Super Mario Party is releases in about a month, and Nintendo has shied away from showing a
game in full.
Until now, that is.
Nintendo’s official Japanese YouTube channel showcased a full round on the ruins board,
not avoiding any events in the process.
The comedy duo Yoiko has given us the best look at the title so far.
The result is something that feels closer to the more classic games than the previous
couple of outings.
For starters, we get a look at all of the characters that are playable.
In demos for Super Mario Party at Gamescom and PAX, four characters remained locked.
In one shot of the footage, however, it does seem that they are given away in full.
The characters in question here are Pom Pom, Dry Bones, Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong.
This might be hard to believe, but this is Diddy Kong’s first playable appearance in
a console Mario Party game.
The little chimp was, before this point, only playable in Star Rush for the Nintendo 3DS.
For Pom Pom, this is her first time in the series.
She even has a 1UP on her partner Boom Boom!
After the characters are chosen, the players end up in a plaza of some sort.
At least, we think.
The way the footage is cut up, you seem to move to the plaza after selecting the characters.
A series’ first if so.
In either case, we do a couple of familiar elements within the plaza.
You will see Thwomp board, River Survival and Mariothon in the Free Play mode.
One thing that we don’t directly see is the co-op mode, which retains the grid board
feel of Star Rush.
This could be the first option as the lack of events on the image does line up nicely.
The fourth option, is, however, the bigger mystery.
The closest thing it reminded us of was the look of the rhythm game of Star Rush, but
there aren’t any minigames shown in the image.
Could this be larger than before?
The possibility is certainly there.
At the end of the gameplay demo, a rhythm game is shown, adding credit to the idea.
This isn’t something that is expanded on however.
As we head into the plaza, the mode we are entering is described as the Mario Party mode.
It isn’t hard to see why.
The board follows the more basic structure of hopping from space to space.
Next to this, it is filled to the brim with events, which are certainly worth exploring.
You have your standard Blue and Red spaces, which will add and subtract coins as you land
on them.
Normally, this will be three coins, but at the end it will be dialed up to six.
A major return is here for the Happening Spaces, which bring back the feeling of proper board
events.
Some change the location of Thwomps.
You have to pay three coins to normally pass, but this skips that step entirely.
Another slew brings down a rock that chases you down the board.
The final ones, though that is more implied, seem to bring you up to three chests where
you play a game to earn something.
What that is, we don’t exactly know right now.
The same goes for the VS space, which we simply have no clue on.
There are more modern wrinkles as well.
The Lucky and Bad Luck spaces, found in the more recent Mario Party game, seem to make
a return.
They weren’t actively showcased, but they seem similar to their previous appearances.
It will earn or lose you coins and stars, which seem more critical as the board is smaller
in size.
The Ally Spaces make a return as well.
It is here that a roulette wheel will start to spin, and adds a buddy to your party.
This will give you access to their dice block, which we will get into in just a moment.
Next to the Star spaces, the most strategic opportunities come from the item spaces.
This give you the chance to stay ahead of the curve.
While most their return, there are a few newcomers that are absolutely worth highlighting.
One of them is the Golden Pipe.
If you remember the Genie or the Flutter items in previous game, you will be pretty aware
of its effects.
The Golden Pipe will place you before the Star space, allowing you to start your turn
right there.
With the stars being relatively cheap, they are only 10 coins, you will find yourself
taking the gamble quicker.
Another important item is the Buddy Phone.
This will instantly give you a character that join you, together with his or her Dice Block.
Please keep in mind that you won’t able to choose to join you, unlike the Ally space.
The final one I want to highlight is the Fly Guy Ticket.
This is the item that allows you to steal items from other players.
You can choose your target, or let the computer make a pick for you.
Speaking of picking, that was what new pass by board events make possible.
If you have enough coins on you, you can pass by Flutter’s shop and buy a specific item
you need right there.
None of the prices are really all that harsh.
A Golden Dash Mushroom is for an example 5 coins, while a Golden Pipe puts you back 10.
The second type of pass by events are Lakitu’s.
With his help, you will be able to steal coins for free or get a Star for 30 coins.
if you liked to rely on Boo, you could consider this your second home.
Last but not least, we have a Paratrooper who will carry to an opponent’s space for
measly 5 coins.
Keep your friends close, but your rivals even closer.
The last important factor about guiding yourself through the boards are the dice rolls.
These act in a very similar fashion to Star Rush on the Nintendo 3DS.
You have the option between your standard dice or a character specific one.
The character ones come with bigger risks, but that is great if you are up for a gamble.
Take Bowser’s dice for instance, you could run the risk of losing three coins, but on
the other hand, you could also get a 8, 9 or 10 roll.
As you stack allies, your options will increase and the chance for big rolls become feasible.
Shy Guy’s dice can be considered a very safe pair of hands for your party.
Most of his sides contain the number four, ensuring that you move that bit faster around
the board.
The game is about getting stars, getting a rag tag team together and staying ahead of
the curve.
This becomes important as you inch closer to the final moments of the game.
It is here that the scores are tallied, and two additional Bonus Stars are given.
During the gameplay demo, the stars were the most helpful allies as well as the usual Happening
Star.
These can be the ultimate make or break moments of the game, though in the gameplay demo’s
instance, it was already decided way beforehand.
After the game wraps, you can see the usual graphs and stats so you can compare the journey
between players.
At the end of every turn, minigames are played.
This is as old as time itself, but the pure inventiveness of the minigames shown can’t
be understated.
Most of them make excellent usage of the singular Joy-Con controls too.
During the gameplay demo, 13 new minigames were shown.
Either in part or in full.
Let’s run down them…
This free-for-all minigame sees you throwing colored balls in the mouths of Cheep Cheep
robots.
In this 2-vs-2 game, you will have make patterns with a piece of string attached to you.
Within the following 1-vs-3 minigame, you will be hitting objects in a ring.
These objects, placed in a diamond format, must be hit to score points.
You will need 20 total.
The lone player is in the middle of diamond, while the three are outside of it.
It is all about bombs in this game.
You will throw them around in a group of ten characters.
If the bomb explodes when you have it, you are out of the game.
This game takes three rounds to complete.
This free-for-all sees you pumping water to get it to the highest spot possible.
A soccer game for teams of two.
Just like the bomb game, more CPU players are being added.
Speaking of bombs, in this 1-vs-3 game, you try to land bombs on your opponent’s field.
Each player carries a racket, but the one for the solo player is extra large.
There is this adorable free-for-all game where you have to grab pancakes and bring them to
your plate.
Normal ones net you one point, while star crested ones give you three.
Another free-for-all, but this is time it is all about banana peels.
You have to get yourself through a maze filled of them and make your way to the middle.
It is where a big stack of fruit awaits the winner.
More fruit in this 2-vs-2 game as you move around a cursor and line up the fruit icons
on the playing field.
In the last team based minigame, 2-vs-2 once again, Joy-Con will have to be moved into
position.
Two blocks will have to fit on top of each other.
This needs to be done three times to win.
More Joy-Con motion action in this free-for-all game.
You have to move the Joy-Con up and down to get a character into focus.
Once again, this needs to be done three times.
Depending on your ranking, you will get 5, 3, 1 or 0 points per round.
Finally, in the following free-for-all minigame, you will hold L or R and climb yourself up
to the end goal.
While that is all the major things we wanted to point out, there are a few more things
worth mentioning.
The animations for the characters are some of the best we’ve seen in the series.
Everything from a high five to the reactions of somebody getting a star, it is quite an
incredible display of detail.
At the end of the video, next to the rhythm game we mentioned, they are teasing a look
at the dedicated 2-vs-2 modes in Super Mario Party.
This images showcased of a Baseball game, which gives us a weird Wii Party U give.
That is all we have to say Super Mario Party.
It is shaping up to be surprisingly fun game with things that will make old Mario Party
fans happy.
If the game turns a leaf for a series, that remains to be seen of course, but there is
a solid hope behind it.
The minigames look varied, and the various ways to play make for an unique package.
In either case, it will be interesting to see what Nintendo will showcase more in upcoming
gameplay demo.
For now, thank you for watching.
Be sure to stay subscribed to GameXplain for more on Super Mario Party and other things
gaming too.
See you later, bye.