Mario Party

This article is about the Nintendo 64 game. For other uses, see Mario Party (disambiguation).

Mario Party
For alternate art, see the related gallery.
Developers	Hudson Soft CAProduction
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	Nintendo 64, Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics
Release dates	Nintendo 64: December 18, 1998 February 8, 1999 February 8, 1999 March 9, 1999 March 9, 1999[?] March 19, 1999 Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics: November 1, 2022 November 1, 2022 November 2, 2022 November 2, 2022 November 2, 2022 November 2, 2022
Languages	English Japanese French (Europe) German
Genre	Party
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] ELSPA: - Three years and older[?] SELL: - All ages[?] USK: - All ages[?] ClassInd: - General audience[?] ACB: - General[?]
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Nintendo 64: Game Pak Nintendo Switch: Digital download
Input	Nintendo 64: Nintendo 64 Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Joy-Con (horizontal) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo 64 Controller (NSO)
Serial codes	NUS-NLBJ-JPN NUS-CLBE-USA NUS-NLBP-EUR NUS-NLBP-AUS

“Frantic 4-Player Fun!”

—Slogan

Mario Party is a party game released for the Nintendo 64 as the first installment in the titular Mario Party series, released in Japan in late 1998 and in other territories in early 1999. Players select one of six Super Mario characters and move around the board, collecting Coins and various other items to help themselves or hinder others in their quest to collect Stars. Players participate in Mini-Games after each turn, in which they compete for extra Coins. These Mini-Games vary widely, from free-for-alls to pairs to three-on-ones. They test players' reflexes, puzzle-solving skills, and even luck. Certain Mini-Games allow players to steal Coins from each other, while others grant the winner five Coins from their rivals. Dueling Mini-Games in later installments would serve a similar purpose. This game is known for pioneering an iconic and renowned series in the Super Mario franchise, which continues to this day, becoming one of the most well-known series in gaming.

While Mario Party was never re-released on any Virtual Console, it saw its first re-release on the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics service on November 1, 2022, releasing alongside Mario Party 2.

Story

The group arguing

The six playable characters

The story begins with Mario and his friends standing around and arguing over who is the Super Star, the superior one among them. To sort things out amongst members of the gang, Wario theorizes that a Super Star must be strong. Donkey Kong abruptly agrees, while bragging about his strength. An argument and fight ensue between the two, with Luigi finding himself quite literally stuck in the middle. It is also suggested that Mario would make a good superstar, or Princess Peach, or even the energetic Yoshi.

The gang begins to close in on Toad, who jumps and shouts out that he has an idea of what they should do. Arguing that being a Super Star takes not only strength, but also courage, wisdom, and kindness, he suggests that the crew take the Warp Pipe in Mushroom Village, and find out who is the Super Star of their adventures. Though he warns them that the path will be dangerous, all six of the competitors race toward the Pipe and enter it one by one, thus beginning the game itself.

Characters

Playable

The character selection screen.

The game features a total of six playable characters, all controlled and played identically to one another. Wario is referred to as one of Mario's friends, being the first time he is referred to as such. Each character has a color they are assigned to in certain mini-games, such as the balls in Bumper Balls, the pumps in Balloon Burst, or the skateboards in Skateboard Scamper.

Character descriptions are taken from the instruction booklet.

Character	Associated color	Manual description
Mario	Red	Everyone would agree that Mario is a super guy, but he certainly can't match the strength of Wario or Donkey Kong. Can he overcome his weaknesses to become the number one Superstar?
Luigi	Blue	Maybe Mario's younger brother has what it takes to become the ultimate Super Star. He's smarter than Mario, but can brains overcome brawn in this contest?
Peach	Pink	Princess Toadstool has been antagonized by Bowser for ages. Perhaps her proven bravery will allow her to reign as the supreme Super Star.
Yoshi	Green	Yoshi has adventured with Mario since he was a baby. Full of energy and rich with experience, perhaps Yoshi has what it takes to achieve Super Stardom.
Wario	Purple	He's certainly more cunning than the rest and strong to boot. Could it be that Wario is destined to become the Super Star?
DK	Brown	DK is definitely the most powerful of all his friends. if the contest relies on muscle, this ape will win hands down.

Game modes

Mushroom Village

Game modes are selected from a "Map" screen, Mushroom Village, that the player is led to upon starting the game. Each building or feature represents a mode, and the player can select one to play a certain mode.

Listed below are the available areas for the player to access in Mario Party:

Party mode

Party mode is the heart of Mario Party. Four players will play on a board game, each getting a turn to roll the 1-10 Dice Blocks, which will determine how many spaces they will move across. Depending on what items are enabled, the 1-10 Dice Block can be replaced with another Dice Block with its own unique effects. Players will try to collect Coins by landing on helpful spaces and triggering board events. When a player passes by the Star Space, they can purchase a Star for 20 Coins.

After everyone rolls, a roulette will appear which will randomly select a Mini-Game to play. Whether the Mini-Game is a 4-Player Mini-Game, 2-vs-2 Mini-Game and 1-vs-3 Mini-Game depends on the type of space each player landed on. If all players landed on a Blue Space or Red Space, a 4-Player Mini-Game is chosen; if it is a split between two Blue Spaces and two Red Spaces, a 2-vs-2 Mini-Game is chosen; and if one player is on a Blue or Red Space while the other players are on the opposite space, a 1-vs-3 Mini-Game is chosen. If a player lands on a Happening Space, the space color will be randomly selected to either blue or red before a Mini-Game is chosen. Whichever team or player wins the Mini-Game is rewarded with Coins. Some Mini-Games will also take away Coins from other players or teams if they lost (making this the only Mario Party game where players can lose Coins in standard end-of-turn Mini-Games, outside of Mini-Games where Coins are wagered). This process will repeat itself until the set number of turns (20, 35 or 50) is up.

After the last turn, Bonus Stars are awarded to players based on the following criteria:

• Game Star: Most Coins earned in Mini-Games
• Coin Star: Most Coins collected in one board game
• Happening Star: Most Happening Spaces landed on

The winner will be determined by who had the most Stars. If two or more players share the same number of Stars, Coins will be used as the tiebreaker. If two or more players share the same number of Coins and Stars, a dice roll will be made where the higher-rolling player wins.

Boards

Mario Party features a total of eight boards, which remains the highest number of main party mode boards in a Mario Party game.

Board		Description	Difficulty
		DK's Jungle Adventure features a mysterious treasure that is locked away in the jungle's ancient ruins. Three Whomps are guarding the junctions; to pass, a player must pay 10 Coins. Landing on a Happening Space triggers a rolling boulder which, in turn, chases down any players standing in its way to the path near the start of the board. If a player happens to meet Bowser on this board, they are "awarded" a useless Golden Bowser Statue and are forced to pay him 10 Coins.
		Peach's Birthday Cake is the smallest map of the ones available in Mario Party. Its main feature is the Flower Lottery, hosted by Goomba, where a player plants a red, blue, yellow, or green seed (at the cost of 10 Coins) and grows a flower. Three flowers have a Toad face, while one flower has a Bowser face on it. After all four seeds are planted, four new ones can be chosen. This is run by a Goomba, who says if a player gets the Bowser face, they will go to Bowser, who will sell him the Bowser Cake (one of Bowser's bogus items) for 20 Coins. If a player gets a Toad face, they will go in the direction of the Star. If a player lands on a Happening Space, they have the opportunity to plant a "Strawberry Seed" at the cost of 30 Coins, which grows into a Piranha Plant. Once planted, if another player with stars lands on the Happening Space with the Piranha Plant there, it will steal a Star from that player, and give it to the player that planted it.
		Yoshi's Tropical Island consists of Watermelon Island, Cantalope Island, and a small island in the middle; it was said that many Yoshis live here, but only two are shown in the middle of the board. A Pink Yoshi is on the small island, surrounded by whirlpools, while a Blue Yoshi is unable to help. Players aim to collect stars to get rid of the whirlpools and reunite the two Yoshis. The Happening Spaces make Bubba the fish take Toad to the opposite island, Bowser taking his place. Bowser sells defective Bowser Tubes to players for 30 Coins. Two Thwomps block both ways to the opposite island, and request fees from players if they want to pass. The fee always starts at one Coin but goes up by one Coin each time until it reaches the limit of 50 Coins to pass.
		Wario's Battle Canyon is split into four areas with Bowser's area in the middle. Players aim to collect Stars to stop the feud between the Bob-omb Buddies and the Bob-ombs. To get around the board, players are placed into cannons and fired to another area, which is determined by a spinning wheel. If a player lands on a Happening Space, the Bob-ombs will switch the directions of the cannons. Bowser's area can only be accessed by paying 10 Coins to the Fly Guy in the northeast area, who will carry the speaking character to him. Bowser also has a cannon in this area to replace his bogus item. However, instead of firing at a specific part of the board, Bowser will just fire a character at a random spot.
		Luigi's Engine Room features an engine in the middle of the room, which is actually located in the back of the playing board. The main feature is the board-wide system of red and blue doors: one set rises up to block specific paths while the other set goes down to open other paths. The doors switch at the start of every turn, when players land on certain Happening Spaces, or if a robot on the board is paid 20 Coins to switch them. Happening Spaces on steam generators near the engine make steam rise out of the respective generator, propelling players to a higher section. Players that go to Bowser will see his "Make As Many Coins As You Want Mecha" in action. They will get a Coin from Bowser at the cost of 20 Coins. No matter where the players go, all paths end in Warp Pipes that lead to Boo, who is near the start.
		Mario's Rainbow Castle is placed on clouds with multiple towers and is sky-themed. The main feature of this board is that the location of the Star does not change each time a player receives one. Instead, it is always located on the main tower of the map. Each time a player does receive a Star, however, the tower rotates, revealing Bowser. When the player reaches the tower while Bowser is there, he charges 40 Coins for a Ztar. Unlike their later appearances, they do not affect the Star count, merely serving to waste the 40 Coins. The tower can also be rotated by any player landing on a Happening Space.
		Bowser's Magma Mountain takes place on the summit of a gigantic volcano. The main feature of the board involves various stone heads that offer shortcuts throughout the board for 10 Coins. If the player accepts, a roulette block will appear containing either Bowser's face or a Star. If the latter is hit, the player is allowed to take the shortcut. However, if they choose Bowser's face, the player is forced to continue on their original path. Eventually, the player will reach a purple-colored Stone Head, who will offer the same roulette block, except free of charge. This time, however, if the player selects Bowser's Face, they will automatically follow a path directly to Bowser, who will steal 20 Coins or a Star (depending on the roulette) from the player. This board is only available if bought for 980 Coins and after all other boards are played at least once. If the player lands on a Happening Space, Bowser's volcano will erupt, turning all Blue Spaces into Red Spaces.
		Eternal Star is unlocked by collecting 100 Stars and completing all the boards at least once. On this space-themed board, Koopa Troopa is kidnapped at the very beginning of the game by Bowser, and players move around the star using warp stations and must retrieve Stars from seven Baby Bowsers. Upon reaching a Baby Bowser, players must pay their 20 Coins and roll higher than him to get a Star. The player's Dice Block can roll 8-10 but Baby Bowser's can roll any number. If the player wins, they get a Star, but if they lose, they lose a Star. In the center of the star is Bowser, who takes a Star from the player who reached him (or 20 Coins if they do not have any Stars), sending them back to the start and changing the routes of the Warp Machines. If a player lands on any Happening Space, Bowser will send everyone back to start, though the Warp Machine routes remain unchanged.

Spaces

Image	Space	Description
	Blue Space	Players gain three Coins from landing on this. The amount of Coins received is doubled in the Last Five Turns Event. This space is the most common space on all boards.
	Red Space	If a player lands on this space, they lose 3 Coins. The amount of Coins lost is doubled during the Last Five Turns Event.
	Happening Space	When a player lands on this space, an event happens. The event that happens depends on the board.
	Chance Time Space	A player that lands here plays a Chance Time game. The player hits three blocks, which identify two players and what one gives to the other. Game-changing events can happen here, from trading Stars or Coins, to giving one Star or 10-30 Coins to someone else.
	Minigame Space	A player that lands here plays a One-Player Mini-Game. If the player wins the Mini-Game, they receive Coins. If they lose, then the player loses 5 Coins. If the game is a bonus Mini-Game though, the player is rewarded the amount of Coins collected, but they do not lose any if they get none.
	Mushroom Space	A roulette block appears if a player lands on this space. Either the player can receive a Mushroom, which gives the Player the chance to roll another Dice Block, or receive a Poison Mushroom, which forces them to forfeit their next turn's Dice Block roll.
	Bowser Space	Any player who lands on this space will meet Bowser, who triggers a roulette. The roulette can cause a player to lose a substantial amount of Coins, play a Mini-Game to not lose Coins, restistribute everyone's Coins equally, or play a rigged version of Chance Time where a player loses 10-30 Coins to Bowser.
	Star Space	When a player passes here, they can obtain a Star only if they have at least 20 Coins. The Star Space does not count towards the player's movements, unlike other spaces. On most boards, the player can purchase a Star for 20 Coins from Toad or decline, but will not be able to purchase one if they have 99. However, on Eternal Star, the player needs to duel Baby Bowser to get a Star. If the player loses, Baby Bowser will take a Star away from the player. If the player has 99 stars, they will not duel.

Mushroom Village

Mini-Game House

The Mini-Game House is located to the right side of the river, and resembles a mushroom with a large, red cap.

Free Play

The Free Play wall allows the player to access all Mini-Games they have unlocked so far and can play them as many times as they like for free.

Toad

The resident Toad of the Mini-Game house is an elderly-looking one named Puff who has a large red cap on her head, similarly shaped to the Mini-Game House itself. By speaking to her, the player is given a list of Mini-Games that have been played in the game so far. There are various price ranges for Mini-Games. Once one is bought, it can always be played for free via the orb on the table.

Pot o' Skills

The Pot o' Skills leads to the Mini-Game Stadium. The Mini-Game Stadium has its own board shaped in the form of a Star, and only has 24 total spaces. Each turn, players roll the dice and advance the number of spaces, like in Party Mode. However, Blue Spaces do not add Coins and Red Spaces do not subtract Coins. All Coins are gained or lost from Mini-Games which are played at the end of each turn. There is a One-Player Mini-Game space as well. Passing Koopa will result in 10 Coins for the player. At the end of the game, the player with the most Coins wins.

Mushroom Shop

The inside of the Shop, with the owner to the left and the shelf with items to the right.

The Mushroom Shop is run by the Mushroom Shop clerk and is located on the left side of the river on the map; it resembles a brown mushroom on its side. In the shop, various items can be bought with Coins earned from Mini-Games and Party games. Here is a listing of every item, along with its price and in-game description.

Image	Name	Price	In-Game Description	Notes
	Plus Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and you get the number of coins shown.
	Minus Block	100 Coins	This appears randomly, and you lose the number of coins shown.
	Speed Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and only numbers eight to 10 will appear on the block.
	Slow Block	100 Coins	This appears randomly, and only numbers one to three appear on the block.
	Warp Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and players change positions on the board.
	Event Block	200 Coins	This appears randomly, and Boo, Koopa Troopa or Bowser will appear.
	Mecha Fly Guy	100 Coins	This counts how many times you rotate the Control Stick. Use it in the Mini-Game House.
	Record	50 Coins	This is the Record for the Juke Box in the Option House.
	Talking Parrot	50 Coins	This Parrot is good at mimicking characters' voices. It lives in the Option House.
	Lucky Box	400 Coins	Get 10 percent interest on Coins you collect with this Lucky Box.
	Casino Box	300 Coins	Bet your Coins with this Box to get double or half of what you actually collected.
	Magma Mountain	980 Coins	This will let you go to the hidden board map of Magma Mountain.
	Credits	100 Coins	This lets you see the End Credits and the names of people who made the game.	The Eternal Star map must be completed before obtaining the item.
	No Koopa	500 Coins	Koopa Troopa won't appear on the map, but it won't work on some maps.	The Eternal Star map must be completed before obtaining the item.
	No Boo	500 Coins	Boo won't appear on the map, but it won't work on some maps.	The Eternal Star map must be completed before obtaining the item.
	Gameballs	300 Coins	This has many Gameballs with Mini-Games inside. What you get is a surprise.	This item appears after at least 30 mini-games have been bought from the Mini-Game House and can be used until all mini-games are bought.

Mushroom Bank

The inside of Mushroom Bank, with the two Toads with stars on their caps.

The Mushroom Bank is where players can store their Coins as well as Stars and items. The bank is run by the two Mushroom Bank Toads.

Porto

Porto sits behind the left counter and is in charge of storing the items the player buys at the Mushroom Shop until they are used during a game. Here is also where the player can choose how they want to save their Coins, whether with the Coin Box, Lucky Box, or Casino Box.

Stats-tracking Toad

The other Toad sits behind the right counter and keeps track of the total Coins and Stars the player has saved up. He also keeps track of how many more Stars need to be collected, out of 100, to unlock the Eternal Star map.

Option House

The Option House is a mushroom-resembling blue-topped toward the top of the map across the river. As the name suggests, it is used to adjust the multiple options for the game. There are other features such as the Talking Parrot and Juke Box as well.

Toad

The resident Toad of the Option House, whose name is Fun Gus, can delete all saved data. Once spoken to and asked to delete all data, he takes out a remote and opens an electrical box on the other side of the house. The cover will open revealing a large red switch, and the player is asked if they are sure about deleting their data. Once the player accepts deleting the data, they should either press to press the switch and erase all data, or press to cancel the process.

Talking Parrot

The Talking Parrot is an item that can be bought from the Mushroom Shop, and once bought, will appear on a perch in the Option House. By pressing the button, the parrot speaks various voices from various characters in the game randomly. Two lines of dialogue were edited from the Japanese version to remove religious references, which were Luigi and Wario exclaiming "Oh my God!" after suffering misfortune. These voices include:

• Boo
• Bowser
• DK
• Koopa Troopa
• Luigi
• Mario
• Peach
• Toad
• Yoshi
• Wario
• The "narrator" voice that announces events in Mini-Games such as "Time Up!", "Game Over!", "Draw!", etc.

Sound Lever

The Sound Lever is a lever that changes the sound from Mono to Stereo or vice versa. There are two speakers at the bottom with pipes leading up the lever. By pulling the lever down, one of the speakers is deactivated and the sound is changed to Mono. There is no surround sound.

Juke Box

The Juke Box allows the player to listen to any song from the game. The only prerequisite is that the player must have heard the song in the game itself before it becomes available on the Juke Box. The Juke Box becomes available for use after the player buys the Record from the Mushroom Shop for 50 Coins. For PAL and Japanese players, an extra song is available entitled "Move to the Mambo!", which is unavailable in the American version.

Mini-Game Island

Mini-Game Island is a special challenge in which the goal is to travel all around the island and beat every Mini-Game one by one. After beating every Mini-Game and reaching the end, Toad will challenge the player once more to a race against him and two other CPUs in Slot Car Derby. This mode is for one player only. Completing the mode will reward the player with the Bumper Ball Maze Mini-Game, which can be accessed in the Mini-Game House.

Mini-Games

Main article: List of Mario Party minigames

Quotes

Main article: List of Mario Party quotes

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Party staff

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Mario Party pre-release and unused content