Mario Party

Developer: Hudson Publisher: Nintendo

Released: February 8, 1999 E 9/10

Far from the “humble beginnings” vibe that some other titles might give off when looking at them in retrospect, the first Mario Party still isn’t perfect out of the gate, as many ideas, pacing problems, balancing factors, and more don’t necessarily pan out on this first go around. But at the same time, via a lens almost exclusive to the chaotic nature and otherwise largely unchanging formula that props up the entirety of the series, Mario Party still manages to offer a distinctively charming experience that makes it just as valid (or invalid, if you’ve been turned off to the whole franchise as many have over the years) as any other entry.

I will, of course, acknowledge that Mario Party is often one of the more derided entries in the main series, saved from even threatening last place by the 9th and 10th games and their despised “car mechanic,” and that in spite of this, I still consider the original one of my favorites. This is still largely influenced by nostalgia, as I had both this and Mario Party 2 growing up and played them extensively, but again, the nature of Mario Party as a franchise excuses this favoritism somewhat, since as far as I can tell, everybody’s favorite Mario Party titles are simply the ones that they had, and are rarely changed or won over by any other entry that proves to be “mechanically superior,” if that term can even apply to a Mario Party game.

Now, with disclosures and logistics out of the way, what do we have on offer in this very first Mario Party title? Eight total game boards – one themed around each of the six playable characters, plus two unlockable ones to serve as the final challenges. 50 mini-games, with the standard four player divisions, though none of the gimmicks that we would see later like battles and duels. We also don’t have items in the traditional sense, ones that would be picked up during gameplay and used at a player’s discretion before their turn. What we do have, unique to this game, though ultimately a little too unpredictable, are special dice blocks that can be purchased with coins and flipped on or off to appear randomly in place of a player’s regular dice block. You can also purchase the option to not have Boo or Koopa on the board, but that sounds like not nearly enough chaos in either of those particular cases.

Of course, even though the inaugural nature of this entry carries these and other quirks that are also integral to how it’s remembered, it’s still going to be the mini-games and the boards that play the biggest part in how we feel about these games. And of course, it’s the honor of Mario Party to have not only some of the most beloved, but also some of the most despised of both of these categories, along with a few that, while also iconic, are often misremembered for being better or worse than they actually are.

Slot Car Derby 2 remains the only time Toad has been the one to bring the heat in a game.

Among the highlights? Peach’s Birthday Cake and its Monopoly-esque fight for shares of the board as the game goes on still makes for one of the earliest gimmicky-but-remarkable boards, and DK’s Jungle Adventure remains one of the best board designs in the franchise for its status as an introductory battleground that taught us all how to play the game. Wario’s Battle Canyon, on the other hand, while not universally hated, is often cited as a misstep, with a gimmick that segments the board far too much and makes getting to where you want to go a true chore. Luigi’s Engine Room is probably the most forgettable of the bunch, as it’s easily the hardest of the main six boards, and labeled as such, but never feels like it boasts the personality to make it a popular choice regardless.

The initial crop of mini-games, meanwhile, of course also make up Mario Party’s main single-player focused mode, and are unfortunately and somewhat unfairly remembered for three in particular: Paddle Battle, Pedal Power, and Tug-o’-War. Games designed exclusively around rotating the control stick as fast as possible, damaging controllers and hands in the process – and yes, I got a big nasty welt dead center in my palm, too. I’m so traumatized by these games, in fact, that when they come up now, I simply play at about half the effort and accept the likelihood of losing for my own sake and that of my controllers. But in spite of the cloud of these three infamous games, this is still a library loaded with classics (Face Lift, Bombs Away, Bobsled Run, Mushroom Mix-Up, Crazy Cutter), stinkers (Crane Game, Pipe Maze, Ground Pound, Coin Block Blitz) and frankly, games that you remember as being much better or much worse than they are. Slot Car Derby was the bane of my existence as a child, especially as it accounted for two mini-games in the last stretch of Mini-Game Island, but other than it using a control style that’s not in any other mini-game, it’s not horrible. Bumper Balls, on the other hand, is maybe the most iconic game not based on self-mutilation, and yet it’s usually even more torturous waiting out the inevitable stalemate between the last two players. It’s Bumper Balls alone that justifies bringing a few of these games back for Mario Party 2, if only because they mercifully fixed it with a few gimmicks that actually made the game end.

All in all, I think the original Mario Party may be carried to a state of nostalgic reverence by myself and others just for the charm of the whole package, even in spite of the ideas that don’t stick. Loaded with some of the Mario ensemble’s most memorable sound bites, themes, and characterizations, there’s also just an overall sense of identity that I believe comes from utilizing Hudson as a second party developer. Their work with the Bomberman games established their understanding how to make a game wherein players make their own memorable moments most of the time, while the rest come from the simple presence of mayhem and chance, they created the groundwork of a franchise that, love it or hate it, has become just as much a staple of couch multiplayer nights, meme culture, and friendly rivalries (I stress “friendly” because if you seriously fight over games of Mario Party with your loved ones, at least one of you needs to grow up) as Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Jackbox.

Continuing Legacy

In terms of number of entries, or at least, highest average of entries per console generation, Mario Party may very well be Mario’s most prolific side series. With three on the N64, four on GameCube, two on Wii, one on Wii U, and finally Super Mario Party on Switch, plus portable entries and compilations including Mario Party: Star Rush and Mario Party Superstars, respectively, it’s not really a surprise how exhausted critics in particular got with the franchise in its busiest era around the mid-aughts. While the frequency of releases has cooled off a lot, though, the reception to the most recent reboot with Super Mario Party and the reuse of the back catalog with Mario Party Superstars and the first two entries being added to the Switch Online library should indicate that we’ll always have more Mario Party on the horizon (even if we’ve had zero new content for either Switch title since they released).