One of Nintendo’s strongest points is that it sometimes sneaks up on fans and gives them exactly what they want. Nowhere was that more apparent than at Nintendo’s E3 2021 Direct, in which the industry leader won the show for many witha platter of dream Nintendo announcements. A newWarioWare, remakes of the first twoAdvance Warsgames, andMetroid Dreadwere all present during the showing, and were also a part of the following Treehouse stream. There is one other notable series revival in that set, however, and its fans couldn’t be more pleased with the pitch:Mario Party Superstars.
Mario Party Superstarsis dedicated to collecting five standout boards from the three N64Mario Partytitles, and 100 of the best minigames from the N64 and GameCube eras. As foreshadowed by the sudden update toSuper Mario Party, this game will also feature online, this time with a more complete set of modes and minigames. To top it all off, the whole thing has been rendered inSuper’s engine, and thus features gorgeous visuals and many characters who weren’t in the first three games. The slam-dunk nature of this package is so great that some may be wondering about the possibility of an equivalent package for the four GameCubeMario Partygames.
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The GameCube Mario Party Boards
There have been many arguments over the years as to theidentity of the bestMario Party. Those are unlikely to ever end, but just about every game up to8has a vocal fanbase. There’s almost always at least one board that fans really like, and even in the somewhat controversialMario Party 4, that persists. Conversations about a potential GameCubeMario Party Superstarsare already pointing to Goomba’s Greedy Gala as a standout board in the series, owing to the core mechanic of a giant, direction-determining roulette wheel that can be rigged by wealthy players. It’s very thematically strong, both with the casino-themed map and in the luck-based gameplay ofMario Partyitself.
A lot of other GameCube boards are equally as impressive, owing toMario Party’s strong board game design.Mario Party 5’s Future Dream is a fairly straightforward board with three segments, but it offers multiple ways to warp or ride around. Castaway Bay is another simple, but very solid board inMario Party 6. Donkey Kong and Bowser have boats in the harbor at the end of the board, and players need to try to reach them while Donkey Kong is docked. The ability to mess with the boats, combined with the day/night cycle unique toMario Party 6that messes with board elements, makes for a surprisingly strategic experience.Mario Party 7’s Neon Heights presents a randomized treasure hunt as a side element in its city night-life theme.
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Superstars Would Be A Huge Upgrade For These GameCube Titles
One of the best parts ofMario Party Superstars, and its predecessorSuper Mario Party, is that clean, shiny 3D assets are finally catching up to the visual flair sported by the pre-rendered N64 boards. It comes down to player preference as to which looks better, but the couple of boards shown off forSuperstarsalready make a case for how far the series has come. This is one of the best reasons to make a GameCubeSuperstarssequel: anumber of GameCube boards just haven’t held up.Mario Party 4in particular was infamous when it launched, and may have the worst-looking boards of the franchise. This seems to have been the result of the development team trying to get used to new fully-3D environments, but it doesn’t excuse how artificial and barren many boards look.
Also in need of an update are the games' mechanics. While the three N64Mario Party’s operate by a mostly unified set of rules, the GameCube titles do not.Mario Party 4has the Mega/Mini Mushroom system, while the other three share Orbs as a new way to use items and interact with the map.Mario Party 6also has an integral day/night cycle, andMario Party 7features minigamesthat make use of the microphone attachment. Unfortunately, a lot of these mechanics will need to either be properly unified or removed altogether. Keeping some variant of the Orb ruleset feels necessary, and theMario Party 4board(s) would need to be reworked to accommodate. Still, any boards from6should be allowed to have their own unique day/night cycle. That mechanic has appeared as a board gimmick in a Nintendo 64Mario Party, so it shouldn’t be problematic.
The Issue With Adapting Future Mario Party Games
One final concern going forward is side modes that all the GameCube games had. There was always more to do than just play the boards, including volleyball, custom tank duels,“old-school"Mario Partywith minimized gimmicks, and even a sort of adventure mode that could unlock minigames. The tag mode inMario Party 7was also notable, given how it affected minigame controls. Losing all of these would be a shame, but it would also be a lot of work to bring even one over to theSuper Mario Partyengine. The potential for anotherMario Party Superstarsis high, but it ultimately falls to Nintendo to decide if it will happen, and what it would include.
One thing that has even fans asking for a secondMario Party Superstarsstumped is the prospect of a third. Theoretically, that would collect boards fromMario Party 8,9, and10, as well as one or two popular boards that missed out on prior entries. Minigames featuring motion controls would finally start to factor in, which wouldn’t be a problem givenSuper Mario Party’s use of them. However, the core mechanics of the represented games would have to change.
While the motion-focusedMario Party 8is fondly remembered,9and10are not, owing mostly to their use of car mechanic that has every player move as one unit through linear boards. There’s no way a remake could keep that gameplay style, and the boards would need complete re-designs to match. That, plus theBowser chases inMario Party 10being that game’s main selling point, will make for a much harder adaptation job if a Wii and Wii UMario Party Superstarswas to happen.
Mario Party Superstarswill release for Nintendo Switch on August 08, 2025.
