Mario Party is a game that can either strengthen or ruin friendships. It has always been a competitive style game, as gamers fight to see who will become the Superstar and get bragging rights over their friends or family. Over the years, several Mario Party games have been released—which have experimented with different features and brought various changes in style, to say the least.
Certain games are better played with family than friends, while some aren't too compelling to play solo or with others... Which iterations of the classic party hold up today, and which ones bring the party to a screeching halt? While it may be clear to some, where they all stack up is a question only answerable through analysis.
Updated May 9, 2022 by Stephen LaGioia: Over the years and decades, the Mario Party series made a name for itself as a staple party franchise and a timeless go-to for social gatherings. The past decade or so hasn't been quite as kind to the series, with the underwhelming Wii U and DS titles as well as the divisive debut on Switch.
But for many fans—especially of an old-school bent—the party is back in full swing with the 2021 release of Mario Party Superstars. With so many classic minigames, the title reminds fans what made the series so appealing, and rounds out the ever-growing MP lineup quite nicely.
17 Mario Party Advance
Is it even fair to call this a Mario Party game? It uses dice to move around a board and technically features minigames. But that's really the closest it comes to being a Mario Party game. Firstly, it’s more focused on being a single-player adventure; collecting gadgets and minigames to rebuild the area Bowser has taken.
There are six areas in Shroom City that players explore to collect minigames without losing all their lives. When the title highlights that the game is a “Party on the Go,” many didn’t expect this to be the product, especially when it came out after Mario Party 6.
16 Mario Party: Island Tour
Released for the 3DS, Mario Party: Island Tour looked to be an answer to original fans of the series, gearing towards a more independent style of play, allowing players to move separately.
While that is true, the other changes that were made were far worse. This game is soaked with luck-based boards and minigames. Each board gives a Mushroom Ranking for Skill, Luck, and Minigames—though frankly it would make sense to have four mushrooms offered from luck. While creative attempts are made (especially with the Bowser board), the start-to-finish stages, Mini-Stars, and over reliance on luck makes the game poorly designed.
15 Mario Party: The Top 100
Over the years and across tons of Mario Party games, people are sure to have some favorites after all this time. However, it still doesn't make much sense for Nintendo to release a compilation of the "best" mini-games on the 3DS.
Many consider this a rather blatant cash grab from Nintendo. Although it features some genuinely beloved classic mini-games, others really seem like pointless inclusions. More problematic however is the lack of any game boards which strip away one of the core aspects of the series. Combine this with a lack of playable characters and the result is one of the more tepid packages from the Big N.
14 Mario Party: Star Rush
Mario Party: Star Rush, is one of the most forgettable entries despite being on the unique 3DS hardware. It also makes the curious decision to not allow gamers to select their own player. Even Mario Party: Island Tour has the respect to allow players to pick the character they want.
In this game's main mode, Toad Scramble, players play as Toad and move around the board defeating bosses to collect stars and coins. However, unless a player passes by another character, they only get to play as Toad. This created the ally mechanic, allowing players to recruit characters to help them hit dice blocks or even help in minigames. This was also one of the most unbalanced mechanics—which was brought into Super Mario Party.
13 Mario Party 10
Being on Wii U, the game looks good, but little else can be said for it. It doesn’t change the style from Mario Party 9, at least when it comes to gameplay. Players move with others around a board, collecting Mini-Stars and defeating bosses to become the Superstar. There are more memorable characters here as well. The game brings back Donkey Kong, as well as adding new faces such as Spike and Rosalina.
However, this game brought one of the most unbalanced game modes in a Mario Party game, known as Bowser Party. This allowed five players to play, with four working together to get to the end of the board before Bowser (the fifth player) takes their HP away. With the increase of luck-based outcomes, Bowser had an unbelievable advantage since most of the spaces on the board helped him instead of the others.
12 Mario Party DS
Mario Party's debut on Nintendo's DS was met with mixed reception, to say the least. Considering the potential of the unique hardware features of the handheld, one would have expected a far more interesting take on the franchise. The story mode—kicked off by Bowser shrinking Mario and crew—is underwhelming and basic, which is a shame given the lack of online support.
The use of both screens and touch controls, while present, isn't too well utilized and doesn't add much to the experience. Still, it's hard to shrug off a whopping 74 minigames in addition to four-player wireless multiplayer support.
11 Mario Party 9
One could say that the real descent of the Mario Party series began here. Mario Party 9 introduced a new type of gameplay style. Players now travel together and take turns going along a linear path, collecting Mini-Stars and defeating bosses in hopes to become the Superstar. However, while the boss battles are a good change of pace, the loss of independence hinders the game greatly.
Mario Party, while having lots of luck-based aspects to it, also allowed players to choose their own path to collect items, extra coins or land on specific spaces. This game lets other players make those choices, taking away from the control that players who were fans of the previous series once had.
10 Mario Party 8
As the first Mario Party to release on Nintendo's most successful home console, Mario Party 8 had quite a bit to live up to. To the relief of many, the game comes together to form one of the better releases in the series.
While motion controls have largely petered out over the years, the way they are implemented in Mario Party 8 makes sense as a casual party game to bust out with non-gaming friends. While not too strong on the board game front, the core minigames are solid enough to keep the game feeling fresh. Perhaps most importantly though, this is the only Mario Party game on the Wii to still have the traditional gameplay structure of the franchise. Absent are the divisive car or Mini Star gimmicks of 9 and 10.
9 Mario Party 4
Graphically speaking, the first Mario Party game on the Gamecube was a massive leap forward for the franchise. However, later entries on the purple cube would improve upon this in every way, leaving no reason to return to Mario Party 4. In fairness, though, there were a few standouts here, such as Bob-omb Breakers and the fan-favorite Booksquirm.
Mario Party 4's boards are huge which leads to many games feeling like a drag. While there are few hidden gems in here, there are a number of forgettable (and downright bad) minigames in the package. While the game might have been seen as a big leap forward at the time, there's little about MP4 that stands out nowadays.
8 Mario Party 7
Fans often debate whether the sixth or seventh entries in the franchise reign supreme, as they're similar and near in quality. Mario Party 7 added the 8-Player mechanic, allowing four teams of two to compete on the same boards to become Superstars. This brought 8-Player minigames—with activities including jumping rope and hitting switches quickly to avoid being shocked. A high mark for the game is the music.
Even the music when winning a minigame is catchy. The tune when receiving a Star makes it feel like the player's accomplished something spectacular. The minigames in Mario Party 7 are also some of the most balanced in terms of luck and skill, even though the single-player Bowser minigames are mostly luck-based.
7 Mario Party 5
Mario Party 5 highlighted Nintendo’s creativity in it. The boards, based on specific types of dreams, gave that imaginative touch to it that gave roots back to Mario Party 1 and 2.
The story mode in this game was unique as well, having the player compete against Bowser’s Koopa Kids to eliminate their coins by competing in minigames or using capsules, which were also introduced in this game. The capsule system was something that was kept for two games after this and was only improved on by the other games.
6 Mario Party 6
While Mario Party 6's story mode may not be as extensive as MP7, this game brings a particularly notable feature: day and night transitions. With this, stages could have paths open and close, new interactions occur when landing on a Happening Space, or, with stages such as Clockwork Castle, the movement and goal of the stage would shift. But at night, players need to run away from Bowser, or else they will lose coins or Stars when he catches up to them.
The music and look of this game outshine MP7, and the minigames prove creative, even changing depending on the time of day. In the standout minigame “What Goes Up…,” when played in the daytime, players scale clouds to be the highest player before time runs out. At night, however, players fall to see who can make it to the bottom the fastest.
5 Super Mario Party
By the time the Nintendo Switch came around in 2017, the Mario Party franchise was in desperate need of a return to prominence. After the last two main console entries failed to impress long-time fans, Super Mario Party came in to provide some welcome additions to the formula.
While the game isn't perfect by any means, the addition of character-specific dice implements a layer of strategy absent from previous games. As well, the nature of the console itself allows for unique interactions among players never before seen in the franchise. As of now, Nintendo has yet to release any significant updates to the game; and that's a shame as this was a good base to build upon.
4 Mario Party
Some gamers will still swear by this nostalgic classic on Nintendo 64, understandably so. Yet, it's tough to deny that the first entry in this series hasn't aged that well—with its crude visuals, spotty controls, and lack of features. The legends are true, the controls for some mini-games in this title could really wear on one's hands and yes—Nintendo really did get so many complaints that they had to send out gloves to concerned parents.
Aside from that however, the boards and gameplay structure are fairly unbalanced, which can really be too much when factoring in features like "Chance Time". While respect must be given to the game which started it all, doesn't quite stand at "top tier" level like it once did.
3 Mario Party 3
One of the best aspects of Mario Party 3 was its story mode. Players needed to collect Star Stamps in order to return their world back to normal at the hands of the Millennium Star. Players would first play a board to collect the most Stars, and then face off in 1v1 specific boards that were a mixture of a party mode and Pokemon, gathering up to two partners to fight the opponent’s partner to get to attack them directly, taking away their HP.
This was also the introduction of a final boss battle that players could actually play, instead of simply watching. This game also had some of the best minigame balance of all the titles, focusing on mostly skill-based minigames while also having some luck thrown in. Mario Party 3 also added two new characters to the game, Waluigi and Princess Daisy.
2 Mario Party 2
The creativity and off-the-wall nature of this game is similar to that of Mario Party 5. In case the player has ever wished Mario to be a cowboy or wizard, Mario Party 2 satisfies this by having boards with particular themes and dressing up characters to fit those roles. This adds some thematic flair to the boards, which themselves are a degree more interesting than the first MP.
The minigames in Mario Party 2 were some of the most memorable, bringing iconic games such as Face Lift back from the first game and refining them. One notable added feature involves the winner of each board fighting Bower, who is also amusingly dressed in along the lines of each theme. Take on the Koopa King in a standoff to see who wins!
1 Mario Party Superstars
Dynamic, vibrant, and full of addictive multiplayer content—this entry is truly a culmination of classic Mario Party. It's the Top 100 on steroids; being much deeper, more appealing, and well-craft.
The game injects just about everything fans love about the old titles with retro boards and hit minigames like Bumper Balls. At the same time, the game feels quite modern, with gorgeous visuals, quality-of-life tweaks, and (finally) solid online support. This game strips away the fluff and gimmicks of certain prior entries—in favor of classic gameplay and pure MP bliss.