Sometimes you don’t need to revolutionize, just “just” perfect: find out in our review how Mario Party Superstars did it
If you have been following us for a year now, you should know by now that the signature at the top of this article is closely linked with an undisputed love for the Big N, giving the review from Mario Party Superstars that you have a particular taste in your hands. We are aware that it took a little more time to judge the title (and you will realize our thoroughness by reading), but this is not what we were alluding to. Let’s talk about how, for myself, this is the first real experience with the series, after some fleeting flirtation with the predecessor, Super Mario Party. It’s not a casuality.
This “first time” goes well, in fact, with what the new chapter is trying to achieve. Compared to the innovations introduced in Super, the last episode focuses on the classic: scoreboards taken from the very first games for Nintendo 64 and a hundred minigames taken from the saga as a whole. The latter factor has already been at the center of another experiment, The Top 100 on Nintendo 3DS; however, whether it is due to bias on handheld consoles or for other reasons, Nintendo has not found the success it hoped for. Re-proposing an idea that is not exactly one of the most fortunate is not just a question of courage: it is a real bet. Won, we would add.
A dive (head first) into the past
The vague hint (always a party game) to one plot resumes the opening of the very first Mario Party, which we recovered during the Superstars review. In the game world, a Koopa (one of the turtles that are common enemies in the main series) will guide us via a tube to five of the most popular boards from the first three spinoffs. The Koopa and Toad (one of the supporting characters, in the case) will alternate in their role of “presenters” to replace the characters who have done the honors in the past (one above all, Dadì from the third chapter). The “lore”, if you like, extends to the scoreboards.
Accepting the explanations on the matter, in fact, each board will vaguely mention how once a “hero” decided to rise to a “superstar” (hence the title of the game) to solve the problems of the inhabitants. Aside from the fact that our heroism translates into bad luck between one player and another, we really enjoyed the screenshots. weight gains from Nintendo 64 games. Not only are they a great way to appreciate the road we’ve come since 1998, 1999 and 2000 to date, but they represent a real love letter to “who was there”. And, according to the initial narrative, it’s half like that.
Dice and Superstars – Mario Party Superstars Review
For the other half, Mario Party Superstars is openly aimed at those who still do not know the series, and in the review phase we have seen how this chapter wants to offer the best of the saga for a great first impression. We have already talked about the basic premise of the franchise, but if it were necessary to repeat it, just know that the minigames (if titles like Crash Bash had misled you as well as myself) here are just a simple outline. The real focus is on navigation on scoreboards, to be explored between dice rolls. Before even seeing the title screen, we will be asked to choose whether to play locally, with multiple consoles or online.
With the exception of additions in the last five rounds of each game, the rules require that the four participants take turns rolling the dice and earn coins, lose or alter elements on the board. At the end of the round for all players, a minigame, randomly chosen from four, one against three, two against two or, more rarely, one against one competitions. The aim of the game is to get as many Stars possible, sold by Toadette for twenty coins at designated locations on the map. The regulation has received various interpretations over the years, but never real mutations. After all, a winning team does not change.
Like Monopoly Variants – Mario Party Superstars Review
The five Superstars scoreboards, taken with both hands by Mario Party 1, 2 and 3, have passed the test to which we subjected them in the review phase brilliantly. Given the relationship between the large number of mini-games and the smaller number of the scoreboards, the latter being the fulcrum of the experience, it is natural to wonder if their variety is enough to weigh the figure. The answer is a resounding and stentorian “yes”: the Nintendo screening has selected five scoreboards so diversified among them that even the first, the simplest, is made more interesting by a peculiar characteristic.
L’Tropical Yoshi Island, where the special boxes swap places Toadette’s store with Bowser’s space (a constant on every board, full of penances), is just the tip of the iceberg. From the Space Station (above) onwards, creativity takes off, passing through the Peach’s Birthday Cake (below), the Wooded Forest and finally the Land of Terror. Each board presents many gimmicks capable of radically changing the course of the game, while giving players as many opportunities to get in the way of each other (again below). It is not uncommon for the winner to be ousted in the last round.
A Mountain of Minigames – Mario Party Superstars Review
Since we have mentioned them with the emphasis on something else, let’s talk about minigames themselves. As was the case in Super Mario Party, each game’s controls can be tested within the convenient initial tutorial before the competition begins. The experience can vary according to the division of the various teams, and by adding the various categories (including the exclusive mini-games to Bowser’s spaces) we get no less than 100 different challenges. There are two ways to play it, one of which is the end of a turn during a regular match. Before starting to play, you can choose the group of minigames to draw from.
The main menu square, inspired by the very first Mario Party, however, has various modes and one of them is the Mount Minigames. In short, this translates into “free play”. From the first start of the game, the various minigames will be fully usable in this mode for train alone or in company. There is also a survival mode in which to hold out for as long as possible, in addition to online leaderboards to challenge each other in the climb to the highest score. In short, as for the management of minigames, there is very little to complain about. And the best is yet to come.
Let’s spend two good words – Mario Party Superstars review
Mario Party Superstars responds first of all to the need to have a game with which to spend a nice evening on the sofa and, by spending the Halloween evening in the company of the title to write the review, we have been able to see it. As there are no characters, boards or minigames to unlock, the only contents to buy with the coins accumulated in the various games are “encyclopedic” elements more suitable for single player sessions. There is a shop in the main menu that responds exactly to this need, leaving it to the bank data in Kamek the role of museum.
Once here it will be possible to customize your identification card, including nickname, avatar for the profile, favorite scoreboard and epithet (unlockable in the objectives screen), as well as descriptions for the cast, songs of the soundtrack for free listening and much even more. The aim of the game is clear: to give players all the means to have fun all together right away, and then to overshadow the secrets that are best enjoyed in other circumstances. From this point of view, we are dealing with a parameter in which the game takes home a 10 with an academic kiss.
Progress in Every Way – Mario Party Superstars Review
We would like to leverage the appeal of the classic use of the game, which still gives its best on a single console. As always, there is the option to use temporary profiles such as “Guest 1” and the like. However, we would not recommend it for this. If your Nintendo Switch hosts more profiles, using them in multiplayer sessions allows you not to “waste” even a game. Moreover, the coins (divided between those obtained in general and those distributed on the basis of the Stars obtained in a game session) are distributed to everyone. Accessing as the first player with the beneficiary account of the various collections, therefore, allows you to withdraw all the outstanding pecuniary money.
It is not just about coins; we also face a true one progress system structured by levels. This determines not only the title you can use on your identification card, but also the ones already mentioned goals. As always, with Switch the approach is always “case by case”, but we are happy to see the Big N opening up more and more to what is becoming a uniform reality throughout the gaming sphere. At this rate, we do not exclude seeing a target system on the next main platform of the Kyoto giant. For the moment, however, we can only appreciate the first steps.
Everything under control – Mario Party Superstars Review
Perhaps the only real double-edged sword that partially penalizes the game is the question of commands. Let’s start on the positive note: this game is a real mea culpa after the excessive focus on Joy-Con as the only control scheme in Super Mario Party. The latter was penalized by the very existence of Nintendo Switch Lite, and by “recycling” boards, ideas and minigames from past chapters, the Big N was able to accentuate the strengths of the formula, perfecting it with craftsmanship as has rarely happened. throughout the series. In short, look back to take thirty steps forward.
Unfortunately, it must also be said that the possibility of using other peripherals such as the Pro Controller exposes all the control schemes, without exception, to a dangerous level of wear. In the frenzy that (trust us) in the middle of the action involves all the players, it is easy to forget how many occasions between scoreboards and minigames ask us to hammer the buttons or to abuse the analogue levers. Controllers are still between the rock of their cost and the hammer of their fragility. Think about it, before you hammer the hardware more than it should just to get the better of other players.
A ton of options – Mario Party Superstars review
We weren’t kidding when we talked about the possibility of overturning a game in the last round. Precisely for this reason, you can choose not to have surprises at the final tally. At the start of the game session, in fact, you will be able to select the presence or absence of Bonus Stars, distributed as a gift at the end of the game. You can also choose whether the assignment parameters will be more …