The Mario Party franchise has been around for a couple of years. It got known for its crazy mini-games and friend breaking moments. A Mario Party game is the perfect excuse to gather around some friends and play great mini-games all set in the Super Mario universe. Although the franchise can be considered as one of Nintendo’s veteran IPs, not all entries were that good. Time to find out if Super Mario Party on Nintendo Switch can deliver.
Time to find out who’s the best
At the start of Super Mario Party, you’ll see a short introduction explaining why Mario and his friends, and enemies, are organizing this huge party. It seems like the characters want to find out who’s the Star player of the Mushroom Kingdom. In order to keep it ‘fair’ the enemies all decide to join the party too, resulting in the biggest Mario Party to date with the most diverse playable roster ever. As a gamer, the story isn’t that important but it does affect the playable roster. Of course, the all-star characters like Bowser, Mario, and Luigi all return but some more obscure ones like Monty Mole also make an entry. I’m sure everybody will find the character they like in a couple of rounds.
After the gang came together, you pick your characters and discover the new Party Plaza. The Party Plaza is the new central HUB of the game where you can change to one of the different modes. On the Plaza, you’ll also meet interesting characters, find some interesting secrets, and even unlock new stuff using your progress in the game or points you earned while playing. The Plaza is a great place to hang out since you’ll often unlock new areas here, or discover new secrets in the Super Mario Party universe, and you can even scan several amiibo daily for extra points.
Pick the mode you like the most
Having a story in a Mario Party game is a nice bonus but that’s not the main attraction of the game. It all revolves around the playable modes and we think there’s something for everybody to enjoy. First of all the Party Mode makes a return. This is the traditional Mario Party mode where you compete with four players on one of the gameboards. You roll your die, advance on the board, and wait on the others to do the same thing. At the end of every turn, you’ll have to compete in one of the mini-games to gain some extra coins. Coins are crucial for your victory since you’ll need to spend a certain amount if you want to get the special Star. Whoever has the most Stars and coins at the end of all turns, wins. Of course, it’s a bit more complex than just this. The boards are filled with special places to make it harder on your enemies. Activating traps, gaining powerful items, stealing from your opponents, it’s all part of the game. This mode is most fun if you play with four human players as waiting on the CPU characters can become rather boring after a while. Too bad there’s still no way to fast-forward this process.
Party Mode too slow for you? Partner Party might be something you like more. You team up with another player and compete against another duo on a grid-based board. This gives you more freedom and strategy to move around since you’re not stuck to the fixed spaces of the game board. Both players roll their die at the same time and can move at the same time, without having to wait. Also, note that every character has a custom die that enables them to move more than six spaces at the cost of losing some money if they land on the wrong eye. Depending on your character, you’ll have a high-risk personal die or a low-risk one. Aside from the movements, Partner Mode works similar to Party Mode since you still have to compete in mini-games and gather the most coins and stars to win.
But wait, there’s more
These two modes could have been enough to make a successful Mario Party game but the developers went the extra mile by adding even more modes. River Survival is by far the biggest extra mode, where you have to team up once more and cross a dangerous river filled with obstacles and mini-games until the very end. This mode is extremely fun and addictive to play with four players, it’s the perfect mode to play during a game night with friends or family.
Next to this mode, Sound Stage is also added for those seeking rhythm games. Here’s you’ll have to mimic the dance moves of Princess Peach at the beat of the music. It’s a short but surprising mode offering a different take on the traditional mini-games. If you’re a fan of mini-games, you can play those in several new modes. the Mini Games are a huge part of the game and you can play those offline, online, and even in some new challenging modes. Personally, I liked these modes most since the quality of the mini-games is really high this time, using the unique abilities of the Joy-Con.
The last mode worth pointing out is Toad’s Rec Room, by far the most innovating one of the bunch. This mode offers some fun co-op mini-games using the local wireless connection of your Nintendo Switch system. You can even use two separate Switch consoles to connect with each other and create a new bigger screen to play on. Of course, this only works if you have friends with a Nintendo Switch console but if you have, it’s definitely worth trying as it offers one of the most innovating gaming experiences on the console to date.
Enough for everybody but best in short sessions
Super Mario Party has a lot to offer and I’m sure fans of the franchise will enjoy spending time with it. Even if you haven’t played one before, this is perhaps the best starting point. It’s by far the best Mario Party on the market but it still struggles from previously known flaws. It’s best enjoyed while playing in short sessions but if you’re looking for a fun party game to play with your friends, this is the one you’ll simply need to get.
8/10
