Mario Party has always been known as a destroyer of friendships. Its fiercely competitive nature and deviously unfair design ensure that even the closest of pa🤡ls will turn against one another as the game steals coins, gives away staꦛrs, and forces you through obscenely long rounds where there is seemingly no escape.
But the competitive nature of Mario Party has seldom come from its creative selection of minigames, instead originating from the unfair way in which the game design dictates who wins and why. It’s rarely defined by skill, and is far too often a matter of luck. Ever since its inception, Mario Party has abided by a similar ethos, earni😼ng a reputation for being infamously unafraid to screw you over. Nobody wins.
Super Mario Party forಞ the Nintendo Switch remedied this identity, acting as a soft reboot of sorts that kept the foundational formula w🤡hile building upon it with mechanics that not only made the entire experience more approachable, but also ensured it was fair, fun to play, and wasn’t willing to mess with you for no discernible reason. This still happens, and a large part of winning is down to lucky dice rolls and exactly where you find yourself on the board.
While it arguably dumbed down some of the deeper modes from past games in favour of a simpler format, Super Mario Party is easily the most fun I’ve had with the series. It wasn’t needlessly frustrating or obtuse, and matches never felt overly long unless you went out of your way to make them into relentless marathons of star collecting. Now, Nintendo꧂ is building upon it with the upcoming launch of Mario ♕Party Superstars.
Unveiled during its E3 2021 Direct, at first glance I thought Superstars was simply a downloadable expansion for Super Mario Party. The characters, visuals, and controls are almost identical, although Nintendo is billing this as a standalone outing that simply isn’t possible in Super Mario Party. Instead, this is a remake of five boards from the collection of N64 classics. For a full priced experience, that does feel a little s💙teep.
Sporting over 100 minigames, those who grew up with ෴earlier entries in the series will find a lot to love with Superstars. In fact, I’d argue that the experience coming our way in September will be far superior to its original incarnation. Back on the N64, the minꦇigames were never the problem, even if we had to control them using a less than elegant controller. The real issue sat with the wider structure of each game, where players were unfairly punished by arbitrary rules and obnoxious twists that altered the pace of the game yet sacrificed any semblance of fairplay.
You could be sprinting ahead with your opponents having no chance of catching up, only for the game to throw a curveball your way and laugh as you slip into last place. It’s like the blue shell in Mario Kart, yet smeare🌌d with infinitely more bullshit. I’ve never liked this method of play. Not because I’m a sore loser, but because it feels designed to turn players against one another in the service of drama the ꦺminigames themselves are perfectly capable of cultivating.
Super Mario Party recognised this, while still offering a helping hand to those in last place without completely screwing over everyone else. If Superstars can take myriad classic minigames and transfer them into a more forgiving👍, more modern formula - I honestly can’t see how it can fail. Perhaps charging full price for it is a bit cheeky, but Nintendo clearly recognises t𒉰he success of its new blueprint and wants to capitalise on it. I’ll bite, since who doesn’t love a bit of Mario Party. Except the old ones, obviously - screw those things.