Today is a special day for Mario and the gang, as it is the 21st anniversary of the original Mario Party's release in the United States and Canada. One can only hope that the game's 21st birthday doesn't mean the party will get too rowdy, but it does present a good opportunity to look back at a franchise now 21 years old which is still going, with the latest release being Super Mario Party in 2018. Some players may remember the game differently depending on how old they were upon its release, but none can deny that the game revolutionized the party game genre of video games.
For those unaware, Mario Party released in Japan in December of 1998, but celebrates its 21st birthday today for the United States and Canadian releases. The game featured a board game like approach where the player would collect coins and stars in an attempt to get more than the other players, but was characterized by its unique and enjoyable mini games. Since February 8th, 1999, the Mario Party franchise has grown significantly, now boasting an impressive 11 main entries and 6 side entries, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon. What does the future hold for Mario Party?
Mario Party (1998/1999)
The game that started it all, the original Mario Party proved to be great fun for not just kids, but their families too. Mario Party was praised for the social elements it helped cultivate in gaming, and had a strong presence as a multiplayer game. Featuring six playable characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, DK, Yoshi, and Wario) and 50 minigames, the game certainly did not lack for replayability, and paired with its unique party mode was a ton of fun. Even if players ran out of things to do, they wouldn't have to wait long for more, as just the following year Mario Party 2 released.
Mario Party 2 through 8 (1999 - 2008)
Over the next 9 years, the Mario Party franchise would see the release of seven games. That's one per year with only two one year gaps. For the most part, these games were very similar to each other, but usually had more characters, new mini games, and some kind of unique feature. Mario Party 8, for example, boasted 14 characters, more than double what Mario Party started with and around 80 minigames. It's worth noting as well, that each game reused very few minigames, usually introducing completely original and inventive concepts for new mini games.
Additionally, Mario Party 8 was the first Mario Party game (and one of the first games in general) which allowed eight players to play together on one system. Although this system was somewhat gimicky, requiring players to share controllers, it was nonetheless innovative. Mario Party 8 was also the 11th best selling Wii game, and remains the best-selling main entry Mario Party game to this day despite poor critic reception. Across the board, critics claimed the game was far too similar to the other eight games, and this could explain why such a large gap persisted between subsequent entries.
Mario Party 9, 10, and Super Mario Party (2012-2018)
After the longest gap between Mario Party games ever, Mario Party 9 finally released in 2012, and would be followed by two more Mario Party games over the course of the next six years. Up until this point, the Mario Party series was developed by Hudson Soft, but after most of Hudson Soft's employees moved to work at NDcube, development shifted to it instead. NDcube has since developed every Mario Party game, but aside from some minor changes, has stayed mostly true to the formula of its predecessors. That said, the large gap between these games (three years each) could be explained by the systems on which they released.
NDcube released their first Mario Party game, Mario Party 9, immediately after obtaining the rights to development, and released it on the most current Nintendo console at the time, the Wii. Unlike Hudson Soft before them, though, they saw no need to release yearly updates, and instead waited until 2015 to release Mario Party 10 on the Wii U. Finally, in 2018, NDcube released their most recent Mario Party game, Super Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch. Although there is little information about when the next generation Nintendo console will be revealed, it has almost been three years since the last Mario Party game already, meaning something may be coming soon.
Unfortunately, there were some changes which fans truly disliked. The main example of this would be the car system used in Party Mode. Rather than traversing the board individually, all players are in one car with each other, and effectively take turns driving around the whole party. This removed a lot of strategy from a game which already didn't have a wealth of such things, and left a lot to chance or the whims of other players. Thankfully, though, this mechanic was removed from Super Mario Party after being the subject of many complaints.
Mario Party's Future
As stated before, fans may well be due for a new Mario Party game soon, though what this will be called is anyone's guess. The decision to title the latest Mario Party game Super Mario Party rather than Mario Party 11 could be an indicator that it was the final game fans should expect from the franchise, but that seems unlikely and is based wholly on speculation. That said, Super Mario Party did a lot of what people wanted, returning to the roots of the series, including the largest roster ever of 20 characters (although it still does not include every playable character ever like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), and supporting online multiplayer.
Whether another Mario Party game lies in store remains to be seen. At the very least, the next main entry will likely come out with or shortly after Nintendo's next generation console, but even that isn't guaranteed. Either way, 21 years of Mario Party has certainly served fans well, and will likely not be forgotten any time soon. If any readers still have their Nintendo 64 packed away somewhere, today would be the best day to dig it out and break out that old copy of Mario Party.
Mario Party is available now on Nintendo 64.