Mario Party: Island Tour

Simplistic and easy to pick up, the pure fun that results make this a great game for people of all ages and gamers of all skill levels.

Mario Party: Island Tour has lost a little of the magic that seemed to be in the first releases of the game way back on the Nintendo 64.

This is a solid rendition of the well known formula, catered to the needs of the handheld generation, but without an online mode the fun is limited.

The simplified objective makes for a more fun experience, and I wish they made more Mario Party games on the console in this style. That being said, it still is just Mario Party for a handheld console. Don't expect anything more than that.

It was nice to have a brief but satisfying match while out and about.

You might add a little to the score if you’ve got friends who are frequently ready and willing to play, but Mario Party: Island Tour ultimately feels par for the series’ course. It’s still good, but is mostly hurt by a higher barrier to entry for multiplayer, a lack of continuing the push towards truly "Mario" feeling mini-games, and the series’ ever-present dominance of luck over skill.

It's not a perfect party by any means, but some good design considerations, better-than-average variety, and always-enjoyable Mario thematics put Mario Party: Island Tour a few notches above your average video game bash-in-a-box.

Don't get me wrong; Island Tour's not particularly bad in any way; it's really not, but… unless you're hankering for a pretend board game and know a bunch of people who'll be keen for regular sessions, it's hard to imagine this being one of those purchases you'll look back on and think "that was the right decision."

Island Tour is not a step forward for the franchise, but also backward. NdCUBE chose to capitalize on its experience and create funny games for the crowd. Despite a truly forgettable single player campaign, multiplayer still manages to give some chills.

Nintendo is a master at finding a specific target audience and offer them exactly what they want, sometimes even with a little less quality than usual. Mario Party: Island Tour does just that, speaking to the more casual audience among the owners of Nintendo 3DS.

We were expecting something big, something everyone would like but Mario Party: Island Tour has shot wide. Once again, we have a Nintendo game that is really lacking innovation. We can go further and say that the spirit of the series seems to evaporate even if the minigames are still fun enough... One more thing: forget about online modes is almost a crime for this kind of title in 2014.

A new entry in the Mario Party saga designed exclusively for 3DS. Fun to play with friends, but the solo mode is quite tedious.

A decent Mario Party game, nicely adapted for portable gaming, but not very well balanced and with a poorly executed single player mode.

Fun is there to be found, in small pockets of good mini-games (although not consistent or regular), but - as a big fan of Mario Party in general - this isn't the greatest of games.

There's fun to be had in the bits in which Nd Cube clearly enjoyed itself. It's by no means a party starter, but the nibbles are tasty enough to stick around for.

The tricky customs of these islands are refreshing, but this trip falls short of imagination considering the boards architecture. Moreover, the absence of an online mode confines this tour to a local scope, which is regrettable since the minigames provide lots of funny activities that make the most of the 3DS functions.

If you're going to play with some friends, it can be moderately fun. If you're going to play alone, then there are many other options out there to choose from.

Quotation forthcoming.

Sometimes this game gives a little bit too much info, that makes your brain totally shut down. On the other hand, Nintendo offers very clear information on the big variety in mini-games. They are all very much making use of the features of 3DS. It is too bad you have to wait for the CPU characters a lot because you just want to play those mini-games.

Mario Party: Island Tour is a party game that is only slightly above par. The lack of online multiplayer, no longer unbelievable at the end of 2013, and the inconsistency of many of the mini-games on offer, do not allow us to recommend the game.

Mario Party: Island Tour brings to Nintendo 3DS a wide range of challenging mini-games, but limits the options as a shared experience, renouncing the online multiplayer.

Mario Party: Island Tour is a pretty decent new addition to the series... if you have friends to play with. Despite the engaging Bowser’s Tower mode, the single-player campaign will soon run out of ideas.

Board game enthusiasts will find themselves bored quickly, the average player will only break it out when there are friends around—which is the point, and I guess with friends the skill-based games aren’t too bad—and Party aficionados will be able to scratch that virtual itch.

Ditching the lengthy matches of Mario Party's past in favor of shorter options makes sense, and it makes for more manageable experiences. But it's still saddening that the longest game of Island Tour that you'll ever play should wrap up in under an hour.

Those seeking a long-lasting single-player experience may want to steer clear though, as there isn't enough depth to the solo-focused modes to keep you engaged for very long.

There is still plenty of fun to be had when taking on some of the more successful mini games with a group of friends locally, but the game as a whole does come across as more of a re-tread of something we have played time and time again.

Mario Party: Island Tour will provide you and a bunch of mates with a great evening of laughs, but most of the time you'll be laughing AT it rather than with it.

This doesn’t hold up even compared to previous portable Mario Party titles, and it’s one of the few Nintendo published titles you can safely skip this holiday season.

Mario Party is continuing to see sequels and unfortunately it isn't seeing much change. In its 3rd portable experience, Island Tour, I had hoped for more enjoyable single player and internet multiplayer to keep players interested when they can't get their friends around. Unfortunately, the bread-and-butter experience of 4 players is easier to implement and more enjoyable on console experiences.

Island Tour’s single-player campaign is laughably bad, and the ambitious, content-rich multiplayer options and unique game boards are ultimately dragged down by mostly boring minigames and unfortunate system-jerking motion control.

A very slow party game. The majority of the mini games are well done and easy to learn and play, but all the waiting time is killing the pace and joy of playing. A group of players could have some fun, but if you're playing alone - stay away.

There’s little reason to pick up the latest Mario Party. While it has plenty of personality, the majority of the experience is so thin that it struggles to keep your attention.

One Person doesn't make a party, and when trying to make my friends play this with me they all instantly wanna switch to Mario Party 9 instead.

It's the fact that you can play with 3 of your friends locally using only a card of the game that really saves this poor man's Mario Party from oblivion.

Plenty of honest effort has been expended here, but Mario Party has never seemed like a sensible kind of game to turn into a portable title.

Island Tour trips all over itself whenever it loses sight of this strength — with every dice roll and half-assed gimmick.

Mario Party: Island Tour never seems a natural fit on the 3DS. It feels more like the game has been hammered into shape to fit as well as it can on the platform.

The charm of the Mario Party series was always bringing together a group of people in front of the T.V, to spend an enjoyable time going through boards and minigames. Island Tour, however, restricts that fun to the players by being a portable version. It's a title that disguises the features of other Mario Party games and offers them like they were new. It's a boring party with a serious lack of modes and online multiplayer.

The core gameplay model is so flavorless that nearly every new feature quickly becomes mixed in with the primarily luck-based advancement that's marred these titles in recent years.

Mario Party: Island Tour feels like a step backwards for the series, thanks to an uninspiring mini-game collection and an often grating single player experience. Fans of the series may want to check it out, but others can easily let this tour boat pass them by.

After a cracking 2013, the 3DS starts the new year hungover and partied out. [Feb 2014, p.75]

This is a real party pooper. [Issue#143, p.111]

Ultimately, however, it feels like going on an island tour in a hot and cramped bus that's traveling at 10mph. There are things to see and fun to be had, but only if you're prepared to wait for it.

The party atmosphere was always going to suffer by not being on a big TV in the lounge, but Mario Party: Island Tour fails more miserably than we had imagined. For only the most hardcore fans of the series.

The lack of online play and the overall single-player experience is a pretty big bummer. Unless you’re desperate and need a quick Mario Party fix on the go, stick with a console version if you can.