Mario Party Superstars is an absolute return to form for that storied franchise. Once again, the members of today may cause chaos amongst their friends in Nintendo’s latest party game featuring gameboards and minigames in the N64 and Gamecube era games, fully updated and remastered for modernity.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever played a Mario Party game before or not-first time or thousandth, Mario Party Superstar is an absolute go back to form for the series. Whether you are full of nostalgia for these maps and minigames or experiencing them the very first time, the game feels entirely fresh, fun, and chaotic as always. Join with as many as four players or play against computers taking turns rolling dice, landing on tiles that create joy, consternation, and chaos in equal measure, as you fight to win coins, minigames, and ultimately more stars than anyone else to become the Super Star and win.
The game is sharp as always with songs, updated elements, and total pandemonium. I love the subtle nods to other Mario music throughout the soundtrack, such as the Jump Up Superstar theme being objective into the game’s menu theme. Boards now have spaces like lucky tiles where you roll to get any number of coins, items, or else. Hidden blocks can randomly provide you with coins or perhaps stars. And of course, classic elements like boos who rob you and also stars that move on an impulse could keep things constantly in flux. For those who don’t prefer chaos, the sport allows you to switch off bonus stars if you like.
Most of the mini-games are as hectic and fun as always. Some feel unfair, sure, and some just too long and never fun, but even those are still ideal for a laugh. And besides, something else is probably going to happen later to balance it. You never know truly when the game possesses some sort of retribution factor or luck booster in its RNG formula, but half the a Mario Party is feeling such as the game is perfect for or against you, whether or not this is really or isn’t.
There are a few small design problems. The written text is way too small when describing what items do and also the number of times you need to renavigate menus to get between local and online play. I hit the wrong button between menus more times than I did the right input. There’s no “are you certain?” prompt which makes leaving instantaneous but rejoining the best menu requires a whole lot of waiting or button clicking. I also really, really wish there were more characters, mini-games, and stages to unlock to provide you with a feeling of accomplishment beyond the sweet satisfaction of ruining friendships. But there's also some small details that rule, like the ridiculous faces the characters make when various things happen to them, good or bad, or the little antics which happen without anyone's knowledge of the boards or mini-games.
There are a few unlockables though, that we always appreciate inside a game. You accrue coins to spend at the Toad Shop while you play and can collect encyclopedia pages to learn Mario Party history, music tracks to swap out on game boards, and stickers to make use of throughout play. The stickers are easily one of the most fun new inclusions in Mary Party Superstars. They’re just a few words written beneath a Mario character in some pose or another, however the possibilities to rely on them sincerely or sarcastically are endless rather than not funny. The poses are so funny there really are a whole lot of stickers to unlock to help keep generating jokes with among friends. There's also in-game achievements that offer titles you can don on the internet and card backgrounds to customize your web player card with, if that’s your type of thing.
My only disappointment with Mario Party Superstars is that there could have been more. More levels, more mini-games, or even more characters might have helped make sure the game stayed fresh longer. It’s no N64 cartridge you’re running, space isn’t an issue anymore. While I understand certainly that more content means more work, I just worry the fun of fighting with friends is only going to go to date when the same five boards start getting stale.
Of course, the simplicity of Mario Party mini-games keeps them fun pretty indefinitely. Mt. Minigame, where you can indulge endlessly in whatever minigames you choose against computers, friends, or strangers online, is a superb option to replaying exactly the same stages again and again. The daily challenges feel consistently competitive when playing against strangers, just like the coin battles, survival mode, and extremely anything else.
If you’re a longtime Mario Party fan, you will love Mario Party Superstars. If you’ve never played a Mario Party, there’s no better time than now to get into it. By yourself, on the couch, or online with friends or strangers, every method to play is a blast and then some. Some menu things are a little annoying and that i wish there was were a couple more characters or stages or mini-games to unlock. But all in all, Mario Party has returned, baby.
Mario Party Superstars is available now on Nintendo Switch.
