16 years after the release of the initial Mario Party for N64, Nintendo is finally bringing its interactive digital board game to its newest console, the Wii U. With it come new modes that make full use of the Wii U’s technology, but do little else to offer a fresh experience.
With Mario Party 10 returns the classic Mario Party mode. This is your standard game mode where you move around a digital board and compete in mini-games to collect stars. While the 70-or-so mini-games offered in Mario Party 10 are entertaining enough, they happen far too infrequently and have little impact on the overall outcome of the game. Most of your time spent in this mode is watching random dice get rolled, watching your characters move around the digital board, and being at the mercy of the board. It’s unfortunate because regardless of how you do in the mini-games, aside from a small boost at the end, they really have little impact on the outcome of the game due to how many random blocks on the board affect each characters’ stars. You could be winning the entire game and land on a Bowser tile that splits everyones’ stars evenly and nothing you did up to that point would matter. For kids, I suppose this helps keeps things exciting, but as a competitive adult I found this incredibly frustrating.
It’s also worth pointing out that only Wiimotes are supported in this classic mode. I found this to be a bit odd given that it's on the Wii U, but I imagine everyone owns at least one Wiimote. If not, you'll have to get one unless you plan on only playing Bowser Party mode, one of two new modes in Mario Party 10.
Making use of the Wii U’s gamepad, Bowser Party mode supports up to five players — one as Bowser (with the Gamepad) and the other four as Mario and friends (using Wiimotes). As you can probably guess, this is a 1v4 mode. The goal for each team is simple: Mario and company are trying to race to the end of the game board while Bowser chases them, trying to stop them by beating them in mini-games. Each mini-game is designed around Bowser trying to harm the four allies, and the games do a decent job of making use of the Gamepad’s unique features. In one mode, Bowser must blow fireballs at players by aiming the Gamepad and blowing into the mic. In another, Bowser must use the Gamepad to control a wheel that the players are running in, making it go faster or stopping it entirely to try and trip up the players. On the game board, Bowser, at times, can also do other things to throw off players like leave fake clues. Overall, Bowser Party mode is a fun way to get a 5th player involved and use the Gamepad controller, but limited mini-games and maps can make this mode repetitive.
The other mode that makes use of the Gamepad is the amiibo Party mode. Requiring at least one compatible amiibo figure, this mode pits up to four players against each other to collect coins around the board and try to get as many Stars as possible. It’s similar to the standard mode except you get to make use of Nintendo’s new line of interactive figurines. At this point, it’s no secret that things like amiibo or interactive figures are a money-grab, but kids (and collectors) love it, and this is a neat mode to at least make these toys more useful than dust collectors on the shelf. Adding some flair to the mode, you are able to customize your amiibo by picking up different Tokens that provide bonuses, liek the ability to let you steal coins from other players. You can even find and save Tokens for use in future amiibo Party mode games. I imagine once you collect enough you can actually customize your amiibo with enough Tokens that actually match your playstyle. Again, it’s another neat way to get Nintendo’s latest technology in the game, but it feels forced.
When not playing any of the main three modes, Mario Party 10 offers other mini activities to keep you occupied. There’s a Mario Party Challenge List, which offers more specific objectives for players to complete while playing. These extra goals not only add replay value, but actual purpose and meaning to the game as well. There’s also a Photo Studio that lets you take in-game pictures of your favorite characters using items you’ve unlocked while playing. Unlockable items include a few locked characters, some additional vehicles to move you around the game board, and a ton of music and backdrops for Photo Mode. I would’ve liked to have seen more unlockables in the game, especially for Photo Mode; it’s pretty limited to just characters and backgrounds. I would’ve liked to incorporate props or something to make it a bit more interesting than just a few characters standing around in poses.
Conceptually, Mario Party 10 is still the same fun as it was 16 years ago when it first released on Nintendo 64. It definitely looks much nicer now and although it’s using new technology, it’s not in a way that’s intrusive to the overall gameplay experience. Regardless of how innovative Nintendo gets, it’s nice to see Mario Party remain a simple game with solid mechanics.
