Parents' Guide to

Super Mario Party

Game Nintendo Switch 2018
Super Mario Party Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

David Chapman By David Chapman , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 8+

Brand-new party filled with fun and laughs for all.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

Any Positive Content?

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Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 5+

Based on 6 parent reviews

lurbanci
lurbanci Adult
January 27, 2020
age 5+

Lots of fun, but 4.5 YO Daughter not quite there, yet

Pre-Review PSA: You can only play this with the Joycons. Unable to play with Switch Pro Controllers. Entertainment Value - So my 4.5 YO daughter (we'll call her "Rosalina") loves this game and we played it quite frequently (until I got her Luigi's Mansion 3, anyway). We got this game after she had just turned 4 and it took some time (a month or two in som cases) to understand what to do on many minigames. Luckily, the game has a practice mode before every minigame that you can take the time to show your child before going the real thing which helps a lot. She now has her favorite minigames, modes, and maps. We've definitely gotten our $60 worth out of this game. Replay Value - As far as game modes, there are 4 modes and all 4 modes are playable with up to 4 people. But you can always substitute in computer players if you don't actually have 4 people, so you do not need an online subscription to get the full benefit of the game. All the modes are fun and enjoyable. The real fun with this game is the minigames. Some of them are an absolute blast. My favorite is probably the Paparazzi game and Pie Hard. We've also had a few really good laughs at the penguins minigame. There's enough to do in this game that as long as your switching maps or modes with some regularity, the only time it gets boring is when the game randomly selects the same minigame modes back to back or within a few turns of one another. Hand/Eye Skills and Critical Thinking - On the board games, you will have to help strategize for your little one, which mine was happy to let me help. She understands she needs to get the star and what the different spaces do, but I often have to show her the best way of going about getting stars (and when necessary, why one fork in the map is better than the other). If s/he has the motor skills to play Mario Odyssey or can play reactionary games on a smart phone (i.e. temple run, fruit ninja), s/he should be able to grasp the beginnings required to play Mario Party and take the next step at fine tuning some of those gaming skills and adding to it. Bottom Line: If you have the patience and don't care about winning, while your little one may not provide a ton of assistance, s/he will excel at some things quicker than others and will pick up on the game quicker than you think. This game has provided hours of fun and can promote real teambuilding and strategy (that you the parent will often need to prompt/direct if child is not quite old enough to strategize). Only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because a small portion of the minigames (3-4 games out of 80 total) are really just fillers and/or not much fun and I wish there were more than 4 maps.
Beren S.
Beren S. Parent of 3, 8 and 14-year-old
April 16, 2023
age 5+

Enjoyable!

It is a fun game that everyone can play for example I play with my daughter sometimes
See all 6 parent reviews

What’s It About?

It's party time once again in the Mushroom Kingdom, and this time around it isn't just any ol' Mario Party ... it's a SUPER MARIO PARTY. Gather your friends and get ready for a brand-new round of mini-game fun as Nintendo's hit party game franchise makes its debut on the Nintendo Switch. Of course, it's not a party if no one shows up, so Mario is bringing along more than a few friends, with a roster of 20 different characters to choose from, including some returning favorites and a few brand-new additions to the guest list. Got a friend with a Switch? Invite them to Toad's Rec Room to join in the fun with unique tabletop games that make use of both Switch screens at once. Amiibo support adds a few extra party favors to the mix, and online multiplayer support means your friends can join the party even if they're not close by. There ain't no party like a Super Mario Party, and with more than 80 different mini-games to play, this Super Mario Party won't stop.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (22 ):

For the past 20 years, it's been a gaming inevitability that if there's a Nintendo console, sooner or later there will be a set of fun mini-games for it. The Switch is no exception, thanks to the release of Super Mario Party, the latest entry in the popular social party franchise. But does Super Mario Party make the most of its new venue? Absolutely. Super Mario Party is a fantastic addition to the franchise and does a surprisingly good job of showing off the features of the Switch without ever feeling too "gimmicky." Mind you, with more than 80 different mini-games to play, some will hit the mark better than others. Games like Fuzzy Flight School and Pie Hard are hilariously frantic, and Slaparazzi is just a barrel of laughs with friends. But there are still a very small number of games, like the Can Take Pancake game, that are pretty forgettable on the whole.

Still, all the games make great use of the Joy-Con's motion and button controls. The controls are extremely responsive, and if you lose a game, you know it's simply because you got outplayed. The most interesting, and likely to be the least used, features are the dual-screen mini-games available in Toad's Rec Room. These require two systems to play, with the screens syncing up and allowing for interaction between them. The best of these is probably Shell Shocked Deluxe, where up to four players battle each other in tiny tanks, rotating and arranging the two Switch consoles to create custom battlefields. Of course, unless you've got someone else bringing a Switch around on a regular basis, these games won't see the light of day too often. On the upside, Super Mario Party does make use of the recently launched Nintendo Online Service, allowing friends to get together to play mini-game marathons even if they can't get together in the same room. Nintendo wanted to make sure that everyone was invited to this party, and if you have a Switch, it's one party you really shouldn't miss.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about competition and teamwork. What are some of the benefits to friendly competition, and how can you make sure competition doesn't get out of hand? What are some good ways to practice teamwork, and how can teamwork help you to progress as an individual?

  • What are some of the ways that a game night with friends and family can bring people together? How can these games help to open up lines of communication?

Game Details

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