Mario Party (video game)

Last updated
Mario Party
Marioparty1.jpg
North American box art
Developer(s) Hudson Soft
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Kenji Kikuchi
Producer(s)
  • Shinji Hatano
  • Shinichi Nakamoto
Composer(s) Yasunori Mitsuda
Series Mario Party
Platform(s) Nintendo 64
Release
  • JP: December 18, 1998
  • NA: February 8, 1999
  • PAL: March 9, 1999
Genre(s) Party
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Party [a] is a 1998 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. [1] [2] The game was targeted at a young audience. [3] Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto served as development supervisor. It received mostly positive critical reviews for its multiplayer mode, concept, and music; disapproval of its slow pacing; and mixed reviews of its graphics. It is the first installment in the Mario Party series and was followed by Mario Party 2 in 1999. The game received its first official re-release on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2022. Content from this game was remastered as part of Mario Party: The Top 100 for the Nintendo 3DS, Mario Party Superstars and Super Mario Party Jamboree for the Nintendo Switch. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay of Mario Party is divided between traditional board game action (top) and a variety of minigames that take place between turns (bottom). Mario Party 1 Gameplay.png
The gameplay of Mario Party is divided between traditional board game action (top) and a variety of minigames that take place between turns (bottom).

Mario Party is a party video game featuring six playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong. In the game's frame story, Mario and his friends argue about which of them is the "Super Star", a figure upon whom the entire world can rely. To settle their dispute, they set out for adventure to determine which of them is most worthy of the title. [7] The gameplay is presented in the form of a traditional board game, and includes six game board maps themed after each of the playable characters. Two additional board maps become available later in the game. [8] [9] Mario Party includes multiplayer compatibility; each game on a board map consists of four players, including at least one human player and up to four. Any character who is not controlled by a human will instead be controlled by the game as a computer-controlled character. The skill level of the computer-controlled characters can be individually adjusted between "Easy", "Medium", or "Hard". After the players and board map have been determined, the player chooses how long the board map game will last: "Lite Play" consists of 20 turns, "Standard Play" consists of 35, and "Full Play" consists of 50. Upon starting a board, players each hit a dice block to determine turn order, with the highest number going first on each turn and the lowest number going last. [10]

The goal of Mario Party is to collect the most stars within the allotted amount of turns. Stars must be purchased from Toad with coins, which can be earned through a selection from one of 50 mini-games that is played once at the end of each turn. [11] The first player initiates a turn by rolling a dice block that determines how many spaces they will advance on the board, ranging from one to ten spaces. Each board map has a variety of spaces. Plain blue and red spaces cause the player who lands on one to respectively gain or lose three coins; the amount of coins is doubled to six during the final five turns. Blue spaces labeled with a star will initiate a single-player mini-game. Blue "!" spaces result in a Chance Time game, in which selected characters must give or exchange coins or stars; the player who landed on the space is given three blocks to hit, determining which characters and prize will be involved. Green "?" spaces result in an event occurring on the board map; each board features different events which can help or hinder certain players. Red spaces marked with an insignia of Bowser's head will cause Bowser to appear and hinder the player's progress. Blue spaces labeled with a mushroom give players a chance to either take another turn right away or lose their subsequent turn. Aside from Toad, other characters on the map include Boo, Koopa Troopa, and Bowser. Boo can steal coins or a star from another player on behalf of any player who passes him; stealing coins is free, but stealing a star costs 50 coins. Koopa Troopa is stationed at the starting point on board maps and will give ten coins to each player who passes him. Bowser will inconvenience players who pass him by forcibly selling them a useless item. On some boards, Toad's location will change after he sells a Star. [10]

After all four players have made a movement on the board, a mini-game is initiated. The type of mini-game that is played is determined based on the color of space that each player landed on. Players that have landed on a green space will be randomly assigned to "blue" or "red" status before the mini-game is selected. If all players have landed on the same color of space, a 4-player mini-game is played. Other color variations result in either a 1 vs. 3 or 2 vs. 2 mini-game. [10] The specific mini-game is then selected via roulette. Mini-game titles are normally highlighted in green, though some titles are highlighted in red; [12] the winner of any given mini-game receives coins, [10] and in red-highlighted games, the losers will lose coins. [12] Another turn is initiated following the end of a mini-game, and the process is repeated until the allotted number of turns have been completed. After the end of the last turn, the winners of three awards are announced, with each winner receiving one additional star; the first two awards are given to the player(s) who collected the most coins in mini-games and throughout the board map game, and the third is given to the player(s) who landed on the most "?" spaces. The winner of the game, the "Super Star", is then determined by the number of total coins and stars collected by each player. If two or more characters have acquired the same amount of coins and stars, the winner will be determined with a roll of the dice block. [10]

Other modes

The game's main menu includes a "Mushroom Bank" at which coins received by the human player during gameplay are deposited. The Mushroom Bank will initially carry 300 coins. Coins can be used to purchase mini-games at the "Mini-Game House", which can then be played at any time outside of normal board games. The Mini-Game House includes the "Mini-Game Stadium" mode, in which four players compete on a special board map consisting only of blue and red spaces. Coins are neither gained nor lost from these spaces, and coins are only earned by winning mini-games. The winner of Mini-Game Stadium is determined by whoever accumulates the highest number of coins by the completion of the allotted turns. [13] Coins can also be used at the main menu's "Mushroom Shop", where items can be purchased and stored at the Mushroom Bank. These items can be toggled on or off for use during games, where they will randomly take effect when any character rolls the dice block. Such effects include special dice blocks with only high or low numbers. Other items remove Koopa Troopa or Boo from the board. [14]

The game includes the single-player Mini-Game Island mode, in which one human player must play through each mini-game. The player has four lives and progresses through a world map with the completion of each mini-game, while losing a mini-game results in the loss of a life. If the player loses all lives, the game ends, and the player must resume from the last save point. If the player completes all the mini-games in Mini-Game Island, up to three bonus mini-games are unlocked. [15]

Development

Mario Party was developed by Hudson Soft, known for creating the Bomberman franchise. It was previewed in the January 1999 issue of The 64Dream [16] and teased in the #116 issue of the Nintendo Power magazine published in January 1999 in the "Coming Next Issue..." section. [17]

Reception

Mario Party received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [18] Critics considered Mario Party much more enjoyable when playing with other people through the game's multiplayer option. [19] [23] [26] [25] [27] [28] [31] Joe Fielder of GameSpot said, "The games that are enjoyable to play in multi-player are nowhere near as good in the single player mode. Really, it's that multi-player competitive spark of screaming at and/or cheering for your friends that injects life into these often-simple little games, and without it, they're just simple little games." [27] Peer Schneider of IGN took a similar stance, saying that it was the interaction between players rather than the interaction with the game that made Mario Party fun. [28] James Bottorff of The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, "Playing by yourself requires you to sit through the painfully slow moves of each of your computer opponents." [31] Dr. Moo of GameRevolution wrote that playing alone "is terribly boring, and realistically scrounging up 4 people to play Mario Party is harder than it sounds". He added that the game had "great intentions, but unsatisfying delivery," calling it "a tedious and often frustrating experience". [26] Reviewers for Game Informer wrote negatively about Mario Party and its mini-games. [22] Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame was also dissatisfied with most of the mini-games, and criticized the random luck involved. He stated that Mario Party had a good concept but was somewhat disappointing, concluding that most players would be unsatisfied with the short mini-games and simple gameplay. [19]

The music was praised, [19] [23] [26] [25] [28] although the graphics received a mixed response. [19] [23] [26] [28] Critics believed the game would have appeal for young children. [19] [23] [26] [28] [31] Electronic Gaming Monthly 's authors gave the game an average score of 8.625 out of 10. [21] In Japan, Famitsu 's standard quartet of reviewers gave it a total score of 31 out of 40. [18]

During the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Mario Party for the "Console Children's/Family Title of the Year" award, which was ultimately given to Pokémon Snap . [32]

Within the first two months of its U.S. release, Mario Party was among the top five most rented video games. [33] [34] [35] It was also the fourth-best-selling video game of April 1999. [36]

Hand injury complaints

In Mario Party, certain minigames require rotation of the Nintendo 64 controller's analog stick at top speed. Some players reportedly got blisters, friction burns, and lacerations from rotating the stick with palms instead of using thumbs because of the uncomfortable design of the analog stick and it is faster to beat the minigames that way. [37] [38] [39]

Although no lawsuits were filed, around 90 complaints were received by New York's attorney general's office and Nintendo of America eventually agreed to a settlement, which included providing gloves for injured players and paying the state's $75,000 legal fees. At the time, providing the estimated 1.2 million gloves could have cost Nintendo up to $80 million. [37] [38] [39]

Mario Party was not re-released via the Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U, with Mario Party 2 released instead. The game would not be re-released until November 2, 2022, via the Nintendo Switch Online service. [40]

Minigames using stick rotation returned in Mario Party: Island Tour . In Mario Party Superstars , a disclaimer is placed on the rules screen for the two mini games that use stick rotation warning players to not use their palms to turn the stick to avoid hand injury and stick damage. [41] A similar warning appears for the Nintendo Switch Online version of Mario Party when starting the game. [42]

Notes

  1. Japanese: マリオパーティ, Hepburn: Mario Pāti

Related Research Articles

<i>Mario Party 4</i> 2002 video game

Mario Party 4 is a 2002 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. The game is the fourth installment in the Mario Party series and is the first game in the series to be released for the GameCube. Like the previous games in the series, it features eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Princess Daisy, and Waluigi from the Mario franchise, who can be directed as characters on six themed game boards. The objective is to earn as many stars as possible, which are obtained by purchase from a single predefined space on the game board. Each character's movement is determined by a roll of a die, with a roll from each player forming a single turn. Each turn is followed by a minigame in which characters compete for coins they can use to purchase items and stars.

<i>Mario Party 3</i> 2000 video game

Mario Party 3 is a 2000 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The third installment in the Mario Party series, it was first released in Japan on December 7, 2000, in North America on May 7, 2001, in Australia on September 3, 2001, and in Europe on November 16, 2001. As with the previous installments, the player chooses between eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong from the first two games, alongside newcomers Princess Daisy and Waluigi. The game features duel maps, where two players try to lower each other's stamina to zero using non-player characters such as Chain Chomps.

<i>Mario Party 2</i> 1999 video game

Mario Party 2 is a 1999 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. The second game in the Mario Party series, it was released in Japan in December 1999 and worldwide in 2000. The game received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the improvements over the original, as well as the multiplayer and minigames, but criticized the lack of originality, while graphics received a better but otherwise mixed response.

<i>Mario Party 5</i> 2003 video game

Mario Party 5 is a 2003 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the fifth installment in the Mario Party series and the second game in the series to be released for the GameCube. The game is set in the fictional Dream Depot, consisting of seven game boards. The single-player "Story" mode involves the player winning multiple games against the Koopa Kids to prevent Bowser from conquering the Dream Depot. The main multiplayer game mode consists of four characters from the Mario series playing a board game, with each board having a set theme. The game also features several minigames, which are played after every set of turns. Mario Party 5 introduces the "Super Duel" mode to the franchise, which requires players to assemble and control custom made battle vehicles which can be used in combat against other machines. The game features 10 playable characters, with playable debuts to the series from Toad, Boo, and Koopa Kid.

<i>Mario Party</i> Video game series

Mario Party is a party video game series featuring characters from the Mario franchise in which up to four local players or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigames. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, and directed by Kenji Kikuchi, the games are currently developed by Nintendo Cube and published by Nintendo, being previously developed by Hudson Soft. The series is known for its party game elements, including the often unpredictable multiplayer game modes that allow play with up to four, and sometimes eight, human players or CPUs.

<i>Mario Party 6</i> 2004 video game

Mario Party 6 is a 2004 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the sixth installment in the Mario Party series, the third title in the series for the GameCube, and the first GameCube game to make use of a microphone add-on. The game was released in Japan on November 18, 2004, in North America on December 6, 2004, in Europe on March 18, 2005, and in Australia on September 15, 2005.

<i>Mario Party Advance</i> 2005 video game

Mario Party Advance is a 2005 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and A.I and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the first handheld game in the Mario Party series and the seventh entry in the series overall. The game was re-released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U in 2014.

<i>Mario Party 7</i> 2005 video game

Mario Party 7 is a 2005 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the seventh main installment in the Mario Party series, as well as the fourth and final game in the series to be released for the GameCube. The game was first released in North America and Japan in November 2005, and was released in the United Kingdom and Europe in early 2006.

<i>Mario Artist</i> 1999–2000 video game suite

Mario Artist is an interoperable suite of three games and one Internet application for Nintendo 64: Paint Studio, Talent Studio, Polygon Studio, and Communication Kit. These flagship disks for the 64DD peripheral were developed to turn the game console into an Internet multimedia workstation. A bundle of the 64DD unit, software disks, hardware accessories, and the Randnet online service subscription package was released in Japan starting in December 1999.

<i>Mario Party 8</i> 2007 video game

Mario Party 8 is a 2007 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the eighth main installment in the Mario Party series, as well as the first title in the series to be released for the Wii.

<i>Mario Party DS</i> 2007 video game

Mario Party DS is a 2007 party video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the second handheld game in the Mario Party series, as well as the last game in the series to be developed by Hudson Soft, as all subsequent titles have been developed by Nintendo Cube. The game was re-released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U in 2016.

<i>Mario Party 9</i> 2012 video game

Mario Party 9 is a 2012 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The ninth main installment in the Mario Party series, it was announced at E3 2011 and released in Europe, North America, and Australia in March 2012, followed by Japan a month later. It was the first game in the series not to be developed by Hudson Soft, which was acquired and dissolved by Konami on March 1, 2012, the day before the game's European release. Instead, development was taken over by Nintendo studio NDCube. This was also the final Mario game to be released on the Wii.

<i>Wii Party</i> 2010 party video game published by Nintendo

Wii Party is a party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game heavily borrows game play elements from the Mario Party series, another Nintendo franchise. It is also the first game in the Wii series that Shigeru Miyamoto did not produce. The game was released in Japan on July 8, 2010, in North America on October 3, 2010, in Australia on October 7, 2010, and in Europe on October 8, 2010. Wii Party was revealed by Satoru Iwata in a Financial Results Briefing on May 7, 2010. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics and sold 9.35 million copies worldwide as of September 2021. A sequel, Wii Party U, was released for the Wii U on October 25, 2013.

<i>Mario Party 10</i> 2015 video game

Mario Party 10 is a 2015 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii U video game console. It is the tenth home console release in the Mario Party series and a part of the larger Mario franchise. Featuring gameplay similar to the prior series entries, players compete against each other and computer-controlled characters to collect the most mini-stars, traversing a game board and engaging in minigames and other challenges. There are multiple game modes, including one where players traverse a board in a vehicle, sabotaging each other and making choices to collect the most mini-stars by the end. Mario Party 10 adds two modes over its predecessors: Bowser Party, where four players compete in a team against a fifth who controls Bowser on the Wii U GamePad, and Amiibo Party, where players use Amiibo figures. Their gameplay is interspersed by over 70 minigames with various play styles.

<i>Mario Party: Island Tour</i> 2013 video game

Mario Party: Island Tour is a 2013 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The third handheld installment in the Mario Party series, the game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct in April 2013, and was released in North America in November 2013, in Europe and Australia in January 2014, and in Japan in March 2014.

<i>Mario Party: Star Rush</i> 2016 video game

Mario Party: Star Rush is a 2016 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fourth handheld game installment in the Mario Party series and the second game in the series to be released for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Europe, Australia, and Japan in October 2016, and in North America the following month.

<i>Mario Party: The Top 100</i> 2017 video game

Mario Party: The Top 100 is a 2017 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fifth handheld game in the Mario Party series, as well as the third and final Mario Party game for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. The game was first released in North America in November 2017, and was released in PAL regions and in Japan in December 2017.

<i>Super Mario Party</i> 2018 video game

Super Mario Party is a 2018 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the eleventh main installment in the Mario Party series, and the first for the Nintendo Switch. The game was described as a "complete refresh" of the franchise, bringing back and revitalizing gameplay elements from older titles while also introducing new ones to go along with them. The game was released worldwide on 5 October 2018, and sold 1.5 million copies by the end of the month.

<i>Mario Party Superstars</i> 2021 video game

Mario Party Superstars is a 2021 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth home console installment in the Mario Party series, and the second for the Nintendo Switch following Super Mario Party (2018). It was released on October 29, 2021.

<i>Super Mario Party Jamboree</i> 2024 video game

Super Mario Party Jamboree is a 2024 party video game developed by Nintendo Cube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the thirteenth home console installment in the Mario Party series, the third on the Nintendo Switch, and a sequel to Super Mario Party, albeit with many similarities to Mario Party Superstars.

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Bibliography

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