Best Mario Party 7 Boards
Now we're in the 12th week since I started the Mario Party list series, which started with the best boards and bosses from Mario Party 9. Now we will be looking at the best boards and songs in Mario Party 7. But we start with boards. One thing I really liked about the boards in this game is that each board is based on both a setting and a country which is a nice touch in my opinion. With that being said here is the list.This board is a close second. In fact, it's pretty much tied with Pagoda Peak. I just have a certain nostalgia for that board that prevents me from putting this one ahead. This board has the best gimmicks and gameplay by far. It also brings a certain nostalgia because there is a board in Mario Party 8 with the same type of gameplay. I played Mario Party 8 before this game, which adds some nostalgia as well.
This is a plains-themed board with windmills all over the place and flowers decorating it. Yes, this is a Dutch-themed board. That's just one awesome plus point right off the bat. The windmills are also actually the point of the board. There are seven windmills: four red, two green, and one yellow/gold. You have to buy these windmills by investing a certain amount of coins, and depending on which windmill you bought, you will earn one, two, or three stars respectively. But if someone invests more coins in a windmill you've already bought, they will receive your star.
This is such an awesome and interesting game mechanic because it's always exciting to invest as many coins as possible in every windmill you pass by and receive stars. It's so satisfying and certainly an awesome gimmick. The music is quite good. It's a bit fast-paced but fits the board. So this plains/Dutch board is my second favorite in the game.
This is definitely a unique one. It's a desert and Egyptian-themed board with lots of Egyptian stuff like pyramids, a Bowser sphinx, an oasis, etc. I have a pretty unpopular opinion when it comes to desert themes because, unlike lots of people, I like desert themes in Mario games.
However, the purpose and gameplay of the board are what really stand out. Unlike other boards where you look for stars, in this one, everyone already has a few stars. You must steal stars from your opponents by bribing Chain Chomps with money. Bribing a standard Chain Chomp costs 10 coins for one dice block or 20 coins for two dice blocks. You can also bribe a red Chomp, which offers you three dice blocks for 30 coins. When you hit the dice number after bribing the Chomps, you ride them, hopefully meeting an opponent to get their star. This is such a fun gameplay mechanic that reminds me of a certain board in Mario Party 8 with a similar mechanic where you steal stars from your opponents. I love this mechanic.
The music is very good as well. It can get annoying after a while, but I love the Egyptian desert vibe it certainly has. So overall, this is my third favorite board in the game.
The most futuristic and "modern" board in the game is Neon Heights. This board is loosely based on the USA, specifically New York, as you are on the roof of a skyscraper with different sections. Skyscrapers are something New York is known for, so yeah.
However, it also has some Los Angeles vibes because there are lots of Mario celebrities found here. One of the sections of the skyscraper roof has a wild west theme and even a movie scene where you can play in a movie for coins. So it kind of blends the east coast and west coast, but it's definitely more New York-based than Los Angeles. Speaking of these sections, the skyscraper roof is divided into a few sections. There's the start, which is basically just a starting point. To the left of it, a floor higher, is the wild west section I already mentioned. Upwards is a bit space-like and very shiny. The whole board is shiny, with lights coming out of everywhere.
This board certainly has an interesting gimmick. Instead of racing to the stars like most boards in Mario Party, there are three treasure chests on the board. One of them has a star, and the other two have Bob-ombs that send you to the start. When the chest with the star has been opened, three new chests spawn and so on. This is quite an interesting gimmick that's right between the original-tier boards and unoriginal-tier boards. The music is pretty cool. Not amazing and can get old after a while, but it fits the board with its futuristic theme. Overall, the board is pretty good.
I think this is the smallest board in the game. It's also the first board you play if you play solo mode. It's a bit of a harbor/coastal-themed board with bridges over water, boards, etc. It's definitely based on Venice, a city in northern Italy (Veneto), located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, most famous for having lots and lots of water. In fact, cars are non-existent here. You use boats for transportation, and Grand Canal is a board that most resembles this. There's water everywhere, although in this board you can cross bridges instead of having to use a boat.
This board is definitely a bit simple though. You just get to the star located somewhere on the map, and when it's taken, a new star spawns elsewhere. There are some other gimmicks and events on this board that make it stand out from the rest, but due to it being more basic than other boards, it's a lot lower on the list. Overall, it's a pretty good board. Even the music sounds Italian, which is a nice touch.
This is my personal favorite board in Mario Party 7. Before I got Mario Party 7, I used to only watch videos on it, and there was something about this board that just caught my interest. It was the first one I saw gameplay of on YouTube back when I first discovered the game.
I immediately loved the aesthetics and look of this board. Even though I'm a bigger fan of South American and African cultures, the Chinese setting is pretty good. Chinese buildings, bamboo, Chinese architecture, dragons - everything about this board is quite Chinese, and it fits so well. Everything is set on a high mountain above the clouds. Mountain settings are pretty cool in my opinion, so this is basically a mountain/Chinese board. It is certainly awesome.
When I first got Mario Party 7, the first board I played was definitely this one because, on YouTube, it looked so fun. It was just as fun playing it. This is the most linear board in the game as you climb up to the top of the mountain to get your star, although you must also pay a certain amount of coins to get one. After you receive the star, you go all the way back to the start of the board, which is also above the clouds. I'm generally a fan of linear boards as they remind me of modern Mario Party. But it's not the linearity that makes the board. It's the beautiful mountain setting and awesome Chinese touch.
The music is pretty awesome as well and helps the board feel better than it otherwise would have. It sounds so Chinese and motivating. Definitely the best board in the game.
This is the worst board in the game by a long shot. In my honest opinion, the Bowser boards are usually the least interesting in each game, and that is certainly true for Mario Party 7.
Looking at pictures of this board, it's supposedly set in a castle filled with lava as the floor, and then there's all the stuff on the lava that you walk on. But honestly, it looks a lot more like Corona Mountain from Super Mario Sunshine if we exclude the walls surrounding the lava. Actually, it could be inside a volcano altogether. The point is, it looks so boring and cliché. It's your typical lava Bowser board with no really interesting theme at all.
This board could've been better if it had an interesting board gimmick or a unique purpose from the other boards, but nope, it's just about finding the star in a big area. When someone has gotten it, it'll spawn in another location. It's like they didn't try at all. The music is alright, I suppose. It's incredibly similar to the standard Bowser theme, which was, to begin with, an alright tune. But that's all it has going for it, and overall, it's a pretty bad board in my opinion.