Its kind of odd in Mario Party's 10 game history, that a rehash of their past content would be this amazing, but this is a 'best of the best' version. 8 classic char to choose from, 5 boards, 100 minigames - all chosen from fan favorites. While there isn't any new game play mechanics, this is a return to basics, as many felt the gimmicks of recent Mario Party games were diminishing the brand. This is a very customizable Mario Party, from difficulty, to bonuses, to what type of games you want, all kinds of stuff.

Of the 5 boards, 2 were chosen from Mario Party 1, 2 were from MP2, and one from MP3 - these three games were considered a golden age of the series. The boards are ranked by how hard the boards are considered:

Yoshi's Tropical Island (1 dificulty)- two donut tracks with a toll bridge in two locations. Each island has a unique perk (a store, a ghost)

Peach's Birthday Cake (2 difficulty)- The star never moves, and the board is small, but its the bowser lottery and player planted 'strawberries' that make this board challenging

Space Land (3 difficulty) - A large board with some subpar ideas (the snifit cops are really lame), the cannon is a powerful coin stealer when triggered, but since it only fires in one direction, easily avoided.

Woody Woods (4 difficulty) - Every round the paths alternate direction. It can be a headache. There are good and bad trees, be careful.

Haunted Land (5 difficulty)- A sprawling board, with day and night mechanics that effect several parts of the stage events. Its also got a LOT of ghosts, which makes coin/star theft high.

Of the 100 minigames, a lot of these are solid bangers so are very good. They pull from all Mario Parties, not just 1,2 or 3. The only issue I had was some games are samey feeling (there are 2 counting games, 2 jump up as high as you can games), and could have been replaced for more variety. The dull Duel minigames I was not too fond of, but the item minigames were great.

Despite being a revanp, there are some new features here, the two most important ones being an Online mode, and the emoji stickers (which are for sale in the game's shop, using the coins u win from playing). The Online is very easy to use (even more than Super Mario Party which came out later), and I liked it very much. The emoji stickers are absolutely a hit and I wish to see them in all Mario games going forward. They add a lot of personality and are great when you don't have voicechat or friends over. (the Bowser "MISS!" spamming for when you all want someone to fail their dice roll is memeworthy).

There are also other items to the main hub, which has been tailored to look like Mario Party 1's. This is familiar but bad in a way, as apart from the shop (which too quickly is emptied of stickers and backgrounds), there isn't much else. There is a Records room with a lot of meh data on the massive Mario games cast, and some cosmetic and personal changes (ex: your online card that shows other players your favorite board and top 4 games). The options house is .. just as pathetic as the 1st mario party. Clearly the hub needs a little more love.

One neat end-game addition is you can play with the old 'bonus' stars on (predictable ez stars for savvy players), or the new mixed up bonuses, which can be from many random stats, such as who bought the most items, or who moved the fewest spaces. They are fun (but you only get 2 stars, not 3), and I like them over the old style, but at least its an option.

Post game, you get a great breakdown from Toad of what every players accomplishment was, and the stats. One of my favorite things from past Mario Parties returns, the infamous mockery of last place player. As the game takes a snapshot of the 4 players, where you are placed is based on your rank, First player is most prominent, and last is often being shot out of a cannon, or getting bitten or chased by monsters. LOL. Its all in good fun for a game that is known to get heated.

Graphics: 10
Bold and bright, you can always see whats going on in these games. The facelift given to the old boards looks great, and while there are some changes (where is the big tongue from Horror land?), I don't miss anything. The emoji stickers are great and take up just the right amount of space. There are some games where perspective makes things hard to see, but thats design, not a graphic issue.

Sound: 10
Its almost all here, complete from Toads "whoaaaAAAaaohh!" to Bowser's laugh. One thing missing that is just my issue is when playing the Item minigame, it no longer says "GOT ITEM!!!" and for some reason I miss it.

Addictive: 9
These are really good boards for the most part, and if you play with friends or online this makes the game very enjoyable. Against computer isn't the way to play this. The only issue is the games take a long time, there are long-winded scenes you can't skip from Toad, from events happening - if the game says it should last 60 minutes, add 30 to it, for all the fluff.

Story: 7
While the tale of who is the best is not very amazing, at least they capture the memory of what the special goal was for each board. One thing I do miss is Space and Horror land used to have dress up costumes.. I dont know why they have still not done that again.

Depth: 8
The variety of items, randomizing of games and odds, backstabbing or alliances, there is a ton to this game, its a shame Nintendo doesn't have voice chat for online but I get it with their kid-friendly stance. Your fortunes really can change on a dime and go from first to last or vice-versa.

Difficulty: 4
You set the CPU, but its honestly just as hard as your friends are good at the game. An average level CPU will make weird choices like buying a gold pipe (takes you right to star) then ignore it for 5 turns. I do like the bonus stars can be old/new/or turned off, it helps when playing against your friend who knows these minigames inside and out.

This is the best Mario Party game, ever. A celebration of what worked, all in one package. Its a shame Nintendo didn't put some DLC of other boards and games on here. I don't know what it is with Mario Party games not having a lot of boards (the first one had 9??? Come on guys), but 5 is a fairly reasonable number, I'm not happy its 5, but I can accept it.

And to anyone worried about MP1's finger blistering joystick rotation games, they toned those way down. Its good.

This game and the other one that came out after this one. I think it was Super Mario Party to me are the best ones. Back in the day when I was involved in my old church's youth group. We did several things. During a Disciple now we played Mario Party. I was glad when this one brought back some of the old favorites. We had so much fun playing the older versions. In Super Mario Party, I might be wrong on the name they also bring back past events. To me what both games shine is the different characters you can choose. Anyway, your review reminded me back in the day when me and my friends would play Mario Parties.

Me and the spouse have only played 3 or so of Super Mario Party, but I'll get it after we give it a few more plays. The best thing I like about it are the rule changes, which feel like a breath of fresh air.