I remember spending endless evenings with my wife playing Mario Party 3 on the Nintendo 64 system. It was heated, competitive and always ended up leading into game after game until someone was completely fed up with the other. It was our goto game when Mario Kart wasn’t working out too well for one of us. Regardless of the intensity with it, it was a game we gleefully lost hours with when played. As the years went on, and five kids eventually showed up in the household, it was a series we both lost touch with…until Mario Party 10 landed at the Digitalchumps’ door.
To be honest, my last foray with Mario Party was Mario Party 7, so keep that in mind as you read this review.
Mario Party 10 is a simplistic title. It certainly is incredibly different than the Mario Party games I remember. The levels are pretty straightforward and the competition is still intact, but it doesn’t encourage the amount of intensity that it used to. You still have versus spots on the levels that give you the random option of taking on each other, working as a team or going against a single individual. This is something that has been in nearly all the Mario Party titles that I can remember playing.
Sadly, Mario Party 10 is determined to keep the players grouped together on one single moving platform instead of letting each player go their separate way on the game boards. Technically, this isn’t a problem when you have the versus spots because it brings everyone together. With that said, it’s limiting for players to not go their separate ways and find their separate fortunes. I think it also limits the fun because you can’t screw over other players from afar, which was the charm of previous Mario Party titles. Board games typically allow players to find their own routes, which was the case in Mario Party 3, but this one is hellbent on keeping the players grouped together.
Having said that, the variety each board has is decent enough to keep the game entertaining. For example, you can play an amusement park level where you ride rollercoasters and a swinging pirate ship to collect stars, which is the currency you want in the game to win. These are little side trips from the main game, but nonetheless help to change things up a bit. Each level has its own variety of side trips and gimmicks to keep the gameplay fresh.
Speaking of which, the pacing for Mario Party 10 is the biggest complaint I have with the game. Because everyone is grouped together on one platform, it tends to feel like the game drags a bit. The loading times between mini games certainly doesn’t help that, but the pacing in general seems a bit sluggish. A party game needs to be quick and plentiful when it comes to variety and gameplay. The lack of quickness brings down the variety because it takes so long to get from point A to point B, which also consequently brings down the gameplay.
Another downer in the game is the lack of different spots on the gaming board. You get the occasional versus spot, ‘pick a random dice’ spot and lucky and unlucky spots that affect your acquired stars. Beyond those, and beyond the eventual Bowser spots, there really isn’t much there. It seems incredibly shallow in this department, and it needed to be stacked with different rewards/punishments. That was something that drove games like Mario Party 3 above and beyond fun back in the day.
Now, going back to the Bowser spot, when you start out with the initial Mario Party mode, you have Bowser trapped behind bars that contain six numerically labeled blocks. As each player rolls the dice, whatever number comes up unlocks one of those latches. When all the latches are unlocked, Bowser escapes and creates spots on the board to ‘not’ help you out. You can witness and keep up with the locks on the gamepad, which is not a control option in Mario Party mode. I had to dig up Wii remotes for this game. I’m up to three now.
Anyway, staying on the category of modes, here are the modes you should expect with Mario Party 10:
Mario Party – The standard Mario Party mode contains boards that are linear, but interesting. It features such wonderful levels as Mushroom Park (amusement park), a Boo driven Haunted Trail board, an underwater playground called Whimsical Waters, a Bowser castle board called Chaos Castle, and a level called Airship Central. There is also a Free Play mode within this option that allows you to play mini games you have unlocked and a mini game battle option called Coin Challenge. There is plenty to do in Mario Party, but the gameplay might bring the experience down a bit (especially the speed of it all). The typical run through of a level takes about 20-30 minutes.
Bowser Party – While it still maintains the same personality of Mario Party, Bowser Party adds a bit more ‘Boweser’ to the mix. Quite literally, you can play as Bowser in this mode. If you play as the bad boy, then you get to use the Wii U gamepad, which isn’t an available option in the Mario Party mode. If you’re not Bowser, then you’re a team against Bowser. The entire party mode is essentially a game of chase. You can chase the party, if you’re Bowser. You have to get away, if you’re the party. The game is incredibly one-sided most of the time, as Bowser gets multiple dice and can re-roll when he feels like it. It’s tough as nails and typically gameplay can last around 45 minutes in length. The goal is to maintain as many hearts as you can (run out of hearts and you’re ‘out’, which leaves your team at a disadvantage) and reach the ‘super star’, while trying to avoid constantly meeting up with Bowser. In all honesty, I found this to be more engaging in the fun department than the Mario Party Mode.
Bonus Games – The bonus games mimics the free play mode in Mario Party. Individual gaming sessions that are either one-on-one or against another player. They are short when compared to the party games.
Toad’s Room – This has things like a shop to use all your Mario Party Points that you gathered from playing Mario Party games. Purchasing vehicles and hidden characters in this room actually does add to everything. Kids will absolutely adore this and probably feel motivated to keep winning and gathering Mario Party Points. You can also keep up with a Mario Party Challenge List and some photo studio stuff. Not much here in terms of actual content, but enough smaller added value to the overall package.
Amiibo Bonus – You will just have to find out.
The overall traditional core of Mario Party gameplay is very much alive and intact with Mario Party 10. The variety of modes certainly helps to alleviate some emptiness the main game puts off. The inclusion of Amiibo in the game helps to add a bit more personality to the title, but the gameplay just needs some more beef to make it one of the better Mario Party titles out there. As it stands, the gameplay just isn’t quite up to par with great Mario Party titles. Maybe the next go around they can improve on that and go back to what works well for this series.
On the visual side of things, Mario Party 10 is a gorgeous game, but what else would you expect on the Wii U? Nearly every Mario game on the system contains the right amount of details, textures and visual depth to make the games look gorgeous. The audio and music help to reinforce all of it and make the presentation value of this game right up there with other Mario titles on the Nintendo Wii U. From what my capture device was spouting out, the game is coming in at 1080p/30fps. My device is wacky, so take it with a grain of salt.
So, at the end of the day, is this game fun and worth your money? Nintendo fans will purchase this regardless, but for parents who are looking for something kids will play together and enjoy, it’s worth it. My kids are obsessed over this game. More importantly, no one is getting angry if they lose, which is a huge plus! Typically, losing causes some bad attitudes, but the nature of the Mario Party series is more on the ‘Oh, we’ll do better next time!’ side of things, which is why I like it so much. It may not be the strongest in the series, and it may not completely fulfill someone’s Mario Party need, but it’s decent enough to have in the household.
