Mario Party is often enjoyed by friends and family in the living room, yet it’s not typically praised by game critics with the same enthusiasm. Originating from Hudson Soft and now being developed by Nintendo Cube, this spin-off series has been around since 1999 with the original Mario Party for Nintendo 64. However, there was a substantial period where the series earned only mediocre reviews at best. Lately, though, opinions have begun to shift more positively.
According to Metacritic’s data, the Mario Party series, comprising 19 games, generally received a “Metascore” of 70, which equates to mixed or average reviews overall. While Mario Party 2 in 2000 garnered decent reviews, it wasn’t until Super Mario Party on the Switch, after 18 years and 13 games, that another entry in the series was warmly received by critics. However, for much of its existence, the Mario Party series has been considered a good but not exceptional one.
Mario Party Historically Received Middling Reviews
As a dedicated fan, I’ve been on quite a journey with Mario Party across various Nintendo consoles! In the Switch era, we saw the series really take off, but let’s not forget about the 10 mainline games that came before it. The Nintendo 64 hosted three of these, followed by four on the GameCube. We also had two on the Wii and just one on the Wii U.
But there’s more! If you count the handheld games, we’re talking about five non-numbered Mario Party titles as well. One each for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, and a trilogy on the Nintendo 3DS. It’s been quite the adventure, hasn’t it?
Generally speaking, the game formula has stayed consistent: four players move through a board game to collect Stars by playing mini-games in between rounds. Over time, reviews for these games have generally agreed that the mini-games have responsive controls, but the game boards are poorly designed, and the graphics and sound design are less impressive compared to other Mario games. One common complaint is that success in Mario Party often depends on luck and random number generation (RNG).
The efforts made to revamp the Mario Party format were evident, as some games introduced solo play options and a few GameCube versions featured a microphone for specific mini-games. However, these alterations never gained traction, and by the time of the Wii era, particularly with Mario Party 8, critics began to grow weary of the series. Under Hudson Soft’s management, Mario Party was almost an annual installment, excluding only 2001 and 2006 during periods of transition to new hardware.
By 2012, when Mario Party 9 was released, Hudson Soft had been dismantled by its primary owner, Konami, with many Mario Party creators moving on to Nintendo-owned studio NDcube (now known as Nintendo Cube). This marked a significant shift in the game’s formula, where all players were placed on a single vehicle traveling along a linear track for the first time. This alteration was maintained in Mario Party 10 for the Wii U and sparked debate among longtime fans of the series, which didn’t help it gain favor with critics.
Super Mario Party Eventually Refined The Formula
Approximately three years following the debut of “Mario Party 10”, Nintendo Cube decided to forgo numbering and instead introduced “Super Mario Party” on the Nintendo Switch. Boasting vibrant visuals, a wide array of options, and a revival of conventional game boards,
In 2021, Mario Party Superstars returned popular game boards and minigames from past installments, giving them a new look with the style of Super Mario Party. This game received a score of 80 on Metacritic, surpassing its predecessor in critical acclaim, despite not selling as strongly. In 2024, Super Mario Party Jamboree reached a new series high with an 82 on Metacritic, but fans were disappointed with the subsequent re-release on Switch 2 due to its disorganization.
The journey of Mario Party has been quite winding and lengthy, but despite some gamers not finding pleasure in its mini-games or rule variability, it’s evident now that we can safely say the Mario Party series has become a well-regarded one.
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2025-08-29 21:11