Review: Mario Party 10 (Wii U)

If you haven't played a Mario Party game I would be surprised. Starting out with three releases on the Nintendo 64, four on the GameCube and two on the Wii, Mario Party has seen a consistent release schedule since 1998. I'm not even counting the portable releases over the years on the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. There was even Mario Party-e for the e-Reader, but that's more obscure than finding game cheat codes in modern games.

The basic premise behind Mario Party has essentially stayed the same over the years.

Think of it as a more interactive version of Monopoly in some ways. You are playing a board game with mini-games mixed in and that ever-present competitive streak there all the time. Mario Party 10 introduces some new modes, including a cool Amiibo Party mode, a new Bowser Party mode and the standard Mario Party fare that you are possibly used to.

The move to the Wii U has afforded the game better graphics than ever and the addition of support for the Amiibos will certain give you additional value if you already own some. Instead of players moving around individually, you take turns driving a shared car which adds some new competitive elements for the driver (and special spaces only affect the driver not the other players).

Perhaps more than ever things can change a lot in a single round. Certain events can occur that will take you from first place to last in the span of a turn, and the opposite can be true as well. The Bowser Party mode also adds an element of cooperative play to the game as four players share a car and run away from a fifth player who controls a pursuing Bowser. Better not let him catch you or it's trouble for all of you.

While this game can be fun the first couple of times you play it, the overall reliance of luck to help determine your fate can be a detriment for those who thrive on strategy to help them win games like this. On the other hand, players who stop playing because they constantly lose to more competitive and savvy players may find themselves more enamored with it because they actually have an equal chance of winning.

Overall, this is perhaps what I would call a lateral move for the franchise. The new modes are a welcomed addition but they are not really elevating the game to any new levels. If you have Amiibos and want to make good use of them, this is another chance for you. If you are looking from something that is a radical departure from what you have played before you are going to have to keep on looking.

- Syd Bolton
Follow @sydbolton

The Good:
- New modes including Amiibo mode provide more value for your plastic toys
- Cooperative mode provides a new twist to the series

The Bad:
- Large reliance on luck may turn off some strategic players
- At the end of the day, it's just feels like a bit more of the same

---

Syd Bolton surrounds himself in thousands of classic video games as Canada's top video game collector playing his games on a 80 inch Sharp Quattron Plus TV. He is also the founder of the Personal Computer Museum (http://www.pcmuseum.ca) in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.