Mario Party: Island Tour

Mario Party: Island Tour is a party game for the Nintendo 3DS, released first in North America in November 22, 2013 and the second Mario Party game to be developed by Nd Cube. It is the twelfth installment (seventeenth in Japan) in the Mario Party series, the third installment for a handheld console, and the first Mario Party to be developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Mario Party: Island Tour has gameplay objectives unique to it compared to other entries in the Mario Party series. Rather than traveling around a board to obtain the most quantity of a particular item, either separately or together on a vehicle, players need to race their opponents to the finish in a linear, one-way board, with certain objectives in the race differing depending on the board played on. The game additionally retains several key elements from other Mario Party titles, namely obtaining and using items to gain an advantage over opponents and playing a wide variety of minigames.

Due to the platform being the Nintendo 3DS, some of the minigames take advantage of the system's features, such as the stereoscopic 3D, gyroscope, mic, and touch screen. The game additionally uses StreetPass where players can play minigames if their system has picked up signals from other Nintendo 3DS systems that also have the game and unlock special items from it. Up to four people can play together either with local multiplayer or Download Play using only one game cartridge, similar to how Mario Party DS and later Mario Party installments for the Nintendo 3DS handle multiplayer.

The game was eventually released as a Nintendo Selects title in multiple regions including North America, Europe, and Oceania, being one of the best-selling titles for the Nintendo 3DS.

Story
After a relaxing day around Peach's Castle, Mario and the gang notice a strange letter in a bubble saying they are happily invited to the Party Islands. The gang then cheers about it but then the letter suddenly traps the gang in bubbles to carry them though the sky to the Party Islands. While Mario and the gang are partying and playing games, Bowser shows up, feeling jealous about why Mario and his friends are invited, so he builds Bowser's Tower, saying that anyone can join him at his evil party. He begins locking all the fun from the Party Islands in bubbles. He also puts evil magic in the bubbles made by the bubble machine to make bubble clones of the gang to guard the tower.

Play modes
There are five different play modes in the game. They are:
 * Party (1-4 players) - Party your way to the finish across a wild variety of game boards! Play time: 10-60 mins
 * Minigames (1-4 players) - Battle for first place in a huge collection of minigames. Play time: 1-30 mins
 * StreetPass Minigames (1 player) - Take on the world in minigame battles, and unlock special items! Play time: 1-15 mins
 * Bowser's Tower (1 player) - Win your way to the top of a terrifying tower! Play time: 90 mins
 * Collectables - Purchase bubbles with Mario Party Points! Can you complete the entire collection? Play time: N/A

Gameplay
Mario Party: Island Tour uses the traditional independent four player gameplay as seen in previous Mario Party entries, where players were able to roll dice with numbers from 1-10 though this time, like in Mario Party 9, players roll the dice from 1 to 6 or in some cases in some of the boards, the 6 is replaced by other things like a 0 or a Banzai Bill. Like Mario Party 9, players move along a linear board, though in this game it is a race to the end. Each board has its own play style, such as items and Mini Stars. The Spaces appear similar in function to those from Mario Party 9. During some specific game boards, players use items to progress and hinder their opponents, similar to the items used in Mario Party 2, 3, and 4. It also supports local multiplayer using Download Play. There is a single-player mode called Bowser's Tower, where the player plays against shadowy versions of the other playable characters in 30 minigames, with a boss minigame on every fifth floor. Also, whenever a minigame ends with a tie, there will be a Dice Block tiebreaker to determine the final results.

Playable
There are a total of 10 playable characters in Mario Party: Island Tour, consisting of 9 default characters and 1 unlockable character (Bowser Jr.).

* Bowser Jr. can be unlocked by completing Bowser's Tower.

Bosses
Goomba Tower  •   Chain Chomp   •   Mr. Blizzard   •   King Bob-omb   •   Dry Bowser   •   Bowser

Boards
As the title suggests, the boards are split between various themed islands. Seven gameboards are included in the game. Of these boards, one is unlocked by playing through every other board except for Shy Guy's Shuffle City due to the necessity for three or more players (Bowser's Peculiar Peak), and the other six are available from the start of the game.

Spaces

 * Dash Space - If the player lands here, they will leap forward (2, 3, 4, or 5) spaces.
 * Back Space - When the player landers here, they go back the number of spaces on it.
 * Item Space - Landing on this space earns the player an item.
 * Green Space - A normal space. Nothing special happens when the player lands here.
 * Piranha Plant Space - If the player lands on this space, a Piranha Plant will throw them back a number of spaces.
 * Lucky Space - If the player lands here, something good will happen.
 * Duel Space - These trigger a minigame battle for items/Mini Stars.
 * Bowser Space - A random act of fiendishness will happen if the player lands here.
 * Unlucky Space - Something bad will happen if the player lands here.
 * Dead-End Space - The player will be forced to stop on this space for an event.
 * Goal Space - The final space on the board.
 * Safe Spaces (only on Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain) - A space where the player cannot get hit by a Banzai Bill.
 * Danger Spaces (only on Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain) - A space where the player might get hit by a Banzai Bill.
 * Switch Space - If the player lands here, Banzai Bill will launch from a new location.
 * Banzai Bill Space - This space launches Banzai Bill.
 * Booster Spaces (appears only on Rocket Road)
 * Warp Spaces
 * Kamek Spaces (appears only on Kamek's Carpet Ride)
 * Just-Right Spaces (appears only on Kamek's Carpet Ride)

Dice Blocks
Dice Blocks can be won from minigames in Perilous Palace Path and Bowser's Peculiar Peak.

Cards
In Kamek's Carpet Ride and Shy Guy's Shuffle City, cards are used to make the player move and have different effects on the character.

Perilous Palace Path

 * Setback Shell - Sends an opponent back 2 spaces.
 * Backwards Bill - Sends an opponent back 5 spaces.
 * Blooper Chopper - Cuts an opponent's roll in half.
 * Lightning Score Striker - Subtracts 3 from an opponent's roll.
 * Lakitu Leech - Steals 1 item from an opponent.
 * Dash Mushroom - Adds 3 to your roll.
 * Golden Dash Mushroom - Adds 5 to your roll.
 * Super Star - Doubles the player's roll.
 * Crazy Kamek - Switches the user's place with an opponent.
 * Chaos Kamek - Switches everyone's places.

Star-Crossed Skyway

 * Mini Stars
 * Mini Ztars

Rocket Road

 * Boosters - Multiplies the Dice Block roll.

Mario Party Points and the Bubble Gallery
Much like Mario Party DS and Mario Party 9, players can earn Mario Party Points by playing boards, completing Bowser's Tower or playing Minigames. This points can be used to buy "Bubbles", voice recordings or music from the various characters, boards or minigames. These bubbles need to be bought from the gallery with various points, and not all bubbles are unlocked initially.

Reception
Mario Party: Island Tour has received generally mixed reviews. The game currently averages a 59% based on 28 reviews on GameRankings and a 57 based on 47 reviews on Metacritic. IGN gave Mario Party: Island Tour a 5.5, criticizing its motion control, "uninventive" minigames, and its "poor" single-player campaign unlike Mario Party 9, but praising its unique board rules and use of Download Play. Destructoid gave the game an even lower score of 4.0. GameXplain gave the single-player mode a 2 1/2 stars out of 5, and multiplayer a 3 1/2 out of 5. Additionally, Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game a score of 60%.

Mario Party: Island Tour is the 20th best selling game for the Nintendo 3DS, selling 1.14 million copies worldwide, as of March 31, 2014.

Invisible Player Lucky Space Glitch
In order to perform this glitch, the player must land on a Lucky Space in the board Bowser's Peculiar Peak. If they happen to be blasted to a space that another player is currently on, then the two players will overlap each other.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: The main theme is remixed in the minigames Xylophone Home and Goomba Tower Takedown. In Amp My Style, a remix of the underground theme appears. In Perilous Palace Path, while in the Bowser Zone, a remix of the castle theme appears. Also, the Starman theme is used for the Perilous Palace Path board whenever a player uses a Super Star.
 * Yoshi's Safari: In Bowser's Sky Scuffle, the player must shoot Bowser the way Mario shoots Roy Koopa in this game.
 * Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS: The "Koopa's Road" theme is remixed for Bowser's Peculiar Peak. King Bob-omb appears as a boss in this game as he did here, and Bowser makes a reference to his interest with his moustache from the remake saying, "My next guard has an even more formidable moustache than Mario!" Also, the song "Slowly Bubble Up" sounds similar to the song used for the minigame Wanted.
 * Mario Party/Mario Party 2: The concept of playing every available board to unlock the Bowser themed board was reused from these games.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: Dry Bowser returns with his ability to throw bones.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Rocket Road is based on this game, and Rosalina appears as a cameo along with the Lumas and the Comet Observatory. Additionally, the theme of Good Egg Galaxy is remixed in a part of Rocket Road's music.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Banzai Bill's Mad Mountain is based on World 6 from this game.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: The minigame Blown Hover features Flip Panels and the square mountains from World 4-5 from this game. Also, Dry Bowser's voice clips are borrowed from this game. Para-Biddybuds also make some cameos. The background of Fuel Me Once is very similar to World 1-1.
 * Mario Party 9: The voices of the characters and minigame announcer are borrowed from this game. Music such as the minigame intro and results screen are covered from this game. Mini Stars and Mini Ztars return in Star-Crossed Skyway.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: Bone Goombas and Bone Piranha Plants return.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: Waddlewings make some cameos.

Trivia

 * For a time the Nintendo 3DS eShop mistakenly stated Mario Party: Island Tour to be a title on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
 * This is the second Mario Party game not to feature Donkey Kong, Bonus Stars or a Last Five Turns/Almost There!/Homestretch/Last Hurrah event; the first was Mario Party Advance.
 * This is the first Mario Party game to use Dice Blocks to break ties in minigames.
 * This is the first Mario Party game to not have a category of 1 vs 3 minigames.
 * This is the second Mario Party game not to feature 2 vs. 2 minigames, the first being Mario Party 9.