Mario Party Superstars is the second title in the Mario Party series to launch on the Nintendo Switch and is the twenty-fifth instalment in the series' lifespan. Superstars follows the same gameplay style as its predecessor, Super Mario Party as well as much earlier releases in the series. It features 100 minigames from the past numbered versions of games in the series, much like Mario Party: The Top 100, along with five classic boards from the Nintendo 64 era of Mario Party games.

Mario Party Superstars boasts a “best of” sense both for the retro board selection as well as the beloved minigames. When the game was first announced many fans felt that these previously released elements of the Mario Party franchise would be better suited as DLC for Super Mario Party released earlier in in the Nintendo Switch lifespan. Thankfully this isn’t the case as Superstars holds it own as a standalone title with all game modes featuring online functionality from day one.



Nintendo have been evolving the Mario Party series over the years with some hits (and plenty of misses) along the way. Superstars strips away all the over-the-top extras that crept into the franchise and delivers old school, roll, collect and be darn sure you win those mini-games simplicity… with modernised visuals thrown in for good measure.

There are two primary modes to delve into; Mario Party (!) and Mount Minigames. The latter is an accessible way to play all the minigames on offer, either as 1 vs 3 or 2 vs 2, some minigames are setup for online only play while others are couch co-op. Disappointingly this time around the Mount Minigames (or variation thereof) falls wayward compared to prior offerings, fortunately there’s the main Mario Party mode…



Mario Party goes back to the series' traditional roots with a number of options to tweak the board games specifications, how many turns the game will last, what type of minigames to focus on and if anyone (who’s confident/crazy enough) should start the game with a Star handicap. The five boards from the first three games are Yoshi’s Tropical Island and Peach’s Birthday Cake (Mario Party), Space Land and Horror Land (Mario Party 2), and Woody Woods (Mario Party 3). Horror Land is easily the most creative of the five while Peach’s Birthday Cake may as well have been left out all together and shows that not everything Nintendo does ages as well as it should.

You can also choose to limit which minigames you’ll play; if you only want to play minigames from the N64 era or the engaging GameCube minigames, you can do so...

Minigame selection in Superstars is as good as it gets. Classics from all the numbered titles up to the forgettable Mario Party 10 are included. Only nine of the hundred games are pulled from the last three entries in the series which just goes to show how much better the older minigames are. You can also choose to limit which minigames you’ll play; if you only want to play minigames from the N64 era or the engaging GameCube minigames, you can do so, it’s all up to your personal preference.



The best aspect of the entire game is that it can all be experienced online from day one: the classic Mario Party formula with friends from all over the globe. The board game aspect of the game does slow down slightly with players going through dice/item options but when it comes to the all-important minigames, there isn’t a second of lag to be experienced.

All the visuals are rendered at 60fps and without a single frame drop whether playing a minigame, strategising on the main board or playing online.

Visually Superstars checks all the boxes; well-rendered, recreated environments, modernised character builds and even some call backs to the retro visuals giving fans that much wanted sense of nostalgia. The original board music has been re-recorded but along with the original audio, plenty key artwork and encyclopaedia entries can be unlocked when completing the different board games. On occasion the lighting does make some characters look more like toys but this is rarely noticeable. All the visuals are rendered at 60fps and without a single frame drop whether playing a minigame, strategising on the main board or playing online.



Unfortunately, there is once again a lean selection of boards on launch which will hopefully be resolved later via DLC downloads, if this is not the case the at least three of the five boards are well worth your while.

Mario Party Superstars is a tribute to the past entries to the series as well as a “Thank you” to all the fans of the series requesting a more classical approach over the years. Hopefully this will set the tone for future instalments dropping the unnecessary gimmicks and sticking to what fans love most: minigames, “unfair” dice rolls and new enemies that at the beginning of the game were close friends.

Review code provided by Nintendo | Reviewed on Nintendo Switch