There’s something so thrilling about screaming at your friends to hurry up. Or cheering for them as they race to the finish line. It’s this absurd, loud and competitive nature that injects life into the video game genre of party games. Over the years, party games have adapted new layers to build on the couch coop experience. Panic and chaos are found in the burning kitchens of Overcooked, bursts of incompetent violence are found in the rings of Gang Beasts, and The Jackbox Party Packs continually add new games that reap randomness and cringe-worthy honesty. One particular party game series has stood the test of time, celebrating its 20th birthday. In late 1998 and early 1999, Nintendo birthed a lineage of titles that stand as the iconic party experience: Mario Party.
First published for the Nintendo 64 console, Mario Party takes the form of a traditional board game. The primary objective of the game is to collect more stars than any other player. The formula has found much success, as Mario Party already has nine sequels: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Mario Party also took its form to Mario Party-e, Mario Party Advance, Mario Party DS, Mario Party: Island Tour, and now with the Switch’s Super Mario Party.
It goes without saying, the lifeblood of Mario Party is the outrageous, yet simple minigames. Memorable minigames like Hot Rope Jump, skipping rope that continues to get progressively faster. In Booksquirm, players find themselves running around an open book, its pages falling down one by one with different shaped holes randomly placed on each. Dungeon Duos got a pair of you trying to work your way through an obstacle-filled dungeon.
Mario Party also gave birth to some iconic characters. Let’s remember Chain Chomp. The bomb-looking creature started as an image on the ground, where players must drill the outline as quickly but as polished as they can. In Mario Party 3, Chain Chomp had to eat through a giant cake as quickly as it could. Chain Chomp dashed after bone treats in Mario Party 6, and in Mario Party 8, Chain Chomp was chilling at the car wash.
Chain Chomp Romp from Mario Party 9.
Although much of the minigames and its characters have been recycled into sequels, the premise doesn’t change: it’s so ridiculously fun, no matter what year or version it is. To celebrate the 20 years of Mario Party, the team at Nerd Bacon share their favorite memories from this well-loved series.
Mario Party 8
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Release Date: May 29th, 2007 (NA)
Written by Kikopaff
Mario Party 8 was my first Mario Party experience and one that brings fond memories of playing absurd and hilarious games with my family. Being my first title in the series, I loved the board game layouts and the thrill to hunt down as many stars as possible. My favorite board game layout was the train express because I always imagined my characters were in a mystery hunt, sort of like The Murder on the Orient Express vibes, but a PG-13 version.
But my biggest highlight is MC Ballyhoo, the host of the games. My sister and I thought he was so strange, but loved his eccentric personality, his constant gibberish, and his booming “HA-HA-HA!” laugh. He also did a weird jiggy dance every time he finished talking, which was so endearingly cute. We loved him so much that we somehow memorized the noises he made and would speak in a Ballyhoo language, for no particular reason. I always wanted to dress up as him in parties, but there was always the problem of potentially injecting 1000 botox needles just to get his lips right… Honorable mentions include Fungi Fun Guys (if you know the duo I’m talking about, I respect you) and Swing Kings – I was the best at that baseball minigame.
Mario Party 2
Platform: Nintendo 64
Release Date: January 24th, 2000 (NA)
Written by Rhutsczar
Let’s jump all the way back to the turn of the millennia (That was 19 years ago! I feel old!). My older brother and I were very competitive against each other in video games, so Mario Party probably wasn’t the best choice for us. A quick tangent to get an idea, we were once playing the PSX doing training mode of Tactics Ogre, since it was the only way to play multiplayer at the time. He was so mad he smacked my mouth with the controller, permanently dislodging one of my teeth… it still gives me complications to this day.
Back to the game, we were in the last two final turns, with my brother within rolling distance to Boo in order to steal my one-star lead. However, he was 10 coins short, which he could earn in a quick mini-game win. We ended up on his least favorite game, Bowser’s Big Blast. We practiced that game for 45 minutes because he was so determined to win, which resulted in his demise. Not only did he not win, but he also couldn’t steal my star and I ended up earning a bonus star at the end… proving the whole last hour a complete waste of time.
Mario Party
Platform: Nintendo 64
Release Date: February 8, 1999
Written by Nips
At this point, I’m sure that plenty of gamers have encountered the “Luigi wins while doing absolutely nothing” meme. That meme is all laughs and giggles, but it is nothing compared to the horror that my brother and I experienced at the hands of Peach. When my brother and I were younger, we would waste away our evenings and weekend mornings playing the original Mario Party. We really enjoyed our time with it, inventing our own little stories around the mini-games, but there was something that we couldn’t help but notice: Peach would always win!
I’m not even kidding; it felt like every single mini-game (especially the hard ones), Peach would absolutely cream us, making away with all of the coins every single time. It was infuriating. My brother and I would descend into fits of rage, often filling our home with shouts of “WE HATE YOU PEACH!” to the point where our mom threatened to take the game away from us. Forget hard mode. There should have been a “Peach” mode.
Needless to say, that pampered princess soon lost her place in our regular roster of characters, replaced by Donkey Kong. And don’t even get me started on that guy.
Written by ZB
Wow, has it been 20 years already? I remember when Mario Party first came out. I had essentially rage quit on my N64 and traded it in two years earlier (a story for another time). I never thought I’d look back, but then Mario Party came out. And boy, was that a game-changer. My folks would rent me N64 consoles from Blockbuster just so I could play this one game. It reached a point where they actually bought me another N64, despite my father’s promise to never buy me one again. If memory serves (which it seldom does), Mario Party may have been the reason I got my second N64.
One memory that stands prominently in the forefront of my mind is when I had rented the first Mario Party while staying at the All-Star Resort in Disney World. My friend was with us, and he and I played a round of Mario Party where three of those stick rotation games came up. I was determined to beat him at all costs. The first round I spun the analog stick so fast smoke emanated from the controller (hey, this is my memory, I can add any special effects I want). I won, of course, with a red spot on my palm to prove it. The second game, I spun so fast the stick was glowing a molten red and I had developed a most charming blister on my palm. By the third run, it was game over. I did beat him in all three, but I had ripped the skin on my palm, leaving me in great pain.
I learned later as an adult that Nintendo actually put out a special glove for kids as careless and overzealous as myself. Said victims could claim one for free to make up for the poor design. Too bad I didn’t know about the glove back then, or else I’d have a really cool collectible today. Well, it goes without saying they never put another one of those minigames in any future Mario Party. But it doesn’t matter. I still love ya, Mario Party. So much so that I have 1-8 complete in box. Happy Birthday, Mario Party! Thank you for 20 years of memories!
What was your favorite Mario Party game? Do you have a fond memory or experience? Reminisce with us and share your best moments in the comments below.
Written by Kikopaff
Kikopaff is an avid fan of comics, slurps many bowls of ramen, and lives in the Land Down Under. When she’s not writing about video games, she is playing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI or buried in a Terry Pratchett book. She also loves cooking up a storm in her kitchen.
