Summary
Mario Partyis a game that can either strengthen or ruin friendships. It has always been a competitive style game, as gamers fight to see who will become the Superstar and get bragging rights over their friends or family. Over the years, severalMario Partygames have been released which have experimented with different features and brought various changes in style, to say the least.
Whether it’s through the execution of the game boards, stories, or the minigames themselves, multiple games in theMario Partyfranchise are regarded as classics. Meanwhile, others stumbled with the execution, resulting in games that are often discarded by the fanbase.
Updated July 21, 2025, by Melody MacReady:Over the years and decades, the Mario Party series made a name for itself as a staple party franchise and a timeless go-to for social gatherings. The past decade or so hasn’t been quite as kind to the series, with the underwhelming Wii U and DS titles. For many fans, the party is back in full swing with the latest entries for the Nintendo Switch, including the latest release of Super Mario Party Jamboree in 2024. With eighteen games in both the console and handheld series, the series has been taken in so many directions with various new mechanics and characters introduced, it has become a franchise almost as big as the mainline Mario games.
It is hardly fair to call it a Mario Party game, butMario Party Advanceuses dice to move around a board and technically features minigames. But that’s really the closest it comes to being aMario Partygame. Firstly, it’s more focused on being a single-player adventure; collecting gadgets and minigames to rebuild the area Bowser has taken.
There are six areas in Shroom City that players explore to collect minigames without losing all their lives. When the gimmick of Mario Party Advance was having the Mario Party experienceon the go with the GameBoy Advance, many were disappointed when the final product did not feel like it was part of the same franchise.
Released for the 3DS,Mario Party: Island Tourlooked to be an answer to original fans of the series, gearing towards a more independent style of play, allowing players to move separately. While that is true, the other changes that were made were far worse. This game is soaked with luck-based boards and minigames.
Each board gives a Mushroom Ranking for Skill, Luck, and Minigames. While creative attempts are made, especially with the Bowser board, the start-to-finish stages, Mini-Stars, and overreliance on luck makeMario Party: Island Tourso ridiculously easy that some games can be won in less than ten rounds.
Over the years and across tons ofMario Partygames, people are sure to have some favorites after all this time. However, it still doesn’t make much sense for Nintendo to release a compilation of the franchise’s best mini-games on the 3DS, butMario Party: The Top 100ended up being a major disappointment for fans.
AlthoughMario Party: The Top 100features some genuinely beloved classic mini-games, many of them have been tweaked to be far worse than the original versions. More problematic, however, is the lack of any game boards, which strips away one of the core aspects of the series. Combine this with a lack of playable characters and the result is one of the more tepid packages.
Mario Party: Star Rushis one of the most forgettable entriesdespite being on Nintendo 3DS. It makes the curious decision to not allow gamers to select their own character. In the game’s main mode, Toad Scramble, players play as Toad and move around the board, defeating bosses to collect stars and coins.
However, unless a player passes by another character, they only get to play as Toad. This created the ally mechanic, allowing players to recruit characters to help them hit dice blocks or even help in minigames. This was also one of the most unbalanced mechanics which was brought back and significantly improved inSuper Mario Party.
One could say that the real descent of theMario Partyseries began here.Mario Party 9introduced a new type of gameplay style. Players now travel together and take turns going along a linear path, collecting Mini-Stars and defeating bosses in hopes of becoming a Superstar. However, while the boss battles are a good change of pace, the loss of independence hinders the game greatly.
Mario Party, while having lots of luck-based aspects to it, also allowed players to choose their own path to collect items, extra coins, or land on specific spaces. This game lets other players make those choices, taking away from the control that players who were fans of the previous series once had.
Considering the potential of the unique hardware features of the Nintendo DS, one would have expected a far more interesting take on the franchise, especially whenthe Nintendo DS has many strong Mario games. The story mode inMario Party DScould have been the selling point, but other than an interesting setup, it is lackluster at best.
The use of both screens and touch controls inMario Party DSis present but not effectively utilized, which doesn’t significantly enhance the overall experience. However, it’s hard to overlook the impressive number of seventy-four minigames, along with the support for four-player wireless multiplayer, which was quite revolutionary for its time.
Being a title for the Wii U,Mario Party 10boasts nice visuals, but it still features the controversial gameplay ofMario Party 9. Players move with others around a board, collecting Mini-Stars and defeating bosses to become a Superstar. There are more memorable characters here as well.The game brings back Donkey Kong, as well as adds new faces such as Spike and Rosalina.
However,Mario Party 10has a unique game mode known as Bowser Party. It allows four players to work together to get to the end before the fifth player, controlling Bowser, takes their HP away. With the increase in luck-based outcomes, Bowser had an unfair advantage since most of the spaces on the board helped him, but when played with friends, it was the most fun mode in the game.
As the firstMario Partyto bereleased on the Nintendo Wii,Mario Party 8had quite a bit to live up to. To the relief of many, the game comes together to form one of the better releases in the series. While motion controls have largely petered out over the years, the way they are implemented inMario Party 8makes sense as a casual party game to bust out with non-gaming friends.
Combined with a few memorable boards, the core minigames are solid enough to keep the game feeling fresh. Initially, fans were not happy withMario Party 8, but it has gained a reputation for being an underrated title in the long-running franchise, with fans appreciating the minigames and more intricate gameplay mechanics on boards.
One of the best aspects ofMario Party 3was its story mode, collecting Star Stamps to return their world to normal at the hands of the Millennium Star. Players would first play a board to collect the most Stars, and then face off in 1v1-specific boards, gathering up to two partners to fight the opponent’s partner to get to attack them directly, taking away their health.
Mario Party 3also added two new characters to the games, Waluigi and Princess Daisy. This game also had some of the best minigame balance of all the titles, focusing on mostly skill-based minigames while also having some luck thrown in.
Graphically speaking, the firstMario Partygame on the GameCube was a massive leap forward for the franchise. It was the first game in the series to feature all 3D visuals, with graphics for the Nintendo GameCube that still hold up today.It also has multiple fan-favorite minigames, such as Booksquirm, which could return in future games.
Mario Party 4featuresboards that are huge, which can make some games a little too long, but they are backed by memorable themes and music. The game proved to be the logical next step for the franchise and would be the template for the next three games on the Nintendo GameCube.
