It’s a shame, as some of the GamePad thinking is smart. In an undersea number, branching paths are masked with squid ink, allowing Bowser to try to lead the team down more dangerous stretches with graffiti doodled directly onto the board. It’s this kind of mind-game that really sees Mario Party 10 come alive. This trait is mimicked in the mini-games, too – when designers stop recycling tedious ‘dodge the obstacle’ or ‘count the object’ offerings that we’ve seen a hundred (well, 12) times before, they cook up some really malicious treats. Trying to surreptitiously rotate a conveyor belt to deposit a bomb in a friend’s face is a real hoot. Mario Party 10 could do with more of this.
No amount of wasted potential can compare to amiibo Party, however, where placing a compatible figure on the GamePad unlocks a board themed around the figure in question. On the surface it looks more substantial than other amiibo games, but the board designs are largely re-skins of one another, with little of the polish lavished on the main arenas. Worse, these boards dump the four-in-a-vehicle idea for the traditional, and vastly inferior, Mario Party format. Collecting coins to buy stars is a fussy process at the whim of fickle Lady Fortune. That you can dominate every mini-game, proving yourself at the ‘skill’ part of the game, only for dice to steer you away from stars is total garbage.
Touching my plastic Mario to the GamePad was like whisking myself back in time 15 years, to the first fury-making installment in the series. Why even pretend that skill plays a part if the result is dictated by the roll of the dice? Where Mario Party and Bowser Party strive to balance the advantages and disadvantages of each role, amiibo Party just doesn’t care – and it’s the only bit you’re expected to pay more to access. Do yourself a favour and avoid buying any figures for this. Hell, take a hammer to the figures you do have – anything to guarantee safe haven from this joyless drudgery.
It’s a big, black blot on a game that’s hardly firing on all cylinders to begin with. Rather than feeling like three must-have modes, it’s as if Nd Cube couldn’t decide on one strong concept and so ran in three directions at once. With the strongest mode so closely modelled on Wii’s Mario Party 9, you’re better off trying to hunt down a budget version of that instead. When the invitation arrives for this befuddling bash, I recommend you RSVP with a no.
Supply Gamesradar
Mario Party 10 review - App Review 4u
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