I’m a huge fan of Mario Party. The gameplay is the perfect solution for a whole group of people with different levels of video game experience and skill because it allows them all to play together. On March 20, Nintendo will launch the newest installment of the Mario Party franchise, Mario Party 10, for Wii U.
Mario Party 10 lets players challenge each other in three different modes: classic Mario Party, Bowser Party, and amiibo Party. Up to five players can play on new boards with a variety of more than 70 new mini-games (although no sign yet of Pushy Penguins, the greatest Mario Party mini-game of all time). They can also unlock different playable characters, vehicles, and other bonus content.
I’m sure you’re already pretty familiar with the general gist of Mario Party, so lets focus on the two new modes in this game:
Be the Bad Guy
Mario Party 10 is the first installment of the franchise designed for the Wii U console, which gives way for the best feature of Mario Party 10—YOU CAN PLAY AS BOWSER! The addition of the Wii U GamePad lets one player be the villain in Bowser Party mode. And trust me, it’s effing fun.
Bowser chases the other (up to four) players around the gameboard, as they all cooperate to survive long enough to get the star. Once Bowser catches up to Team Mario, he steals the players’ hearts (not figuratively—literal health-boosting hearts they collect) and challenges them to mini-games. If it takes a certain type of person to play against friends 1-v-4 style and get a certain joy out of crushing them into the ground, then I’m definitely that type of person. But, you know, sometimes it’s fun to be the bad guy. #sorrynotsorry
Invite Your amiibo Friends
And, of course, Wii U means amiibo. With the launch of Mario Party 10 comes the launch of new amiibo figures that are compatible with the game, featuring some of your favorite classic Mario Party friends. The new amiibo Party mode pits up to four players against each other to collect coins around the board and try to get as many stars as possible. Players can play on a special board with their amiibo’s character theme, which is super cool. If they pick up different tokens through their gameboard journey, they receive bonuses to customize their amiibo, like the ability to steal coins from other players. Players can also save their tokens to their amiibo for future amiibo Party games. You can collect a bunch of tokens and then choose the ones that match your play style, so you can become some sort of super, ultra-strong, powerful Mario-Party-dominating amiibo (and then probably take over the world).
Of course, this game is full of bonus content (like all Mario Party games are) such as Toad’s Room, which has a Photo Studio that lets players take in-game photos of favorite characters, and Mario Party Challenge List, which offers new objectives for more expert players, such as winning a board game with 40 or more Mini Stars. Players can also access bonus games and music, so the party never has to stop!
