Super Mario Party

Super Mario Party

Everyone with a, as we often call jokingly at NintendoReporters, unhealthy passion for Nintendo knows that there are a number of certainties with the Japanese game giant. Something that they since the Nintendo 64 almost never deviated from.

One of those certainties:

When a new console is released, in this case the Nintendo Switch, it is only a short time to wait for a new Mario Kart, Mario Tennis and Mario Party.

Since two of those games have already been released and we have already reviewed two of those games, it is now the turn of the last of this Holy Trinity … Mario Party, or in this case Super Mario Party!

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Not 11 … but Super

This part should normally be number eleven in the party series (excluding handheld versions). Since the first part that was released on Nintendo 64 twenty years ago. But in this case Nintendo has not chosen to stick a figure on the end but just call it Super Mario Party.

Whether Nintendo has done this purely for marketing technical reasons, or whether they want to suggest that they take a different path with this part, they probably only know themselves. But what sounds better than Mario Party 11 … just Super Mario Party!

Me personally I have played these games from the very first part. Although I have skipped a number of games in the series up to the last part, the party series has always given me a lot of fun. Spend an afternoon or evening playing with family or friends.

Let’s see if Nintendo did well to make the figure expire and if this game is allowed to carry the name super.

Party-time!

For those who have never heard of Mario Party or have never played it before, let us explain it as simple as possible. Mario Party is a board game where players have to throw themselves over a game board by throwing a digital dice. In the meantime you have to collect as many coins as possible to buy the power stars with which you win the game.

These golden coins can be collected in various ways. You can, among other things, steal coins (and also stars) from your opponents to random loot boxes that randomly pop out of the ground. Yet most of the coins can be earned with what the Mario Party franchise is all about … the mini games.

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After everyone has had a turn, you will randomly choose a mini-game where you or your opponents must play. Or whether you must cooperate with them to belong to the winning team. These mini-games vary from who can take an obstacle course the fastest. Reach as many coins as possible, rubbing  a caterpillar over his head and make sure you are not the one who wakes him up.

Anyone who has ever played a Mario party will probably know what absurd and funny mini-games can be expected.

The one who has the most stars at the end wins the game. But be warned, the road to the end is full of obstacles. Do not forget the fact that your fellow players / opponents will often do everything they can to keep you from winning. In the game there are all kinds of power-ups to buy with your hard earned coins. Something where you can make your opponents, or your opponents, your life miserable with.

At the start of a game you can choose how many rounds you want to play (in sets of ten). Which would take about an hour. Up to a maximum of thirty rounds. In addition, you start with sixteen characters. There are four more to unlock which brings the total to twenty.

Each character has a standard dice or a character exclusive dice during the game.

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With the exclusive dice you often take a little more risk but the rewards are also greater if you use this one. Something that often affects the number of spaces that your character can move on the board.

A number of computer-controlled partners can also be obtained during the game. Partners who run the entire game with you, help you in minigames, add an extra roll to your dice total and also bring their own dice that you can use if you wish.

What in the previous two parts was not really appreciated by Nintendo’s fans was that all players moved simultaneously in 1 vehicle over the game board. Now in this part they have happily gone back to the basics and everyone can decide for themselves what the best route on the board.

That there are only four boards available, of which you have to unlock one, is a bit of a shame. Nevertheless, I was more than entertained with those four options. This is definitely a game that works best when played with multiple human players.

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Because luck is still a factor which messes with the skills needed for playing. You can till the end never really say who the winner is. This is because of the bonus stars that will be handed out. This happens to, for example, the player who won the most minigames. Or the most number of times someone ended up in a bad luck box. It never felt really unfair, even if I played opponents against the CPU.

Online

Where I would have liked to have written that Super Mario Party has an extensive online multi-player modes, this is unfortunately not the case. The board games that can be played in local multi-player or in system link are unfortunately not playable via Nintendo’s online service.

Everyone who wants to play against friends will therefore have to organize a Mario Party at home.

In my opinion this is a really missed opportunity. I also do not understand why Nintendo omitted this. Because in the last few years they were a bit of catching up to deliver in terms of online gaming.

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Through the Mariothon game mode, ten (out of eighty) mini-games can be played online. But here I was finished after an hour of playing. It did not feel like a full-fledged gamemode in my opinion in any way.

Let’s hope that this game mode will be expanded in the future by Nintendo.

However, there are still a number of extra game modes to play in coöp. River Survival where you sit with four men in a dinghy and have to work together to bring it to a good end. Partner Party where, the name says it all, the game is divided into teams of two.

Both variants are more than a nice addition to the Mario Party game mode.

Controls

When I started the game the first time I got the message that I can not use the Switch pro controller. I got the feeling that we would start wagging and swabbing in a forced Nintendo Wii-like way with the motion sensitive Joy Con controller.

But … to my great surprise this was unjustified, yes, the game can only be operated with the separately connected Joy Con. So not in handheld, but after ten minutes of play and a number of mini-games, it felt very natural. I really liked how this was applied in Super Mario Party.

That way you can play with two people with every Switch system without having to use an extra controller which of course a nice extra.

In closing

Na bovenstaande gelezen te hebben kan je wellicht denken dat ik ietwat teleurgesteld ben in Super Mario Party. Maar dit is echter niet het geval.

Natuurlijk heeft het spel zijn tekortkomingen (vooral het gemis van het online gedeelte). Daarnaast had ik in het eerste half uur spelen mijn twijfels. Twijfels over onder andere de besturing, het aantal spelborden en de zeer karige online modes.

After reading the above you may think that I am somewhat disappointed in Super Mario Party. But this is not the case, however.

Of course the game has its shortcomings (especially the lack of the online part). In addition, I had doubts in the first half hour. Doubts about, among other things, the controls, the number of game boards and the very sparse online modes.

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Yet I am more than entertained with what is present in Super Mario Party. I can also wholeheartedly recommend it for a couple of fun evenings playing with friends or family!

Final Score

Game title: Super Mario Party

Game description: Super Mario Party is coming to the Nintendo Switch system with super-charged fun for everyone!

More...

  • 80%
    Visuals - 80%
  • 80%
    Audio - 80%
  • 90%
    Gameplay - 90%
  • 60%
    Difficulty - 60%
  • 80%
    Content - 80%
  • 70%
    Extra's - 70%
80%

Summary

With Super Mario Party I have more than entertained. I can also wholeheartedly recommend it for fun evenings playing games with friends or family!