launch?
Sounds good. I might try it someday.
However, can't you still play it in handheld-mode?
@BornInNorway81 - I've played about half of the Mario Party games and, in my opinion, Mario Party 10 is the worst of all of them. I'd recommend not judging the series on that one entry (you might dislike better Mario Party games for other reasons, but not for the reasons you dislike Mario Party 10).
Just playing through my first round.... Is there a speaker in the joycons I missed when I was swapping out the shells, or is it using the HD rumble to play the sound to indicate its your turn? If its the rumble, that's really well done...
Bought it and had a party after it released at midnight, phenomenal game! My friends and I had a blast playing it all night, I absolutely recommend this one to anyone on the fence. It’s simply that fun.
@SuperC142 The first Mario Party game I played was 10, and I liked it. Now part of my high opinion probably is because it was the first one I played and I kind of get some of the complaints against it. I know people didn't like traveling together in one car, but I really liked "Bowser Party" where, since you're working as a team running from Bowser, it made sense to stay together. I wish they would have brought that mode back in the new game.
@TheFox : The new game has a mode named River Survival that is similar in that everyone is travelling together (and working together). Maybe you'd enjoy that mode?
@SuperC142 I just tried that last night. After being not that impressed with the main party mode in the new game, I found River Survival a pleasant surprise. It's nice to have a completely new mode. I'll take that as a good substitute for Bowser Party.
I'd love this game if it didn't force you to use the gimmicks Nintendo has been loving to add to their systems since the Wii. They force each person to use a single joy-con and force the motion controls down your throat. No way around it. 5/10 imo, would be better with more controller options.
is single player fun?
map dlc please
Don't care if this review got endorsement from the inept Nintendo UK. I'll pass on this.
I have played some of the older mario party games.is this one worth getting or does it fall flat 👍👎
I was never really into Mario Party games as much as others, but I’m starting to think that this will be a pretty fun play, so I think I might get it eventually.
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