Mario Party: Star Rush

Mario Party: Star Rush
Not as bad as Island Tour, but at least they tried their best.
Protagonist(s): Toad (any color, Toad Scramble only) Genre(s): Party Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release: EU: October 7, 2016 AU: October 8, 2016 HK/JP/ROC: October 20, 2016 NA: November 4, 2016 KOR: April 27, 2017 Developer(s): ND Cube Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Mario Party Predecessor: Mario Party: Island Tour Successor: Mario Party: The Top 100

Mario Party: Star Rush is a party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo in November of 2016. It is the second game in the Mario Party series on the Nintendo 3DS, after Island Tour, and the fourteenth game overall.

Bad Qualities

1. Like its predecessor, the gameplay becomes plain boring after they played some modes for the second time (besides Toad Scramble and Coinathalon).
2. There are only 53 minigames in the game less than its predecessor, Mario Party: Island Tour.
3. There are three duel (or rarely challenge) minigames, if you can even count them as minigames, which can be triggered by using a Duel Glove or when there are more than one player landing on the same space, which is just generic as the first one can pick a card with a bigger number, roll a dice, or press the button for five seconds.
4. The boss battles are lackluster, despite having a lot of boss minigames comparing to Island Tour.
   • There is one boss minigame that is not really a boss minigame, where the player faces Mega Blooper, but instead of fighting they player needs to volley the beach ball in order to complete the minigame, thus making it feel more like a minigame then a boss fight.
   • There is another boss minigame that is not really a boss minigame, where the player faces Mega Goomba, but instead of fighting they player needs steal his apples and walk back to the start with said apples in order to complete the minigame, while avoiding smaller Goombas, but still. Thus making it feel more like a minigame then a boss fight.
5. There are modes, except Toad Scramble and Coinathalon, that are inconsistent such as Balloon Bash and Mario Shuffle.
6. In Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash, there is no option to save the game after they quit the game, which is unacceptable.
7. In Toad Scramble, while being a great mode, it is too easy to know who will win at the end. Players get bonus stars for every 10 coins the players have, which is ridiculous. Even worse, the game literally shows the player's coins beforehand, even though the opponent's star count is a question mark, it doesn't make it less obvious. Meaning if you were paying attention, you would know who the winner is.
8. In Coinathalon, while being a great mode, you cannot change scenery during free mode, which is just disappointing.
9. Balloon Bash is a rehash of the original Mario Party games, except with everyone walking after they roll the dice.
   • In here, they can start a minigame if they get a balloon, instead of finishing a turn.
10. Rhythm Recital is a boring mode with inconsistent framerate issues.
    • It also feels like it should put it in the minigames instead of being a separated mode.
    • There is only one unlockable instrument set, the percussion set, which is just disappointing.
11. In Mario Shuffle, it is a rehash of the Amiibo Party in Mario Party 10, but more linear compared to the predecessor.
    • There are no bosses or minigames in this board.
    • In here, if the opponent hits the Amiibo or a board figure, it will stun or launch back to the start, which is just unacceptable.
12. In Boo's Block Party, it is nothing but a generic tricky puzzle minigame and it feels like it should have been in the minigames section.
    • In here, there is no way the player can change themes of the puzzle.
13. The Challenge Tower is the worst offender and is the worst mode in the game, as they player cannot reach the top of the tower due to Amps hidden on the panels, even worse, the indications as to where the Amps are hiding are not obvious (but thankfully, not cryptic either), unless the player remembers the lessons from the tutorial. They need to be creative and cautious in what they are climbing. It's basically a bad version of Minesweeper.
    • This made even worse by the fact that the Player only gets ONE try, so if an Amp hits the Player(s), its back to the beginning of the tower.
    • In order to make things easier, the Player(s) will need an Amiibo to revive after getting zapped by an Amp (only once per real world day), which means that they need to buy one to keep going after they lose without starting from the beginning, which makes it feel more like a mobile game than a 3DS game.
14. There is no story mode, cutscenes, and an intro in this game, the two modes that are the closest to being "Story Modes" are Toad Scramble and Balloon Bash
15. There is no gallery or music museum in the "Character Museum", which is pretty disappointing since other Mario Party games had those galleries.
16. There is lack of in-depth content and there are only 12 levels in the Party Rank to finish the game.
17. Some minigames don't tell you instructions, which can be a problem for first-time players.
18. There is no true ending in the game like Island Tour.
19. This game was considered rushed due to being announced on September 1, 2016. Guess we should call this game Mario Party: Star Rushed?
20. For unknown reasons, the Toadette Amiibo was not announced after the announcement (September 1, 2016) in this game, which is just disappointing, considering that the 11 other playable characters got their own Amiibo. Heck, even Boo, Goomba, Koopa, and Bowser got their own Amiibo after the announcement!

Good Qualities

1. At least this is an improvement over Mario Party: Island Tour, despite a little amount of minigames.
2. There are 12 (or 16 in Toad Scramble) characters in this game.
3. For the first time, they can play as Diddy Kong in this game.
4. The Amiibos are in-depth and more rewarding (albeit once per mode) in certain modes.
5. They can use stamps for each characters when they use an Amiibo.
6. There are 18 boards comparing to the older Mario Party games.
7. Toad Scramble and Coinathalon are the best modes in the game.
   • In Toad Scramble, the player has to face bosses, collect coins by playing minigames, clear a path by using certain characters (crystals, rocks, flowers, barrels, grasses, and apples), etc.
   • They can befriend allies, up to four, to travel farther, and even cooler is that they can even add the Player in the bosses.
   • In the bonus stars section, they can convert coins (up to 10) to stars, which is amazing way to boost up the score.
   • Using an Amiibo will choose a corresponding player, instead of playing as Toad, such as Mario when using his Amiibo.
   • In Coinathalon, the player has to collect coins in order to finish the race.
   • They can use items after they filled the meter with coins, especially triple coins and Kamek.
   • Also, in five or seven rounds, they will face Bowser and play his minigames.
8. The player can finally save in Coinathalon and Master Challenge Tower.
   • In Coinathalon, they can save the game anytime in Rival Race.
   • In Master Challenge Tower, they can save the game if they reach 100 floors.
9. If the player finishes the Master Tower, they will grant a Tower Cup and show it outside of the plaza.
10. The graphics are good like in Mario Party: Island Tour.
11. The voices are great.
12. Great soundtrack.
13. They can hear other Mario-themed music in Rhythm Recital.
14. The biggest selling point, that everyone rolls the dice at once without having to take turns, is executed well.

Reception

This game received mixed-to-positive reviews, with 68 points to Metacritic based on 40 reviews, 52/100 to IGN, 7.5/10 to Nintendo World Report, and nearly 65% to GameRankings. The user score also received mixed reviews with a total of 6.9/10. It's considered by fans to be one of the best-worst Mario Party games, and the least bad Mario Party game on the Nintendo 3DS

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