Mario Party Superstars for Nintendo Switch: Ultimate guide

Mario Party Superstars has finally released and has quickly become one of the best Nintendo Switch party games of all time. Up to four players can experience a digital board game, or simply enjoy minigames together. It's not a wholly new Mario Party — it's kind of like a combination between a collection and a remake since it features boards and minigames from previous Mario Party entries. Still confused? Let's dive in.

What is Mario Party Superstars?

This is the latest Mario Party game in the franchise. Instead of being a completely new entry, it's actually a collection of remade popular boards and minigames from the series. For instance, there are five gameboards from the N64 era along with 100 minigames from throughout the series. The game saves after each round, so you can pick up where you left off.

The way these games work, up to four players roll dice and travel around a virtual board game. If you don't have enough players, some of the characters will be controlled by the computer, but you can choose their difficulty levels. At the end of each round, players are separated into teams or must compete against everybody else in silly minigames. Things tend to get pretty wild when you play with friends.

The winner(s) of each minigame are awarded Coins, which can be used to purchase Stars or other goodies on the game board. The player with the most Stars at the end of a predetermined number of rounds wins.

Players can also get special items on the board or steal Stars from others if you land on the right spots or have the right items. The boards you play on provide different challenges and perks, so you'll need to strategize differently depending on which one you choose.

Source: Nintendo (screenshot)

While this is a collection of previous boards and minigames, there are plenty of new elements to help make the game fun.

• Online play: In addition to local play, you can play online against others. If you lose internet connection or need to duck out of a game, the computer will take over for you so the others playing aren't left hanging.
• Stamps: Each character has a set of stamps that portray different emotions. Place them during someone else's turn (whether playing locally or online) to show all the other players how you feel in a given moment.
• Auto Saving: The game saves at the end of each round, so you can stop playing when you need to and come back later.
• Updated graphics: The desserts on Peach's Birthday Cake look so decadent and the characters all have a lot more texture and detail than they did in the original games.
• Path countdown: In addition to knowing how many more moves you have left from your dice roll, the game tells you how far away from the Star you will be depending on which paths you take (as seen in the image above).
• New Characters: When the original Mario Party games on N64 released some characters weren't playable or in the case of Rosalina, they hadn't even been created yet.

Mario Party Superstars Characters

These are all of the playable characters in Mario Party Superstars.

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Yoshi
• Donkey Kong
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Rosalina
• Birdo

Mario Party Superstars Boards

Source: Nintendo

There are five classic boards from the N64 era, including Space Land, Peach's Birthday Cake, Woody Woods, Yoshi's Tropical Island, and Horror Land.

Each board provides different perks and challenges. For instance, the Space Land board features a countdown in the center and every time it reaches zero, the Bowser Coin Beam goes off and takes away the coins of any player it hits.

Mario Party Superstars All minigames

There are a grand total of 100 minigames in Mario Party Superstars. Some games are a free-for-all where everyone competes against each other, but there are also 2-vs-2 and 1-vs-3 games as well. In the special case of a duel, there are also 1-vs-1 options. Minigames always have a short tutorial before they start to make sure everyone knows how to play. It also lists which Mario Party game the minigame first appeared in.

These are all fun, but in our opinion 25 Mario Party Superstars Minigames are better than the others.

(Spoiler Alert): You can click the link below to see a list of all of the minigames in Mario Party Superstars.

Mario Party - N64

• Mushroom Mix-Up
• Cast Aways
• Hammer Drop
• Face Lift
• Piranha's Pursuit
• Bobsled Run
• Tug o' War
• Handcar Havoc
• Tipsy Tourney
• Shy Guy Says
• Crazy Cutters
• Bombs Away

Mario Party 2 - N64

• Look Away
• Quicksand Cache
• Sneak 'n' Snore
• Roll Call
• Bowser's Big Blast
• Cake Factory
• Speed Hockey
• Slot-Car Derby
• Mecha Marathon
• Balloon Burst
• Shell Shocked
• Hot Rope Jump
• Bumper Balls
• Honeycomb Havoc
• Bumper Balloon Cars
• Sky Pilots
• Dizzy Dancing
• Archer-ival
• Dungeon Dash

Mario Party 3 - N64

• Rockin' Raceway
• River Raiders
• Storm Chasers
• Puddle Paddle
• Tidal Toss
• Parasol Plummet
• Etch n Catch
• Messy Memory
• Ticktock Hop
• Boulder Ball
• Picking Panic
• Vine with Me
• Spotlight Swim
• Ice Rink Risk
• Hide and Sneak
• Mario's Puzzle Party
• Chip Shot Challenge
• Cheep Cheep Chase
• Coconut Conk
• Bounce n Trounce
• Motor Rooter
• Mush Pit
• Eatsa Pizza
• Snowball Summit

Mario Party 4 - GameCube

• Money Belts
• Paths of Peril
• GOOOOOOOAL!!
• Trace Race
• Beach Volley Folly
• Booksquirm
• Dungeon Duos
• Revers-a-Bomb

Mario Party 5 - GameCube

• Coney Island
• Night Light Fright
• Bill Blasters
• Ice Hockey
• Squared Away
• Later Skater
• Dinger Derby
• Pushy Penguins
• Leaf Leap
• Tube it or Lose It

Mario Party 6 - GameCube

• Burnstile
• Rocky Road
• Mass Meteor
• Dark 'n Crispy
• Trap Ease Artist
• Cashapult
• Money Belt
• Block Star
• Pit Boss
• What Goes Up…
• Catch You Letter
• Snow Whirled

Mario Party 7 - GameCube

• The Final Countdown
• Stick and Spin
• Spin Doctor
• Pogo-a-Go-Go
• Monty's Revenge
• Pokey Pummel

Mario Party 8 - Wii

• Winner or Dinner
• Paint Misbehavin

Mario Party 9 - Wii

• Goomba Spotting
• Tackle Takedown
• Manor of Escape
• Shell Soccer

Mario Party 10 - Wii U

• Skewer Scurry
• Flash Forward
• Rapid River Race

Mt. Minigames

If you'd prefer to just run through minigames, you can head to Mt. Minigames from the main menu and compete against others online or locally. You can either choose which games to play or play them at random. There are seven courses within Mt. Minigames, which basically offers different kinds of minigame collections to help change things up.

Can I play Mario Party Superstars on Switch Lite?

Yes! Mario Party Superstars is designed in such a way that both Switch and Switch Lite owners can play. This is welcome news considering that Super Mario Party intially could not support Switch Lite play when it released unless owners used external Joy-Cons.

Does Mario Party Superstars have online multiplayer?

In addition to local couch co-op, this latest game also supports online play. That way you always can find someone to compete against. As always, you'll need a Nintendo Switch Online membership in order to participate in online activities. If someone you're playing with has a bad internet connection or they need to drop out of a game, the computer will take over for them, so everyone still playing isn't left hanging.

Can I use a Pro Controller?

Yes, unlike the previous game, Super Mario Party when it released, Mario Party Superstars does indeed support the Pro Controller. Enjoy the game the way you want, whether that's in handheld mode, with Joy-Cons, or the more traditional controller.

Release date

Mario Party Superstars sells for $60 and released on Oct. 29, 2021. It makes for a perfect game night, sleepover, or family activity.