Super Mario Party

Despite lackluster board design and side modes that can become repetitive, Super Mario Party is a fun group game that showcases a diverse collection of minigames.

As someone that hasn’t really been exposed to the series proper, the only expectation I had going in was that it would be a fun couch gaming experience and in that regard, Super Mario Party is a rousing success as I saw nothing but smiles all around during my numerous play sessions with over a dozen different people. However, those smiles were short lived as they soon faded when we realized that there were only four boards to play and the rest of the other modes were simple novelties at best. A shame as this party was one I was glad to be invited to- I just didn’t feel the desire to stick around for too long.

With a generous array of modes and some unexpected creative flourishes, this is certainly the best Mario Party since the GameCube era; perhaps even beyond. [Christmas 2018, p.120]

Terrific for getting a super party started. [Issue#206, p.80]

Super Mario Party is a party game, as the name suggests. So you can be bored very quickly when you play alone. In the multi-player part and some mini-games are very fun when you play the first time. Once you've experienced that, they become a little pointless.

Super Mario Party’s core Party mode and excellent minigames are the true Super Stars in this package. However, they’re diluted by the extra modes. While some are genuinely creative and engaging, such as the team-based Partner Party and the fully cooperative River Survival, others feel like afterthoughts. Everything included can still be hilarious fun with a good group of friends, but a sharper focus on the classic board game/minigame combo and an increased online presence would have enhanced its longevity. As it is now, Super Mario Party may not be the life of the party, but it’s a solid step in the right direction for this long-running series.

Super Mario Party builds up on the legacy of the now-veteran party game series and adds new and fun game modes, as well as a much requested online component. While it's unquestionable that this is an amusing and enjoyable game in the proper context, all aspirations are not satisfied. The cooperative and single player modes feel too repetitive and the online component is too simplistic. Nevertheless, the Mario Party series remains a flagship of the party game genre.

Most of Super Mario Party's varied assortment of 80 minigames are fun, especially if you've got a full group of four players, as the NPCs aren't smart or skilled enough to pose much of a challenge until you unlock Master difficulty. The new Partner Party, River Survival, and Sound Stage modes add enjoyable alternatives to Mario Party mode--which at least returns to its competitive roots.

Play it with friends, play it with family, don’t take it too seriously and for the love of God don’t play it alone. Stick with that ruleset, and Super Mario Party might just be the party game you’ve been waiting.

Super Mario Party is what you'd expect from the series - short bursts of fun that everyone can enjoy .

While the classic campaign only revamps the old, individualistic, yet outrageously randomised formula by developing few recent additions, Super Mario Party displays a more strategic approach through special dice dedicated to each character and cooperative modes. This episode also features diverse wonderful mini games that cleverly use the ergonomic particularities of the Nintendo Switch, with a solid competitive dimension even extended online, but the whole program lacks sufficient content to be really worthy of such superlative a title.

Super Mario Party has successfully stripped back a lot of the bloat that the last few iterations had introduced to return it back to the simple, fun and classic game that it was intended to be. At the same time, the game cleverly uses a number of key Nintendo Switch features making it a must own for Nintendo Switch owners that are longing for a game to play with friends and family.

So that’s why we went back to 1-2-Switch. Super Mario Party has far more mini-games – and ones of higher quality, too – but it’s too time-consuming and tedious to get into them.

The additions and breadth of ways to play earn that "Super" prefix, but the games are still the star. [Issue#336, p.80]

Even with the sheer amount of content and the decent visuals, Super Mario Party fails to impress, mainly because of the mediocre minigames and the minuscule online-mode.

Super Mario Party is some of the most fun to be had with a local multiplayer game on the Switch. Unfortunately that is compromised by a deluge of limited modes and design decisions that pull the whole package down. Based the fun factor alone, Super Mario Party justifies its price tag for anyone looking for a new game to play with friends. However, Super Mario Party's fun factor well exceeds the title's fundamental design principles--so tempering one's expectations is a must.

Super Mario Party is a unique game for the Switch. It could've been the best game in the whole series, but the simplified boards and the friendliness nature of the game lessened the tension between players that made Mario Party very memorable in the first place.

Super Mario Party features a large character selection, beautiful visuals, fun minigames, fresh new modes, and that fun, party-style gameplay - all of which is great. But I constantly found myself wanting... more. Maybe it's because I see what Nintendo is doing with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - with its massive roster, absurd number of levels, and so much more and I wish Nintendo would put that kind of effort into a Mario Party game. If you have three friends that are Mario Party fanatics - than there might be just enough here to satisfy the Mario Party craving for a while. Otherwise, it's really hard to recommend Super Mario Party - especially if you don't have anyone to play with, the stupid AI will just drive you insane.

There’s no doubt that Super Mario Party is at its best with a couchful of friends, but even 2v2 matches in which you have to play with the computer AI are passably done.

This isn’t the most expansive or intense game you can play on the Switch, but brings great local multiplayer features and enough innovative mechanics to justify the price of admission.

There is plenty of fun to be had with Super Mario Party, if the circumstances are right. With four friends and the right mindset you will have hours of fun in front of you. Although if you prefer a fair game, can’t gather enough players, or want to play online the enjoyment falls significantly. In the end Super Mario Party might actually be the highlight of the series so far, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

The minigames of Super Mario Party are great, taking advantage of the Switch hardware in unique and creative ways. It's the dialed back board game and its lackluster extra modes that let the whole package down though. While it's still bound to be a great party game to break out when friends visit, it lacks the drama of the best in the series.

Super Mario Party is just a very safe game. It brings back the classic Mario Party board game form, marrying it with some of the better ideas from Mario Party: Star Rush, but it's light on the number of boards to play, lacks depth in other game modes, and misses opportunities for solo handheld and online multiplayer. It's Mario Party, but it's not particularly super.

It’s the game that tries too hard to please everyone, but at the end of the night, the party leaves things a bit flat.