4.5/5 ★ – TNGLiam's review of Mario Party Superstars.

Platform: Switch Time Played: 8.35 hours Status: Beaten ⟳ Mario Party Superstars. Where do I even start? It's baffling that after six middling or utter shit releases from NDcube, that they finally decided to give into the fans and just create a game that is nothing but a pure love letter to all* that came before it, all except for the handheld entries sadly, would’ve loved to see Mario Party DS representation in here. But still, Mario Party Superstars is shockingly one of the best games in the entire series, hell I’d even say it's tied to be my favorite game in the series with Mario Party 2, it's just that good. So many quality-of-life improvements have been made to Hudson Soft’s original formula like being able to change not just text speed, but also CPU speed, and being able to make them travel at breakneck speed so that you and your friends can get on with the fun. Same with the little cutscenes that were previously unskippable, now by just holding both bumpers, that shit also just flies by; there’s no wasted time in this game, and I truly appreciate that so, so much. And that’s just the little sprinkles on top of the cupcake; this game features 105 minigames from past games, and five boards from the N64 games (would’ve liked to see some later GameCube board representation but what can you do, people nostalgic for the N64 seem to be more profitable, and those games are some of the best), and not only are all of these minigames and boards back, but they’re better than ever; so many minigames and all of the boards have been improved drastically just thanks to the new engine they’re all running in, the new graphical coat of paint, and so much more. It all culminates into THE Mario Party game to throw on when people are over. Sure you can debate that other Mario Party games are better, and I’m one of them, but Superstars just has this accessibility that no other game has. This is the shit. The only real downside is that unlike Super Mario Party which featured phenomenal side content and a lackluster main game mode, Superstars practically features NO side content, with the main mode being the sole focus of the entire package, but honestly for me, I’m not too bothered by that. By having the main Mario Party mode be the sole focus of the game, it feels like that allowed the developers to actually hone in on what made those original eight (plus DS) games work so damn well, and I think it's better off for it. Although it would’ve been nice to at least see some Mini-Game Island type mode at the bare minimum. Where to start? Well, there’s the main menu which is directly inspired by Mario Party 1’s main menu, just a little Village Square with little locations you can click on, the Toad Shop, Option House, etc, all of the old locations are exactly where you remember it, with the Bank now being a menu for online play. The game’s premise is set up here with Koopa Troopa, with the narrator saying that this area is where the journey to become superstar started with Koopa inviting Mario and the gang to journey through locations old and new to see who will be the superstar today. It's honestly so nice to just see a premise so simple like this feel like a true homage to the old games, unlike whatever the fuck The Top 100 tried to do. Now, the boards. Unfortunately, we’ve only got five here, which while pretty low, is still a perfectly fine amount in my eyes, especially considering how fun each of them are here. In the settings for the game, you can actually make it so that you can listen to the original versions of the background tracks for each board which is always a nice touch in these kinds of games, although I wish you could do the same for minigames. That isn’t to say that the new compositions are bad whatsoever, as this game’s soundtrack is the best we’ve had full-stop since the N64 era. It is also so fun to have Koopa Troopa recount the events that took place on each board back in the original games, while also giving the players a new task to accomplish if they become the superstar, although that latter part feels a little underbaked as there are never any cutscenes detailing what Koopa says, but it's still neat nonetheless and just acts as another pleasant wave of nostalgia. Starting off with the best board from Mario Party 1, we have Yoshi’s Tropical Island. The board works exactly as it did before, same with most boards in this game, with the only real differences being the spaces that occupy the board, as Superstars reintroduces several new spaces, with most carrying over from Super like the Lucky Space operating similarly to how they did before, the Item Space prompts an item minigame from either Mario Party 2 or 3, the VS Space returns but actually operates like Battle Minigames from older entries (finally), and the Chance Time Space finally makes a come back after so, so long of being absent in this series. On this board, Thwomps still block your path but will let you by if you pay them a certain amount of coins, Toadette with the star and Bowser will swap if an event space is landed on, Bowser gives you a useless item and takes your coins, same as ever, just as charming as ever, and it just looks incredible. Actually this whole game just looks stunning visually. Just beautiful all around. Space Land is next up, and despite it being one of the lesser boards in Mario Party 2 in my opinion, the new coat of paint that Superstars gives it turns it into a board that I find myself enjoying a ton more than the original version. I’m unsure how they pulled it off, but the board doesn’t seem as dauntingly huge this time around. Like the original version of the board felt so big that it was almost like it took forever to get from point A to B, but I don’t find that to be the case in Superstars despite the board layout being almost identical, like there’s a few spaces taken away and added in here and there, but still it feels a lot smaller and more compact. Maybe it’s because the spaces in Superstars’ version are a lot more spaced out (no pun intended), and that mixed with the improved movement speed allows playing on the board to feel a lot smoother of an overall experience. Otherwise, this board is the same. Shitty Thwomp drivers will chase you away, Snifit Police will chase you even further if paid, and Bowser’s laser canon will take your coins if you’re on this path when it goes off so watch out. Peach’s Birthday Cake is the other board returning from Mario Party 1, and honestly I’m shocked that they decided to bring it back at all. This board was previously my least favorite from that game just due to the monotony of it, but I’m pleased to say that this version fixes so much, making this into a really fun gimmicky board. Despite this version of the board, like Space Land, being practically just as big as it was in the original, it feels a lot quicker and smoother to traverse here, in some part due to the same reasons as before but also thanks to this game having items unlike the original that can help you get further, faster. But its mostly because the Flower Lottery has been revamped significantly, no longer being placed BEFORE the path to the star, either sending you there or to Bowser where he’ll take your coins while also making you loop around the entire board again for a second chance at the lottery and therefore the star; but instead not only is it now placed AFTER the path to the star, even if you are unlucky enough to lose the lottery and go to Bowser, you’ll end that loop being right in front of the path to the star again, so if you have enough coins, you’re already one step closer to the star than if someone won the lottery, AND there’s even an additional event space that acts as a shortcut so that you can bypass the lottery altogether. Revamping just this one area while also making the Piranha Plant traps much easier to access because instead of only being able to pay thirty coins to lay a star trap, you can now either pay thirty to do the same thing as before, but now also pay five coins to lay a simple coin trap, with signs for the player that owns that space now being added as well, all turn this shitty board into one that is always enjoyable to go back to. Woody Woods is next up, and also the only board from Mario Party 3 to make an appearance. This board is probably the most improved on a visual level; the original game featured this heavy toy box / storybook aesthetic with its boards, but Superstars revamped this board into a beautiful open forest with lush bushes and flowers, and a dark foggy area up top. This board also seems to be reduced in size in terms of how many spaces are in each path, which is the first to really do this out of the boards I’ve mentioned thus far. Nothing else is really all that different with Woody Woods, it's just an awesome board to play on, I love the sign mechanic, love Woody, love this board, also cool that it's on the box art. Last but certainly not least is my favorite Mario Party board full stop back from the grave, Horror Land. Now one thing I will say, is that while Horror Land is just as fun as ever with its impeccable day and night mechanic, a lot of the charm has been taken away from the original board, as a lot of the set dressing from that board, from the spooky houses to the spooky creatures like the ghosts walking down the highway beside the board, or the ghost taxi that broke through the guard railing; the pumpkin patch, the graveyards, the big squirt of ketchup made to look like blood; all of it gone and the board made much more generic. You could say the same about some of the other boards in here like Woody Woods, but I don’t know, this just seems to be the only unlucky board in terms of pure aesthetics to be dialed back significantly. All of that isn’t to say that the board isn’t fun by any means, because Horror Land is just as fun as it ever was while also being more compact. So overall despite my gripes with the removal of all of the charming stage elements, Horror Land is still a fantastic board all around, and still my favorite board in this game. So yeah, Superstars has a fantastic board selection, but how good is their cherry-picked minigame selection? Is this game’s top 100 better than the actual game called The Top 100? Well once again, the minigames present here are all phenomenal, every minigame that has been brought back plays excellently and have all been tweaked and improved phenomenally, with some of the good fixes from The Top 100 actually transferring over to this game, like with Dizzy Dancing, collecting multiple music notes to win instead of just the one, although Bumper Balls has been reduced back to being a minigame where you see ties far too much, but at least you still have the terrain differences from Mario Party 2’s version. A majority of the stinker minigames in here are ones brought back from 9 and 10, because for one none of the minigames from 10 were good anyway, and for 9 they didn’t bring back any of the good ones from that game. And even then there’s a bunch of minigames from other games that’ve been left out, so many good ones that there’s just too many to name, and there’s like almost zero representation from Mario Party 8, most likely this game’s insistence on only using button controls, to the point where they kept saying that as a main advertising point in the trailers, but I suppose they did around out a good even 100, with five extra minigames thrown in like some of the sports and puzzle ones from previous games, although Mario’s Puzzle Party should’ve been a regular minigame and not just in the extras. Also duel minigames have finally been brought back because duels themselves are back and work exactly as they did in Mario Party 2 and 3, you can duel for as many coins as you have, no stars like in the GameCube games. Anywho, here are my favorites: Mushroom Mix-Up (physics when jumping on people are fixed, but the high speed that the game later gains still allows for that hectic feel), Shy Guy Says (wish it was the Mario Party 2 version instead but this one is still just as fun and misleading as the OG), Crazy Cutters, Face-Lift, Dizzy Dancing, Hot Rope Jump, Sneak ‘n’ Snore, Mecha Marathon, Bowser’s Big Blast, Roll Call, Honeycomb Havoc, Snowball Summit (this minigame was been improved so much its not even funny, love the addition of the actual snow), Storm Chasers, Cheep Cheep Chance, Chip-Shot Challenge, Messy Memory, Trace Race, Booksquirm, Paths of Peril, Dinger Derby, Leaf Leap, Coney Island, Night-Light Fright, Later Skater, Catch You Letter, What Goes Up…, Snow Whirled, X-Ray Payday, Monty’s Revenge, Pokey Pummel, Goomba Spotting, Tug o’ War, Look Away, Quicksand Cache, Spotlight Swim, Hide-and-Sneak, Money Belts, Bobsled Run, Handcar Havoc, Balloon Burst, Cake Factory, Picking Panic, Eatsa Pizza, Dungeon Duos, Rocky Road, Paint Misbehavin’, Ticktop Hop, Vine with Me, Motor Rooter, Mass Meteor, and Spin Doctor. That is a pretty damn good list of minigames, and that’s even with so many other greats not being brought back. It's very rare when playing this game that a minigame that shows up is one I don’t like, which is how you know this selection is a damn good one. A couple things I should mention before concluding, a lot of elements of board gameplay have been significantly improved over the previous installment simply just because of how this game successfully brings back older elements and whatnot. Stars are back to being twenty coins, normal dice are finally back to rolling 1-10, items like the double dice, triple dice, Boo Bell, Chomp Call, the original Dueling Glove, and Skeleton Key are all back, meaning Boo functions as he did before (although he takes significantly less coins then he used to if you take that route), duels function as he did before, and the Chomp Call and Golden Pipe (which has been given a much better twenty-five coin price) work as the Lamps did in the N64 games; as I said before Chance Time is finally back, and just so much more shit brought back to just make board gameplay that much better. So to conclude, Mario Party Superstars is quite possibly one of the best Mario Party games in the series, in my eyes at least. Sure some people may prefer more popular picks like Mario Party 2, 3, 6, or maybe even DS, but this game just has it all with practically no real downsides. This was the game that encouraged and inspired me to check out the rest of the series’ catalog, because beforehand I had really only ever played DS, 10, and Super. My interest the Mario Party series as a whole wouldn’t have been sparked without this game introducing me to all of what this wonderful series has to offer. But yeah, this is THE Mario Party game, at least as of right now.