The results are in! Members of Mario Party Legacy have come together to submit custom Mario Party designs for our second Create a Mario Party Board Contest! I’m here along with SpiderStaryu to rate, review, and judge the three submissions. We have a list of criteria of what we looked for in each board that you can see here.
All submissions are compatible with PartyPlanner64, the editor for importing your own custom creations into Mario Party 1-3. To check out the program and for access to our custom board database, hit the links below!
- PartyPlanner64 Editor
- Custom Boards Downloads Database
- Submit Your Custom Board (.json files only!)
- Custom Boards Feedback Forum
As for the contest, keep in mind that the theme this time around was Winter/Christmas/Holidays. With that said, let’s get into it!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBd7iILvNec
Watch our video review panel above!
Please remember that our comments and opinions are all made with the intent of helping you create the best board you can make. Please don’t take anything personally!
Snowy Kingdom
by Luigi88 for Mario Party 1
Download Here
A special snow board made in minecraft! have fun!!
Review
- Background – Very dull, a max of three textures. One object? We ended up lost in the snow. 2/10
- Path Layout – A very straightforward board. There are junctions but the board ultimately sends you to the same place without many options. 2/10
- Space Distribution – Good distribution. For long paths, additional Mushroom Spaces would be nice. 3/5
- Passing Events – Four Bowser passing events?? Can’t pass Start, Boo and Chance Time hidden on random spaces. 1/5
- Originality – Creating a board in Mincecraft is unique and creative, but this board doesn’t do anything past that. Unfortunately, we don’t see others picking this board to play. 3/10
- Guidelines – Guidelines met, save for space alignment, testing the game, and passing event limits. Board has errors and cannot be overwritten. We had to modify the board ourselves to play. 0/5
- Contest Theme – Features snow, but that’s it. Way too basic. 1/5
Final Score: 12/50
Frostbite ruins
by IngoH for Mario Party 2
When I found out about this contest and the board editor, I was very excited. I love Mario Party and creating custom games/boards. When I started creating this board I was planning on making it a Mario Party 1 board, but I changed it to MP2, it was made in four days, about six hours per day, mostly testing and aligning the spaces. Now it’s done, probably the first entry in the contest.
Board description:
It is winter, Mario and his friends are bored and want another party, they tried Mario Party: The Top 100, but there was only one board, so Mario and his friends decided to make their own board, after hours of sweeping snow and creating paths through ruins and building a cabin, they could finally start the party.
Happening spaces:
If you land on one of the three happening spaces behind/above the mountain with the cabin you can choose to ride a penguin for ten coins. If you choose to ride the penguin you get to throw again and any players you pass will lose (not steal) five coins.
If you land on the happening space next to the lake you can choose to ride Dorrie to the other side of the lake (three spaces above the bank space) collecting coins (max 10) on the way. (Dorries are cold resistant, as seen in the last level of Super Mario Odyssey)
Hope you like it
* I might be updating the board if I’m allowed to
Review
- Background – Has a great feel and the objects like the cabin and the lake fit. Shadows are a nice touch. There is a lot of room left to add other cool details. 6/10
- Path Layout – Some paths are long but items help counter that. 6/10
- Space Distribution – Well thought out, no issues here. 5/5
- Passing Events – Item Shop is in a great place, Banks are fine too. Boo is hard to reach. 5/5
- Originality – Pretty standard, isn’t the most creative. Penguin riding and Dorrie event are both great. Doesn’t go out of its way to be the most unique board, but what we get is fun! 4/10
- Guidelines – Everything met! 5/5
- Contest Theme – Average theme, fits for Winter and snowy scenes. 3/5
Final Score: 34/50
Christmas Outpost
by Mantle Zone for Mario Party 2
I actually had an idea for the 3rd custom board contest, and even got most of it ready, but the photos didn’t properly work, so I had to resort to making another board, enter: Christmas Outpost.
My entry for the 3rd Mario Party Legacy Custom Board Contest is Christmas Outpost. In this Mario Party 2 board, the players are tasked with collecting stars in a snowy tundra. Feel free to stop by the holiday inn for a warm break, some items, and a possible star. This Board was created awhile ago, but after some editing, it’s all ready for the contest.
Review
- Background – Bursting with energy, going inside the inn is a great idea. We would prefer original art, but this works well. 5/10
- Path Layout – Overall good, that path itself is visible and arrows make sure you don’t get lost. The blue path stands out nicely. 6/10
- Space Distribution – Placement is good, the Chance Time Spaces are a bit excessive, especially for anyone in the top half of the board. 3/5
- Passing Events – Everything is good, bottom path on the right has two banks that are a bit close. Maybe move another Star Space to the inn? 4/5
- Originality – The inn is a great and fun idea and the snowman filled paths feel like you are truly outside. 6/10
- Guidelines – Everything met but we did want more of a description that would describe Happening Spaces if they could be used properly. 4/5
- Contest Theme – Fits the theme, but maybe change the name to Winter Outpost? 3/5
Final Score: 30/50
Naughty or Nice?
by Poisonclaw64 for Mario Party 3
That is the question. Have you been Naughty or Nice this year? Have you got all your Christmas shopping done? Head down the path you want your Christmas to go, and whoever the Superstar is gets first pick for their Christmas present!
The ? Space will have Mr. Blizzard launch you to a random space on the board.
Review
- Background – Great background in play but we wish the background was custom made to fit the Mario Party feel. 4/10
- Path Layout – Candy cane paths are a good idea, but the paths themselves leave a lot to be desired. Too basic, a bit confusing. 3/10
- Space Distribution – We get the idea that there is a good section and a bad section, but even the “nice” side doesn’t look too rewarding. There are parts of the board that are pointless and leave little reason to visit. Very little Item Spaces. 1/5
- Passing Events – Black Friday section is a great place to loop, but putting everything there makes the other two sections less desirable. 2/5
- Originality – Splitting the board into three dedicated sections, each with its own gimmick, is a fun and a nice change. We would suggest putting more time into finding the perfect path layout and space distribution. 6/10
- Guidelines – Spaces not aligned properly, everything else met. 4/5
- Contest Theme – Christmas theme is done well! 4/5
Final Score: 24/50
Ice Land
by Spongyoshi for Mario Party 2
Almost all drawings by my sister, everything else by me!
Here’s a brand new LAND for Mario Party 2! Ice Land, complete with custom rules!
Because of the custom rules, this board can only be played with 4 human players (or with 2 players with the Double Cherry code)
There is two custom rules for this board:
1) There is Freezies spots for every branching path outside, marked by either a 1 or 2. At the start of the game, only the freezies spots marked by a 1 are blocked (which means you cannot cross them, acting like nighttime thwomps). However, at the end of every turn or everytime you land on an happening space (similarly to Luigi’s Engine Room), 1-marked spots and 2-marked spots switch (If the paths marked by a 1 are currently blocked, the paths marked by a 2 are blocked instead and vice-versa). However, you can bypass this limitation by using a skeleton key at the start of your turn and you will be able to choose freely any path you want for the next branching path you’ll cross!
2) Every turn that is a multiple of 5, you’ll need to watch out for the avalanche! If you are not inside a cave (paths in a navy blue section), you will go back to the start! However, since PP64 doesn’t allow that, every player caught by the avalanche is obligated to go to the nearest red cross to be brought back to the start. Unlike the other rule, you cannot bypass it.
Have fun with this board, I’m so glad it turned out so well!
Review
- Background – Very well done, everything looks nice and fits. Love the moving penguins and flashing Christmas lights. Hand drawn is a big bonus! 9/10
- Path Layout – Lots of options, plenty of junctions. Paths are never too long or too short, even though paths are a bit standard at times. 8/10
- Space Distribution – Maybe a few more Battle Spaces? Everything else is great! 4/5
- Passing Events – Everything is mostly placed in a fair and smart location, but the Item Shop is too far off. 4/5
- Originality – The 1 and 2 system is very creative. It’s a very smart and thoughtful way to include a gimmick without the use of PP64. Even if you don’t want to use this system, you can easily play without it and it doesn’t break the board. The cave system is also original. Leaving the X marks all over the board gives players the option to return to Start. Awesome! 10/10
- Guidelines – Everything met! 5/5
- Contest Theme – It’s Winter and Christmas definitely, but more could be added. 4/5
Final Score: 44/50
Rosalina’s Cosmic Icecap
by Mario_Comix for Mario Party 1
“Use your Star Power to light the Observatory beacon.” To guide Rosalina’s lost child back to its home! This is a submission for the Custom Board Contest #3.
Fitting with the other MP1 styles, Rosalina’s Cosmic Icecap has its own little situation. Still, it draws heavily from Super Mario Galaxy and even mixes a taste of classic N64-era to it – with the classic Rosalina design created by KatLime (DeviantArt).
Talking about the board’s design, it’s relatively simple loop design, with two branches off of a “main” path (even if it bears little resemblance to one). The farther paths provide access to Chance Spaces and Boo (although, due to overwriting DK’s Jungle Adventure, every Star Space keeps turning into a Chance Space…). Lumas appear to congregate at Mushroom Spaces (Blue Lumas) and Minigame Spaces (other colours) – these are also much more common in the farther paths.
For Happening Spaces, I’ve gone a somewhat unique route. First of all, the Happening Spaces located near clusters of Star Bits would cause said cluster to cloud your character – a Luma would come by and offer up a number of coins for said Star Bits. I’ve tried to implement this by causing these to initiate Koopa Troopa events; it works okay, but I feel like the Star Bits wouldn’t give out as many coins as he does.
Next, the Happening Spaces near groups of Ice Flowers cause your character to get blasted with a frost of cold air and frozen, losing a number of coins. I’ve cleverly hidden a Red Space under each of these Happening Spaces, emulating this event – however, in practice (under current conditions), these are simply Red Spaces.
Finally, the Happening Spaces on the ice tiles would have caused the leftmost one to break, and the rest of them to float along over – in essence, like a conveyor belt (and the spaces on these ice tiles could even change). Landing on the leftmost one would cause it to break, your character to sink into the water, and then get sucked up into the black hole below. This would clearly cause at least a loss of coins. Unfortunately, this was too hard to emulate, so the Happening Spaces are left blank (I also tried to mask Mushroom Spaces – but the Mushroom Spaces ended up on top instead).
Finally, I’d like to mention that it’s unfortunate the board ending is DK’s Jungle Adventure’s ending. It just clashes with my board: Eternal Star’s would be better, but alas, with the current limitations, it is impossible. Also, for the Splashscreen image, I ended up using the background image from Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge that was rendered in full by Rosalina-Luma (DeviantArt).
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this submission and enjoy playing on this board! It was a blast to make it, and boy was it exciting to finally play on it. Oh, and considering the date of submission: Merry Christmas!
Review
- Background – Pleasing to the eye. The style is different but it works well. The custom made observatory is well done but we wish some of the assets were also created for this board specifically. 7/10
- Path Layout – The path layout can be clearly seen and knowing where the path leads is not an issue. However, arrows and directional signs can help players think ahead without referring to a map. 7/10
- Space Distribution – A healthy amount of each kind of space. 4/5
- Passing Events – Overall good, but there is a short optional path on the right side that serves no purpose other than to purposely visit Bowser. 3/5
- Originality – Happening Space ideas are clever but better yet you implemented them to the best of your abilities. So cool! 7/10
- Guidelines – Everything met! 5/5
- Contest Theme – The ice and snow theme is there, but it could more detailed. 3/5
Final Score: 36/50
Santa’s Sights
by StalfosSis for Mario Party 3
Hello! My board, Santa’s Sights, is all about Santa’s living space. His house is also his factory, so he can eat, sleep, and supervise the Shy Guy Elves in one place. When you step on a happening space, you trigger a stampede of reindeer to magically come from nowhere and chase you down the hall. In the workshop areas, you can find some cool Nintendo gear that might interest you. And don’t forget to stop in the gift shop!
Review
- Background – Lots of great details like the lights pouring out the window and all the presents and decorations. Path is clearly visible and the workshop is neatly designed. 7/10
- Path Layout – Simple but complex. You can easily move around the board and get places pretty quick. Conveyor belt paths are a nice touch. 8/10
- Space Distribution No Items Spaces?? We suggest removing some of the many Red Spaces and replacing them with Item Spaces. Path on the left side with two Game Guy Spaces is a bit too hectic. – 2/5
- Passing Events – Item Shop as a gift shop is swell, but notice that Bank Spaces are missing. 4/5
- Originality – A Winter themed board that is entirely indoors. The elf workshop is creative and it allows you to place lots of interesting objects and references. 8/10
- Guidelines – Space requirement not met. 4/5
- Contest Theme – Perfectly matches the contest theme! 5/5
Final Score: 38/50
Geometrical Winter
by Mirk5672 for Mario Party 3
Download Here
This is for the contest, i uploaded on 29th of December at 23:15 Rome time i hope i’m still in time.
Have a good new year!
Review
- Background – We love custom designs and backgrounds made for Mario Party. This is unfortunately a random image slapped onto a board. 1/10
- Path Layout – An interesting set of junctions with the diamond shaped paths. The ornament loops offer a different form of gameplay. 5/10
- Space Distribution – Spaces are all over the place. There are some very harsh and intense sections and an overabundance of risky spaces. For example, Chance Time Spaces and Game Guy Spaces. 1/5
- Passing Events – Item Shops are not properly set up and the Skeleton Key door break the bottom path. We need to change it before playing. 1/5
- Originality – Ornament paths are different and the path layout is very interesting. 3/10
- Guidelines – Board has errors and cannot be overwritten. We had to modify the board ourselves to play. 0/5
- Contest Theme – It’s winter but that’s it. 1/5
Final Score: 12/50
Dream Haven
by StalfosKing for Mario Party 2
I’m back with my signature looping islands! This board was created for the 3rd Create a Mario Party Board Contest. Boy, was this one a lot of work… (so many problems…) Anyway, I still had a lot of fun making it! I hope I achieved the effect I was going for… The idea is that you’re travelling through Toad’s Christmas-eve dreams. Once again, I got the vast majority of the assets used from the 3D Warehouse, but this time I’m proud to say that I modeled the banks, the shop, and the bed Toad is sleeping in from scratch in Blender! I also drew the Christmas trees on the top-left island from scratch. I even made the background animate so that the glowy things would pulsate and the smoke would puff in and out… But there was a weird flickering problem, sadly… Players start on the center island, and can cross any of the four bridges to proceed to any of the four secondary islands. Travel on all islands is clockwise, as indicated by the arrows. From any island you can either proceed to the next island (in clockwise order), or back to the center island, allowing truly free travel across the map. This was to destroy the linearity of the board; I always like to encourage player-choice and strategy. The space distribution went through many, many revisions before I came to this final one (this involved much convincing to get my siblings to test with me), and it will hopefully be further improved after critique from our judges. Anyway, I really hope everyone likes it! Please leave comments and ratings! Note: This board was created for Mario Party 3 but was ported to Mario Party 2 due to the Mario Party 3 version being unstable. I intend to port it back to 3 at some point; I now know how to make it more stable (I think).
Review
- Background – Filled with amazing details and lots of references. Some areas do look a bit empty, but it’s a minor complaint in a sea of admiration. 9/10
- Path Layout – Arrows and bridges designate where you need to go. Every island goes clockwise and that’s easy to remember. None of the islands feel long or too short. 9/10
- Space Distribution – Maybe one more Battle Space? Everything else is super. 5/5
- Passing Events – The Star Space after the Bank Space can be a bit much with Baby Bowser, everything else is well thought out. 4/5
- Originality – Island gimmick has been used before but it’s new enough to warrant a second go. Being able to move around the board easily is a huge plus! 8/10
- Guidelines – Everything met! 5/5
- Contest Theme – Fits the Winter theme well and adds lots of cool touches along the way. 4/5
Final Score: 44/50
And with that, our top three winners include:
- 1st: Ice Land (44/50) – Spongyoshi
- 1st: Dream Haven (44/50) – StalfosKing
- 3rd: Santa’s Sights (38/50) – StalfosSis
Thank you to everyone who submitted a board for this contest! We enjoyed looking through each and every one, and we look forward to what everyone has planned for the next contest!