Mario Party The Top 100 Review - Plus for Quality and quantity of the mini-game selection

Since Mario Party in 1999 (1998 in Japan) delighted owners of the Nintendo 64 with mini-games in which Mario and companions stole the show, we saw an average of one game in the series every one and a half years. Ten numbered parts and a whole series of portable spinoffs later, the Mario Party mini-game library now covers more than 750 unique entries. All in all a good legacy and it is no wonder that just before the twentieth anniversary a collection pops up that takes the long history of the series. That sounds like a more than logical success story, but Mario Party: The Top 100 proves that this is not so cut and ready.

The top hundred?

Developer Nd Cube and publisher Nintendo decided to come with Mario Party: The Top 100 with a compilation of the hundred best mini-games, drawn from the numbered parts of the festive series. That is already the first comment: the good mini-games of the spin-offs have been left out of consideration and only the main series has been looked at. In itself not a big problem, given the large number of mini-games that the series is now rich.

How Nd Cube came to those so-called 'best' mini-games is unclear. No voting process preceded it, and it seems that the top 100 best mini-games are so named by the developer himself. As if a restaurant decides for its customers which dishes they will find the most delicious. It works, but it produces a special spiciness.

However, it is clear that Nd Cube has done its utmost to produce a balanced palette of mini-games. Mini-games based on pure luck are present, as are the typical who-press-the-fastest-on-the-A-button games. The vast majority of the mini-games present, however, shine in their simplicity, but offer experienced players the opportunity to show their virtual muscles. That is what Mario Party has been praising from the start; games that everyone understands and can play, but where experience and dexterity bring victory. In short: the "top hundred", however arbitrary these have been chosen, consists of a solid selection.

Only, but with others

It is therefore good to hear that Mario Party: The Top 100 offers support for Single Card Download Play. Just like the previous additions to the series on Nintendo 3DS, you can experience the game with your friends who do have a 3DS system, but do not own the game. The hundred mini-games you can play with your measurements without worry, without having to force them to purchase the game. A now perhaps logical inclusion, but one that is nevertheless greatly appreciated.

Moderate modes

Good mini-games and playable with your friends, a solid basis for a festive game, you would say. However, Mario Party: The Top 100 does not have much more to offer. You can play some Best-of-3 or Best-of-5 games, get the most points in 5 or 10 minigames and play individual mini-games. Not very startling. Where the numbered Mario Party's got half of their fun from the game boards of which the mini-games were a part, the collection was kicked out of the window. It is as if you are at a party where the drink flows richly, but the dance floor is missing.

Well, well, there is Minigame Match, a mode similar to Mario Party: Star Rush 'Balloon Bash. You move over the board by means of dice throwing. Instead of the Mario Party tradition in which a mini-game is presented to you after each round, they only pop up when Minigame Balloons are picked up. You earn coins by winning. If you pick up a Star Balloon, you can redeem your coins here. Whoever collects the most stars is the Party Star and wins the game. You do not feel like a party animal, because it is not a party you want to go to voluntarily. First of all, you play on a game board, but it is exceptionally small. Moreover, there is no choice: the mode contains only one board. Interesting features do not have the sign. The only thing you do is stumble across the squares in the hope that the double-stone luck will stick to your side. More than the minimum ten innings on the board is more likely to feel like a punishment than as something you do for fun.

Party for one

Very nice is Minigame Island, the single player mode of Mario Party: The Top 100. Herein you will experience the mini-games that are rich in the game by selecting your next level on a typical Mario-like overworld map. . It is especially cool to see that in the mode of the decoration is thought: environments on the map in a playful manner the relevant mini-games. Will you be first, second or third? Then you earn three, two and one white minister respectively. You end up with a life. It is not very difficult, but it makes for some fun.

The goal of Minigame Island is to show you the content of the collection in a fun way. When you start the game, not all mini games are available and you can unlock the rest in Minigame Island. A reason to come back is not actually alone afterwards. After about three hours you have all one hundred mini-games in the pocket and further progression is missing from then on. No unlockable characters (the game contains a meager eight playable figures), no secret mini-games, completely noppes nada. All you get are spoilers a difficult position Minigame Island so you can do the same again, and the possibility of your opponents MasterDifficulty level to give. A reason to go to the same party time after time is not there either.

Conclusion

Mario Party: The Top 100 is not wrong at the core; the highlighted hundred mini-games are strong. Yet the feeling of unfulfilled potency prevails. A real board game mode is missing, as Minigame Match is rather boring than enervating. Moreover, there is no goal nor a feeling of progress. After all, everything can be released within three hours. The Top 100 therefore feels like a party where only the pacemaker shows up while the rest of the party goers stay at home.

Pros

➕ Quality and quantity of the mini-game selection
➕ Single Card Download Play

Cons

➖ No real game boards
➖ No sense of progression

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