Super Mario Party

Super Mario Party is a game in the Mario Party series, released for the Nintendo Switch on October 5, 2018. It is the eleventh home console installment in the series, as well as the first home console Mario Party game to not be a numbered installment since the original Mario Party game.

Described by Nintendo as a "complete relaunch" and "complete refresh" of the Mario Party series when revealed at E3 2018, the game "goes back to the four-player basics as you take turns and race across the board searching for Stars" as seen in the Mario Party installments prior to Mario Party 9, but also incorporates elements from the more contemporary Mario Party games, including the "ally" mechanics from Mario Party: Star Rush. Additionally, the game takes advantage of Nintendo Switch hardware for its minigames, such as flicking the Joy-Con as if it were a frying pan handle. Players can even link multiple Nintendo Switch consoles together for a single, larger alteration of the display for the game. The game is the first installment in the Mario Party franchise to incorporate online play, as minigames can be played online.

Story
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Toad, and Toadette are standing around, with each of the playable characters claiming that they should be the "Super Star". Mario suggests that they have a party to determine who the "Super Star" will be, which the group agrees to, with Toad and Toadette being judges. Suddenly, Bowser appears with Bowser Jr., Goomba, Boo, Koopa Troopa, Hammer Bro, Shy Guy, Monty Mole, Pom Pom, and Dry Bones, and says that he or one of his minions could also be the "Super Star". To ensure that the judging is "fair" and "impartial", he summons Kamek to judge alongside Toad and Toadette. Kamek then creates a venue for the party.

When all the boards in Mario Party mode are completed, the Gem of Tenacity is awarded. Similarly, the Gem of Spirit is awarded when the Hard difficulty in Sound Stage is completed; the Gem of Courage is awarded upon sailing every branch in River Survival; when all the stages in Partner Party are cleared, the Gem of Love is awarded; and when every Challenge Road stage is cleared, the Gem of Passion is awarded. When all five gems are collected, they fuse together to create the victory podium, which the newly crowned "Super Star" stands on. The partygoers, even including Bowser, agree to get along, at least until the "next party".

Gameplay
Super Mario Party reverts to the traditional way of playing Mario Party, where four players take turns to navigate around a linear board dictated by how much they have rolled through the Dice Block. When a character lands on a space, they receive effects dependent on what the space is, such as a Blue Space giving the player 3 coins while a Red Space subtracting 3 coins from the player. They can also spend coins to buy items from Flutter which can help them or hurt other players; these item shops can be triggered by passing by them in Mario Party or landing on them in Partner Party. The game borrows the ally mechanics from Mario Party: Star Rush where players can increase their team of characters by collecting party members who spawn throughout the board or by earning them by landing on Ally Spaces or using a Buddy Phone; allies gained from there are decided by a roulette. Allies contribute to Dice Rolls by either adding one or two to the total, and they participate in specially designated Team Minigames.

The overall goal of the game is to purchase the most Stars from Toadette, who serves as the host of the Star Space in this game. Stars cost 10 coins to buy, and after a player has purchased the Star, Toadette warps to another location of the board. In Mario Party, players can pass by Toadette to purchase Stars while players are required to land on the Star Space in order to receive Stars from Toadette.

Super Mario Party introduces the choice of using character specific die prior to rolling, where players can either opt for the standard 1-6 Dice Block or the character's unique Dice Block, which carries pros and cons associated with it. If players receive allies, they have option to use their designated Dice Block instead. Additionally, partners contribute to the total Dice Block amount by hitting a weaker Dice Block with only 1 or 2 sides and adds up alongside the leader character's dice roll amount.

Minigames are played, selected by a roulette, at the end of every turn, and the type of minigame is determined by the spaces players landed on. If all players land on the same-colored space as each other, a Free-for-all minigame is played. If one player lands on a different, non-green space than the rest of the players, a 1-vs-3 minigame is played, where players who land on the same-colored space are placed in the same team as each other. If players land on an equal amount of non-green spaces, a 2-vs-2 minigame is played, teamed up depending on the color; Team Minigames may be thrown into the mix, where the player's current allies may participate if they are received. If players land on a Green Space, the color is randomly determined to be either blue or red. Prior to playing the minigame, players view the rules and can practice; each minigame comes with its own rules and controls. Players can act out in the minigame's instruction menu prior to starting the minigame, replacing the practice feature altogether. Whichever player wins the minigame earns the most coins, while players who do not perform as well earn less coins. In Partner Party, Free-for-all, 2-vs-2, and Team Minigames are played; due to the mode having no colored spaces, all of those minigames show up in the Minigame Roulette.

At the last three turns, replacing the Last Five Turns Event, Toad and Toadette host character predictions, where the losing characters receive bonus items. At the end of the match, two Bonus Stars are issued, and they are selected from a pool of Bonus Stars. These Stars are the following:


 * Minigame Star: Given to players who have won the most minigames.
 * Rich Star: Given to players who have the most coins throughout the game.
 * Eventful Star: Given to players who have landed on the most Event Spaces.
 * Item Star: Given to players who have used the most items.
 * Ally Star: Given to players who have the most allies.
 * Buddy Star: Given to a player who has a particular, random ally.
 * Sightseer Star: Given to players who have traveled the most spaces.
 * Slowpoke Star: Given to players who have traveled the least spaces.
 * Unlucky Star: Given to players who have landed on the most Red Spaces and Bad Luck Spaces.
 * Stompy Star: Given to players who have stomped on other players the most. (Partner Party only)
 * Doormat Star: Given to players who have been stomped on the most. (Partner Party only)

After this, the winner is announced, and players can then view the statistics of the player's progress through the game, such as a line graph detailing the Star collecting progress or how many times a particular space has been landed on.

The game can only be played with a single Joy-Con per player, and is not compatible with the Pro Controller, unlike previous Mario games on the Switch. The game is also compatible with local wireless play.

Game modes
Players are first introduced to the Party Plaza, a hub where players can roam to various interest points, hosted by Toads of various colors. Players can explore the hub with a party of four characters, which serve as the characters participating for all modes. If players do not have enough human players, they are filled with a recommendation of a random selection of CPU players and their difficulty. Players can change their characters and CPU characters plus their difficulty by talking to Blue Toad at the gate of the Party Plaza.

The initially available modes are accessed by walking up to the interest points and talking to the Toads who host them. Two modes are locked and are accessed through a Warp Pipe in the left and right areas of the Party Plaza. They are obstructed with a Piranha Plant and stun players who attempt to jump into it. After their unlock requirements are met, Kamek removes the Piranha Plant for the players.


 * Mario Party: A traditional four-player battle royale where each player competes for the most Stars.
 * Partner Party: Similar to party mode, except two players team up against one another. They can combine their dice rolls together, similarly to the team mechanics from Mario Party 7, but teammates can move independently, like in the other Mario Party games from the Hudson Soft era. However, certain mechanics from Mario Party: Star Rush return, such as the grid-based board layout and the ability to stomp on opponents when passing by to take a coin.
 * Toad's Rec Room: This mode takes advantage of the Nintendo Switch's local wireless features and the ability to create a multi-screen environment. Requires two Nintendo Switch consoles and two copies of the game for full experience.
 * River Survival: A co-op-based mode where four players paddle an inflatable boat to the finish before time runs out. The timer can be increased by playing co-op minigames and collecting + Clocks.
 * Sound Stage: A mode in which players play rhythm-based minigames back-to-back while trying to get the highest score.
 * Challenge Road: A one-player mode where the player plays minigames while trying to complete various challenges. The mode becomes available when all minigames are unlocked.
 * Online Mario-thon: The online mode of the game, where players compete in five randomly selected minigames for a high score. Online leaderboards and a ranking system with rewards are confirmed.
 * Minigames: Play unlocked minigames and various other game modes.
 * Mariothon: Compete in a cup tournament and win the most minigames.

Playable
There are 20 playable characters in Super Mario Party, which is the largest number of playable characters thus far in the Mario Party series. Of these characters, 16 are available from the start, while the other 4 need to be unlocked. Goomba, Monty Mole, and Pom Pom are playable for the first time in the Mario Party series, with Pom Pom also making her overall Mario Party debut.

Character unlock criteria
Once the criteria has been met, the character appears in the Party Plaza. The player must then talk to the character to unlock them.

Hosts

 * Toad (host)
 * Toadette (guarding the stars)
 * Kamek (appears putting a Bad Luck Space on the board, and also explains the general party rules)
 * Lakitu (can steal coins for free or a star for 30 coins)
 * Paratroopa (will send a player to a rival's space for five coins)
 * Flutter (runs the item shop)

Boards
Super Mario Party contains four boards used in Mario Party and Partner Party mode, sharing the same locations but with a path-based or grid-based layout, respectively. This is also the first Mario Party game since Mario Party 6 not to contain any form of boss battles.


 * Mario Party
 * Whomp's Domino Ruins: A ruins area with rolling boulders and Whomps that block the path.
 * King Bob-omb's Powderkeg Mine: A mine featuring King Bob-omb. If the player lands on a ! Space, a countdown will decrease, and any players near King Bob-omb when the countdown reaches 0 will lose half their coins.
 * Megafruit Paradise: 4 islands connected by bridges. Landing on a ! Space causes a Mega Blooper to launch the player.
 * Kamek's Tantalizing Tower: A golden town board with a statue of Kamek at the end. If the player either retrieves or declines a star, the statue will change the value of the star. Additionally, there's a Thwomp that only allows players past it with a cost that constantly increases and a Chain Chomp that will attack any player that lands on a ! Space.


 * Partner Party
 * Domino Ruins Treasure Hunt
 * Gold Rush Mine
 * Watermelon Walkabout
 * Tantalizing Tower Toys

Dice Blocks

 * Normal Dice Block, the standard 1-6 Dice Block
 * Dice Blocks unique to each character that can be used any time they roll. They have the opportunity to increase their maximum number of rolls, affect their coin count, increase the chance of getting a number, or even cause them to get a 0. The player can also use a teammate's Dice Block if they have one with them. The following has all of the numbers on each character's Dice Block.
 * Dicey Dice Block, used by a Bob-omb that can follow the player on Gold Rush Mine. Its numbers are 0, 0, 0, -1, -1, -1.

Items

 * Dash Mushroom ("+3 to Dice Roll")
 * Poison Mushroom ("-2 to Dice Roll [of an opposing player]")
 * Golden Dash Mushroom ("+5 to Dice Roll")
 * Golden Drink ("Gain 1 coin each time you move. Can't use this while Peepa is in the way.") - Turns the player golden, akin to the Gold Flower.
 * Golden Pipe ("Warp close to a Star")
 * Coinado ("Steal 5 to 10 coins from rivals.") - Summons a Tornado to attack a rival of the player's choice.
 * Buddy Phone ("Call on an ally.")
 * Custom Dice Block ("Roll whatever you want to from 1 to 6. Stops allies from rolling dice.")
 * Peepa Bell ("Call a Peepa to take 1 coin from a rival each time they move.")
 * Fly Guy Ticket ("Call a Fly Guy to steal an item from a rival.")
 * Warp Box ("Warp close to a teammate.")
 * Hidden Block Card

Board items

 * Coins
 * Red Coins (+5 to coin count)
 * Star
 * Hidden Block, a Gold Block that has a chance to rewarding the player who found it with a Star.
 * A cloud symbol which summons Lakitu to steal coins from a rival for free or give the player a star for 30 coins.
 * A wing symbol, which summons a Koopa Paratroopa that will carry its summoner to a rival's spot for five Coins.
 * A Wiggler symbol, which summons a Flutter who owns an item shop.

Spaces

 * Start Space - A blank green space where every player starts on the board.
 * Plus Space - Grants three coins to players that land on it.
 * Minus Space - Takes three coins from players that land on it.
 * Event Space ("Landing here could set off a terrifying trap. Or not, but do you really want to risk it?") - A green space with an exclamation mark.
 * VS Space ("Everyone antes coins before facing off in a VS minigame!") - An orange diamond with the word "VS" on it. Here, everyone plays a rumble minigame before forking over a number of coins determined by roulette. The winner gets a majority of the coins wagered. After the minigame ends, the VS Space turns into a Plus Space.
 * Ally Space ("Call one new ally to join you!") - A green space with a friend icon on it.
 * Item Space ("Pick up helpful items. It never hurts to land here!") - A green space with a mushroom on it.
 * Lucky Space - A green space with a clover on it where the player can win items or coins.
 * Bad Luck Space ("Depending on where the wheel stops, you could lose items or coins.") - A red jagged space with an exclamation and question mark that acts similar to a Bowser Space albeit with Kamek instead of Bowser.

Minigames


Super Mario Party has a total of 84 new minigames. Of these, 30 of them are Free-for-All minigames, 10 of them are 2-vs.2 minigames, 10 of them are 1-vs.3 minigames. New categories of minigames introduced are 10 Co-op minigames, where all 4 players work together to beat the minigame; 10 Team minigames, where players form a team of 8 and they all work together against another team; 10 Rhythm minigames, where players get points by performing tasks to the rhythm of a song; and 4 Toad's Rec Room minigames, where players have the option to connect two undocked Nintendo Switch consoles together and play on both of them.

Regional differences

 * In the British English version of the game, pronouns refer to Birdo as a male. The American English and most other variants of the game has Birdo referred as a female. In the French language version, Birdo uses ambiguous pronouns.
 * In the British English version, Toadies are named Magikoopas.

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: Mario's, Goomba's, Spiny's, Cheep Cheep's, and Bowser's sprites appear in Puzzle Hustle. The overworld theme is remixed for the minigame Strike It Rich. Dart Gallery's background features neon lights resembling the overworld levels from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Shy Guy's sprite appears in Puzzle Hustle.
 * Super Mario World: Luigi's, Boo's, Koopa Troopa's, Monty Mole's, Dry Bones', Kamek's, Sumo Bro.'s, Chargin' Chuck's, Mario with Baby Yoshi, and Cape Mario's sprites appear in Puzzle Hustle.
 * Mario Party series: In one of Birdo's dialogue lines, she refers to this game as the "11th party", referencing the previous ten home console Mario Party games. She also gives the player quizzes relating to the previous home console Mario Party games.
 * Mario Party: The game's opening is a direct callback to this game's opening, with Mario and his friends arguing over who is the Super Star. The opening also begins from a similar camera angle.
 * Mario Party 2: The music for Shell Shocked Deluxe is a remix of the music "Going for the Coins", which is used in the minigame Shell Shocked.
 * Mario Party DS: The Star Pipe item returns under the name "Golden Pipe".
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 2, and U: In Challenge Mode, the sound effect that plays when a new level opens up is recycled from this game.
 * Mario Party 9: Shy Guy's and Koopa Troopa's victory and losing animations are recycled from this game.
 * Mario Party: Island Tour: Bowser Jr.'s and Boo's victory and losing animations are recycled from this game.
 * Mario Party 10: The majority of the returning characters' victory and losing animations are recycled from this game.
 * Super Mario Maker: Peach's, Daisy's, Wario's, Waluigi's, Yoshi's, Rosalina's, Donkey Kong's, Diddy Kong's, and Toad's Costume Mario sprites and Chain Chomp's (Super Mario Bros.-style), Blooper's (Super Mario World-style), Hammer Bro's (Super Mario World-style), and Bowser Jr.'s (Super Mario World-style) sprites appear in Puzzle Hustle.
 * Mario Party: Star Rush: Diddy Kong's victory and losing animations are recycled from this game. The concept of character-specific Dice Blocks returns, with some Dice Blocks being reused (albeit with different names). The Coinado item returns.
 * Mario Sports Superstars: The horses in Fiddler on the Hoof reuse their Balance-type design from this game.