October started with two titles dedicated to Nintendo's plumber, on the one hand Paper Mario: Color Splash, fifth chapter of the paper series of Intelligent Systems, on the other hand, the return of the loudest parties ever on 3DS, with Mario Party: Star Rush. After the disappointing Island Tour, will this new Mario Party have managed to amaze us?
Rain of Stars
Mario Party: Star Rush consists of eight different modes, unlockable as you collect Party Points by playing alone or with friends, but the absolute protagonist is definitely Fight of the Toads. Each player will impersonate one of the four mushrooms and will be able to move freely on the board, accumulating coins and then go in front of the boss on duty to conquer a coveted star. From time to time the other heroes of the mushroom kingdom will appear on the board, which can be recruited and used not only to score more points during the minigames, but also to transform any obstacles on the board into coins. For example, Peach and Daisy will make flowers bloom, Donkey Kong will break the iconic barrels, and Yoshi will gorge on fruit, plus each character has a distinctive dice that could help the player reach a certain goal more easily. Each partner is transferable and stolen in the case of dedicated mini-games or more simply by ending up on the same square as the opponent. As already mentioned, the purpose of Toad Fight is to collect as many stars as possible, defeating the Bosses presented by the board in series in specific minigames all particularly (and strangely) inspired and fun. Each scheme offers its own setting, transforming group games into real parties. Once you have unlocked all the other modes and seen all the scoreboards, Toad Fight is the most successful and exciting.
Between coins and balloons
Mario Party: Star Rush offers modes suitable for all types of players: those who want to grapple with a growing challenge will be able to face Monetathlon whose action takes place on both screens of 3DS. In the lower one, the characters will fight each other by advancing on the boxes corresponding to how many coins will be collected on the upper screen in short mini-games that will gradually increase their level of difficulty; in addition to being necessary to advance on the board, the coins will fill an object indicator that can be used to block the movements of the opponents or to double your score. Solo, the aim of Monetathlon is to complete ten boards in a row, going to face stronger and more angry characters.
Balloon Race instead it mimics Toad Fight, allowing each player to choose their favorite Mushroom Kingdom hero, and throwing him into a coin hunt between lethal minigames. It is certainly the most similar mode to the old Mario Party, if it were not for the absence of shifts (which we will talk about shortly).
For all players who want to play fast games, Mario Party: Star Rush has four other modes that are shorter and easily completed in a matter of minutes: Back and forth it consists in bringing three pieces from one side of the board to the other, simply by throwing dice and paying attention to the squares on which you end up; Concert Types offers some of the most famous songs from the Mushroom Kingdom in a musical mini-game to play on the touch screen; Boo blocks tests the player with rows of blocks to be eliminated by matching the right sequence of numbers and finally Lightning Tower it consists in reaching the top without being thrilled by the hidden Amperini. Obviously these four modes only complete the total offer of Mario Party: Star Rush, and represent a mere side dish to the three main ones, a pleasant extra to lose a few minutes between games on the board and the other.
To learn more:
Mario Party: Island Tour
It would not be Mario Party if there were no Minigames, present here in a reduced number compared to the other chapters, but more differentiated, so as not to be a mere More of the Same, as happened on Island Tour. A little more than fifty challenges ranging from the pressure of the keys, the memory games, the boss challenges we talked about a little above, which can be faced with three other players or with the CPU. The variety of the mini-games only partially manages to fill the small number of them, causing a sense of repetitiveness after a few consecutive draws.
Goodbye shifts and thanks for everything
The biggest change brought to the Mario Party series by Star Rush is certainly the abolition of turns, making everything faster and more immediate. The players will roll the dice at the same time, going to greatly streamline the game time with much more satisfying and fun games.
You will no longer have to wait for the CPU to decide to move or in group games there will no longer be the dead moments that left a player in the last place victim of the movements of their opponents. Given the absence of a real path on the board, the freedom of each individual competitor will also benefit, who has complete decision-making power over their actions. A rejuvenation that after almost twenty years was necessary to improve the appeal of the series.
Space also for the amiibo of the Super Mario Collection, compatible with the title and which will guarantee their owner some different advantages depending on the chosen mode: in Fight of the Toads they will join the team and will not be transferable, in Monetathlon they will give access to an extra object to use on their opponents, in Race to Balloons and Back and Forward will give you a double die, in Concert Types they will unlock extra songs and so on. An extra that can only please amiibo collectors, thanks also to the high quality and particularity (Boo glows in the dark) of the latest releases.
Special guest
Like Island Tour, Mario Party: Star Rush also supports download mode with only one game mode but, even better, Star Rush has a particular application, which can be downloaded for free from the eshop and called Party Guest which is in effect the mode single player of this new chapter. Party Guest saves all party progress and unlocked characters so you can transfer it all into a game copy if you buy it in the future. Obviously, to fully enjoy the title you will need to have at least one copy of the game among the friends with whom you will compete, going to cut the online component for the umpteenth time also from this chapter of the series.
Technically the title is very similar to what has already been seen on the Island Tour, with well-finished polygonal models and, as usual, bright colors. Mario Party: Star Rush often stumbles upon invasive uploads, which are more often than not slow and risk breaking the fast pace of the scoreboards. Under the sound sector nothing to report, with main themes and catchy songs and able to accompany the games pleasantly. Mario Party: Star Rush is fully translated into Spanish, making this new chapter for 3DS again suitable for audiences of all ages.
Verdict 7.5 / 10 Mario Leave and this time back Comment Mario Party: Star Rush pleasantly surprised us. not only for the unexpected announcement at E3, but for correcting all the errors of the portable predecessor, and finally bringing a party game worthy of the name of the series to 3DS. Thanks to Party Guest, downloadable for free from the eShop, players will be able to get a taste of the game modes, then transfer their saves to the full version and play with 3 other friends in their living room. Not only that, the abolition of turns makes each board faster and encourages further group games, although the reduced number of mini-games could cause a sort of repetition. One last question remains: could the next step to improve the series finally be the online debut? Pros and cons ✓ Many contents and methods✓ Streamlined and speeded up gameplay
✓ Download mode
✓ Toad fight guessed x Some excessive loading
x Not suitable for solo players
x No online mode
