Could Mario Party: The Top 100 Be A Delightful Dedication?

Outside his duty of roasting foes with fireballs and rescuing his fair maiden from the clutches of the mighty King Bowser Koopa, Mario has been competitively partying with his allies since December 1998 in Japan and early 1999 in American, Europe and Australia (Super Mario Wiki, 2015). It all began with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong and Princess Peach arguing in a little circle over who is the “Super Star”. As the years flew by, more characters were invited as competitors, as well as guests. They got to obtain mysterious capsules, purchase figures with cards and even got to take turns whilst in a big quirky vehicle (Nintendo, 2007) (Nintendo, 2012) (Super Mario Wiki, 2013). The biggest aspect of the memorable series of Mario’s parties would be the fascinating varieties of minigames in every instalment, which will be sorted into an interesting trip down Memory Lane in the upcoming Nintendo 3DS game, Mario Party: The Top 100.

The Mario Party: The Top 100 logo (Super Mario Wiki, 2017)

It has been informed that small, but practical fractions of the minigames from each of the main Mario Party series shall be remade with today’s expectations of graphics and handheld controls. It would especially be interesting to see Rosalina participate in the minigames that were from the times way before her popularity bloomed. Remaking small fractions of the minigames from the first three main Mario Party games for the current generation of gaming would indeed be a suitable way of introducing them to young gamers who hardly knew about the Nintendo 64 days. The same advantage would apply to re-establishing the chosen minigames from the Nintendo Gamecube era of the Mario Party series for those who missed out on it. It sure would be fun to swing on vines like how Tarzan and George of the Jungle would, punch Goombas out of the way in a hotel or try to grab a treble while being really dizzy for good old times’ sake (Mystic Falcon, 2010) (NintendoMovies, 2011 and 2016).

Who will escape from Piranha Plant Forest first? Mario or Luigi? (Nintendo, 2017)

With all of these minigames from every one of the main Mario Party instalments returning, Mario Party: The Top 100 does seem like a humble and unbiased tribute to the history of Mario Party’s legacy. However, the huge compilation will only need to feature the most memorable and critically acclaimed minigames from every main Mario Party instalment (lucktheman4, 2017) (WatchMojo.com, 2015), so that it will be as enjoyable as possible. Nevertheless, the gameplay aspects of the chosen minigames that were not so thrilling to some gamers who remember their origins can be very slightly tweaked to hopefully be as fun as the more admired minigames. We definitely would not want our fellow Nintendo 64 era kids to get blisters from rapidly spinning a joystick (Super Mario Wiki, 2017), but at least the Nintendo 3DS joystick is much safer to spin around as quickly as possible, which was proven in Mario Party: Island Tour (Super Mario Wiki, 2017). Furthermore, the amount of speed required while spinning the joystick around could be slightly reduced to further increase the player’s safety. It would be important that the player can get enough of each battle type and gameplay genre from the line of main Mario parties throughout the huge compilation of one hundred minigames for an outstanding variety (Nintendo.com, 2017).

Hopefully the new Tug o' War will be safer than this one. For the player's hands, that is. Better to be safe than sorry! (Super Mario Wiki, 2017)

It is without a doubt that plenty of Mario Party fans must be excited to re-experience some of the aspects of the instalments they remember playing, especially during their younger days. It would be appropriate if only a maximum of ten minigames from each main instalment were included so that the voyage through the compilation will turn out to be notably balanced for anyone out there who remembers joining any of the main Mario parties. After all, there are ten main Mario Party instalments and ten times ten equals one hundred. However, it should not be a big deal if there are slightly less or slightly more minigames from each of the main instalments in the final outcome. Hopefully, both younger and older gamers can get a taste of sweet nostalgia and juicy modern gaming from the remastered minigames.

Remember to do some exercise and brush your teeth after eating most of the giant pizza, dear contestants! (Nintendo, 2017)

Before all one hundred rehashed minigames could be available, the player must choose a member of the Super Mario crew from the roster and apparently visit Minigame Island, completely unaccompanied (GameXplain, 2017) (Nintendo, 2017). Minigame Island shall be spilt into four different areas, making it seem like a traditional journey through different locations in many of the main Super Mario platformer games. During the player’s quest, some other characters from the roster will pop up and challenge them to a minigame. Thanks to the power of artificial intelligence, the challenger will sure to be as determined as the player. The premise of Minigame Island would set up an adventurous challenge for the player, as well as a reasonable way to try and unlock some minigames. The method of independently striding through all four areas of the island and unlocking minigames by outsmarting challengers seems very fulfilling, thus making the Minigame Island mode part of what is making Mario Party: The Top 100 seem very promising so far.

A trip to Minigame Island sounds lovely, but let's hope that Bowser isn't preparing to hinder us in the third area. (Nintendo.com, 2017)

Aside from the refreshing rehashes of one hundred minigames, there will still be the aspect of competing for the most stars in Minigame Match for the players who are up for a good old battle royale (GameXplain, 2017). Of course, no Mario Party would be complete without guests trying to collect the most stars. Trading ten coins for a star? Would I! Additionally, another mode that also involves some friendly, yet fierce competition is known as the “Championship Battles” mode. In the Championship Battles mode, the minigames that the player has tagged as their favourites will be picked at random, making the mode astounding and stimulating for four participants. The other modes that involve competing against three CPUs or other Nintendo 3DS owners, along with the adventure on Minigame Island could show that Mario Party: The Top 100 is not only humble towards the main series’ legacy but also embraces the spirit of aiming to the best party guest, otherwise known as the “Super Star” that was around since the first Mario Party game.

A star for ten coins. What a bargain! (Nintendo, 2017) 

Look what else we have here; A Decathlon mode. This mode has been revealed to be focused on earning the best score and breaking records, as well as competing against three other guests. There will always be preset minigames that involve beating a record in the Decathlon mode so that the entire challenge will always be practical. Since the player can either play five minigames in a Half-Decathlon or ten minigames in a full Decathlon, the mode seems suitable for both those who prefer a shorter row of record-breaking challenges and those who are up for longer ones. As the hostess, the cute and sweet little Toadette will be sure to wish those who will be ready for a Half-Decathlon or a full Decathlon the best of luck and remind them to aim their hopes high (GameXplain, 2017).

Any guest can do their best in a Half-Decathlon or a full Decathlon. (Nintendo, 2017)

In the minigame selection screen, the minigames that the player has unlocked can be sorted by:

•  Battle type
•  Gameplay genre
•  Which Mario Party instalment they originated from
•  The player’s preferences 

The progress of sorting minigames in four different ways would really benefit the player’s freedom of playing the game and make the navigation of the minigames section more easy-going (GameXplain, 2017). For those who are quite curious about what was going on during the main Mario Party games that they never actually played, the choice to sort the minigames by their debuts has got them covered. Furthermore, they will be reminded of which Mario Party title they came from and which Nintendo console the title was for at the top right corner of the touch screen. How a player can label some of the minigames as their favourites would undeniably make the method more personally enjoyable. The option to choose any of the unlocked minigames after they have had been organised in a specific way, depending on the player’s preferences will guarantee a satisfying experience with any of the zany challenges.

The option to see the unlocked minigames organised in four different ways makes finding a specific minigame much easier to find. (Nintendo, 2017)

Looks like the chosen minigames are not the only things that have been remastered. The way that older renders of some of the characters, including Princess Peach and Rosalina have also been updated for Mario Party: The Top 100 is rather impressive (Super Mario Wiki, 2007, 2013 and 2017). Apart from the new versions of older 3D character artwork, the cover of Mario Party: The Top 100 has something fairly new to show us.  Mario sure looks snazzy in his new outfit. He could sure pull off a blue sequined tuxedo jacket, a big red bow tie, red trousers and golden shoes, like how he pulled off many of his marvellous attires throughout the years. As for the other characters, including Princess Daisy, their promotional artworks from previous Super Mario spin-off games are unfortunately going to be reused. Looking at the new versions of some of the characters’ older renders, including Wario showing off his biceps (Super Mario Wiki, 2017) would be a reminder that even though reusing promotional 3D character artwork can be a valid cost-cutting decision, it is best to try and make the promotional material completely fresh for an upcoming instalment in an iconic video game series.

Mario's stunning new attire. (Super Mario Wiki, 2017)

A comparison between the original render of Wario posing from Super Mario 64 DS and the remastered version for Mario Party: The Top 100 made in Adobe Photoshop (Super Mario Wiki, 2007 and 2017) (Williams, 2017)

Just like Mario Party 10 and Mario Party: Star Rush, Mario Party: The Top 100 will be compatible with Super Mario amiibo figures. Since there are some Amiibo Spaces in Minigame Island, a player can place one of the compatible figures of the playable characters on the touch screen to receive ten coins. That seems like a fairly decent purpose for a modern Mario Party adventure of trying to gather the most stars. Aside from bonus coins, the most legitimate reason for inviting a compatible amiibo to the occasion would be if the player loses all of their selected character’s lives, the little plastic soldier will have that character’s back and give them an extra live in order to keep the game going for the determined player. Unfortunately, one compatible amiibo means only one extra life, similar to how a Skylander only has one chance to stay alive during the main platform-adventure gameplay in the Skylanders series (Activision, 2011), which would keep the challenge balanced in some way.

Somebody call a Dr. Mario amiibo! (Nintendo.com, 2017)

Quite surprisingly, the Goomba and Koopa Troopa figures seem to be the most useful of all of the compatible amiibos. If the player sees either of them standing on their own Amiibo Space, the player will receive fifty coins once either figure comes into contact with the game. One could say that the Koopa who offers the player way more coins might be the same Troopa who runs a three-star hotel in the splendid Tycoon Town from Mario Party 8 (Nintendo, 2007). Another good reason to use a Goomba amiibo or a Koopa Troopa amiibo would be to unlock a minigame pack after accessing the minigame selection screen (Nintendo, 2017) (Nintendo.com, 2017). This would make Goomba and Koopa Troopa amiibos more useful. And of course, it would make the two more generous towards the player. Besides, another way of unlocking minigames can prevent the journeys on Minigame Island from eventually becoming slightly tiring and tedious. Once again, we are reminded that not all Goombas and Koopa Troopas are ruthless enemies who just want to swiftly end a plumber’s life.

A pleasant surprise from using a Goomba amiibo. (Nintendo, 2017)

The idea of compiling a delightful handful of the minigames from the main Mario Party games all together sounds great for a possible finale of the overall Mario Party series. In addition to this, Mario Party 9 (Nintendo, 2012) seemed slightly unnecessary since the Nintendo Wii U was announced almost a year before Mario Party 9 was released for the Nintendo Wii (IGN, 2011) (Super Mario Wiki, 2012), which was a sign that the Mario Party series might have been overstaying its welcome with unnecessary instalments. Despite this and the fact that Mario Party: The Top 100 could be classified as a spin-off, there can always be an intended finale of the main Mario Party series for the amazingly ambitious Nintendo Switch in the near future of gaming. A Mario Party 11 in 2018 that could be intended to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Mario Party legacy would be a sign not to let the series become the party video game equivalent of The Simpsons before there could possibly be a Mario Party 64. While Mayor Pauline and the other residents of Metro Kingdom do the Odyssey, let’s wait and see if Mario Party: The Top 100 turns out to be a delightful dedication to the history of Mario Party series.

The Mario Party: The Top 100 logo. (Nintendo.com, 2017)

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