Super Mario Party review – in pictures
Portable partying
Super Mario Party review – in pictures
Nintendo’s Switch is hardly deprived of crowd-pleasing multiplayer games but come Christmas Day (don’t pretend it isn’t on the horizon) there’s only game to rescue you and your loved ones from mince pie malaise: Super Mario Party. With a whopping 80 new minigames that are easily grasped by gamers and slightly baffled grannies alike, plus online play for the first time, Super Mario Party marks a refreshingly back-to-basics return to form for the series. And Toad’s Rec Room, another new mode that lets you play tabletop games across two Switch consoles by joining them together, is Nintendo at its boundlessly creative best.
Get this party started
When you start the game you’ll choose one of the 20 playable characters and form a party of four, high-fiving your contemporaries before selecting from a variety of game modes. The meatiest of which, as ever, is the Mario Party board game. The overall aim is to nab more stars than everyone else, but every couple of minutes you’ll be hurled into one of the many minigames to fight for coins. After everyone’s final turn a host of bonus stars will be divvied out, so play your cards right and you can even snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Take me to the river
New to Super Mario Party is River Survival, a co-operative mode that tasks you and your pals with rafting down a river. Each player’s Joy-Con becomes an oar and you have to work together to make sure you don’t miss popping any of the balloons that will initiate more minigames. If those modes sound like too much of a timesink, you also have the option to play any unlocked minigame in Free Play, or compete in a mini Mariothon tournament.
Miniature thrills
Super Mario Party can’t be played in the Switch’s handheld mode. You’ll need the machine to be docked or in its tabletop form, with each player taking one Joy-Con. Some games only require button presses and the stick, while others utilise motion controls and the HD Rumble feature. Sizzling Stakes, for example, has you flipping a pan each time the Joy-Cons’ subtle rumbling lets you know you’ve cooked a side of the steak, while Net Worth sees you flinging fish of differing values from your net into a paddling pool. There are naturally one or two duffers in the selection, but they don’t hang around long enough to poop your party.
Rec the party
If the bulk of Super Mario Party is enjoyable, albeit fairly standard, minigame fare, Toad’s Rec Room is where Nintendo really shows off. To play the games featured in this mode you’ll need two copies of the game and a pair of undocked Switches. By joining the two tablets together you can play tabletop games that take place over both displays. In Banana, Split, you have to rotate the two systems until you can see two halves of a banana align. It sounds simple, but as the difficulty ramps up your attempts will be wonky enough to give the EU’s banana approvers nightmares.
Tanks for the memories
The star of the show, though, is Shell Shocked Deluxe – a two-on-two tank shooter that you create the arena for by shifting the meeting point of each Switch, allowing for numerous battlefield arrangements. When the game begins, you can actually drive your tank from your screen to your opponent’s, with the black border separating them acting as a kind of no man’s land that makes you hilariously vulnerable to oncoming projectiles. It’s genuinely innovative stuff, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Nintendo experiments with the tech in future titles.
Party all over the world
While Super Mario Party can be played in single-player, it’s not something you should be be doing: this game is as its best with a load of friends or family fighting for sofa space. If you do find yourself without company, can can play online for the first time in the series. Although it’s limited to the Mariothon mode, this will enable you to play every minigame against people from all over the world. Servers weren’t live at the time of writing but you’ll be required to sign up to the recently launched Nintendo Switch Online service if you want to get stuck in.
Super Mario Party verdict
Super Mario Party is yet another brilliant addition to the Switch’s burgeoning game library. The 80 minigames are basic, but that’s the point. There’s something for everyone, plus the addition of online play means you don’t need a roomful of guests to party. Add to that the generous helping of content that’s offered by the clever Toad’s Rec Room mode, and this is the strongest Mario Party package in some time.
