Mario Party Superstars

Mario Party Superstars is the second installment in the Mario Party series for the Nintendo Switch released on October 29, 2021, and is the twenty-fifth installment in the series overall. It is also the twelfth installment to be released on a home console. The game follows the same gameplay style as its predecessor Super Mario Party and earlier installments in the series. It features 100 minigames from past games in the series, similarly to Mario Party: The Top 100, as well as five boards from the Nintendo 64 Mario Party games. All game modes are available to play online.

Mario Party Superstars is the first game published by Nintendo on one of their consoles to be officially localized in Brazilian Portuguese.

Gameplay
Mario Party Superstars features minigames and boards from past Mario Party titles while retaining the overall game engine and several features from Super Mario Party. Players take turns hitting the Dice Block and moving around the board in order to collect coins and Stars, and once every player has rolled, a minigame will be played, allowing the players to earn coins. Much like games prior to Mario Party 9, the Dice Block rolls 1 through 10 instead of only 1 through 6, and character-specific Dice Blocks from Super Mario Party do not return. Items can be obtained from Lucky Spaces, Item Spaces, or Item Shops and are generally based on the items seen in Super Mario Party. The boards generally retain their original layout, though some have been updated to include new path layouts and Item Shops, such as Peach's Birthday Cake. Some of the board events have also been adjusted. Like in Super Mario Party, when landing on a VS Space, the landing player hits a Dice Block to determine how many coins each player must put into the pot, though instead of playing a Rumble Minigame, a Free-for-all Minigame is played, similarly to Battle Spaces from older entries. Once landed on, a VS Space will then turn into a Blue Space.

During the last five turns, the coins gained or lost from Blue Spaces and Red Spaces are doubled, and two players landing on the same space will embark in a Duel Minigame, betting coins like in Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 3. New to this game is the ability to add turns, in which there is an option to change the number of turns in the menu at any point of the game except for during the last turn. The number of turns that could be added is dependent on the amount of turns chosen at the beginning of the game, so for example, if 10 turns were chosen, the player can choose to change the number to 15, 20, 25, or 30 turns, but if 30 turns were chosen, this option isn't available. If the turn count is changed during the last five turns, any changes during the last five turns will be reverted on the next turn, so for example, two players landing on the same space won't trigger a duel. The option to add turns can only be chosen once per game.

Like in Super Mario Party, practicing a minigame takes place on the instruction screen instead of players pressing a button to practice.

Playable
Ten characters are playable. Though no new playable characters are introduced to the series, this is the first Mario Party game since Mario Party 9 where Birdo is playable.

Without encyclopedia entry

 * King Bob-omb
 * Gold Goombas
 * Big Piranha Plants
 * Toads
 * Woody
 * Warukio
 * Piranha Pods
 * Big Piranha Pods
 * Mecha Fly Guy
 * Big Cheep Cheep
 * Spinies
 * Lava Bubbles
 * Amps
 * Yoshis

Boards
The game features five boards from the three Nintendo 64 Mario Party titles.

Items
{| class="wikitable"

Spaces

 * Start Space - "Your journey to become the next Super Star starts here."
 * Blue Space - "Get 3 coins." (Last 5 turns: "Get 6 coins.")
 * Red Space - "Lose 3 coins." (Last 5 turns: "Lose 6 coins.")
 * Bowser Space - "The most dangerous space. Nothing good can come of it."
 * Event Space
 * Yoshi's Tropical Island: "Cheep Chomp plays a crafty trick. Keep your eyes peeled!"
 * Space Land: "If you're facing down a speeding spaceship...run!"
 * Peach's Birthday Cake: "You can spend coins here to add a strawberry."/"[Character]'s strawberry will steal your coins here."/"[Character]'s strawberry will steal your Star here."; "Take a shortcut on this slide!"
 * Woody Woods: "Stop here, and Monty Mole will change the arrow sign."; "Stop here, and you can get some fruit."; "There's something a little sinister about this tree..."
 * Horror Land: "Stop here to change day to night or night to day."
 * VS Space - "Players bet coins before facing off in a minigame!"
 * Lucky Space - "Spin the roulette wheel for a chance at items or coins!" (Final turn: "Spin the roulette wheel for a chance at coins!")
 * Item Space - "Get an item from an Item Minigame." (Final turn: "It's the last turn, so there won't be an Item Minigame.")
 * Chance Time Space - "Hit the three rotating blocks for a chance at a comeback!"
 * Koopa Bank - "Deposit 3 coins when you pass. Try landing here too!" (Last 5 turns: "Deposit 5 coins when you pass. Try landing here too!")

Passing spaces

 * Star Exchange - "Exchange 20 coins for a Star."
 * Boo - "Steal coins for free or a Star for 50 coins."
 * Bowser - "It looks like Bowser has something for you..."
 * Koopa Troopa - "A lap around the board! You'll receive 10 coins."
 * Item Shop - "Buy items with coins." (Final turn: "Buy items with coins. Currently unavailable.")
 * Crossroads - "Choose which way to go."
 * Gate - "A closed gate. It might open with a key."
 * Thwomp - "Give the Thwomp coins, and you can pass."
 * Bowser Junction - "Counts down when you pass by. What happens at zero?"
 * Snifit Station - "Stop here to get a speed trap from the Snifit Patrol."/"Get a speed trap when the Snifit Patrol gets back."
 * Flower Lottery - "Select a seed, then follow whichever path sprouts!"
 * Signpost - "You must follow the arrows. Watch out! They change."
 * Forest Shop - "An exclusive item shop hidden deep in the forest."
 * Monty Mole Hole - "Pay Monty Mole coins here to change the arrow signs."
 * Mr. I's Stone - "Mr. I will warp you across the board."
 * Whomp Blocker - "This Whomp is blocking the way. Pay it coins to pass."
 * Party Place - "Stop by at night if you want to join the party."
 * Mystery Mansion - "Something magical might happen here during the day."
 * King Boo's Stone - "At night, pay 150 coins to steal a Star from everyone."

Minigames
The game has 100 minigames from previous Mario Party titles, much like Mario Party: The Top 100. There are also five item minigames that do not count towards the total in the game, bringing the number up to 105.

Boards

 * Unlike in Mario Party 2 or 3, if a player does not have a Skeleton Key when they reach a junction with a gate, then they do not get to choose which path to take.
 * Approximately a quarter of Blue Spaces on boards are now Lucky Spaces.
 * Toadette now gives the star on the boards in place of Toad and the Millennium Star.
 * Characters that weren't present in the original games now appear on some of the boards, including Huckit Crabs and Urchins in Yoshi's Tropical Island, Peepas in Horror Land, and Galoombas in Woody Woods.
 * In the original Mario Party boards, Bowser can now give a Cursed Dice Block for an expensive price when players pass him instead of a dud item.
 * There are now item shops in the original Mario Party boards and more than one item shop in the Mario Party 2 boards.
 * A Cheep Chomp replaces the giant Cheep Cheep in Yoshi's Tropical Island.
 * The layout of Peach's Birthday Cake has been altered, such as moving the Flower Lottery to after the star and making the Bowser route a risky shortcut that loops back towards the star.
 * The available seeds in the Flower Lottery now reset once the Bowser seed is selected, instead of after all seeds have been selected. The seeds also now differ by shape rather than color.
 * Lakitu now plants the Piranha Plants in Peach's Birthday Cake instead of Goomba. The Piranha Plants can now disappear once their corresponding Event Space has been landed on, and every pair of Event Spaces now corresponds to the same Piranha Plant instead of each Event Space having its own Piranha Plant. Additionally, players now have the option to plant a coin-stealing or star-stealing Piranha Plant instead of being limited to a star-stealing one. Also, when landing on their own Piranha Plant, the player will earn a few coins as well and be given the option to upgrade their coin-stealing Piranha Plant to a star-stealing one, provided the player has enough coins.
 * Players now give 3 coins when passing a Koopa Bank or 5 coins during the last five turns, instead of always giving a flat 5 coins.
 * Koopa Kid no longer appears in the Mario Party 2 boards.
 * Actual Snifits run the Snifit Police stations in Space Land instead of Snufits.
 * King Boo replaces the Big Boo in Horror Land.
 * The Koopa Bank on the left of the board in Woody Woods has been moved to the top, and another Koopa Bank has been added, totalling three Koopa Banks on the board.
 * Wigglers and the multiple MIPS are absent from Woody Woods, the former being replaced by Galoombas and the latter having been replaced by small rabbits.
 * The Monty Mole hut that allows players to switch the signposts is now simply a Monty Mole hole from which a Monty Mole emerges to talk directly to the player. As well, the bottom-left hut has been replaced by a unique Item Shop known as the Forest Shop.

Minigames

 * Characters vocalize more frequently in minigames.
 * Certain minigames now result in multiple victories instead of a draw if multiple characters survive.
 * Minigames from Mario Party 3 no longer have flat aesthetics.
 * Many of the changes to returning minigames from The Top 100 remain.
 * Just like Hexagon Heat in The Top 100, the mushrooms in Mushroom Mix-Up have different patterns, possibly to help people with color blindness.
 * In Cast Aways, the reeling time when the player does not catch anything is significantly faster.
 * Despite Crazy Cutters being based on its appearance in Mario Party, both Chain Chomp and Blooper appear as possible characters, both of which appear in the Mario Party 2 version. Additionally, it uses its name from Mario Party 2 rather than being named Crazy Cutter as in Mario Party.
 * Players who fall off the tower in Hammer Drop now lose all the coins they collected during the minigame.
 * The pictures that can be revealed in Tipsy Tourney are now of a Mushroom, Fire Flower, or Star, rather than just a coin.
 * As with The Final Battle! in The Top 100, any appearances of Koopa Kid in minigames from Mario Party 2 and 3 are replaced with Bowser Jr.
 * Hot Rope Jump can now end if two or more players reach 99 jumps.
 * In Archer-ival, if the three player team wins, surviving players will pop from behind the brick wall holding their respective panels to celebrate.
 * In Archer-ival, the solo player no longer receives extra coins from hitting the Goomba, Boo, or Bowser Jr. panels. Additionally, the Toad panel has been replaced by the Goomba panel.
 * The players in Look Away now have their own portraits showing the top half of their bodies rather than being disembodied heads.
 * In Quicksand Cache, the three players now share the coins they collect, rather than each player keeping the coins they collect individually.
 * In Balloon Burst, the time it takes to fully pump a single gust of air into the Bowser balloon is slower.
 * The pirate theming in Roll Out the Barrels and the space theming in Hammer Slammer are absent.
 * Players are stunned for a shorter time when hitting the mines in Cheep Cheep Chase.
 * The cylindrical path in Motor Rooter is now colored metallic grey instead of green.
 * The Piranha Plants in Winner's Wheel have been removed.
 * The minigames from Mario Party 9 and 10 use the same arrangement for their win theme, unlike The Top 100, which gave them separate arrangements.
 * Like in Mario Party: The Top 100, several minigame themes from Mario Party 3 now use their names from the Mario Party 3 Original Soundtrack instead of their in-game names from the North American localization of Mario Party 3.
 * The song "Going for the Coins" from Mario Party 2 is incorrectly referred to as "Take the Coin", an error that was also present in Mario Party: The Top 100.

Differences from previous installments

 * Rolling two 7's no longer yields a larger coin bonus than rolling two of any other number.
 * After the star moves to a new location, the camera will zoom out to show the full board.
 * A rearranged version of the board's music track plays during the last five turns.
 * During board events, players have the option to fast-forward the event's animations.
 * The coins earned from the minigame played on every 5th turn (except the last turn) are doubled.
 * Unlike Mario Party: The Top 100, minigames now retain their original intros and endings and music tracks. Some minigames, however, have altered endings, most notably minigames from Mario Party 9 and 10, which now have traditional endings in the style of earlier games.
 * If the player chooses to skip the intro to certain minigames, the music starts at a different point in the song rather than from the beginning.

Promotion
To promote the game, Nintendo collaborated with the  and produced two promotional commercials that featured them playing Mario Party Superstars. The Japanese Mario Party Superstars website also featured promotional images of the idol group playing the game.

Awards and acknowledgements
Mario Party Superstars is nominated for Best Family game at The Game Awards 2021.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: The tiled floor in the minigame Squared Away is in the shape of Mario's 8-bit sprite from this game. Also, like in the original Mario Party, the Option House's music is an arrangement of the Underground Theme from this game.
 * Mario Party: Peach's Birthday Cake and Yoshi's Tropical Island return as boards and Koopa Troopa reprises his role as a host from this game. Several of the music tracks from this game are rearranged. Mushroom Village also returns (now renamed Village Square), once again acting as the main hub area for the game. 12 minigames return from this game. The die on the boxart has a 3, a 7, and a 10, referencing this game's boxart.
 * Mario Party 2: Space Land and Horror Land return as boards. 19 minigames return from this game. The Skeleton Key returns with its design from this game.
 * Mario Party 3: Woody Woods returns as a board. 24 minigames return from this game.
 * Mario Party 4: 8 minigames return from this game.
 * Mario Party 5: 10 minigames return from this game.
 * Mario Party 6: 12 minigames return from this game. Toad's artwork is an updated version of his artwork from this game.
 * Mario Party 7: 6 minigames return from this game. Toadette's artwork is an updated version of her artwork from this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: Goomba's artwork is an updated version of its artwork from this game.
 * Mario Party 8: 2 minigames return from this game. Peach and Boo's artwork are updated versions of their artwork from this game.
 * DK: Jungle Climber: Donkey Kong's artwork is an updated version of his artwork from this game.
 * Super Mario series: The Warp Block acts similarly to and uses the same sound effects as a Warp Box.
 * Mario Party 9: 4 minigames return from this game. Birdo's 2nd and 4th place animations are reused as her "neutral" and losing animations respectively, and her artwork is reused from this game. Bowser and the Koopa Clown Car’s artwork is an updated version of their artwork from the game’s boxart.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: Piranha Pods are used to spawn the Piranha Plants on Peach's Birthday Cake.
 * Mario Party: Island Tour: Yoshi's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart 8: Just like Super Mario Party, several voice clips have been reused from this game, including some new voice clips.
 * Mario Party 10: 3 minigames return from this game. Rosalina's artwork is reused from this game. The characters' 4th place animations are reused as their losing animations, much like Super Mario Party, while their 2nd place animations are used as their "neutral" animation.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: Mega Monty Mole's (now being used for normal Monty Moles) and King Boo's artwork is reused from this game. The Cursed Dice Block from this game returns as an item.
 * Mario Party: The Top 100: The concept of having 100 returning minigames is reused from this game, with 52 minigames returning. Some minigames that also appeared in this game retain their redesigns. The Chomp Call retains its design from this game. Wario's artwork is reused from this game.
 * Super Mario Party: This game's engine is reused. Most characters' animations are reused from this game. Toad and Toadette reprise their roles from this game. Kamek (albeit without the bow tie), Waluigi, Whomp and Bowser Jr.'s artwork are reused from this game.
 * Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit: Thwomp's artwork is reused from this game.