Mario Partyhas been going strong for over 20 years. With 10 numbered entries and a handful of spin-offs, it’s safe to say thatMario Partyis one of the most popular series to spawn from the Mario franchise andpossibly one of the best party games of all time.Mario Party Superstarsbrings back some of the best boards and minigames from throughout the series,as well as a few new game modes, and puts them into one nostalgic game.
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For returning fans of the series,Mario Party Superstarsbrings back five familiar boards anda slew of minigames from pastMario Partygames. All of the boards look great on the Switch, with each receiving a modern visual revamp. Every board brings a unique mechanic, though some don’t work quite as well as others.
5Woody Woods
Woody Woods is a remastered board from the Nintendo 64’sMario Party 3.While it is visually gorgeous, its map mechanics offerless strategic valuethan its fellowSuperstarsmaps, leaving much of the games played on this board up to luck and chaos. While none of the boards included inMario Party Superstarsare bad, Woody Woods lacks where the others excel. Additionally, some changes have been made that make this version of Woody Woods less fun than its N64 counterpart.
The main obstacle in the Woody Woods board is theMonty Moles that litter the map, changing directional cues after each turn. These cues decide which tiles the player can move to on their turn. They can be manually activated by stepping on the corresponding event spaces causing the Monty Moles to turn the directional arrow. Stepping on a Monty Mole event space will only change the directional arrow in from of the player, leaving the other arrows on the board unchanged. This makes the event spaces, and the directional arrows in general,more of a nuisance to the player than a strategic tool.
In Woody Woods N64 counterpart, a Monty Mole Hut could be visited where the player could change the direction of the arrows by using 5 coins. This feature has unfortunately been removed from the Superstars version of the map. It’s a shame, as it allowed for more calculated decisions from players.
4Peach’s Birthday Cake
Peach’s Birthday Cake is a map from the originalMario Party,and this board’s visuals alone make it worthy of a game or two. The visual difference between the original board and the one featured inMario Party Superstarsis enormous.
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Peach’s Birthday Cake also has a large amount of strategic value. As one of the more linear maps featured, the design and event spaces on this board keep it interesting for both new and seasoned players. The board features event spaces every few spaces, where the player canplant piranha plants to steal coins and stars from their opponentsshould they land on the corresponding event space.
Peach’s Birthday Cake is very linear, which offers less variety in each playthrough, butmore strategic opportunities for players to take.Players who enjoy planning out turns far in advance will enjoy this board.
3Yoshi’s Tropical Island
Yoshi’s Tropical Island is another linear board from the originalMario Party,and featurestwo islands that players can travel between using thwomp bridges.Players will have to pay a toll to the thwomp when crossing the bridges, and can decide to increase the toll for any players following after them.
The main obstacle of this board is theever-changing position of the star.It changes location between each island when players land on event space, and when it is moved, it is replaced by Bowser himself. Bowser takes coins from the player, occasionally throwing them an item for their troubles.
Yoshi’s Tropical Island is at its peak whenplaying with a group of friendsor CPUs set at a high difficulty setting,as the event spaces on this board offer many opportunities for players to strategize their movements.
2Space Land
Space Land isone of the larger boards available,which can sometimes be overwhelming when playing shorter games. This isn’t much of an issue though, as the unique events and outcomes that Space Land delivers make up for the complexity of the board.
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Space Land has many unique features, like agiant timer in the center of the board that sets off a giant Bowser-shaped laser,resulting in a tense and competitive race to the finish. The laser and the Snifit Patrols can be a pain in the side of all players, but theyadd to the complexity of the mapcompared to some of the other boards inSuperstars.
1Horror Land
Horror Land embodies theMario Partyspirit more than any other board inSuperstars. With endless options and variations in play from game to game, Horror Land hastons of replay value.
Items come in handy on this map, as there are manyopportunities to steal from opponentsand many opportunities for them to steal from you. Using Skeleton Keys, Chomp Calls, and Golden Pipes is a must, as the size and difficulty of Horror Land can at times makegetting and keeping stars a struggle.It’s the difficulty of the board that makes Horror Land the best map inMario Party Superstars. The chaos that can ensue from Horror Land’s event spaces, and the competitiveness that results, isMario Partyat its best.
