Top 10 Most Overrated Mario Party Games
Mario Party is one of the most well-known sub-franchises of the Mario series, developed by Hudson Soft and ND Cube. It consists of Mario and friends partying together in a board-style game.Unfortunately, it also has one of the most toxic fanbases in the Mario franchise, leading to these games receiving far more praise than they deserve.
Here are the most overrated games of the bunch.
While Mario Party 2 fixed many of the flaws of the first game and improved the series, it doesn't justify being considered the best game of the franchise in 2020. Once again, most people rate it purely based on nostalgia and then proceed to bash every game after 4 because "they're not like the originals."
I won't hesitate to say that, to this day, the boards are some of the most unoriginal ones. They might be fun, but come on - Pirate Land, Western Land, Space Land? Can't there be more creative ideas? And people obsess over the fact that the characters wear costumes on the boards, as if that's a reason to say 2 is better than every other game. It doesn't even change the gameplay.
Oh, and half of the minigames are taken from the first game, so much for originality.
We just talked about how crazy the N64 Mario Party fanbase is: they praise their games like the second coming of Jesus and rate them most often purely based on nostalgia. Well, Mario Party 4 can easily be tossed in with the N64 games as well, since it plays nearly the same as those. Plus, the N64 purists give this game a pass for being just that: a copy of the older games.
This is the main problem I have with the Mario Party fandom as a whole. They complain about the newer games as soon as anything changes in the franchise and demand that the next game plays exactly like 1-4. With the GameCube, you'd expect the first Mario Party game to show it's on a newer console, but the boards play the same as they did on the N64 - just flat routes on a low-resolution background.
The sad part is that the minigames are some of the greatest in the series, but minigames aren't the only thing that determines the quality of a game.
Mario Party 1... what an insane fanbase of nostalgists who can't see past their nostalgia. From an objective standpoint, 2 and 4 get more praise, but I still put 1 at the top in terms of being overrated. The N64 Mario Party games are generally overrated because fans rate them based mostly on nostalgia. However, with 2 and 3 (and maybe even 4), I can at least see some good parts. But with 1? Barely anything.
This game had minigames that physically injured players, a lack of items on the board game, and an overall lack of content. While I appreciate the large number of boards, it feels like the creators prioritized quantity over quality, since there are no side modes. Overall, I'd say this is the most overrated Mario Party.
Pretty much all the N64 Mario Party games get way more love than they deserve, mainly because most people rate them based on nostalgia. Although Mario Party 3 seems to have tamer fans than both 1 and 2, and even 4, this leads to it just barely making the list. Based on what I've seen on YouTube, this is also the best N64 Mario Party.
"Finally, we have a good modern Mario Party because the classic formula has returned." That's probably the most ridiculous argument I've heard from people who support this game. The original formula was replaced because the developers were running out of ideas for new games, which became very evident in Mario Party 7, 8, and DS.
This game showed why the series had to change. There isn't a shred of originality in this entry. It also doesn't help that the only good mode in the game was primarily inspired by Mario Party: Star Rush - you know, a modern Mario Party game.
This game is essentially a Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Mario Party 6, and by that, I mean it's ridiculously similar - more so than any other Mario Party game. In a nutshell, it took Mario Party 6 and just downgraded it. There's no day/night cycle, the boards are essentially slower versions of the previous game as they use the same rules, and even the minigames feel oddly familiar.
Copying half of Mario Party 1's minigames in 2 isn't the crown for cheapness, but it's close. However, just like Super Mario Galaxy 2 was as great as the original, this one is pretty much as fun as 6. But that doesn't excuse how unoriginal it is.
Mario Party 8 and DS are interesting games in terms of the fandom. When they were released, no one really remembered them, but fast forward a decade later, and now everyone loves them. Yes, it's because of nostalgia and "because they still at least used the classic formula," two points that don't really matter. And this is coming from someone who thoroughly enjoys both games, having grown up with Mario Party 8. It was forgotten for a good reason - it's more or less a poor man's Mario Party 6 and 7.
See my comment for Mario Party 8 because the same thing applies here. This one's ranked lower only because it's not a home console entry, and those tend to get more attention. But just like 8, it was forgotten for a reason when it was released - it feels bland.
The theme of this game is the "Big House," which is interesting since they were trying something new. But once you get to the minigames, it feels like the theme was only there to make the minigames slightly different from others. They're essentially copy-pastes of previous minigames, except with a "Big House" paint job.
While it's widely agreed that Mario Party 5 is the weakest console Mario Party, it still has its fans. Why? The only arguably fun part of it was Super Duel Mode. The boards are shallow at best, the capsules are based purely on luck, and the minigames are pretty bad. "Oh, but it's not like the newer games" - *sigh*.
From what I've seen, this game gets just about the right amount of praise, and maybe even a little less love than it deserves because of how harsh N64 purists are. It's the most original and unique of the classic titles, featuring a day/night cycle, creative boards, and a nice selection of minigames. Mario Party 6 just barely makes it onto this list because the games that didn't make it onto the list are underrated.