Super Mario Party takes most of what works from previous entries and brings it all together into a decent party game.
If you played Mario Party 10 for the Wii U, you full well know how much the last entry deviated from the tried and true formula of the Mario Party series. Rest assured, Super Mario Party, the official eleventh home console Mario Party, went back to the same formula (and may have reigned it back in just a little too much).
There is very little wrong with Super Mario Party, but there is also very little extraordinary. You get what you sign up for here: a fun game to play for an hour or two with friends that’s mainly based in luck and frustration. But that’s fine, because that’s how Mario Party has always worked. Every turn is almost like playing Russian Roulette in a way, because you never know if you’re going to land on a space that will screw you or a friend over.
The mini-games are always a mixed bag in Super Mario Party, but there seemed to be less duds than previous series titles. The worst of them all pale in comparison to others in past games, and the best are wonderfully addictive.
The settings are very simple, as are the mini-game previews and instructions. This is a welcome change to the arduous setups of other Mario Party titles. The major missing pieces here are the lack of being able to specifically select who the CPUs are, and the lack of being able to turn off Bonus Stars.
There are plenty of modes to tool around in, such as the new River Survival Mode. This was a fun distraction that places you and three friends in a raft down a raging river. You must play mini-games to bump up your time, else the clock will run out and you will receive a game over. This was a refreshing break from the typical board game mode, but doesn’t have legs to be a series regular mode.
If there needed to be another Mario Party entry for the Nintendo Switch, it might need to spice things up just enough, but not enough to take away independent movement on the board, (I’m looking at you, Mario Party 10). I wouldn’t pretend to be the creative mind to come up with the ways for the next Mario Party to be more interesting than this standard title, but I’m sure the masterminds over at Nintendo can think up of something.
A major part of my gameplay was hindered by the Joy-Cons. As I looked around on Twitter, I discovered that I was not alone in my lament. The Joy-Cons have horrible connectivity in the way they need to be held (sideways) because of your hand covering the Bluetooth sensor.
The controllers consistently disconnected for me unlike any other Switch game before. Once again, I don’t know the solution here, because it was handy to be able to use one Joy-Con per person; the controller pairs run $60. However, it was very frustrating and impractical to not be able to be more than five feet away from my Switch console.
Related: Nintendo considering a new Switch model for 2019
Pick up Super Mario Party if you’ve enjoyed previous entries on the Wii and GameCube. It’s not a wrong title, but it needs to get a few more things right in its inevitable sequel.
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