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Mario Party: Star Rush

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Mario Party: Star Rush
North American box art for Mario Party: Star Rush with a red box
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer NDcube
CAProduction
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
Release date Europe October 7, 2016
Australia October 8, 2016
Japan October 20, 2016
HK October 20, 2016
ROC October 20, 2016
USA November 4, 2016
South Korea April 27, 2017
Genre Party
Rating(s)
ESRB:E - Everyone
PEGI:3 - Three years and older
CERO:A - All ages
ACB:G - General
USK:0 - All ages
Mode(s) Single player, Local multiplayer
Media
Nintendo 3DS:
Game Card
Digital download
Input
Nintendo 3DS:
Product ID(s) LNA-CTR-BAAE-USA (North America)

Mario Party: Star Rush is a game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the second Mario Party game released for the system after Mario Party: Island Tour, and the fifteenth game overall (twenty-second if arcade games are counted). The game, as with most entries of the Mario Party series, is a multiplayer-oriented party game, where up to four players compete in an interactive, digital board for the most stars. What sets this game apart from its precedents in the Mario Party series is its main mode, Toad Scramble, where, instead of players using designated Super Mario characters from the start, take control of a color-coded member of the Toad species and collect Super Mario characters around the board. Also unlike other Mario Party games, all players move at one turn, streamlining the gameplay. The board designs are non-linear as well, also unlike previous boards in the Mario Party series, where players travel in a straight line around the boards. This concept is retained in Mario Party: The Top 100 in the Minigame Match mode and Super Mario Party in the Partner Party mode. The game is compatible with amiibo, which have various different uses depending on the mode that is played on. The game requires 3018 blocks for a digital download from the Nintendo eShop.

Mario Party: Star Rush also has a version of the game called Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest. This app can be downloaded off the Nintendo eShop for free. While it can be played alone with very restricted minigames, the primary focus of the app is to play full multiplayer with other players with only one game cartridge. If a player buys Mario Party: Star Rush, they can transfer saved data from Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest to the game.

Gameplay

Gameplay of the Toad Scramble mode in Mario Party: Star Rush
Gameplay of Toad Scramble, the main mode.

Mario Party: Star Rush's board gameplay is the main focus of the game. Players traverse around a board, using a Dice Block numbered from 1-6. Due to the nature of the boards, most spaces landed on the boards in Mario Party: Star Rush do not trigger a special effect, while there are very few spaces that do: for example, specifically landing on a ? Block space grants the player a random item for use. Minigames can be collected from playing Toad Scramble, Balloon Bash, and Coinathlon, with both modes having different ways play a minigame; in Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash, for example, players need to pass a Coin Balloon to trigger a minigame.

Toad Scramble is the only mode where players cannot choose a designated Super Mario character, instead, starting out with a colored member of the Toad species, corresponding to a player; said Super Mario characters can be used only when collected in the board, set as the leader, or with a use of an amiibo. In all other modes, however, players can choose and play as a specific Super Mario character, including Toad himself as an option if players wish to play as a Toad in other modes.

Game modes

Wario in the main hub for Mario Party: Star Rush
The main hub of the game.

Ten game modes appear in Mario Party: Star Rush. At the beginning, the Toad Scramble mode is the only mode players can play, however, players unlock other modes as they play the game.

The game features a hub for a main menu, where players can visit areas by either using touchscreen controls or moving around. Toad is the default character, but players can change their hub character by visiting the Character Museum. When players reach Level Star, a giant gold Mario statue can be seen over the Character Museum.

Toad Scramble

“Compete to win the most Stars! Nab Stars by getting 1st place in boss battles and by trading your coins at the end of the game.”
Toad Scramble pause screen description
Gameplay of the Toad Scramble mode in Mario Party: Star Rush
A player acquiring Yoshi in Toad Scramble.

Up to four players can enjoy Toad Scramble, the central mode of Mario Party: Star Rush. Each player in the beginning starts out with a member of the Toad species, where their colors correspond to each player: red being Player 1, blue being Player 2, green being Player 3, and yellow being Player 4. Players are then notified of the appearance of a boss character in the map, as well as potential ally characters that the Toads can recruit. The goal of the game is to amass the most Stars, and players can retrieve Stars by placing first in boss minigames. Players can face off against bosses by landing on the space in front of them. Every time a boss minigame is completed, a new boss appears on the board in a different spot. Up to five bosses can appear on a board; the number of bosses faced is dependent on which board was selected. When a player plays against a boss, other players need to tap A Button to travel to the boss space to participate as well.

An Ally Duel taking place between Donkey Kong and Yellow Toad in Mario Party: Star Rush
An Ally Duel taking place between Donkey Kong and Yellow Toad

When players recruit ally characters, the ally characters help out by increasing dice roll amounts with their own special Dice Blocks and helping the players earn points simultaneously in Boss Battle minigames. Ally characters have certain field abilities unique to them as well; for example, Mario can stomp on Goombas in grass while Princess Peach can make flowers bloom. Whenever a player recruits an ally character, they can switch characters before the start of any turn in order to directly use them. Up to four ally characters can be recruited for each team, having five characters in total at play. Players can duel for each other's ally characters by participating in an Ally Duel, either by landing on the same space as another player or by using a Duel Glove. When an Ally Duel is triggered, one of the several events happen. One event is a Dice Block roll: the two players roll a die; whoever rolls higher wins. Another event has players choose cards with numbers facing upside-down; whoever picks a higher numbered card wins. The last event is stopping a displayed, then hidden timer for 5 seconds: whoever stops closer to 5 seconds wins. When players win an Ally Duel, they can select and steal an ally from the losing player. If the losing player does not have an ally character, the winning player earns coins instead.

Dotted throughout the board are coins that can be collected by running through them. Players can land on special spaces as well, such as a ? Block, which gives players an item that can help players and hinder their opponents. Players can land on a Lakitu space, where at a fee of one coin, players can travel to another player's space, where an Ally Duel occurs if this happens. Cannons can blast players to marked locations elsewhere on the board. Some boards come with unique features, such as World 2-2 featuring Peepas impersonating as allies and punishing players that pick them up, or rising lava in World 4-1 that burns players who are too low in elevation to other areas of the board as well as taking away some coins.

When a player passes through a Coin Balloon, the player earns coins, as well as starting a minigame. Similar to the Battle minigames of previous Mario Party installments, the player who landed on the space can choose a minigame out of four randomly selected, rather than traditionally letting a roulette decide which minigame to play. Duel Balloons function in a similar manner, except the player who wins first place in the minigame can select and steal an ally from another player; if the minigame ends in a tie, a card duel similar to the one in an Ally Duel is played to determine who can steal allies.

In the final board of each World, Bowser always appears as the final boss. When a Boss Battle is about to be started with him, he punishes the player furthest from him in a variety of ways, decided by a roulette similar to events from Bowser Spaces from previous entries. If a player does not have the items Bowser demands, Bowser either does nothing or rewards them instead, depending on the penalty.

At the end of the game, the game rewards bonus coins (if the game is not played on any World 0 board) for the following criteria being met. Three of these criteria are chosen at random:

  • Wanderer Bonus: Awarded to players who started the least Boss Battles.
  • Loner Bonus: Awarded to players who have spent the least amount of time with any allies.
  • Slowpoke Bonus: Awarded to players who moved the least in the board.
  • Sightseer Bonus: Awarded to players who have moved the most in the board.
  • Item Bonus: Awarded to players who have collected the most items, including items collected by characters' abilities.
  • Balloon Bonus: Awarded to players who have popped the most balloons, including Coin Balloons and Duel Balloons.
  • Duel Bonus: Awarded to players who have won the most Ally Duels.
  • Champion Bonus: Awarded to players who have won the most minigames.

After these have been awarded, players are awarded with a Lucky Ally bonus for coins, which can be any ally partner, including amiibo characters. Coins are then converted to Stars, with every 10 coins equaling one Star. Whichever player has the most Stars at the end of the game is the winner. Depending on how many Stars were earned, players can earn a Star Rush or, with many Stars earned, a Super Star Rush, and the game marks maps that these accolades have been won in.

Coinathlon

“Play minigames to earn coins as you race around a track! Each coin moves you forward one space. Use items to help you reach the finish line first!”
Coinathlon pause screen description
Coinathlon from Mario Party: Star Rush
Toadette participating in Coinathlon with three other players.

In a mode that up to four players can play, players must collect as many coins as they can in a set of three 60-second designated coin minigames, labeled under "Coin Chaos" to progress a set number of laps around a map. As players collect coins in minigames, they proceed through the map as the minigames happen. Players can earn a variety of items via collecting coins; when characters collect enough coins, a transparent box containing an item shows up. Players can retrieve the item by touching the box, and when players press X Button, they can momentarily use that item to either stun their opponents or help them gain an advantage in collecting coins. The items available are Coin Trio, Blooper, Lava Bubble, Lightning Bolt, Kamek, Double Medal, and Coin Bag, and the frequency of these items change depending on the placement of the players. Initially, the three minigames start out as Level 1 minigames, but after one cycle of all three minigames, a Level 2 variation of the three minigames are played, where there are more hazards and coins to collect, and it goes up to Level 3, the most challenging variation of the minigames. Whichever player crosses the finish line first wins the game. Records are kept for the time spent on a course; when players complete a course faster, the high score will be overwritten by a new one.

In longer games, Bowser can show up to force players to play Bowser's Gauntlet minigames; players first receive a warning when a Bowser's Gauntlet minigame will occur, which occurs before the next minigame. Players need to survive the minigames; when players get eliminated, they get sent back a number of spaces, depending on how early they got eliminated. If players survive the minigame, they receive no penalty.

Coinathlon comes in two modes. One mode is Free Play Mode, where players can choose the number of players, laps, and minigames available. In the other mode, Rival Race, players can take on a series of challenges to try to earn 10 consecutive wins. The further the player gets in the challenge, the harder the challenges get.

In multiplayer versions of this mode, players cannot play against computer opponents.

Mario Shuffle

Mario Shuffle gameplay in Mario Party: Star Rush
Mario Shuffle in play.
“Be first to get your character pieces to the other side of the board! Move strategically, and don't let rivals land on your spaces!”
Mario Shuffle pause screen description

Mario Shuffle is a two-player oriented game mode that focuses on amiibo functionality. Players race across a linear, one-way board to a goal with amiibo. The red team tries to make it to the very right of the board, while the blue team tries to make it to the left side of the board. Players roll two dice, and allow the outcome of the dice to affect two figurines. When a player crosses an opposing piece, the player jumps over the piece, making that piece unable to move for one turn. If a player lands on an opposing piece, the player knocks the piece back to the start of the board. Players can land on spaces that either make the piece continue further or move back, depending on the directions on the space. If players do not have amiibo, a cardboard cut-out of a player character is used instead. A total amount of six characters can be used, each split into two teams of three. The first team who makes it across the board to their goal wins the game.

Unlike other modes, CPU opponents are decided randomly and cannot be manually changed.

Balloon Bash

This section is about the game mode in Mario Party: Star Rush. For the minigame in Mario Party 10, see Balloon Blast Bash.
“Compete to collect the most Stars! Grab coins from Coin Balloons, and battle it out in minigames. Exchange your coins for Stars by grabbing Star Balloons.”
Balloon Bash pause screen description
Balloon Bash from Mario Party: Star Rush
Gameplay of Balloon Bash.

Up to four players must collect coins and stars on a mini board with 10, 20, or 30 turns and minigames after a player touches a coin balloon. The gameplay is very similar to Toad Scramble, except players navigate through smaller boards and are able to use designated Super Mario characters rather than a player Toad, and the main goal of the game is to collect the most Stars from Star Balloons that can appear in parts of the board. Players can earn Stars if they spend 10 coins on arrival with a Star Balloon. Star Balloons can come in twos or threes, and players can purchase multiple of them at once if they have the funds. When a Coin Duel is initiated, just as an Ally Duel for Toad Scramble, whichever player wins the Coin Duel earns coins.

Similar to Toad Scramble, in the last parts of the game, the game rewards the players in last place with an item, such as a Duel Glove or extra coins. At the end, results are tallied up, with Bonus Stars given depending on the players' performances. Most of these bonuses are the same from Toad Scramble, barring some features exclusive to Toad Scramble. Also similar to Toad Scramble, players can earn Star Rushes and Super Star Rushes if they have enough Stars.

Rhythm Recital

Rhythm Recital from Mario Party: Star Rush
Players in Rhythm Recital.

Up to four players can cooperate and play classic Super Mario tunes using the touchscreen or by tapping A Button with correct timing. Players can initially choose an instrument from the orchestra instrumental set, which each has a different set of notes while the percussion set is unlocked when the players achieve an A rank on 5 different songs. After every song, the player is graded due to their performance: attaining a lot of "Perfects" grades players higher while missing some notes degrades the score. Players can select CPU players to fill in player slots, however, they have no effect on the performance and are therefore props. There are ten songs in total:

In-game text
  • ♪Perform to the beat of the music notes!
Controls
  • A Button/Stylus – Perform

Challenge Tower

“Climb to the top while avoiding hidden Amps! Yellow, red, and purple spaces mean there are Amps nearby, so climb with caution!”
Challenge Tower pause screen description
Challenge Tower from Mario Party: Star Rush
Luigi in Challenge Tower.

A single player mode where the player climbs a tower with glowing spaces on it. Players need to pay attention to the color of the spaces as they ascend, while also avoiding Amps on their way up to the tower. Blue spaces are safe to proceed in any direction, yellow means that there is an Amp in one direction, red means there are two Amps in two directions, and purple means there are three Amps in three directions. Black spaces are the ones that are not climbed on at the moment. X spaces mean that these spaces cannot be climbed on. Players can mark spaces with a checkmark by pressing A Button, B Button, X Button, and Y Button buttons to help mark locations with Amps in them. Amps cannot be adjacent to each other. At first, players have the options to climb the following towers: Beginner, which has 30 floors, Intermediate, which has 50 floors, and Expert, which has 70 floors. If all are played, players can unlock the Master Tower, which has 500 floors. In the Master Tower, players can save their game for every 100th floor reached. When players clear the Master Tower, they unlock the Tower Cup.

Boo's Block Party

“Rotate the blocks, and line up three or more of the same number. Clear a shiny block to clear all other blocks of that same color.”
Boo's Block Party pause screen description
Boo's Block Party from Mario Party: Star Rush
Boo's Block Party.

A puzzle game that involves spinning sides of a number block numbered 1-4 to earn points. Points are earned when 3 or more sets of numbers match. When players break enough blocks, they can choose to either send the blocks to the opponent's screen or shuffle the blocks around randomly. The game ends when the blocks reach the top of the screen and stay past the top for three seconds. In single-player mode, a player can go for a high score for as long as they can without letting their blocks go past the top of the screen.

Character Museum

Main article: Character Museum
Character Museum from Mario Party: Star Rush
Viewing Princess Peach in the Character Museum.

The character museum allows players to view characters collected in the game. The playable characters can be chosen as the hub character. amiibo options are also found here: when players use amiibo, they unlock stamps. The quality of the stamp is dependent on how long players touch the touch screen. Players can choose to reapply stamps if the outcome is not desired. When players unlock stamps, they earn an extra set of points to increase their Party Level. If players have unlocked the Staff Credits, it can be viewed in here. Players can also play minigames from here, by viewing the minigame appearances tab for respective enemies.

Minigames

Players can play Free-For-All, Boss Battle, Bowser's Gauntlet, and Coin Chaos minigames they have unlocked in this mode. Additionally, Coin Chaos minigames function differently than they do in Coinathlon: these minigames are a single player minigame where players attempt to earn a high score by playing through all three levels of the minigame, and the only items that appear are those that are directly beneficial to the player.

Multiplayer

Players can use the Nintendo 3DS's Download and Local Play features to play with their friends. The following table illustrates which features are available in each mode, leaving out Challenge Tower, as Challenge Tower is a single-player only game.

Play modes
Mode Local Play Download Play
Toad Scramble Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Coinathlon Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Balloon Bash Check mark.svg Check mark.svg
Mario Shuffle Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Rhythm Recital Check mark.svg X mark.svg
Boo's Block Party Check mark.svg X mark.svg

However, new to the Mario Party handheld titles is the Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest feature. Similar to Download Play, it enables up to four players to play the game with only one game cartridge, but it gives players who do not have a copy of Mario Party: Star Rush to play with modes that only Local Play users have access to. Players need to download the Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest app off the Nintendo eShop into an available SD card slot and then hook up with systems that have a copy of Mario Party: Star Rush to enjoy. Additionally, progress such as unlocked characters and minigames are saved, and if players buy a full Mario Party: Star Rush copy, they can transfer the data into the copy.

amiibo features

amiibo can be used in Mario Party: Star Rush for the benefit and bonuses of the player, with each game mode supporting the Super Mario line-up of amiibo figures as well as the Super Mario characters in the Super Smash Bros. line up of amiibo. amiibo can be used to unlock locked characters as well. However, each mode has different effects for each amiibo when used on, as described in the following table.

On a side note, every amiibo can be used in the hub world. The feature is accessed by pressing L Button. If used, fireworks can explode, stars can come raining downward, balloons can float up or confetti can rain down.

amiibo effects
Image Mode Effect
amiibo usage in Toad Scramble in Mario Party: Star Rush Toad Scramble The character on the figure becomes an ally on the first turn. They are more powerful than characters encountered regularly during play. The amiibo character cannot be snatched from other players via Ally Duel, nor can they abandoned if the character roster gets full. They are the leader by default, but players can switch to Toads if they wish. The character also brings a special Dice Block with them. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo. If not, then players receive a Double Dice Block.
amiibo usage in Coinathlon in Mario Party: Star Rush Coinathlon Players can use the character on the figure as well as the ability to use the same item twice in a row.
amiibo usage in Balloon Bash in Mario Party: Star Rush Balloon Bash Players can use the character on the figure. The amiibo grants a special Dice Block at the start of the game. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo.
amiibo usage in Mario Shuffle in Mario Party: Star Rush Mario Shuffle The character joins the game as part of the player's team, giving the player a special Dice Block. Teams cannot use more than one of the same character, however. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo. Tapping the Boo, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. amiibo is the only way to play as them.
Selecting "CHILL" from Dr. Mario from Mario Party: Star Rush Rhythm Recital Tapping the Dr. Mario amiibo unlocks the "CHILL" music track from Dr. Mario automatically without having to obtain A ranks from other music tracks.
amiibo usage in Challenge Tower in Mario Party: Star Rush Challenge Tower The character on the amiibo continues at the exact space the player has failed. Players can use the same amiibo only once per day, however; if players own multiple duplicate characters, they can use duplicate characters.
Using an amiibo in Boo's Block Party from Mario Party: Star Rush Boo's Block Party Tapping the Boo amiibo unlocks a background that features Boos automatically without having to unlock it by obtaining a high score with the default background.
Using an amiibo in the Character Museum from Mario Party: Star Rush Character Museum Players can unlock stamps. Each character comes with a different stamp design.

Compatible amiibo

Level up system

As players spend more time playing the game, and accomplish various objectives, they gain party points, and if they get enough party points, they level up. Players start at level 1, and each level up unlocks more gameplay options.

Level Option
1 Toad Scramble
2 Coinathlon
3 Balloon Bash
4 Toadette
5 Rhythm Recital
6 Rosalina
7 Mario Shuffle
8 Donkey Kong
9 Boo's Block Party
10 Challenge Tower
11 Diddy Kong & Dr. Mario Music
12 Master Difficulty
Star Staff Credits

Characters

Mario Party: Star Rush character select screen
Character select screen, with Mario Party 10 data being detected within an amiibo and thus rewarding the player.

Mario Party: Star Rush has a total of 19 controllable characters in the entire game. Four playable characters, the colored Toads, are controlled only in the Toad Scramble mode while three characters are exclusive to the Mario Shuffle mode.

Playable (Toad Scramble)

Other playable characters

These characters, with the exception of Toad, can be collected in Toad Scramble, but are the main playable characters in other modes. The four unlockable characters, Toadette, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong, are unlocked by playing through the game. However, if players have an amiibo of the character, they can unlock the character by tapping them in. Diddy Kong is playable for the first time in the Mario Party series, with Toadette, Rosalina, and Donkey Kong also being playable in a Mario Party game for a handheld console for the first time.

Unlockable characters are listed in italics.

Unlocking criteria

Unlockable playable characters can be unlocked by reaching their respective party levels or scanning their respective amiibo.

Character Party Level amiibo
Toadette 4 X mark.svg
Rosalina 6 Amiibo of Rosalina, concept artRosalina amiibo.png
Donkey Kong 8 Amiibo of Donkey Kong, concept artDonkey Kong amiibo.pngTurbo Charge Donkey Kong figurineDark Turbo Charge Donkey Kong figurine
Diddy Kong 11 Amiibo of Diddy Kong, concept artDiddy Kong amiibo.png

Mario Shuffle playable characters

In addition to the above playable characters, these characters are exclusively playable in the Mario Shuffle mode when players tap their amiibo in.

Abilities and Dice Blocks

In Toad Scramble mode, each character has a unique ability and Dice Block. Characters who stomp Goombas in grass, make flower buds bloom, or crush glowing rocks can simply pass by these board features to earn coins while characters who smash rocks, eat fruit, or break barrels need to stop adjacent to the board feature (includes diagonals) to earn coins from them. Allies not in play can also roll their ally Dice Blocks with numbers 1-2.

Character Ability Dice Block Numbers
Sprite of Red Toad from Mario Party: Star RushSprite of Blue Toad from Mario Party: Star RushSprite of Green Toad from Mario Party: Star RushSprite of Yellow Toad from Mario Party: Star Rush
Toads
A friend to all. The Standard Dice Block from Mario Party: Star RushThe Standard Dice Block from Mario Party: Star RushThe Standard Dice Block from Mario Party: Star RushThe Standard Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Standard Dice Block
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Sprite of Mario from Mario Party: Star Rush
Mario
Stomps on Goombas in grass. The Super Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Super Dice Block
0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Sprite of Luigi from Mario Party: Star Rush
Luigi
Stomps on Goombas in grass. The Jumpy Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Jumpy Dice Block
1, 1, 1, 5, 6, 7
Sprite of Princess Peach from Mario Party: Star Rush
Princess Peach
Causes flower buds to bloom. The Speedy Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Speedy Dice Block
0, 2, 4, 4, 4, 6
Sprite of Princess Daisy from Mario Party: Star Rush
Princess Daisy
Causes flower buds to bloom. The Friendly Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Friendly Dice Block
3, 4, 5, ?, ?, ? (? = characters in party)
Sprite of Wario from Mario Party: Star Rush
Wario
Smashes rocks that have hidden coins. Wario's Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Greedy Dice Block
- 1 coin, - 1 coin, 4, 5, 6, 7
Sprite of Waluigi from Mario Party: Star Rush character select screen.
Waluigi
Smashes rocks that have hidden coins. Waluigi's Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Risky Dice Block
- 2 coins, - 2 coins, 6, 6, 6, 6
Sprite of Yoshi from Mario Party: Star Rush
Yoshi
Loves fruit! The Flutter Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Flutter Dice Block
0, 1, 3, 5, 5, 7
Sprite of Toadette from Mario Party: Star Rush
Toadette
Causes flower buds to bloom. Toadette's Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Cutie Dice Block
3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4
Sprite of Rosalina from Mario Party: Star Rush
Rosalina
Mysteriously crushes glowing rocks. The Wondrous Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Wondrous Dice Block
5, 6, ?, ?, ?, ? (? = current rank)
Sprite of Donkey Kong from Mario Party: Star Rush
Donkey Kong
Breaks barrels. The Brawny Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Brawny Dice Block
0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 10
Sprite of Diddy Kong from Mario Party: Star Rush
Diddy Kong
Breaks barrels. The Triple 7 Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Triple 7 Dice Block
0, 0, 0, 7, 7, 7

In addition, players can get a Peepa disguised as another character if they play on World 2-2 and World 2-3. When this occurs, players cannot choose to use the Peepa, and the Peepa goes away after a set period of time.

Character Ability Dice Block Numbers
Peepa icon from Mario Party: Star Rush
Peepa
Makes mischief by rolling a Dice Block with negative numbers. Cursed Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Cursed Dice Block
0, 0, -1, -1, -1, -1

Bosses

In Toad Scramble, a set number of bosses occupy a set space on a board. Players can battle them in their specific minigame for a Star when players land on the space in front of them. In Balloon Bash, a Boss Battle starts when two Coin Balloons are popped at the same time. In this instance, the 1st and 4th players and 2nd and 3rd players are put on a team to fight the boss, which is chosen at random, except for Bowser.

Bosses and minigames
Mega Goomba
Artwork of Mega Goomba in Mario Party: Star Rush
King Bob-omb
Artwork of King Bob-omb in Mario Party: Star Rush
King Boo
Artwork of King Boo in Mario Party: Star Rush
Petey Piranha
Artwork of Petey Piranha in Mario Party: Star Rush
Mega Blooper
Artwork of Mega Blooper in Mario Party: Star Rush (later used as the Bloopers' artwork in Super Mario Party)
Mega Goomba's Bad Dream King Bob-omb's Boom D'état King Boo's Light Smite Petey Piranha's Shell Smackdown Mega Blooper's Bayside Bop
Bosses and minigames
Mega Dry Bones
Artwork of Mega Dry Bones in Mario Party: Star Rush (later reused as Dry Bones' artwork for Super Mario Party)
Mega Monty Mole
Artwork of Mega Monty Mole in Mario Party: Star Rush (later used as the Monty Moles' artwork in Mario Party Superstars)
Kamek
Artwork of Kamek in Mario Party: Star Rush and later Mario Kart Tour
Bowser Jr.
Artwork of Bowser Jr. in Mario Party: Star Rush
Bowser
Artwork of Bowser in Mario Party 10 (later reused for Mario Party: Star Rush, Super Mario Party and Mario Kart Tour)
Mega Dry Bones's Femur Fever Mega Monty Mole's in the Hole Kamek's Card Tricks Bowser Jr.'s Pound for Pound Bowser's Space Race
Bowser's Shocking Slipup
Bowser's Hit-or-Missile Mania

Other

These characters primarily act as obstacles or part of the background scenery in various minigames.

Boards

Boards can be played in four modes: Toad Scramble, Balloon Bash, Mario Shuffle, and Coinathlon. Out of the four modes, Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash have differing selectable boards, each with their own layouts and gimmicks.

Toad Scramble boards

Mario Party: Star Rush features 15 boards in the main mode, Toad Scramble, the most boards out of any Mario Party game in the series. The names of the boards are based off levels in various Super Mario platformers. Each of the worlds feature a specific theme: World 0 features a grassland theme, World 1 features a tropical island theme, World 2 features a ghost house theme, World 3 features a birthday cake theme, and World 4 features a Bowser theme. The latter three worlds are unlocked by finishing a game on a map from the previous world.

Level Preview Description Bosses
World 0
World 0-1 World 0-1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A simple plain that's perfect for practice." 2
World 0-2 World 0-2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A walkway of ? Blocks and items galore!" 3
World 0-3 World 0-3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Beaucoup balloons amid grass and flowers." 4
World 1
World 1-1 World 1-1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Three islands connected by a bridge. Luxurious!" 3
World 1-2 World 1-2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Star Island is shaped...well, like a star." 4
World 1-3 World 1-3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A beachside boardwalk for some fun in the sun." 5
World 2
World 2-1 World 2-1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A spooky manor full of spikes and switches." 3
World 2-2 World 2-2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "This is Peepa's house! All is not as it seems..." 4
World 2-3 World 2-3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A battleground of Peepa pranks and spike traps." 5
World 3
World 3-1 World 3-1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "This three-layer cake is garnished with coins!" 3
World 3-2 World 3-2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "On this tasty confection, Gold Bullet Bills abound." 4
World 3-3 World 3-3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Tons of sweet toppings and tasty coins. Yum!" 5
World 4
World 4-1 World 4-1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "That magma's too hot to handle! Watch yourself!" 3
World 4-2 World 4-2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Beware the ballistic Bullet Bill barrage!" 4
World 4-3 World 4-3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "Bowser's magma maze...BEWARE!!" 5

Balloon Bash boards

Balloon Bash features 3 boards, unlocked by playing them in succession.

Level Preview Description
Map 1 Map 1 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A fish-shaped map."
Map 2 Map 2 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A pipe-filled map."
Map 3 Map 3 from Mario Party: Star Rush "A zigzagging map."

Board features

Space Function
? Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
? Block
Landing on it gives an item out at random.
Balloon Bash from Mario Party: Star Rush
Coin Balloon
Passing it gives players 2 coins in Toad Scramble and starts a minigame. In Balloon Bash mode, Coin Balloons holding 5 and 10 coins can be popped. If two Coin Balloons are popped in Balloon Bash, a Boss Battle starts.
Yellow Toad confronting Mega Goomba from Mario Party: Star Rush
Boss Battle
When players land on it, it activates a Boss Battle minigame.
Duel Balloon from Mario Party: Star Rush
Duel Balloon
Passing it gives players 2 coins and starts a minigame. Whoever places first in the minigame can select and steal another player's ally. If the opponents do not have allies, the player wins coins instead.
Shy Guy Shop from Mario Party: Star Rush
Shy Guy Shop
If landed on, players can buy various items.
Lakitu from Mario Party: Star Rush
Lakitu
If landed on, Lakitu can take players to another player for a small fee.
Cannon Space from Mario Party: Star Rush
Cannon Space
When landed on, players can get launched by a cannon to a marked area elsewhere on the board.
Balloon Bash from Mario Party: Star Rush
Star Balloon (Balloon Bash only)
Players can buy Stars for 10 coins when they pass by it. If the Star Balloons come in multiple bundles of two or three, players can buy more at a time if they have the right amount of Coins. Holding a Double Star Card after picking up a Star Balloon can increase the amount of Stars for twice the amount normally paid.

Items

In Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash, players can acquire items by landing on ? Blocks, buying them from Shy Guy Shops, or acquiring an item when they are last place when the last boss arrives. Players have the option to use them at the start of any turn. Most items directly benefit the player, though some, such as the Poison Mushroom, hurt rivals. There are only two trap-like items in the game: the Fling Spring and the Coinado.

Coinathlon items work differently. Players can acquire those items from touching an appearing item box when players receive enough coins. Players can then use the item by pressing X Button. More than one item cannot be acquired, and players need to use up their item before they can make another item box appear. Items have different rarities. Players in first are more likely to acquire Coin Trios and Bloopers while players in lower positions can obtain Coin Bags and Double Medals.

Additionally, amiibo characters always start out with a double set of a particular item. For example, Mario always starts out with Coin Bags while Toad always starts out with Bloopers.

Toad Scramble/Balloon Bash items

Item Function
Dash Mushroom from Mario Party: Star Rush
Dash Mushroom
Adds +3 to your roll, which lets you move an extra three spaces.
Golden Dash Mushroom from Mario Party: Star Rush
Golden Dash Mushroom
Adds +5 to your roll, which lets you move an extra five spaces.
Poison Mushroom from Mario Party: Star Rush
Poison Mushroom
Subtracts -2 from a rival's Dice Block roll.
Warp Box from Mario Party: Star Rush
Warp Box
Warps you to the location of a rival.
Duel Glove from Mario Party: Star Rush
Duel Glove*
Lets you select a rival to challenge to an Ally Duel.
The Coin Glove item from Mario Party: Star Rush.
Coin Glove**
Lets you select a rival to challenge to a Coin Duel.
Double Dice Block from Mario Party: Star Rush
Double Dice Block
Lets you roll two Dice Blocks instead of one.
Coinado from Mario Party: Star Rush
Coinado
Steals 5 coins from the first rival to land on the space where it's hidden.
Fling Spring from Mario Party: Star Rush
Fling Spring*
Send the first rival to land on it flying to another space.
Double Card from Mario Party: Star Rush
Double Card*
Doubles the Coins and Stars received from a boss battle.
Double Star Card from Mario Party: Star Rush
Double Star Card**
This item doubles the number of Stars you can get when exchanging coins.

* - Exclusive to Toad Scramble
** - Exclusive to Balloon Bash

Coinathlon items

Item Image Function amiibo Character
Blooper Item from Mario Party: Star Rush
Blooper
Toadette being hit by a Blooper from Coinathlon in Mario Party: Star Rush Bloopers slightly stop players with an ink splat on the screen that obscures their vision. Luigi, Yoshi, Toad
Coin Bag from Mario Party: Star Rush
Coin Bag
Coin bag usage from Mario Party: Star Rush These drop five Red Coins on the screen, which players can collect to earn more coins. Mario
Coin Trio from Mario Party: Star Rush
Coin Trio
Coin Trio being used from Mario Party: Star Rush This gives players three coins. N/A
A Double Medal from Mario Party: Star Rush
Double Medal
A Double Medal being earned in Mario Party: Star Rush Doubles each Coin collected for a short time. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong
Kamek from Mario Party: Star Rush
Kamek
Mario being hit by Kamek from Coinathlon in Mario Party: Star Rush Kamek traps players in chains. Players need to tap their character repeatedly to break from the chains quicker. Waluigi, Rosalina
Lava Bubble from Mario Party: Star Rush
Lava Bubble
Wario being hit by a Lava Bubble from Coinathlon in Mario Party: Star Rush The Lava Bubble stuns players and burns up coins and floating item boxes on the screen. Wario
Lightning Bolt from Mario Party: Star Rush
Lightning Bolt
Waluigi being hit by a Lightning Bolt from Coinathlon in Mario Party: Star Rush Lightning Bolts stun players, which in turn slow their gameplay down. Princess Peach, Princess Daisy

Minigames

Main article: List of Mario Party: Star Rush minigames
Dodge Fuzzy, Get Dizzy gameplay in Mario Party: Star Rush
Dodge Fuzzy, Get Dizzy, one of the minigames being played.

Mario Party: Star Rush has a total of 53 minigames, a considerably lower amount than its predecessors (in comparison, Mario Party: Island Tour has 81 minigames and Mario Party 10 has 75 minigames). As in all Mario Party games, minigames are unlocked for the Minigames collection simply by playing them. In Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash mode, players select and play 4 out of a total of 26 Free-For-All minigames when they pass a Coin Balloon, whereas in Coinathlon, players play three minigames from a pool of 12 minigames under the label "Coin Chaos". In the Minigames collection, Coin Chaos minigames function as single player minigames, where players try to get a high score from all three variations of the minigame, and the only items that appear are those that are beneficial to the player rather than offensive items.

Boss Battle minigames are triggered when players land in a Boss Battle space in front of the eponymous boss in Toad Scramble. In Balloon Bash, they are triggered when two Coin Balloons are popped. The 1st place and 4th place player are put on a team and the 2nd and 3rd place players are put on another team to fight the boss, which is chosen at random except for any of Bowser's three Boss Battles. However, unlike Toad Scramble and Minigames, the first phase of each fight is fought instead of two phases. This variation of the Boss Battle cannot be selected and played in the Minigames mode, however.

One of the three Bowser's Gauntlet minigames are triggered in Coinathlon at random during a five lap or seven lap race, usually after the player has run half of the laps.

This is the second Mario Party game to not feature 1-vs-3 minigames, the first being Mario Party: Island Tour. This game is also the third Mario Party game to not have a category of 2-vs-2 minigames, although the team Boss Battles featured in Balloon Bash function similarly to 2-vs-2 minigames.

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Party: Star Rush staff

Mario Party: Star Rush is developed by NDcube, who has been handling development of the Mario Party series ever since Mario Party 9, though most of the members at NDcube are former Hudson Soft employees, the company that handled the Mario Party series until Mario Party DS. Shuichiro Nishiya is the director of this game, who has been directing Mario Party installments since Mario Party 6 barring Mario Party Advance, Mario Party DS, and Mario Party: Island Tour. Many of the directors from Mario Party 10 returned to work with this game.

Reception

Critical reception

Mario Party: Star Rush has currently received generally mixed to positive reviews, receiving a 68 from Metacritic based on 40 reviews[1] and a 64.97% from GameRankings based on 20 reviews.[2] The game has generally been praised for the new direction in the overall Mario Party series as well as its multiplayer functionality with friends, though its weaker points is that the game is not meant for single players and the low amount of minigames has been cited. Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life gave Mario Party: Star Rush a 7/10, praising the new direction of the series and the Party Guest feature while saying that it is not particularly spectacular and players shouldn't rush out to buy it.[3] In his conclusion, he stated that "Mario Party: Star Rush achieves its goals. It's entertaining, charming and offers some easy-going minigame fun." Daan Koopman of Nintendo World Report gave the game a 7.5 out of 10, also praising the new direction of the main mode, saying that "Toad Scramble does a good job of changing up other Mario Party elements as well, which helps makes games competitive but still tests of skill." However, he criticized the low variety of minigames, the Rhythm Recital mode, and that some modes need more content.[4]

On the lower end, Nick Gillham of God is a Geek gave Mario Party: Star Rush a 5 out of 10. He notes that while the game is initially fun, especially with other people, it wears out and the game does not have much staying power. He also criticized how the maps have too much empty space in them and that the extra modes are superfluous and not as good as Toad Scramble.[5]

Reviews
Release Reviewer, Publication Score Comment
Nintendo 3DS Jose Otero, IGN 5.2/10 "Mario Party Star Rush's modes range from OK to uninteresting, and even the fun mini-game challenges can't make up for the boring overall package. The sheer repetition of events is a major problem that saps the excitement out of this party. After a few trips through Mario Party Star Rush's modes, you'll have seen nearly everything it has to offer."
Nintendo 3DS Daan Koopman,
Nintendo World Report
7.5/10 "Mario Party: Star Rush is a strong package overall. It has a lot of smart ideas that will hopefully be used in future games, and there's a good variety of modes to play with. Some of the modes are light on content but this is still the kind of game to have when you can trash-talk players in person – and there’s even a Nintendo 3DS eShop app that will let people who don't dive in see for themselves. There's some good single player modes, but to really see Star Rush’s full potential you'll probably need to throw a party of your own."
Nintendo 3DS Thomas Whitehead, Nintendo Life 7.5/10 "Mario Party: Star Rush may not excel in many ways, but it addresses some complaints from past entries and delivers some harmless entertainment. We're not sure you should rush out to buy it, but it still shows that Mario and company can be stars of a party."
Nintendo 3DS Nick Gillham,
God is a Geek
5/10 "If a group of buddies all chip in Star Rush can be a cheap night or two of fun, but it's not much more than that."
Nintendo 3DS Dave Irwin, TheSixthAxis 6/10 "Much like the console Mario Party on the Wii U, getting the most out of the game means you probably should have a compatible Amiibo on hand. For some modes this can mean that you gain a perk, such as an extra power up collected every time in Coinatholon or an extra try in the Challenge Tower. This could be used as an unfair advantage against human players in a game where luck is the main concept, which may not sit well with some players."
Aggregators
Compiler Platform / Score
Metacritic 68
GameRankings 64.97%

Sales

During the opening week of October 17 - October 23, 2016, Mario Party: Star Rush sold 26,473 units in Japan.[6] During the second week, it sold 40,650 copies in Japan.[7]

Nintendo eShop description

American version

Think fast and have a blast with a variety of ways to party with Mario™, Toad™, and more, on-the-go or on the couch! It's always your turn as you and up to three friends roll the dice, roam the board, and recruit fan-favorite allies. The bigger your party, the faster you'll earn stars and coins in frantic minigames. It's instant fun for everyone!

Break free of turn order and choose your path to victory in Toad Scramble, a mode with five wild worlds filled with bite-sized, open maps to play on. Blast across them in cannons, creep around haunted houses, or get a lift from Lakitu. You may get a chance to take down Bowser's mech! Team up with Yoshi™, Daisy™, Waluigi™, and other allies along the way.

Pit your skills against friends by racing along in a gauntlet of rapid-fire minigames in Coinathlon. Cannon down Goombas, take out Shy Guys pinball-style, and even surf on a leafboard...but watch out for Wigglers! You may even find yourself wandering a labyrinth of Boos. Partying is tough business!

European/Australian version

A new approach to Mario Party: quicker play and simultaneous turns! Team up with Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong, and more in the most perfectly portable Mario Party game to date. Play with up to four players simultaneously, exploring different worlds as you freely move your Toad across maps and recruit Mushroom Kingdom allies. Break free of turn order, with all players plotting strategy, rolling the dice and moving...all simultaneously! Team up with your friends in the real world to compete or co-operate to take down bosses in each game board.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Party: Star Rush.

Media

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References to other games

References in later games

  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: A poster depicting the boxart of this game can be seen in Genius Girl's laboratory in the opening cutscene.
  • Mario Party: The Top 100: Minigame Match draws heavy inspiration from Balloon Bash, having the same movement style, small boards, and objective to collect Star Balloons. The hand-drawn art style, used for the HUD, is reused for this game.
  • Mario Tennis Aces: Luigi, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, and King Boo's artworks are reused for their character select screen icons (in the case of King Boo, his artwork, minus the crown, is used for Boo's icon).
  • Super Mario Party: The ally recruiting mechanic from this game returns as part of Party Mode, and the main menu hub world is similar to the one from this game. Diddy Kong's winning and losing animations are reused from his 1st and 4th place animations in this game.
  • Mario Kart Tour: King Bob-omb's artwork is reused in this game.
  • Mario Party Superstars: The 2D artwork seen in Mario Party: Star Rush and Mario Party: The Top 100 is reused through this game's stickers.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese マリオパーティ スターラッシュ
Mario Pāti Sutā Rasshu
Mario Party: Star Rush

Chinese (traditional) 瑪利歐派對Star Rush[8]
Mǎlì'ōu Pàiduì Star Rush
Mario Party: Star Rush

Korean 마리오 파티 스타 러시
Mario Pati Seuta Reosi
Mario Party: Star Rush

External links

References

  1. ^ Metacritic score for Mario Party: Star Rush. Metacritic. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  2. ^ GameRankings score for Mario Party: Star Rush. GameRankings. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  3. ^ Whitehead, Thomas. Review of Mario Party: Star Rush. (October 5, 2016). Nintendo Life. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  4. ^ Koopman, Daan. Review of Mario Party: Star Rush. (October 5, 2016). Nintendo World Report. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  5. ^ Gillham, Nick. Review of Mario Party: Star Rush. (October 5, 2016). God is a Geek. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  6. ^ Romano, Sam (October 26, 2016). Media Create Sales: 10/17/16 – 10/23/16. Gematsu. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  7. ^ Romano, Sam (November 2, 2016). Media Create Sales: 10/24/16 – 10/30/16 Gematsu. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  8. ^ Official Chinese website for the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary. Retrieved October 23, 2020.