Mario Party Superstars is the party game by NDcube, as the 12th home console entry of the Mario Party Series. Superstar offers a collection of mini-games and boards from past entries. It’s a retro experience with remastered graphics, designs, and OST. The game follows Super Mario Party (2018) and premiered on October 29, 2021. It debuted for both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch Lite.
What is Mario Party Superstars?
The Mario Party game packs about 100 family-friendly mini-games. None of these are new, though, rather newer versions of previous mini-games. That means this is a collection of Mario Party boards, mini-games, and characters.Superstar works as a board game. You advance spots while completing mini-games and collecting stars.As a board game, it features five classic boards straight from the original Mario Party trilogy. Likewise, the mini-games are akin to Mario Party: The Top 100, a 2017 title for Nintendo 3DS.You can play the board solo against the AI. Alternatively, you can play with your friends online or locally.So, overall, Mario Party Superstars features a re-edition of some of the best mini-games of the entire series and delivers its family fun via a board game.
Gameplay
The way it works is by throwing a dice. As you advance the board, you collect coins, collect stars, and complete mini-games. Every player has a turn, and at the end of each round, a mini-game begins. Mini-game rewards are coins, but it depends on player performance. Then, players can use the coins to buy stars or objects (boosts). The player who gets more stars by the end of the board is the winner, the Superstar. The game varies on each board, as these pack different events and challenges. There’re also various game modes, aside from the core experience, which is the board. For example, you could jump straight into a mini-game you like and skip the board altogether. Moreover, there’re options to balance and tweak your game experience. For example, you can select the available mini-games, star rewards, and turns per player.
Classic Boards
Because Mario Party Superstars is a nostalgia trip, the five available boards are iconic on the GameCube and Nintendo 64 consoles. If you had one of those, you would recognize the boards.Yoshi’s Tropical Island: The board has two islands connected by bridges, plus a small island in the middle. It comes straight from’ Yoshi’s Island, a SNES classic. Also, it’s present at Mario Party (1998). Back then, the winner’s Stars opened up a path to the middle island, where Yoshi could meet with his friends. Space Land: It’s a sci-fi map full of space ships, beams, and stars. Space Land is a space station in Mario Land from Mario Party 2 (1999). In Space Land, players are dressed as astronauts and are members of the Space Patrol. Peach’s Birthday Cake: It’s a delicious board that requires you to plant strawberries to win. In the original Mario Party, Peach made the cake herself, following Toad’s recipe. It has no extra challenge feature, but the winner’s star changes into a big Star that lights the cake up. Woody Woods: It’s a forest-themed board. The forest has a sunny, happy side and a dark, dangerous side where you can get lost. In Mario Party 3 (2000), Wigglers, MIPS, and Piranha Plants lived in the forest. Also, Monty Mole popped out of his hole every turn to change the player’s direction. Horror Land: It’s a sinister place, full of boos. It has a night & day cycle, and both events and mini-games change accordingly. You may recognize it from Luigi’s Haunted Mansion series. Also, it was present on Mario Party 2, a haunted forest in Mario Land. Players entered the board as Wizards. Lastly, the map had a Big Boo who could steal stars and coins from players. The boards have the same challenges, but they come with new items, events, and designs. After all, developers reworked and remastered every “map.”
Available Characters
You may choose either and play as one of the 10 available characters from former Mario Party titles:
Mini-games
As usual, Mario Party mini-games are fun, hilarious, over-the-top, and welcoming to every family member. As a collection of the series’ best, Superstars’ destiny is becoming the top title in the series.Some of its most popular games include a Tetris-like challenge, Face-lift, Pushy Penguins, Hot Rope Jump, or a train ride straight from the Donkey Kong franchise.Of course, NDCube remastered and reworked all of the older mini-games for Superstars. Even though there’s nothing “new,” everything feels authentic, fresh, crazy, and exciting.Available mini-games come from many Mario Party games. In particular, the selection includes adventures from the series 1st to the 10th installment. That said, Superstars indicates where each mini-game came from (console & Mario Party entry).Most importantly, these mini-games are easy to play and easy to grasp for all family members. The title retains its friendliness to all audiences.Lastly, all retro-mini games have a remix of the original music, plus reworked graphics and designs.
Controller Support
Every game supports full button control. The game won’t force you to play with the Joy-Con if you don’t like it. That’s one of the flaws Nintendo fans found in 2018’s Mario Party. You can play the game with the Joy-Con, handheld, or any adaptable Nintendo Switch command like Pro Controllers.
Multiplayer Options
Mario Party Superstar games support up to four players. Multiplayer options work like this:All of these modes can save your progress at any time. That allows you to take a break and resume your board when you feel like it.
Stickers
Mario Party Superstars has a new feature, Stickers. When playing with others online, you can talk to them via voice chat. You also have stickers, cute little Nintendo character emojis, and icons you can use quickly.For example, there’s a crying Toad, an angry Goomba, or a proud Yoshi. The stickers also come with a sound effect, so they are always an engaging chat interaction. Plus, you can send them at any time, at any turn.
Finally
Old and new fans can enjoy the game alike. Superstars are perhaps the best entry in the series. It features the best it has ever offered, with the best performance, enhanced controller support, and cute stickers.Old fans will feel the love in the game. The boards come straight from the GameCube and N64 era. It’s a love letter for what many believe to be the best casual game to play alongside your family and friends.As always, Nintendo’s proprietary IPs are easy recommendations.
