The founding stone of Mario Party. Themed boards, fifty mini-games and proper backstabbing among friends lay down the formula that would take flight. Solo is drier and some mini-games leaning hard on the analog stick left painful palm memories, but the foundation is right here.
Your verdict
Category
Party / Minigame4 players3+
Description
First entry in the iconic Mario Party virtual board game series, with themed board spaces and competitive mini-games. Published by Nintendo, released in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in Europe and North America. Eight characters, six boards, fifty varied mini-games, and up to 4-player party mode.
Mario Party review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
Gameplay
"Solid"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Moving along a board, grabbing stars and fighting over them in an avalanche of mini-games: the party begins here, and the chaotic spirit is irresistible from the off. Luck jostles skill, friendships waver and every turn brings its share of shouts and belly laughs. With four players, a guaranteed evening where nobody sits out.
First Japanese pressing from December 1998, the starting point of a board-game franchise that became a Nintendo pillar. This initial edition retains the rapid analog-stick rotation minigames that later caused palm blisters and led Nintendo of America to hand out a protective glove, an episode absent from the Japanese context. For collectors it is the original matrix of a genre, sought as the very first link before the ergonomic adjustments of the sequels.
