The Rant
I wrote about how Nintendo needs an “adult” mode for some of there games. Something that will add more of a challenge to the games that we have been playing to make them more fun. You can read more about it in the previous article. This time I wanted to dive specifically into Mario Party.
Lately we’ve been getting really into Mario Party again and the same thing still applies. There needs to be a more challenging mode for people who are bored with the game as it is. While Mario party does do a lot of things great, there’s always things that could be better. The more often I play, the more I realize its flaws.
I grew up playing Mario Party with my siblings and cousins. It’s one of my core memories so I don’t want to talk too badly about it. Unfortunately as I grew up the game hasn’t evolved with me. If anything it’s taken a step backwards towards more simplification with less of a challenge. While I still buy the versions that come out and play them with people when I can. They need to do something different, something better.
Old map from Mario Party 3
Number of Players for Mario Party
The first suggestion is something that I’ve never seen in Mario party. The current limit of four people really hampers the ability to play with friends. If you’re hanging out with even more than 1 other couple Mario Party is off the menu. Even when we’re spending time with the family there is too many people to get the game going. It’s just really frustrating when you’re looking forward to a good old game and having literally 5 people around stops that from happening.
Now I will be the first to admit that there is a limit of how many people you can have playing before the game gets annoying or boring as you wait for your turn. Thing is we don’t know what that number is. We’ve never had the chance to test it. It’s definitely more than four but could we get away with six players? Eight? Even ten? it’s hard to say without a lot of trial and error. It’s a big curveball in the style of the game but it would make it way more entertaining. Especially for those people looking for a bigger challenge in an old favourite.
The Mini Games in Mario Party
I admit it’s a lot easier to say “add more people in” than to actually do it. The redesign involved in making the mini games playable by more people would be very involved, if even possible. Chances are you would have to create all new games from scratch. Games that could accommodate a large number of players. Possibly even games that could be played with a variable number of players. Going back to the number of players around, mini games with two humans and six computers could really lack a level of fun as well.
I don’t know what the answer would be but I know there is one out there. Some way of making the game work so that everyone sitting around the T.V. could be battling it out for the coveted coins at the end of the match.
It’s a definite challenge for Nintendo but one that I, as a customer, would be glad to pay for.
Other Items
Even if they weren’t to implement having more players in the game, there are a lot of other things that they could change to make the game a lot more entertaining.
First of all is the star cost. A recent edition, Super Mario Party, has stars costing 10 coins, a very cheap amount. It gives very little challenge to the players to acquire enough coins in order to afford a star. As is currently the only time I ever reached the star without enough coins was from hitting the star space twice in one turn. Never from a lack of coins on its own. Jamboree has reverted to 20 coins for a star and I just hope they keep it that way moving forward.
Secondly, and pertaining to the star cost, is the ease of getting coins. In the older editions of the game you HAD to win mini games in order to build up your bank. Yes you could do it slowly landing on blue spaces but the cost of a star made that a poor strategy. Now though you often are given coins even if you fail miserably at a mini game. This also means that you can’t stop another player from getting enough coins to buy a star buy out performing them. It really ends up taking away the skill aspect in the game and instead increasing the effect of “luck” on the game.
A caveat that I will say towards having more than one person get coins is only if there are a lot more players in the game. Otherwise it should only be the winner walking away with the coins. Maybe second place receiving a couple but nothing past that.
Being able to turn on rival battles for the whole game would make such a difference alone. Anytime you land on the same space as another opponent you end up in a battle. coupled with a larger number of players would make keeping your coins a constant concern. It would also make it worthwhile to purposely land on an opponent if you think you have what it takes to beat them. This is possible in Jamboree but at the same time the VS games are a lot more up to chance then they have been in the past. I am undecided how I feel about that so far. It has reduced the ability to “bully” one player.
Third, Longer games makes it way more of a challenge. Now I know not everyone wants to sit around for hours playing. Longer games doesn’t necessarily lock you in for one session though. We used to spread a 50 turn game over a couple days. It means that if someone gets a lucky jump out the gate you still actually have a chance of beating them. Hell, if someone is 3 stars ahead you can still catch up! not to mention all the other strategy that develops because you can afford to take turn doing other things. It also makes it nearly impossible to know who is walking away with the bonus stars. As it is right now you can easily guess who is going to win the bonuses well before you get there.
Finally, larger maps. I remember playing on maps that would take an eternity to make it across. It actually became a strategy to head away from the star and bank on the idea that it would move to where you’re going when someone buys it. With the current map sizes and a triple dice you can actually do a full loop in one turn. Again it takes away a level of strategy that, coupled with a 50 turn game, made Mario Party so thrilling. Again the changes in Jamboree have helped with this in some instances but I still think there is a lot of possibility there.
In Summary
All that being said it’s not like I don’t enjoy Mario Party. When the conditions are right it is a blast. When you have exactly 4 people and an hour+ to play it is perfect. There’s a reason that it has nearly 20 iteration of the game spanning 23 years.
I’m not saying don’t buy Mario Party. I’m simply saying to Nintendo, I would buy more. Give us something with these changes and I’ll load up my self with another game in a heartbeat.
anyone interested in what I think is the best Mario Party on the switch right now go check out Jamboree
