Mario Party 3

Mario Party 3 is the third installment of the Mario Party series, and the last one for the Nintendo 64. The game is centered around the Millennium Star, who replaces Toad as the host alongside Tumble. One notable change is that players can now hold up to three items instead of just one. The game includes 70 new minigames, as well as a feature unique to the Mario Party series: duel boards, on which two players fight each other using partners. In addition to the six characters from the previous Mario Party games returning, two new characters are introduced: Daisy and Waluigi. The game is the first game in the Mario Party series to have a solo mode story campaign, as well as the first to have mini-games that can be unlocked and played anytime without purchasing them first, a system that has become standard and would continue to be used in future installments. This is also the final Mario game to be released for the Nintendo 64 in all regions except Australia, where that title goes to Paper Mario.

Like the original Mario Party, Mario Party 3 was never re-released on any Virtual Console. It is set to see its first re-release on the Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Switch Online service in 2023.

Story and objective
From the Mario Party 3 instruction booklet: A Star is Born: In the center of the vast universe, a remarkably bright star was born. It was the star that is born only once in a thousand years, the Millennium Star. According to the legend, whoever possessed the mystical star was destined to become the Superstar of the universe. However since the Millennium Star was but a newborn, it fell from the starry sky. Around that time, Mario and his friends were all happily relaxing when suddenly the Millennium Star came crashing down. Mario and his friends soon began arguing about who should keep the Millennium Star. Suddenly, the Millennium Star gave off a brilliantly bright flash of light. And with that bright flash, Mario and his friends were transported into a toy box! "Greetings. I am the Millennium Star. You must pass my test to prove yourself worthy of possessing me. You must journey across many lands and collect the Star Stamps. If you can collect all seven, I shall accept you as the top Superstar in the universe." Who will collect the seven Star Stamps and become the universe's top Superstar? Game and Story Mode introduction: In the center of the vast universe, a remarkably bright star was born. It was the star that is born only once in a thousand years, the Millennium Star. According to the legend, whoever possessed the mystical star was destined to become the Superstar of the universe. However since the Millennium Star was but a newborn, it fell from the starry sky. Around that time, Mario and his friends were all happily relaxing when suddenly the Millennium Star came crashing down. Mario and his friends soon began arguing about who should keep the Millennium Star. Seeing this, Lakitu came flying in, dangling a toy box from his rod. That's right! They could play "Mario Party" to see who the biggest Superstar was! Suddenly, the Millennium Star gave off a brilliantly bright flash of light. And with that bright flash, Mario and his friends were transported into a toy box! "Greetings. I am the Millennium Star. You must pass my test to prove yourself worthy of possessing me. You must journey across many lands and collect the Star Stamps. If you can collect all seven, I shall accept you as the top Superstar in the universe." In Battle Royale Mode, players have to get as many Stars as possible. Stars can normally be obtained at a cost of 20 coins.

In Duel Mode, players have to defeat their opponent with their partners. Each player starts with five heart pieces.

In Story Mode, a single player must battle their way towards the rank of Super Star. To do so, they must fill their stamp card with Star Stamps. The Star Stamps are Wit, Kindness, Strength, Love, Courage, Beauty, and Mischief. The trend the game follows is Battle Royale, Duel, Battle Royale, Duel; and this continues until the player's next objective is to earn the Beauty Star Stamp. At this point, the player plays a Duel against Daisy, followed by a final Battle Royale on Waluigi's Island. A - If the player is using this character, that opponent is replaced with Luigi

For the Millennium Star, his original plan was to have a straight run-through of seven (since there are seven Star Stamps) Battle Royale Boards. However, when the Millennium Star is about to stamp the player's stamp card, another character bursts from the castle, saying they deserve this. The two argue, and Millennium Star decides to go to a Duel Board. The player wins (they must to continue) and the other character runs away in disappointment. After the stamp is received, the next Star Stamp is shown and another Battle Royale begins.

After a Star Stamp has been received and the player is ready to move to the next Battle Royale board, Bowser appears with two Baby Bowser cohorts, attempting to get the Star Stamps for himself, but he always shows up late. The first two times, when trying to get the Wit and Kindness Star Stamps respectively, the player, the Millennium Star and Tumble already left to the next board. When trying to get the Strength Star Stamp, Bowser does arrive before the player, the Millennium Star and Tumble left, but they straight up ignore him and continue to the next board. When trying to get the Love Star Stamp, Bowser and the Baby Bowsers managed to surround the three, but when Tumble politely asks them to get out of the way, Bowser does let them go, and after they left, breathes fire, frustrated at his own foolishness.

When the Beauty Star Stamp is revealed though, Daisy makes a sudden appearance before a Battle Royale could even begin. The Millennium Star mentions it, but Daisy strikes a pose causing the Millennium Star to fall in love with her and offers her the Beauty Star Stamp. The player says it is not fair and the two argue. The Millennium Star regains consciousness and says they will go to Backtrack to settle it. Suddenly, Bowser appears and tries to take the stamp but Daisy swats him away in one blow. After the player defeats Daisy, she mopes and runs away. Tumble states Daisy said she has never lost, not even to her father. The player then receives the Beauty Star Stamp.

The Mischief Star Stamp is then revealed, but then Bowser appears and unknowingly sends it flying into the castle, declaring the player must battle him to earn it. Everyone notices it is gone, and Waluigi comes out of the castle with the stamp trapped in a cage. Waluigi and Bowser fight each other, but to everyone's surprise, Waluigi wins. He tells the player they will go to Waluigi's Island. Bowser tells the player to avenge him for what happened. Although long time foes, the player silently agrees and chases after Waluigi. After the battle is over, Waluigi is pounding the floor in frustration yelling he will not forget what happened. The Millennium Star gives the player the Mischief Star Stamp.

Despite winning all the stamps, the Millennium Star declares there is one person left the player must battle. The player is seen thinking hard of who could it be. Both the player and Tumble are surprised when the Millennium Star exclaims the player must defeat him in Stardust Battle to win. When the player defeats him, they ask to be the greatest superstar in the universe (although ownership of the Millennium Star was the original offer). The Millennium Star startles everyone admitting he is not the real Millennium Star and flies away in shame. The player drops to the ground in disappointment, unable to believe it was all for nothing.

Suddenly, Tumble begins glowing and his dice head opens to reveal a small white star. He explains he is the real Millennium Star, and was watching the player the whole time. After returning the castle and the grounds to its normal state, he promises the player he will make them the superstar of the universe. The credits roll. In the final scene, set in front of the castle, Mario is lying on a folding chair, Luigi and Peach are talking to each other nearby, and Donkey Kong is sitting near the three just watching. In the back, Wario and Waluigi are apparently arguing, Daisy is sitting and watching the butterflies, and Yoshi is in the far back chasing a butterfly. The closing scene is a table with a box with the words "Mario Party" on it. A die (the same color as Tumble's head) is thrown onto the table and the word "END" appears on the lower right corner.

Modes
As in all Mario Party games, there are always other modes to play:
 * Mini-game Mode: Players can play all the mini-games that they have collected here, even secret mini-games, organized by type.
 * Battle Room: A bonus game mode where players can compete in a random set of minigames. Players can choose how many points are needed to win, along with which minigame type is used.
 * Game Guy's Room: Another bonus game mode for one player, in which they consecutively plays Game Guy's minigames. At the start of a game the player is given 10 coins, and the player decides how many coins they are going to risk before each minigame starts. After each minigame the player's balance is increased or decreased according to the game's result. The game is successfully completed once the player's balance reaches 1000 coins. However, losing all of the coins occurs a game over. Completing the challenge unlocks Mario's Puzzle Party Pro, one of the three rare minigame. The Story Mode must be beaten with at least eight S rankings for this room to be unlocked. The maximum balance of 7299 coins is achieved by having 999 coins in the player's balance, betting 100 coins, and then getting a x64 multiplier.
 * Story Mode: A single player can go through the storyline. It is set what boards have to be completed in what order. There are Battle Royale and Duel boards. After each Battle Royale board, the player has to fight a certain character on a duel board for a Star Stamp. If the player is to duel with the character they are playing as, they battle Luigi instead. Unlike Party Mode and Mini-game Mode, Princess Daisy and Waluigi are unplayable in this mode, instead acting as NPCs.
 * Party Mode: A multiplayer that can go through Battle Royale, Duel Mode, and can also go through settings.

Playable characters
The game brings back the original six playable characters from the last two Mario Party games and introduces two new characters, Princess Daisy and Waluigi. However, they are only playable in Party Mode and Mini-game mode. *Luigi steps in as the opponent if the player is playing as the specified character. 1Character is not playable in Story Mode.

Boards
Just like Mario Party 2 did for Mario Party, Mario Party 3 references and takes gimmicks from Mario Party 2's boards to use in its own boards. For example, Waluigi's Island uses the main gimmick from Space Land, along with a gimmick from Luigi's Engine Room from Mario Party; in one island, when a total of five Happening Spaces have been landed on, all players lose all of their coins (Space Land), and all islands and routes contain Red Warp Pipes that lead back to start, at the Green Warp Pipe (Luigi's Engine Room). On each board, there is at least one cloud with eyes present.

Duel boards
Duel boards can be played in Duel Mode and Story Mode. Duel Mode can be selected by selecting the red star in the main menu. Duel boards can only be played with two characters. The objective is to defeat the opponent by attacking them with partners. Each player has a heart gauge, consisting of five segments. The game is over when 20 turns end (when '20 turns' is selected in game length) or when one player's heart gauge is empty. If 20 turns have finished, the player with the most hearts is the winner. If heart counts tie, then the player with the most coins wins, but if that count also ties as well, the match is a tie.

Players start with one partner and can gain another (or replace one) when they reach their start space, which also gives them ten coins. Partners are given to the player at random using a roulette (on every third return, the player gets a "Lucky Roulette", which slows the roulette, allowing the player to more easily obtain a desired partner). When the partner is between the player and their opponent with the opponent facing the direction of the partner, the partner will automatically attack them. Each partner has a salary where they are paid when the player's turn starts. If a player cannot afford to pay the salary, the partner(s) leave(s).

In the middle of every board is Belltop, a mechanical toy. Every time a player passes him, the numbers on his hat goes down by one. Whenever the hat reaches 0, all players go to him and play a duel mini-game. After the winner receives his/her coin prize, the timer is reset to 5.

In Story Mode, after a Battle Royale map, the player's character is about to receive a Star Stamp when another character emerges from the castle and says they deserve it. To settle this dispute, both characters are sent to a Duel board (with the exception of Waluigi, who challenges the character to his Battle Royale board, Waluigi's Island). The winner receives the Star Stamp. (Note that Luigi's board can be anyone except Backtrack.)

Partners
Combinations\Pair\Duo

If the player gets two of the same partners, the Millennium Star calls them a glorious (_____) (fill the blank with the partner). It also raises the attack by one (with the exception of Thwomp and Whomp, whose salaries are decreased by one instead). The following combinations causes the Millennium Star to comment on it, but the attack does not get raised.
 * Whomp and Thwomp make an earth shaking combination!
 * Toad and Koopa Troopa make an economical pair!
 * Mr. Blizzard and Snifit make a long-range pair!
 * Boo and Mr. Blizzard make a chilling combination!
 * Bob-omb and Chomp make a dangerous duo!

Items
Items appear only on Battle Royale boards. They can be bought at an item shop or obtained on an Item Space. Either Toad or Baby Bowser runs the shop, both selling different items. Some items can only be collected through an Item Space.

Mario Party 3 allows the player to carry three items at once, as opposed to the single item the player can carry in Mario Party 2.

Minigames
There are a total of 71 minigames within this game. Unlike Mario Party 2, all of the minigames are original. In keeping with the toy box theming, the minigames use stylized two-dimensional elements.

Differences between the Japanese and English releases
Upon failing an Item minigame in the Japanese version, the announcer says "MISS!" with said word also shown on screen. This was changed in the American, Australian, and European versions to say "GAME OVER" instead, but retaining the announcer's tone of voice from the first game.

Differences exclusive to the European version
Exclusive to the European version is a language select, which allows the game to be played in English, French, German, or Spanish. The screen first appears when turning on the game for the first time. can be held down before turning on the console to force the screen to appear after the first time.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: The Underground Theme is briefly sampled in Creepy Cavern's background music.
 * Dr. Mario: The minigame Mario's Puzzle Party plays similarly to Dr. Mario.
 * Mario Kart 64: Toad's voice from the Japanese version is recycled from this game, as are Yoshi and Donkey Kong's sound effects.
 * Mario Party / Mario Party 2: The character mugshots of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario and Donkey Kong are reused in these games. Also, in the Mini-Game Mario's Puzzle Party, these characters have the same winning mugshots from Mario Party 2 with the announcer’s voice being reused from the latter.

References in later games

 * Mario Party 4: "You're the Star" is a similar song to "The Adventure Ends". Also, some of the playable characters' voice clips are reused.
 * Mario Party 5: Some of the playable characters' voice clips are reused.
 * Mario Party DS: The music sheets in the background of Toadette's Music Room feature the song "Let's Get a Move On" from this game.
 * Mario Party: The Top 100: Ten of Mario Party 3's minigames are remastered in this game.
 * Mario Party Superstars: Woody Woods returns along with 27 minigames and their respective music.

Reception
Mario Party 3 received mixed to positive reviews. It has a 74% rating from Metacritic, based on 12 reviews, and a 73% from Game Rankings based on 17 reviews. IGN gave it a 6.4 and GameSpot gave it a 7.5. In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the game a 31 out of 40.

Sales
Mario Party 3 is the 26th best-selling game for the Nintendo 64, selling approximately 1.9 million copies: 1.02 million copies in Japan, 720,000 copies in North America, and 160,000 copies elsewhere, as of December 31, 2009.

Awards
Mario Party 3 won the Console Family Award from the Academy of the Interactive Arts and Sciences of 2002.

Trivia

 * On the game's cover artwork and wallpaper featuring the entire cast of characters that has an example of a Battle Royale Board Map which is based on Chilly Waters, the spaces illustrated are circle-shaped like the previous games, yet in the game, they are octagon-shaped.
 * The instruction booklet incorrectly states that Thwomp has an attack stat of 2 instead of 0.
 * This is the last Mario Party game to feature multiple minigame tracks for when there is just one winner, multiple winners, and a new record.
 * This is the first game in the series in which CPUs are able to break minigame records.