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Mario Party: The Top 100

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Mario Party: The Top 100
International promotional artwork, depicting Mario posing next to the game's logo and in front of a gallery of minigames
International promotional artwork
Developer(s)NDcube
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Tsutomu Komiyama
Producer(s)Keisuke Terasaki
Toyokazu Nonaka
Toshiaki Suzuki
Atsushi Ikeda
Kenji Kikuchi
Designer(s)Takeru Sugimoto
Programmer(s)Shinji Shibasaki
Artist(s)Susumu Kuribayashi
Composer(s)Masayoshi Ishi
Sara Sakurai
SeriesMario Party
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • NA: November 10, 2017
  • PAL: December 22, 2017
  • JP: December 28, 2017
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Party: The Top 100[a] is a 2017 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the fifth handheld game in the Mario Party series, as well as the third and final Mario Party game for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. The game was first released in North America in November 2017, and was released in PAL regions and in Japan in December 2017.

Mario Party: The Top 100 is primarily a compilation of 100 minigames from across the series, specifically ones from the home console installments. The game offers several game modes centered around playing the minigames, including a mode that sees traditional Mario Party gameplay with up to four characters from the Mario franchise, controlled by humans or artificial intelligence, competing in an interactive board game.

The game received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism being directed toward its lack of content aside from the minigames. A similar entry, Mario Party Superstars, which also features 100 minigames from the home console games, was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021.

Gameplay

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See also: Mario Party § Gameplay
Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Waluigi, and Wario competing in the "Peak Precision" minigame from Mario Party 9

Mario Party: The Top 100 is a party video game that is a compilation of 100 minigames that were introduced in the first 10 home console Mario Party games.[2] Most of the minigames received upgraded graphics and audio,[3][4][5] and several minigames that appeared in Mario Party games for the Wii were reworked to properly function on the Nintendo 3DS, which lacks the Wii's motion controls.[6] The game boasts eight playable characters:[3] Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and Rosalina.[7] These characters can be controlled by human players as well as artificial intelligence (AI).[4][5]

The game also features game modes, in which Toad or Toadette guides the player.[7] In the Minigame Match game mode, players roll dice to move around a single game board simultaneously, with the goal being to collect the most Stars by the end of the game, as in prior Mario Party titles. The player earns one Star for every ten coins collected,[8] which can in turn be earned from minigames.[3] Items on the board can be collected to help the player gain an advantage over their opponents.[2][9] Unlike in previous Mario Party installments, rather than automatically being played at the end of every turn, minigames are played in Minigame Match whenever certain items are used[6] or a player pops a Minigame Balloon.[4][5]

Another game mode, Minigame Island, revolves around playing through pre-selected minigames to advance along a linear path,[3] with the player occasionally facing off against Bowser, Donkey Kong, or another non-playable character in a minigame, culminating in a duel against Bowser at the end of the campaign.[6] Playing through Minigame Island is required to unlock several dozen of the game's minigames.[2] Completing this mode for the first time unlocks a harder challenge mode, and collecting every Star by getting first place unlocks the hardest computer-controlled character difficulty setting, "Master".[6] Championship Battles involves playing three or five minigames from a selected pack, with the player(s) winning the most minigames being declared the winner(s).[8] Decathlon consists of playing five or ten minigames to earn the most points.[6][8] Mario Party: The Top 100 also includes a free play mode, in which the player can choose which minigames to play.[5][6][9] Additionally, the game features a collection menu, where players can listen to music and view characters from the series.[2]

Mario Party: The Top 100 supports multiplayer for up to four players, through either the use of individual copies of the game or the Download Play functionality of the 3DS, with only one player being required to have a copy of the game.[2][4] Mario Party: The Top 100 also has Amiibo compatibility,[10] allowing the player to unlock minigames quicker and receive assistance during rounds,[11] as well as obtain coins and acquire an extra life after a game over.[8][12]

Development and release

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Mario Party: The Top 100 was developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo.[2][3] The game was first announced in September 2017 during a Nintendo Direct.[13] Some reviewers initially expressed disappointment in the game not also being available on the Nintendo Switch,[14] which GameSpot's Chris Pereira stated "would seemingly be a perfect fit".[15] An overview trailer was released the following month.[11]

Less than two months after it was announced, Mario Party: The Top 100 was released in North America on November 10, 2017.[14][16] The game was subsequently released in PAL regions and in Japan on December 22, 2017, and on December 28, 2017, respectively;[2] it was originally set for release in Europe on January 5, 2018.[17][18] An installment similar to Mario Party: The Top 100, Mario Party Superstars, which also features 100 minigames from the home console entries, was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021.[19]

Reception

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Critical response

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According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Mario Party: The Top 100 received "mixed or average" reviews from critics.[20] Although the game's premise and sense of nostalgia were praised by multiple reviewers, it generally received criticism for its lack of game boards and additional content.[2][3][5][6][9]

The concept of a minigame compilation was lauded by several critics,[2][3][4][6] including Polygon's Allegra Frank, who referred to the all-minigame premise as "genius".[9] Destructoid's Caitlin Cooke added that the experience "was a solid trip down nostalgia road".[4] The graphical and audio enhancements of the minigames were also generally complimented.[3][4][5][6]

Critics were divided on the game's minigame selection. Nintendo Life's Michael Koczwara believed that Mario Party: The Top 100's goal of being a compilation of the best minigames in the series "was accomplished with great results",[3] Destructoid's Caitlin Cooke felt that the game "did a fairly decent job" representing the most fun and popular minigames from the series,[4] and Common Sense Media's David Wolinsky noted that most of the minigames were "very approachable".[21] Conversely, CGMagazine's Jordan Biordi wrote that there were "maybe 15-20 good minigames" from three of the first four installments in the series.[5] Moreover, Nintendo World Report's Matt West criticized the presentation of the minigames as "somewhat disconnected", and suggested that the control schemes for some minigames did not transfer well to the 3DS.[2]

The lack of game boards was panned by critics,[3] including Matt West, who singled out Minigame Match as the game's "biggest disappointment", describing the only board map as "pathetically underwhelming" and stating that it "lacks the personality that earlier games in the series were known for".[2] Although Kirstin Swalley of Hardcore Gamer believed that Minigame Match would be the most familiar mode to fans of the series as well as the most fun for multiplayer, she also wrote that the only map "quickly gets dull".[6] Reviewers also tended to find disappointment with the other game modes,[2] especially Minigame Island, which was criticized for being too linear.[4][5][9] Nintendo Life's Michael Koczwara, who referred to Minigame Island as "a fun but simple mode", stated that it could be completely finished in around two to three hours and lacked an incentive to replay.[3]

As with most entries in the Mario Party series, reviewers criticized the game's reliance on luck,[2][3][5] particularly the traditional system of determining a winner, which is almost entirely based on Star and coin amounts.[9] Other topics of criticism included the game's AI, which Biordi referred to as "horribly inconsistent" and "pathetic", as well as its absence of an online multiplayer mode,[3][6] which Biordi believed was the game's "most glaring problem".[5]

In concluding his review of the game for Nintendo Life, Michael Koczwara wrote: "Mario Party: The Top 100 may hold the record for the most minigames, but it certainly has the least amount of content and the lowest replayability."[3] Mario Party: The Top 100 would later place last in Nintendo Life's ranking of every game in the Mario Party series, excluding Mario Party-e and the arcade games.[22] Looking ahead to the future of the series as a whole, Destructoid's Caitlin Cooke wrote: "Hopefully Nintendo can keep the series alive and perfect the spirit of Mario Party for the Switch, but for now I think Mario Party games are officially dead for the 3DS."[4]

Sales

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Mario Party: The Top 100 sold 52,000 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, which placed it at #5 on the all-format video game sales chart.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Known in Japan as Mario Party 100 Minigame Collection[1] (Japanese: マリオパーティ１００ ミニゲームコレクション, Hepburn: Mario Pāti Hyaku Minigēmu Korekushon)

References

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  1. ^ "マリオパーティ100 ミニゲームコレクション［3DS］" [Mario Party 100 Mini-Game Collection [3DS]]. 4Gamer.net. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n West, Matt (November 10, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 (3DS) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Koczwara, Michael (November 20, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 (3DS)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cooke, Caitlin (November 28, 2017). "Review: Mario Party: The Top 100". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Biordi, Jordan (November 13, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 (3DS) Review". CGMagazine. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Swalley, Kirstin (November 19, 2017). "Review: Mario Party: The Top 100". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Playable Characters". Nintendo. Archived from the original on August 11, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Lada, Jenni (October 17, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 Has 3 Modes And amiibo Compatibility". Siliconera. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Frank, Allegra (November 10, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 is the series at its best and worst". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
  10. ^ Nintendo 2017, pp. 15–16.
  11. ^ a b Whitehead, Thomas (October 17, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 Trailer Showcases Modes and amiibo Functionality". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  12. ^ Theriault, Donald (October 17, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 Outlines Amiibo Support". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  13. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (September 14, 2017) [September 13, 2017]. "Mario Party: The Top 100 Announced for 3DS". IGN. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Joshi, Arjun (September 13, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 Will Combine The Best Of The Series On 3DS". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  15. ^ Pereira, Chris (September 14, 2017). "Mario Party: Top 100 Brings Together The Series' Best Mini-Games For 3DS". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Favis, Elise (September 13, 2017). "Mario Party Top 100 Brings Series' Best Minigames To 3DS". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  17. ^ Romano, Sal (November 13, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 release date brought forward to December 22 in Europe". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  18. ^ Lada, Jenni (November 13, 2017). "Mario Party: The Top 100 European Release Date Changed". Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  19. ^ Purslow, Matt (June 15, 2021). "Mario Party Superstars Announced, Comes to Switch in October - E3 2021". IGN. Archived from the original on February 12, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Mario Party: The Top 100 3DS Critic Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  21. ^ a b Wolinsky, David. "Mario Party: The Top 100 Game Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  22. ^ Hagues, Alana; Nintendo Life Staff (October 23, 2024) [October 20, 2022]. "Best Mario Party Games Of All Time". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  23. ^ Romano, Sal (January 9, 2018). "Media Create Sales: 12/25/17 – 12/31/17". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

Booklets

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