As up to date as I am with Nintendo’s biggest and best franchises, I’ve always felt a little bit left behind by Mario Party.

It’s not a note on the game’s quality. Far from it. I’m more of a solo gamer and I’ve just never had the group of friends around me to dive in and play at leisure.

That said, I have always appreciated the high production values, and unique spins on gameplay that are offered here. It’s just a testament to the lastability of the Mario franchise and its cast of characters.

And that’s where Mario Party Superstars really comes into its own, because not only does it celebrate the best of the series with mini-games from every installment, it also lets gamers, like me, who’ve missed out all these years to come in and have some fun while very much keeping up to date.

It’s a brilliant collection with a whopping 100 mini-games included across five unique boards. While none of the games are new, each offers something different, from skiing down rapid slopes to dropping coconuts down on an opponent’s head, even spinning a board to make your opponents fall through the gaps to their doom. While they’re riding on pogo sticks.

But the really interesting thing is that some games are 2v2, some are free-for-alls, and some even have a 3 on 1 handicap, so there’s a real mix and each game forces you to focus your skills and timing differently, which really helps the flow of a game change on the drop of a dime. You could be in the lead for 14 turns and still lose the entire thing on the last one.

The games are mixed together across all the previous Mario Party games, even going as far back as the N64 original. It’s amazing! Of course, that does also come with its own control challenges with more modern releases being a bit less of a strain on your hardware.

Waggling your analog sticks up and down incessantly is a sure-fire to aggravate that infernal Joy-Con drift, for instance.

But it’s all presented really beautifully with a rich, green Mushroom Kingdom world and an ensemble cast that has a fan favourite for everyone, whether Donkey Kong is your go-to or you’re fan of newcomers like Rosalina.

The game has a pretty user-friendly, lovingly created menu as well that puts all the options in easy-to-find places with that iconic drainpipe at the center taking you to the Mario Party game proper and little huts and houses offering up options and data management.

There’s even a Toad Shop where you can spend the coins you’ve earned from your gameplay sessions to buy more stickers, music, card designs and even encyclopedic knowledge of the Mario cast and crew.

The only issue I had is how easily it is to keep quitting out of what I’m doing, even when I’m in the middle of something. B cuts through everything with such ease, it often led me to making a few surprise mistakes and accidental menu hopping back to the title screen. Which is odd.

One other cool addition is the Mt Minigames where you can just dive into and practice with any of the minigames at any point. It’s a nice way to practice, get a feel for where your strengths lie and then take those skills into practice for the real deal, whether that’s online or with a group of friends.

Speaking of online, this also opens up the game in a much bigger way, letting you play with other Nintendo players from all over, conversing using the game’s fun stickers which range from a simple ‘Hey’ to a shocked ‘Waaaah’. This can open up some fun exchanges.

But to the game proper, which is just a mix of joy, frustration, tension, and excitement, Mario Party is just a ton of great fun with a group of players. You’ve got 15 turns to move around the board, collecting as many stars and coins as possible, though sometimes games do feel like they go on for a bit too long, especially in the rapid fire nature of online play.

Stars can be collected by stealing from other players, and buying from vendors. These can also be awarded to you at the end of a game for a bunch of random scenarios, like least amount of moves or most games won.

There’s a mix of beneficial tiles – some will give you more coins – but also tiles where you can plant traps and even fall into Bowser’s lair where you’ll be lucky to escape without some sort of penalty.

Mario Party Superstars is a really well designed, excellently implemented and all-round good game. It’s content rich, the quality is high, there’s lots to sink your teeth into and it has replay value for weeks.

Verdict

If you’ve never played a Mario Party game before, this is the perfect jumping on point – celebrating the best the series has to offer. And even if you’re not, there’s no better collection and assortment out there than Mario Party Superstars. A perfect party game that’s accessible to everyone.

Pros

+ 100+ mini games to play through and enjoy
+ Lots of items to unlock across your playthrough
+ Online play opens the game up to everyone and flows really well.