Mario Party 10 Review

It’s time to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer with Nintendo’s first HD Mario Party game for the Wii U. Promising a strong mix of luck and skill-based minigames, the game’s three party modes flourish with friends and refresh the franchise. But a series of drawbacks really kills the merrymaking mood, quicker than Bowser’s fiery breath.

Developed by Nintendo’s SPD team, Mario Party 10 brings two new modes to the buffet table with a GamePad-focused Bowser mode and Amiibo party, which echoes the classic mode from past series’ entries, as well as the returning Mario Party mode. With over 70 minigames to play, including 10 boss stages featuring enemies from the Mario universe, and a variety of extras in Toad’s room, players are unlikely to throw in the towel after a few short hours. But, as always, the franchise is best served in multiplayer with its infuriating RNG rates to test even the hardiest of relationships. Sore losers will crumble, newcomers will triumph, and the Luigi death stare will make a comeback between friends. Yet the resulting fun and ongoing hilarity with character animations is just too good to miss.

The best mode, perhaps, is one that stays closest to the iconic board game with Amiibo Party. Yet ironically, it’s the “bonus” section you can only unlock with a compatible figure model from the Super Mario series. As such, Smash fans can use their Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong and Rosalina amiibo with this mode, along with Toad and the remaining cast from the Super Mario Collection. Fortunately, not every player needs to own an amiibo, as just one model figure will unlock a character board. As per classic Mario Party rules, players can move their character figure around the board individually with the roll of a computer generated die, collecting coins to grab those elusive stars. Each round will give you a chance to build up your stack of coins via a minigame, in free-for-all, two versus two and three against one.

Yet it’s in amiibo party’s customisation mode that really keeps the festivities varied and interesting. Drawn into four segments, the circular board can be customised to your liking after picking up a number of scattered character tokens. Blending the DK jungle with Peach’s castle, or Mario’s pipes and Yoshi’s mountainous eggs helps keep players on their toes. And it’s not set in stone once you begin playing either, with players freely able to mix and match between character boards throughout gameplay. It’s truly a fantastic blend of chaos and fun rolled into one.

As part of the only mode that utilises the Wii U GamePad, Bowser Party works as a mad dash to the dessert spread, where all the good stuff vanishes in the first few moments. Picture whippy cream for kids; amazing in the moment but a mess to clean up. Similarly, Bowser mode can be utterly delightful in its twisted minigame carnage, where knocking players out with fireballs, hammer slams and bullet bills is fantastically entertaining, as well as making excellent use of the GamePad’s gyroscope and touchscreen controls.

But if you’re a regular player cooped up in a vehicle, you’ll be fighting for your life in minigames devilishly skewed in Bowser’s favour, with very little drive to reach the end. And unless Bowser rolls a number to catch up to your vehicle, players will be stuck without a minigame in dreadfully boring cat-and-mouse territory. And don’t we always want to be the cat?

Although vehicles in Bowser Party feel justified, cramming all four players into a car in Mario Party mode dilutes gameplay, creates friction and tilts many of the available boards directly into luck-based fields. Players can choose from six boards in the luscious Mushroom Park, sinister Haunted Trail, the idyllic Whimsical Waters, the cloud-filled Airship Central and Bowser’s brutal Chaos Castle. Each board has its particulars, from Boos to hot lava, and can be adjusted via the menu to involve no luck-based minigames, vehicle selection and to change the CPU difficulty.

Aesthetically, Mario Party mode looks beautiful, with character animations fluid and funny as many fans would expect. Yet, unfortunately, the boards feel far too short. The minigames are sparse, despite being such a pleasure to play, mini star gates will only distribute to one player, and occasionally you’ll miss out on the coolest sections of the board because one character has mixed up the order of play. However, the mode’s saving grace is in its fixed boss fights.

With ten minigame boss fights, players can crank out their skills and best a huge Goomba by bopping on its head or take on Bowser in an epic end battle. As such, working as a team to beat the boss delivers great satisfaction, along with trying to thwart your friends and push them into danger for your own selfish needs. In fact, many of Mario Party 10’s minigames are top notch, with only a few duds including the narcissism-led Flash Forward and the clunky controlled Piggy in the Middle. While race-to-the-finish minigames such as Ice Slide, You Slide; Snake Block Party; Rapid River Race; and Peepa Panic all deliver fun-filled action, as well as others such as Steal the Beat and Boo Burglars to add rhythm and teamwork to the mix.

Other than the three main modes, Mario Party 10 has many extras in Toad’s room, achievement unlocks and bonus minigames such as Bowser’s challenge, a minigame tournament and a coin challenge. Players will also be able to unlock two new characters with Toadette and Spike, the latter providing laugh-out-loud, killer dance moves which are not to be missed. Yet since the game relies solely on Wiimote controllers, the GamePad is seemingly shoved into a corner, wearing the only dunce-labelled party hat in the room.

With the lack of a real single-player challenge and online mode, Mario Party 10 is a little too remote to be the life of a get-together. But the game’s interesting amiibo use, sublimely designed minigames and hilariously frustrating luck rates will certainly help beat the boredom. Mar10 day might have been and gone, but Bowser’s manic mayhem – arguments and all – is here to stay.

7/10