Super Mario Party Superstars

Game'scover

About the Game

Game: Demon Slayer Sweep the board
Genre: Digital tabletop, Party Game
Consoles: Nintendo Switch
Published: Nintendo
Developers: NDcube
Released: October 2021

These days there are very few gaming mascots that still stay on top and continue to entertain us in various ways and media. One of them, and perhaps the most recognizable is the Italian plumber Super Mario, who first appeared in 1985. When we mention this hero, one company comes to mind and that is the one and only Nintendo. No one can dispute the impact and success of the series with thirty eight years of history. In four decades it has released various games, spin offs, collaborated with other games, animated series and comic series. It has also created collectible figures, an amusement park (Super Nintendo World (2021-)) and it had a successfull movie that was released in 2023.

In 1998, Nintendo came up with the idea of the heroes of the Super Mario series putting their differences behind them and taking part in a tournament that would test their skills in various small challenges. The Mario Party series was first released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 and has since become a standard series for the company which has released (to date) at least 18 games. In addition, the series left its mark in the field of gaming as a result of which other companies are trying to imitate its success with their own heroes. Finally, this IP has been considered by many as a typical game for local/couch multiplayer. With the release of Nintendo's new console, the Nintendo Switch, it was only a matter of time until a new party game was released, and that came a year later with the release of Super Mario Party which perform well. In 2021, a new party game was created, once again from NDcube and was released under the title Super Mario Party Superstars.

During 2021's Nintendo Direct, NIntendo announced the game which was set to be released in the same year. The took place in June, and the game came out in October. The devs also confirmed that Superstars was meant to be a celebration of the Party series and thus many old boards and characters made their return. In the beginning the game was well received as it contained multiple mini-games, it was very polished and overall improved and added many quality of life changes based on its predecessors feedback. Unfortunately despite it's massive sales, in 2025 people consider it the weakest of the three Mario party games.

Story of the Game

Unlike other party games, Super Mario Superstars did not add any lore and allows the player to jump straight into the game.

Gameplay

At its core this is a 4 player party game. The player selects their playable character. The roaster consists of 10 Playable characters, this includes the main cast of the Mario games. It is important to specify that the roaster of Superstars is significantly less than the previously game. Additionally, the special hero dices do not make their return in Superstars and thus choosing a character does not really matter. Once the heroes are selected a map/board is required. The game includes a total of 5 maps/boards most of them returning from the classic games. Once again each board has its unique gimmicks which will be triggering during play, for example you can only follow one path in one, be targeted by a giant laser beam cannon in the other etc. Lastly, the selection of how many total rounds you ll play is required which will determine how long the game will last, 60+ mins
Heroes

At the start of the game, the players will roll a dice which will determined their order of play, Highest to lowest. Each player the gets a turn, they roll the dice and they move towards a specified path based on the number they rolled. When comming across a split path, the player can decide which path their hero should follow. Similarly, if a player comes across an item or a space of interaction(Eg Store, trainning, fast travel) the player can decide what to do. The players goal, is to reach a spot with the golden star which will be chosen at the start of the game and change each time a player reached it. Reaching the goal and paying the necessary ammount of coins will reward the player with a shiny Star. The player with the most stars will win the game. In case of a draw, the coins will decide the winner. When you move on the board, an indicator (below the character) will always appear showing how close you re to the goal, or which path is shorter.

As mentioned, the movement on the board is determined by the dice roll. That number can always change with the use of items. Items can be acquired from the store or by random lucky item spot. These items can be used to increase your roll, roll multiple dices or even to sabotage the opponents by reducing their rolls, stealling their items or even their position. Only one item can be used each turn and it should be used prior to rolling. The boards mainly consist of 4 main colors.

Blue Spot: Rewards coins to the player
Red Spot:Removes coins from the player
Green SpotsUsually triggers events on the board, such as alternate paths, usinng pipes etc
Black SpotUsually Bowser will come with certain(negative options) which will change the games scoreboard.

These spots will sometimes have additional bonus images such as the random item which will reward an item to the player. These spots usually determined the type of minigame. If all the players land on the same color spot, a free for all minigame will be trigggered, if half the players land on blue and others in red, a 2vs2 minigame will occur, in the scenario of three players landing on blue and one on red, a 3vs1 game will occured and when a player lands on a green spot, the game will randomly pick red or blue and then trigger a minigame based on the 4 players colors. Heroes

MINIGAMES
As mentioned, at the end of each round, the players will participate in a minigame. Theres a total of 100 minigames which is a commentable ammount of minigames. The previous switch game, Super Mario party, had 80 minigames in total. The minigames are very straight forward, usually they require the pressing of buttons or precision moving. The goal will always be known and the points will be rewarded based on performance. A tutorial will allow the players to prepare and test their skill prior to competing, unless the lobby owner switches the practice off.

The players do not control which minigame will occur as it is always random. Same with the game mode 3vs1, 2vs2 or free for all. Additionally some of the minigames are marked with a coin next to their name. These coin minigames, as you probably guessed do not have a main winner. The goal in these is simply to collect as manny coins as possible. If you get 30, this means you get 30 and if it was 0 then its 0. In the case of team minigames, both teammates gets the same ammount they do not split in half.

A competitive minigame will also occur if two players land on the same space. Before the duel starts, the player who came into the space of the other will decide the coin wager based on the ammount they and the opponent have. During this minigame, the other two players will simply have to spectate.

Heroes

Party games are all about the minigames and game modes. Superstars only comes in two main modes. The normal board game where the rules are the above and Mt Games. In Mt games the player can play selected minigames to practice or compete with others. There certain modes found within the Mt Mode itself but its not like the predecessor where it included a Rythm based mode, a team river mode(with its own minigames) and the others found in the overworld. It does have 100 minigames which on its won its a huge thing, however, the fan base came to realise that some games are similar with different skins. For example, jumping from cloud to cloud is the same as jumping on the leafs of the beanstalk etc. This does not affect everyone, but it has been a subject of critisism as other games could ve replaced the similar ones. The selection of the minigames according to Nintendo was based on the most popular minigames from the beginning of the series.

Unlike Super Mario Party, Superstars removed the games that had motion controls. This means that all the games are played with the moving stick and the buttons. However it did add the ability to speed up certain actions. For example if an NPC is playing or when you roll a high number, you can speed up the process reducing the loading time. Additionally the same speed mechanic can be use when the stage triggers certain time consuming events such as the pillars moving or the big Bowser cannon shooting.

Thoughts on Gameplay

Personally i enjoyed playing Superstars but i always go back to the original Super Mario Party. Dont get me wrong, i like the quality of life additions but i am a sucker of the motion control games. I find the actions more immersed when the game mixes minigames of either normal moving or motion movement. The removal of hero specific dice is also something i'm personally not a fan off, but given how my friends prefer it, i would say it's down to personal preference. The lack of heroes is not something i personally care as much because all of the heroes are iconic and my personal character is included. Party games is all about the minigames and game modes. I like the fact that i had 100 minigames to play from but i found the lack of alternative gamemodes limiting the enjoyment. For example, River mode is something i enjoyed playing with friends who dont like to be too competitive and would rather us teamming up than competing. This option of team up does not exist in superstars.

Music && Animation :

With the release of Nintendo's new console comes a new era in the series that includes updated graphics and updated mechanics. The game on Switch looks better than ever as every track and hero is beautifully detailed with vibrant colors. Of course the models are not like Mario Odyssey(2017) and are more or less looking like the models found in Super Mario Party. I wouldnt be surprised if Nintendo reused the same models. As mentioned multiple times, this game includes boards and games found in past games. Seeing iconic boards come to life multiple generations later looks amazing. The same can be told about the minigames themselves. Then due to the capabilities of the Switch the sound of the game is very clear and so you can enjoy the songs of the Mario series. You wont find anything different in the songs, its the same fun Mario time tunes.
The game has been created with the aim of spreading moments of laughter as well as moments which will be stored in your memory for both good and "bad" reasons. As previously mentioned there are over a hundred games which when unlocked can be individually. On the other hand, one main thing to mention is that the game is best consumed when shared with friends either near or far. A player alone will not have the same experience as someone else in the party. If there are four players there must be 4 Joy-cons which cost a lot. Another issue is that a joy-con can easily break (Joy-con drift) which creates a huge problem. Additionally, the party mode only has five boards which while nice eventually end up being repeatetive to some. Finally, during Party Mode various events are frequently activated and freeze the game until they are completed, thus tripling the duration of the game. The fast forward mechanic helps reduce it but the game can be time consuming for some. Heroes

Amiibo

The game does not support amiibo.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, Super Mario Party Superstrs is a good game for any group that wants to play an enjoyable game where the experience doesn't add much of an advantage to anyone. With its release it brought back iconic boards and games that were freshen to meet the 2020's era of polishness. The devs listened to the feedback given to them from the original Super Mario Party and made the right adjustments and life quality changes and additions. Small problems and imperfections that exist in some people will seem important but to others not as much. It has to be stated multiple times that this is a party game not a single player experience. Despite its age, its one of these games that aged and it will continue to age like fine wine. Everybody can join and everybody have a fair chance of winning. Superstars and Party as of thr writting of this, have a similar price tag however both offer unique exxperiences. If you want a game with motion controls, team modes and special dices then Party is your game BUT if you want more minigames, boards, be able to fast forward the loading times and dont like motion controls, then Superstar is your game. Last but not least it should be mentioned, that theres another party game released in 2024, Jamboree which seemed to be an improved combination of the previosly mentioned games.