EP 5: Mario Party 10
Pros:
Mode Variety - Mario Party 10 has three different game modes that have unique attributes to them (the three modes being Amiibo Party, Bowser Party and Mario Party). Amiibo Party has you moving amiibo figures around a square board to play minigames, collect coins and purchase stars with said coins. Keep in mind that you must own at least one Mario-related amiibo to access this mode, but you don't need multiple amiibo to play with more people as their game pieces will just turn into silly cardboard cutouts of the character they choose, rather than a replica of their amiibo. Each amiibo offers a unique board tied to the character that's used and each board has a different gimmick associated with it (for example: the Yoshi board has spaces that will allow you to steal special dice blocks away from other players, and another one that will let you duplicate one of your dice blocks). Bowser Party has a 1 vs 4 mechanic, where one player gets to wreak havoc on the other players by using the gamepad in specialized minigames. The goal of Bowser is to completely eliminate each player's health, while the goal of Team Mario is to simply make it to the end with at least one player alive. Mario Party is essentially Mario Party 9 - HD where you're all riding in the same car and you collect ministars through minigames, board events and boss battles and the one with the most minigames in the end wins. I had a lot of fun with these modes and they all feel justified in their existence; whenever I felt tired with one mode, choosing a different one sounded appealing enough to keep on playing.
Graphics - Not gonna lie, this game is surprisingly polished for a party game. There are some muddy textures and aliasing problems here and there, but the boards are bursting with personality and flavor, while the minigames are graphically superb. The game is super colorful and engaging at all times, which is part of the reason it's so fun to play. It looks exactly like the name sounds: a Mario Party.
Minigames - This is easily my favorite part of Mario Party 10. There are over 70 minigames to play, whether they're 1 vs 4, 1 vs 3, 2 vs 2, or free-for-all, I always enjoyed them. Even when they were extremely luck based (which isn't the case for most), they were so ridiculously off-the-wall and ridiculous in their presentation that I couldn't help but laugh. One minute you'll be lighting up Boos with your flashlight to uncover diamonds and having your partner capture them, another you will be riding down a mountain trying to collect coins and knock your opponents into bombs, and later you might find yourself trying to remember which Shy Guy had the most donuts on top of his head. It's silly, but very endearing.
Content - Aside from the fact that this is a multiplayer-focused game so, in essence, it has infinite content, there's quite a bit to unlock and experience outside the game boards. Each time you play a game, you get what are called 'points' to use in the game's shop. In the shop, you can buy extra characters, vehicles, music, character models and backgrounds. Now, you may be asking yourself "What in the world would I do with character models and backgrounds?" Extremely valid question, loyal viewer. The answer, however, is simple. You use them in photo mode. Yes, photo mode. Like Smash Bros., you can place characters in front of a background, change their poses, expressions and take photos/upload them to Miiverse. It's not something I expected to be in the game, but it's pretty adorable. There are also bonus games such as badminton (which I suck at), Bowser Jr. games, a Tetris-styled jewel game, a minigame tournament, etc. In addition to that, you can get bonuses from your amiibo once a day. For non-Mario amiibo, you can earn points by doing scratch offs (in which I typically get the worst amount of points possible - 5), while Mario amiibo give you bases for your amiibo that are saved to that specific amiibo and can be used in Amiibo party (that is, if that amiibo is registered in the game) [take a shot every time I say the word amiibo].
Board Designs - I'll make this quick. The boards designs in this game are pretty creative. You have a Mario-inspired theme park (in which you can strangely ride some of the attractions to get ministars), a Halloweentown-inspired Boo board (where if you run into a boo, it will latch onto your character and suck away ministars from you), an undersea level (which has a dragoneel offering you a chance at treasure every few minutes), an airship/storm board (which has ships changing places each turn - and each ship is a different quality in terms of ministars) and a Bowser castle board, in which pretty much everything is on fire and you must avoid everything, including Bowser himself. The amiibo boards are also pretty inventive in spite of their simplicity due to the amiibo-specific gimmicks.
Music - It's catchy. And cute. 'Nuff said.
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Cons:
Lack of online - A very disappointing thing to omit, in my opinion. It would've been nice to be able to play with other members online, but sadly that isn't an option. I would've thought due to the initiative Nintendo is taking with some of their other titles that do incorporate online that they would with this as well, but apparently not.
Not enough boards - Not counting the amiibo boards, there are only 5 in the entire game. And while they're good, they leave me wanting more. Hopefully Nintendo decides to offer DLC in the future, because I feel like even just a few more would be enough to completely satisfy me.
Lack of traditional-styled gameplay - Yes, amiibo party is essentially the old Mario Party. But the difference is that the boards are very simplistic (just squares) so there's no real freedom of movement on them. I have zero nostalgia for the older titles (I've never played them) but I see their appeal. Again, this is something that Nintendo could easily fix with DLC so I hope they do.
UI is a bit boring - This is a bit of a nitpick, but something I found worth mentioning. The menus and general user interface of the game are slightly lifeless. There isn't much popping out or moving on the menus; they really just feel like pages in a book or something. Not a big issue at all, but I think they could've put more effort into this.
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Verdict: Mario Party 10 is just stupid fun. That's all that it is, and that's all that it needs to be. It isn't a grand adventure, it's not the game experience of a lifetime, and it's not without its imperfections, but it's a blast. A party, if you will. And who am I to turn down a party?
Graphics: 9/10
Control: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Content: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
