REVIEW: Mario Party Superstars is an excellent ode to the past

Table of Contents

1. What is Mario Party Superstars?
2. Creating disagreements with friends
3. The minigames and the dice
4. And the winner is…!
5. See also other features
   1. Mario Party Superstars is an excellent ode to the past
   2. Pros
   3. Cons

Have you ever heard that football expression that says that messing with a winning team is stupid? This is exactly the case for Mario Party superstars. First of all, it should be noted that this is the first Nintendo game to have Spanish Spanish subtitles for the Nintendo Switch. For this version, the developers took everything that was good from the previous titles in the franchise and put it in a package with over 100 minigames.

What is Mario Party Superstars?

The great thing about Mario Party Superstars is playing with friends. Up to four people can participate simultaneously with a single Nintendo Switch, just have extra controls for each of the friends. So you just need to select which board to play, roll the dice and fight for the stars and coins. In total, there are 5 boards available, all coming from the first three games in the franchise and having different difficulty levels.

Each of the stages has unique characteristics. Spaceland, for example, brings cars and a plasma gun shot can be activated and disrupt players. Eventually, gates that need keys to open may appear, as well as the Whomp (a stone character that usually crushes characters) that ask for coins to open the passage. My personal favorite was Medolândia, as it is reasonably large and has many alternative routes, being the most challenging for me.

Creating disagreements with friends

Before starting the match, you can control its duration, with options ranging from 10 rounds and 30 minutes to 30 rounds and 90 minutes long. That is, you who have complete control over it.

During the game, all characters have the right to have their own turn, where they may or may not use items and roll a dice. The number obtained can vary between 1 and 10, and the square where the character lands can give a bonus or a penalty. In regular houses, you can earn between 3 and 6 coins (depending on the state of the game), buy items in the store, face Bowser's House, buy a star and a number of other things, all at random.

At the end of each turn, the minigames begin, and this is where Mario Party Superstars shines immensely. There are 100 of them available, divided into the following categories: All vs All, 3 vs 1, 2 vs 2, Duels, Record, Collect Coins, Sports and Puzzle. The selection of the type and which event will take place is done randomly. None of them require motion controls, just the use of buttons and the analog stick (which, for me, was great).

At the end of the rounds, whoever has collected the most stars and coins is declared the big winner. Of course, we can sabotage the friend along the way, either by stealing their coins or eliminating the possessed stars. It's really great fun to compete with other people.

However, when we play alone, I don't feel the game is as fun as it is in a group. Although the machine creates problems during the game, it's not the same thing, and the great thing about Mario Party Superstars is being with friends. It is also possible to play via the internet, but the connection is not always the best, so it is easier to gather the crowd in the living room.

The minigames and the dice

It is also possible to completely ignore the board and play only the minigames present in Mario Party Superstars. Here it's almost like a training session, and they can all be picked and played as many times as they want. One thing that really caught my attention in them was their graphic quality.

All the screens that have water, lava and other variants turned out magnificent. Not to mention the lighting, shadows and other effects, which are really impressive by series and console standards. It is further proof that Nintendo has mastered the way to create games for the Nintendo Switch.

Whenever we play on the board or play free games from minigames, we acquire coins. They can be used in the Toad Shop to purchase a variety of items, such as stickers that can be shown to friends on the board, card themes, encyclopedia pages, and songs. New items become available for sale as we level up, which happens when we participate in minigames or on the board.

This information can be checked at Casa dos Dados. Here we can also see which achievements are present in the game. There are a total of 50 of them available to be won, and another 10 playing online. It would be even better if the Nintendo Switch had an achievement system for its games, but since it doesn't, developers have to make do with that within each game.

And the winner is…!

Without a shadow of a doubt, Mario Party Superstars is, with absolute certainty, one of the best collections of minigames ever produced. With beautiful graphics and very precise controls, you can have fun for several hours, especially with friends. Choosing among the franchise's already released games was a tremendous success. The option to play in Spanish for Spain was a pleasant surprise, although some names were peculiar, to say the least. If you're looking for something to have fun with the family, give this great Nintendo release a shot.

A copy of Mario Party Superstars was granted by the developer.