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Mario Party was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998. There are people reading this review who weren't even born in 1998, and for this reviewer - for whom the first two Mario Party games were among the best - that's quite a scary thing to accept. As time has passed, the series has continued to evolve while retaining the same idea that has kept it on its feet for the past 17 years; some games have been better than others, but each one has introduced something new to the series. New entries have arrived less often of late, with only three new games released since 2007, but Mario Party 10 - ten! - reminds us that the series' new ideas can still be great.
Mario Party 10 features three main modes for players to enjoy, each providing a different experience in terms of both gameplay and mechanics. The premise of the Mario Party mode, which is probably best thought of as a more accurate modern Mario Party experience, is that four players travel around a game board together in the same vehicle, all the while collecting Mini Stars and taking part in occasional minigames, for which the series is renowned. This is akin to the style of gameplay introduced in Mario Party 9 as opposed to the more traditional gameplay for which the series is probably better known, and while it limits the opportunity for exploration, the five available game boards are still well designed - if sometimes a little shorter or more linear than we'd like - and each one provides a very different experience, though the gameplay remains solid throughout.
The new Bowser Party mode was highlighted more than anything else when the game was revealed at E3 2014, mainly because of its use of the Wii U GamePad. Much like the Mario Party mode, Bowser Party features five game boards for players to pick, and each one puts four players in a vehicle and lets them move around the board. The major difference here is that the mode allows up to five players to take part, as one player will use the Wii U GamePad to control Bowser's actions during rounds and minigames. On the board, players collect hearts instead of Mini Stars, and once all four players have rolled their dice, the player with the GamePad will roll four dice in an attempt to catch up to the others. If that happens, a Bowser minigame takes place as the players fight to keep their hearts. If all four players lose their hearts during the overall game, Bowser wins; otherwise, if at least one player makes it to the end of the board, Bowser loses.
These two modes have a great deal in common, from the board options to the characters you can play as, with veterans like Mario and Yoshi being joined by fresh faces including Rosalina and the lovable Spike as an unlockable character. At the beginning of the game, one player will be picked at random to have the first roll of the dice, with the other players following in sequence. Landing on different spaces around the board will provide the current player with certain benefits; for example, finding a hidden dice box will reward the player with a special dice at random, which might be for rolling higher or lower numbers specifically. Landing on a minigame space or finding a hidden minigame box will trigger a minigame, which could be a four-player free-for-all, a two-against-two showdown, or a three-against-one match-up.
Of the minigames available in the game, some stand out well above the rest, while others can sometimes leave you a little confused at first. There are more than 70 minigames in Mario Party 10, with some definitely being reminiscent of classic Mario Party - such as a bobsled race - and each having a different control setup. Your only control option is the Wii Remote, but it's how you use it that will differ by each minigame. Most are relatively simple and will let you move with the D-Pad and jump with the 2 button while holding the Wii Remote sideways; others involve flicking or tilting the Wii Remote or pointing at the screen. You're always offered the chance to practice a minigame as many times as you like before playing for real, which can be helpful for the few that don't tell you what exactly is involved before you play; at the very least, the controls for each are almost always well explained, though the few that don't do this as well can be a little more frustrating, and not necessarily for the right reasons.
Despite that, the minigames provided in Mario Party 10 are generally of a high quality, featuring recognisable characters and fun gameplay. The number of Mini Stars you gain in each minigame is dependent on how well you do; fewer Mini Stars are on offer in two-on-two minigames, while more can be won in three-on-one matchups, particularly if the lone player manages to win the bout. Each game board in Mario Party mode also features a mini-boss and a main boss, both with unique minigames providing a slightly longer experience and a larger number of Mini Stars upon completion. Again, many of these bosses will be very familiar to fans of other Mario games; the same can be said of many of the board and minigame settings seen throughout, which have evidently been based on past games including New Super Mario Bros. U among others.
While both Mario Party and Bowser Party can provide great experiences, arguably the most enjoyable mode - certainly for fans of the more traditional Mario Party gameplay - comes in the form of amiibo Party. This is played with up to four players, each of whom uses a Wii Remote, while the Wii U GamePad sits in the middle and acts as the base for using amiibo. At the beginning, each player with an amiibo taps it to the GamePad to select their player, and then an amiibo is tapped to the GamePad to decide which board the game will start off on. Nine amiibo are compatible here, and each of them has its own game board with different sections and spaces. The amiibo that gets tapped to decide the board can be one of those used by the players or another compatible amiibo, of which Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Toad, Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario, Rosalina, and Bowser are available.
The gameplay of amiibo Party is very similar to early Mario Party games, in which players would move separately around the board. Up to four players can take part, though only one needs to use an amiibo, and the aim is to have the most stars at the end of the game, which lasts for ten rounds. All game boards are the same shape and size, so the short path around the board is always the same, but each character's board has unique events and a different design; for example, Toad's board features cannons which shoot up to three additional stars onto the board. Boards are split into quarters, and it's possible during a game - or before one, if you have a board token saved to your amiibo - to take out one quarter of the board and replace it with another one from a different character. This can help to keep the gameplay varied and more interesting, even on a relatively small board.
Games played in amiibo Party will usually last an hour or so, and it's fair to say that it harks back to classic Mario Party moreso than either of Mario Party 10's other modes. Being able to collect coins and stars - and trading coins for stars - was the hallmark of the original Mario Party and its successors, and even if amiibo Party is a very stripped-down version of this experience, it's still one of the highlights of the game. It does require at least one amiibo to be playable - one of the first instances of amiibo being required to use such a significant portion of a game - but only one is required, as the remaining players can use character cut-outs to move around the board, with button presses being used to carry out actions such as dice rolls where you would normally tap the amiibo to the Wii U GamePad.
Mario Party 10 is by no means for groups of players exclusively, as it features plenty for solo players to be going on with as well. All three main modes are open to solo play, while there are also some bonus games included that can be taken on by one player or several, with many supporting multiplayer as well. That said, it goes without saying that the game is far more enjoyable with friends, so if you're planning on playing on your own all the time, as fun as it'll be at first, expect that to wear off sooner rather than later unless you're playing in short bursts. The game also features some unlockables, including two more playable characters, character models to use in an awesome Photo Studio mode, music from the game's various modes, vehicles to use in Mario Party and Bowser Party, and more besides. These are all purchased with Mario Party points, which you collect in the main Party modes or by using amiibo to win scratch cards.
Wii U already has a few good party experiences to its name, but its first Mario Party game is a great place to start. It does have issues; some minigames are questionable and we really wouldn't mind if everyone moved individually around larger game boards, nor would we mind having more than five boards to choose from, but these are relatively minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things. Mario Party and Bowser Party both provide a recognisable format from more recent times, while Bowser Party also makes good use of the Wii U GamePad, and amiibo Party manages to blend traditional Mario Party gameplay into a more modern format. As the first Mario Party game on Wii U, it sets a good benchmark; there'll be ways of improving upon the formula in the future, but Mario Party 10 is a very well-rounded, hugely enjoyable experience that anybody can easily get into.
