In my last post (not counting the numerous live broadcasts) I described the current best Mario Party on the Switch. Now I'd like to focus on its biggest rival (altogether the only one), namely Super Mario Party. Names similar - Mario Party Superstars and Super Mario Party, you can get confused when buying. Let's assume that, unfortunately, we purchased Super Mario Party. Is it really that bad? I will present my thoughts on this 2018 production. I invite you to do so. ;)
I'll quickly explain what the gameplay is all about for those who have never been exposed to the Mario party series, or didn't come across my last post. On a board of our choice, four players move around the fields with dice to earn coins. The coins are used to buy items, or a star. The person who had the most stars wins. After each turn comes a mini-game, which, depending on the place taken, provides us with coins. The rules themselves are the same, but the vision of the authors changes drastically if we compare the two games. I will describe the changes that irritate me the most:
BOARDS
The production has four playable boards. This is one less compared to the newer release. The difference is not huge, but the difference in design is noticeable. The maps are. boring, quite small and not very revealing. Mechanics and strategies are also not some outstanding. For example, I can give King Bob-omb's Powderkeg Mine here. In the middle of the map is the titular King Bob-omb (the first boss in Mario 64), which explodes when the timer is punched. Then players in the middle of the board lose half of their coins. To the left of the king are mines where players can extract coins.
MODEL OF MOVING ON THE MAP
At the beginning of the game and turn, everyone has two dice. The first is the default, which is 1-6, and the second is unique, which has different meshes. Each character has its own unique cube. There are many types of dice, the safer ones (those that don't go beyond the limit of 6 but have a higher chance of more than 1), and the riskier ones that can result in losing coins or movement for up to 10 fields. This is an interesting mechanic, but unfortunately can result in standing on the map or little activity. There are fields and items that select an ally for us. We receive his dice and every time we move, he draws a number 1-2 for us to move. An ally can also help us in mini-games, where allies are allowed. Unfortunately, we will not always have an ally and thus our development will be quite slow. In Mario party Superstars, we had a 1-10 cube at our disposal and this made the whole gameplay much faster (especially with Triple Dice!).
ECONOMY
The main change after switching from Mario party Superstars are the prices of the star and the Golden Pipe (the item that teleports us to the star). These two items cost 10 coins each, where this is an absurdly low price. The whole strategy is then based on circling the map to get the Golden Pipe and buying the star for nothing. The profitability of winning mini-games then drops, because there is already enough income on the boards themselves. While playing Superstars, we had to manage our wealth very wisely, and here.... well.
Fortunately, there are also positives of this production and its strong features. I would certainly like to mention here the number of playable characters, because here the authors have made an effort. List of playable characters:
- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Daisy
- Yoshi
- Donkey Kong
- Rosalina
- Diddy Kong
- Bowser
- Bowser Jr.
- Goomba
- Shy Guy
- Koopa
- Monty Mole
- Boo
- Hammer Bro
- Pom Pom
- Dry Bones
As you can see, this is a sizable number. As many as 20 playable characters with their unique dice compared to only 10 from Superstars.
On the plus side, of course, the mini-games. There are a little less of them, 80, but they have one very important advantage. Finally, there are games with motion control that take advantage of the technology embodied in joy-cones. They make clever use of the controllers' vibration and acceleration. As an example, here is a mini-game where we had to guess by vibration what character was hiding under the curtains. Of course, there are also games where we had to control the character.
SUMMARY
Super Mario Party is not a bad game, but unfortunately, after the debut of the newer installment, it has gone a bit into oblivion. After inquiries about which game to choose, the choice of Internet users is one-sided. Of course, there are still some downsides, such as the lack of customization of gameplay (options for awarding additional stars or choosing a category of mini-games), inferior online or supporting only joy-cons. Nevertheless, I think the production works nicely as a supplement to Superstars when we are already bored with the boards.
Screenshots used in the post are from the game Super Mario Party (2018) and were taken by me on a Nintendo Switch console. The English version was translated by a translator.
POLISH VERSION 馃嚨馃嚤
W ostatnim po艣cie (nie licz膮c licznych transmisji na 偶ywo) opisywa艂em aktualnie najlepsze Mario Party na switcha. Teraz chcia艂bym skupi膰 si臋 na jego najwi臋kszym rywalu (w sumie jedynym), czyli Super Mario Party. Nazwy podobne - Mario Party Superstars i Super Mario Party, mo偶na si臋 pogubi膰 przy kupnie. Za艂贸偶my, 偶e niestety zakupili艣my Super Mario Party. Czy jest naprawd臋 a偶 tak 藕le? Przedstawi臋 moje przemy艣lenia na temat tej produkcji z 2018 roku. Zapraszam. ;)
Po kr贸tce wyja艣ni臋 na czym polega rozgrywka dla tych, kt贸rzy nie mieli nigdy styczno艣ci z seri膮 Mario party, b膮d藕 nie natrafili na m贸j ostatni post. Na wybranej przez nas planszy czw贸rka graczy porusza si臋 po polach kostk膮, aby zdoby膰 monety. Za monety kupujemy przedmioty, b膮d藕 gwiazdk臋. Osoba, kt贸ra mia艂a najwi臋cej gwiazdek, wygrywa. Po ka偶dej turze przychodzi czas na mini-gr臋, kt贸ra w zale偶no艣ci od zaj臋tego miejsca zapewnia nam monety. Same zasady s膮 takie same, ale wizja autor贸w drastycznie si臋 zmienia je偶eli por贸wnamy obie te gry. Opisze zmiany, kt贸re najbardziej mnie irytuj膮:
PLANSZE
Produkcja posiada cztery grywalne plansze. Jest to o jedna mniej w por贸wnaniu do nowszej ods艂ony. R贸偶nica nie jest jaka艣 ogromna, ale r贸偶nica w designu jest odczuwalna. Mapy s膮... nudne, dosy膰 ma艂e i ma艂o odkrywcze. Mechaniki i strategie te偶 nie s膮 jakie艣 wybitne. Na przyk艂ad mog臋 tutaj poda膰 King Bob-omb's Powderkeg Mine. Na 艣rodku mapy jest tytu艂owy King Bob-omb (pierwszy boss w Mario 64), kt贸ry po wybiciu licznika wybucha. Wtedy gracze na 艣rodku planszy trac膮 po艂ow臋 posiadanych monet. Po lewej stronie od kr贸la s膮 kopalnie, gdzie gracz mo偶e wydoby膰 monety.
SPOS脫B PORUSZANIA PO MAPIE
Na pocz膮tku gry i tury ka偶dy ma do dyspozycji dwie kostki. Pierwsza jest domy艣lna, czyli 1-6 i druga unikalna, kt贸ra ma inne oczka. Ka偶da posta膰 posiada swoj膮 unikaln膮 kostk臋. Jest wiele rodzaj贸w kostek, te bardziej bezpieczne (te, kt贸re nie wykraczaj膮 poza limit 6 ale maj膮 wi臋ksz膮 szans臋 na wi臋cej ni偶 1), oraz te bardziej ryzykowne, kt贸re mog膮 skutkowa膰 utrat膮 monet b膮d藕 ruch na nawet 10 p贸l. Jest to ciekawa mechanika, ale niestety mo偶e skutkowa膰 staniem na mapie b膮d藕 ma艂a aktywno艣膰. Istniej膮 pola i przedmioty, kt贸re dobieraj膮 nam sojusznika. Otrzymujemy jego kostk臋 oraz przy ka偶dym naszym ruchu losuje dla nas liczb臋 1-2 do ruchu. Sojusznik mo偶e nam r贸wnie偶 pom贸c w mini-grach, gdzie sojusznicy s膮 dozwoleni. Niestety, nie zawsze b臋dziemy mieli sojusznika i przez to nasz rozw贸j b臋dzie dosy膰 wolny. W Mario party Superstars mieli艣my do dyspozycji kostk臋 1-10 i przez to ca艂y gameplay by艂 znacznie szybszy (szczeg贸lnie przy Triple Dice!).
EKONOMIA
G艂贸wna zmiana po przej艣ciu z Mario party Superstars s膮 ceny gwiazdki oraz Golden Pipe'a (przedmiot, kt贸ry teleportuje nas do gwiazdki). Te dwa przedmioty kosztuj膮 po 10 monet, gdzie jest to absurdalnie niska cena. Ca艂a strategia opiera si臋 wtedy na okr膮偶aniu mapy po Golden Pipe'a i kupowaniu gwiazdki za bezcen. Spada wtedy op艂acalno艣膰 wygrywania w mini-grach, poniewa偶 na samych planszach ju偶 jest wystarczaj膮cy doch贸d. Podczas grania w Superstars musieli艣my bardzo m膮drze zarz膮dza膰 swoim maj膮tkiem, a tutaj... no c贸偶.
Na szcz臋艣cie istniej膮 r贸wnie偶 pozytywy tej produkcji i jej mocne cechy. Na pewno chcia艂bym tutaj wspomnie膰 o liczbie grywalnych postaci, poniewa偶 tutaj autorzy si臋 postarali. Lista grywalnych postaci:
- Mario
- Luigi
- Peach
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Daisy
- Yoshi
- Donkey Kong
- Rosalina
- Diddy Kong
- Bowser
- Bowser Jr.
- Goomba
- Shy Guy
- Koopa
- Monty Mole
- Boo
- Hammer Bro
- Pom Pom
- Dry Bones
Jak widz膮 pa艅stwo, jest to poka藕na liczba. A偶 20 grywalnych postaci ze swoimi unikalnymi kostkami w por贸wnaniu do tylko 10 z Superstars.
Na plus oczywi艣cie mini-gry. Jest ich troch臋 mniej, bo 80, ale maj膮 jedn膮 bardzo wa偶n膮 zalet臋. W ko艅cu s膮 gry z motion control, kt贸re wykorzystuj膮 technologi臋 uj臋t膮 w joy-conach. M膮drze wykorzystuj膮 wibracje i akceleracj臋 kontroler贸w. Dla przyk艂adu podam tutaj mini-gr臋, gdzie po wibracjach musieli艣my zgadn膮膰 jaka posta膰 kryje si臋 pod zas艂onami. S膮 oczywi艣cie te偶 gierki, gdzie musieli艣my sterowa膰 postaci膮.
Podsumowanie
Super Mario Party nie jest z艂膮 gr膮, ale niestety po debiucie nowszej ods艂ony odesz艂a troch臋 w zapomnienie. Po zapytaniach kt贸r膮 gr臋 wybra膰 wyb贸r internaut贸w jest jednostronny. Oczywi艣cie minus贸w jeszcze troch臋 jest, takich jak brak dostosowania rozgrywki (opcje przyznawania dodatkowych gwiazdek b膮d藕 wyb贸r kategorii mini-gierek), gorsze online lub wspieranie tylko joy-con贸w. Niemniej jednak uwa偶am, 偶e produkcja fajnie sprawdza jako dodatek do gry Superstars, kiedy jeste艣my ju偶 znudzeni planszami.
Screenshoty u偶yte w po艣cie pochodz膮 z gry Super Mario Party (2018) i zosta艂y zrobione przeze mnie na konsoli Nintendo Switch. Angielska wersja zosta艂a przet艂umaczona przez translator.