Mario Party Superstars

Mario Party Superstars is basically a celebration of the Mario Party franchise. But technical issues still haunt the online multiplayer, besides the lack of attention regarding minor details, which ends up hindering the fun factor.

More figures to choose from, more boards to play on, and individual dice would have done a lot to lift this game up an extra notch, and extend its life somewhat.

Mario Party Superstars do exactly what it should — it's a great party game for those who wants to spend some fun times with family or friends.

60 euros is a steep price for this much content. Beyond that, this stingy game actually is Mario Party at its best, for anyone wanting to reconnect, or discover, the real chaos it's meant to be.

Should you be looking for a "Best of" collection of Mario Party goodness, Superstars should be your go-to. Though its flaws are pretty apparent, those keen on rose-tinted perceptions will find a lot to like with the newest iteration. Even those simply in need of some fun with a group of friends will have a good time with what's on offer, so long as it's local multiplayer and not online. It's a nice callback to the brighter days of the franchise, complete with a lot of trinkets from the past. May not be kind to solo players, however.

The lack of worthwhile unlockable content is one of the biggest downsides in Mario Party Superstars, but those who are only interested in using it as a party game likely won't be all that disappointed. Mario Party Superstars has fun online multiplayer functionality and makes a number of important quality of life improvements when compared to its predecessor, and so it's still a big step in the right direction for the franchise, despite some of its shortcomings.

Mario Party Superstars is an enjoyable package of some of the very best mini games in the series’ history. Like with most Mario Party games, it’s best played with a group of friends as the CPU simply isn’t that fun to play with, and relies too much on randomness in order for it to be hugely enjoyable when playing against strangers online. You could make the case that Superstars feels like a backwards step for the Mario Party series with the limited number of boards, lack of character-specific features and omission of motion-control mini games, but it’s still a hugely enjoyable experience when playing in a large group with friends and family.

Mario Party Superstars reworks much of the content that helped shape the series, which has more than 15 iterations, introducing features long requested by fans, such as online mode and the ability to play in portable mode. These decisions formulate a game with countless details to enjoy, but which limits it by trying to appeal to everyone. Still this is an essential title for all those looking for a Party Game for family and friends gatherings, compiling some of the best and funniest minigames ever in the series.

Mario Party Superstars is an excellent package for long-suffering Mario Party fans, but it's almost certainly not going to lead to any new converts. Online multiplayer is a nice feature to have at launch, and the variety of 100 minigames will keep things feeling fresh for your first dozen hours of play at least. But with that said, this is quite literally the safest Mario Party entry imaginable, and even with a hot nostalgia injection, I think I prefer Super Mario Party as the Switch's premier place to ruin your relationships.

All in all, Mario Party Superstars is a good remake of some incredibly fantastic classic games. It looks great and plays just like the Mario Party games of years past. Sadly, it falls short of being a must-have for all Switch owners outside of Mario Party fans thanks to its relatively small and stagnant roster and board selection. But in the end, the wonderful gameplay is the biggest redeeming factor that makes Mario Party Superstars an enjoyable experience.

Mario Party Superstars is exactly what you'd expect: it's a nostalgia-fest that brings back some of the most beloved boards and minigames from past titles and touches them up for the Nintendo Switch. Each game board has been delightfully updated, and the nostalgic minigame selection is generally pretty good. But beyond that nostalgia factor, Superstars hasn't added anything new to the series. The minigame modes aren't very exciting, and the visuals, while nice, aren't different from any other Mario game from the past few years. It's definitely a great way to experience those classic N64 boards, as long as you don't expect anything more.

Superstars fills a weird niche for Mario Party fans. If you're missing the old maps, this is a great way to dredge them up without suffering through the ancient visuals. Conversely, if you're looking for more modern Mario Party action, this entry will fall a bit short of your expectations. Little things have been rolled back, little problems persist. That game where you rip open your palm to win at tug-of-war is back, for example. The game looks modern, but feels more like a classic entry in the franchise. If the thing you were missing was frustration and elation in equal measure, then yours will be a rich bounty indeed. For better and for worse, this is a heaping helping of the cruel whimsy you remember so well. Mario Party Superstars is a glamorous trip down cherished paths you've mostly blocked from your memory.

Mario Party Superstars takes some of the best boards from the Nintendo 64 very first chapters, alongside 100 of the best mini-games coming also from the Gamecube era, bringing them all together in a new game for Nintendo Switch. This game is not a collection, nor a remastered. It is more a best of, updated with today’s graphics and new online games modes. There are some downsides though, like only five boards and the lack of content for solo players, but if you have a bunch of friends or a family full of children, Mario Party Superstars will reward you with a lot of fun moments with the joy of sociality.

They say that you should never change a winning team, but year after year the same team gets boring. Especially if you bought into the previous iteration of Mario Party for Nintendo Switch, this version offers little new under the sun.

This might be the best of Mario Party, completely open online, yet Superstars also highlight the formula's inherent flaws due to a lack of boards, some lingering random elements despite the additional parameters, and the absence of creativity, if not ambition overall.

If you grew up with Mario Party in the noughties and you mainly want to wallow in nostalgia, Superstars is the way to go. But if you don't have it yet, you better get Super Mario Party to meet your Party needs.

Mario Party Superstars may bring back fond memories of Nintendo's mini-game franchise, but being from the past doesn’t automatically make it a blast.