Playing through Mario Party: The Top 100 was a solid trip down nostalgia road, but there was a huge lack of depth to the modes that left me wanting to play my favorite standalone Mario Party games instead of experiencing all of my favorites mini games in one place. The appeal of being able to play my favorite mini game on a whim was quickly overshadowed by the lack of imagination in the rest of the game.At the end of the day, it takes more than fun mini games to make a good Mario Party game. It’s also about carefully crafting a meaningful game experience that allows you to screw over your friends in the most skilled, fair way possible. Hopefully Nintendo can keep the series alive and perfect the spirit of Mario Party for the Switch, but for now I think Mario Party ... MorePlaying through Mario Party: The Top 100 was a solid trip down nostalgia road, but there was a huge lack of depth to the modes that left me wanting to play my favorite standalone Mario Party games instead of experiencing all of my favorites mini games in one place. The appeal of being able to play my favorite mini game on a whim was quickly overshadowed by the lack of imagination in the rest of the game.At the end of the day, it takes more than fun mini games to make a good Mario Party game. It’s also about carefully crafting a meaningful game experience that allows you to screw over your friends in the most skilled, fair way possible. 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.

My daughter asked for a new game for her 2DS so I was keeping an eye out for what was coming out. When I read about this, even I got excited! I've been a gamer all my life so Mario Party games are nothing new to me. This one is different though. 100 of the best of ALL the Mario Party games is just AMAZING! My daughter has been hooked! The ability to have 3 additional DS consoles share the same game is so convenient. She loves sharing with her friends and all of them play/compete together. If you have a 2DS or 3DS, this one is a MUST HAVE!

For years, I've been saying Nintendo should make a "Best Of Mario Party" game, and this didn't disappoint. Granted, I expected it to be on a home console system, not the DS family, but this thing is quite a gem.There is not a single misstep in these minigames. Whereas each Mario Party has some minigames that you groan when you're forced to play them, each minigame here is fun to play. I was nervous about who was deciding what the "Best 10" games were from each Mario Party, but Nintendo had astounding insight as to which games should be included. I even felt there was quite a bit of thought that went into the chronology of the way the games were presented. For instance, the Slot Car Derby game is positioned in as much of a critical spot in the single-player mode of ... MoreFor years, I've been saying Nintendo should make a "Best Of Mario Party" game, and this didn't disappoint. Granted, I expected it to be on a home console system, not the DS family, but this thing is quite a gem.There is not a single misstep in these minigames. Whereas each Mario Party has some minigames that you groan when you're forced to play them, each minigame here is fun to play. I was nervous about who was deciding what the "Best 10" games were from each Mario Party, but Nintendo had astounding insight as to which games should be included. I even felt there was quite a bit of thought that went into the chronology of the way the games were presented. For instance, the Slot Car Derby game is positioned in as much of a critical spot in the single-player mode of this game as it was when it appeared in Mario Party 2. Another example is Bumper Balls, which is perhaps the quintessential example of a Mario Party mini-game, and is appropriately placed in the very last stretch of the single-player mode. Even Bowser's Big Blast is described as the "most vicious" mini-game, which is spot-on for anybody who remembers the strike of fear whenever this game would be chosen.There are two downsides to this game, the first being that there isn't any real game board to play on. There IS one basic game board where you chase stars (a la the N64 and Gamecube versions), but it's very primitive and doesn't offer much strategy. The only other downside to this game is it can't be played with friends, unless they also own a DS. This is a bummer as I am the only 30+ year-old loser I know who owns one, and I think it's illegal to walk up to minors in the park and ask if they want to play a game with me.There's a very simple remedy to both of these problems: put this game on the Switch. In fact, you could re-release the same exact game with the addition of the "best" game board from each of the 10 Mario Parties. This way, you can have the game board style of play that became so quickly beloved and was the design for Mario Party 1-8, and you can also integrate the linear gameboard that's available in Mario Party 9 and 10, which seems to be the new direction of the franchise.I do not own a Switch. I don't plan to because I own a Wii U and there is quite a bit of overlap between those two consoles. But if Mario Party Top 100 were brought to the Switch with some of the original game boards from the earlier Mario Party series, I would get one without hesitation.Cognizant of the fact that Nintendo is not going to take my feedback and do what I'm asking, I'll just say that this game is a real treat and I recommend it to anyone who has had fun with this series in the past. I can't even imagine how fun this would be with other people.