Nintendo is seeking to bring back the party aspects made popular by its Wii console with the new Mario Party 10. The sixteen year old franchise has gotten a face lift and looks and feels more like a game that should be on the Wii U, but even with all the new technology it still plays much like its predecessors. But that isn't a bad thing.
While some were hoping Nintendo would take a risk with this anticipated title release, the game does remain faithful to the popular franchise providing head to head action against your friends. Nintendo, it seems, is hoping that this classic game play will reinvigorate the party aspects of the console and drawback some of its consumer base that it has lost.
For those who haven't played any of the Mario Party games, think of it as a board game on speed. There is a board with dice and each player picks a character. Each space you encounter drops some type of prizes with some providing bonuses that allow the play to move more freely. Other times the players and taken into a sideshow where you must compete to stomp the most bad guys or solve a puzzle.
There are tons of surprises on the board to entertain you and your friends for hours. After all, this is a Mario game. The goal is to collect stars by winning the sideshows or by landing on special spots. The player with the most stars at the end wins.
While the game still feels like a classic Mario Party, Nintendo did take the time to add two new game modes to keep the game play fresh. The first, known as "Bowser," allows one player to take control of Bowser using the Wii U GamePad to chase other players and stop them from collecting stars.
The other mode allows Amiibo Party players use their plastic Amiibo figures by touching them to the GamePad to bring them to life. Unfortunately, this feature is cumbersome at best especially if multiple players use Amiibo figures as you have to pass the GamePad from player to player slowing down the gameplay. All in all, this feature is a neat addition but feels as though it was just tacked on as an after thought without proper attention from the game designers
The Wii U GamePad has the potential to offer a wide range of highly unique game play features to almost any game. Unfortunately, Mario Party 10 fails to use many of these new features effectively.
Still, the game stays true to its origins and its 16 years of success. The core game play as well as these new game modes are good enough and provide quality family fun that should be more than enough to help families continue with their family game night with Nintendo's latest console.
