Introduction
A new game that has been recently released is now being reviewed by Reviews by Supersven, Mario Party Superstars! This game wanted to take Mario Party back to the roots, however this time Nintendo messed up big time! Whereas the previous game was great with many mechanics and different game modes, this game does not even have a story or challenge mode! There is not even a team mode, this game is horrible but let us jump into that in the gameplay section! There will be no story section in this review.
What did I think before playing Mario Party Superstars?
My wife and I were very happy to see a new Mario Party game come around when we watched the Nintendo Direct, with the previous game having great new mechanics, a lot of fun mini-games, many characters to choose from and an amazing team mode! If they would stick to that and improve upon the mechanics, keep the characters and indeed use the old boards, this game would be a great success! For more information, we went to the Nintendo Page!
The Nintendo Page
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/mario-party-superstars-switch/
Where I was very excited when I saw the Super Mario Party Nintendo Page, this game did not excite me as much, nor did it my wife. A complete section is about online gameplay, for which you also need a subscription service. There is not a list of what boards or characters would be available. There will be only old mini-games, while this is fun, they could have also added new mini-games to create a huge roster of games!
Rating
I rate Mario Party Superstars with a 5.5 before playing.
Even though we pre-ordered this game, we quickly regretted our decision to buy this game. It also seems that the amazing unique dice from the previous game, Super Mario Party, would be removed!
Gameplay
We booted up the game and started setting up a party, we looked and looked but nowhere there was a story mode! There are also no unlockable secret characters or boards. We did find a mini-game mode, but it just that, free play for mini-games. Sad to see no challenge mode or story mode to be unlocked we started looking at the available characters, alas our favorite characters shy guy and boo were not available. There are fewer characters available than in the previous Mario Party.
After choosing a character we wanted to start a team mode match, we love playing together, not against each other. However, there is no team mode at all! No co-operating in this game, only PVP. I know this game was supposed to go back to the roots, but why go back to no team mode as it was on the Nintendo 64? I know this was impossible in Mario Party 1,2 and 3 due to technical reason. Team mode has been a thing since Mario Party 4!
There are no mini-games that are new in Mario Party Superstars, while the old mini-games are fun remastered and can fill you with nostalgia, but there is no reason to dispose of good mechanics that have been embedded in Mario Party due to new technology being available. Even though I have seen good reviews on this game, I cannot understand why, this game is mostly online focused, a cash grab if you will.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Mario Party Superstars with a 1.0
It pains me to give this low of a rating to a Mario Party game. All you can gain from this game is nostalgia.
The shop is even worse than it was in Mario Party 1, that very old first game had even more boards, the shop was better, the mini-games were better. Despite only having six characters due to technical reason. To compensate for this, there were unlockable boards in Mario Party 1!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics in this game are the only good thing of Mario Superstars. The boards look fun, but this brings up another big problem. When you start a board, the announcer mentions evil roaring up and needing a superstar, like in Mario Party 2. However, when you win, nothing happens, no scene, nothing. Whereas in Mario Party 2, an amazing (yes, with old graphics) cut scene plays! This means that they rushed the game, instead of taking longer and making the game as it should have been.
Sound
The soundtracks are good in this game as they invoke nostalgia. This cash grab however, does so to entice you with great soundtracks and old boards to buy this game, you will soon live to regret it.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Mario Party Superstars with a 3.0
Even though this game has amazing graphics and soundtracks, it is missing some vital cutscenes and more. Where is the talking parrot?
What did I think after playing Mario Party Superstars
My wife and I were shocked at the abhorrent state that this game is in. The mechanics that have been ripped to shreds, to try and emulate the old school Mario Party. If this is what they wanted to achieve, they just needed to remaster the old Mario Party. While the gameplay is reminiscent of that, it is not what the previous Mario Party did. Is this bad? Not at all, but the execution of Mario Superstars is horrible!
While the boards are fun, the gameplay is horrible for a co-op experience. If I wanted to play like this, we would go back to Mario Party 1,2 or 3! This should have been a remaster. Instead, this is a cash grab that appeals to nostalgia and good reviews of players that did not know the original games. Old fans of Mario Party got thrown some bait, took it and came out robbed of their money!
Rating
I rate Mario Party Superstars with a 2.0 after playing.
I just wanted a team mode and a story mode, and the game would have been stupendously amazing!
What are my personal thoughts about Mario Party Superstars?
I did like the boards, but there is just too much of the good mechanics missing that have been fine-tuned over the years. Remember the horrible mini mushrooms in Mario Party 4? This may sound harsh but, to me, it feels like an indie company stole assets from Nintendo and tried to make their own Mario Party! I hope Nintendo updates the game with many more things to come instead of selling us bread crumbs in the form of DLC!
Rating
My personal Rating of Mario Party Superstars is a 2.0
I rather go back to Super Mario Party.
Last Words
Pros
- Experience nostalgia with old boards and mini-games.
- See the old mushroom town from Mario Party 1 in high definition.
Cons
- There is no story mode
- There is no team mode
- There are no unlockable characters.
- There are no unlockable boards.
- The shop in the game is useless.
- There are no new mini-games
- Shy Guy and other favorites are not playable characters.
- There are no epic cutscenes at the end of a match like in Mario Party 1 or 2.
- This game is online focused
- There is no talking parrot.
This is a cash grab, simple as that. If you like nostalgia, you are better off playing the original Mario Party 1.
Final Rating
2,9
Let me know what you think of Mario Party Superstars in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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I don’t have experience with any Mario Party game, but they look like fun. All I need is a few people to play with 😛
I don’t think I’ll ever buy one.
I am going to hazard a guess and say you didn´t love it. 😉
That is not even the issue, I actually liked the idea of Nintendo. Almost all the original mechanics which were present in the N64 original Mario Party are not there. This is what they wanted to deliver, but it is far from that. This was a quickly rushed game to earn some money, not a well-thought plan.
Seems Nintendo did some unnecessary changes to classic formulas.
Like, remove them all!
i wish it released for steam.
agree
I don’t wish it released for Steam 😛
Nintendo Games? Yes! This game? Nope not for me, I rather have a game with good mechanics!
Damn, I think that’s the most Cons I’ve ever seen in your reviews. I wanted to play it, not anymore.
You are better off buying Mario Party Superstars!
Valuable review if it is worse in every aspect from previous parts (but rating would be better if you never played previous parts i guess? 😉 )
I think the rating would still be lower, since it missing core mechanics but the fact that they use nostalgia to make a cash grab makes it even worse!
after reading your review I’m changing my mind… it seemed like lots of fun, but now it’s meeeeh and easy pass…
You are better off getting Super Mario Party!
not my cup of tea
Not mine either!
Seems like a cashgrab using your nostalgia and hardcore fans.
yeah, it is, they removed all the fun mechanics!
My palm still hurts from mario party 2
hahaha, I remember that feeling, it was horrible!
Man, you made a 2 hour video on a trash game!
Welp, we try to do our best, even if the game is not good! This is a game where our excitement was bombarded with bad gameplay, and it turned sour quite fast!
Great game to play with friends