I posted here some time ago to post my thoughts on the first three Mario Party titles in the series, but have just recently played the third and reevaluated my feelings towards it. I thought I would post my new considerations here since it seems as if my original post was moved to The Safe. Hopefully you all appreciate my new perspective on the game.
I must say that I had a much more enjoyable experience this time around. I had my girlfriend, two brothers and some friends over for a dinner party. After quite a bit of time preparing cupcakes for dessert (my girlfriend's cousin is a pastry chef) we finally settled into a game.
This is not a game that should be played with just two people, which is how I experienced it the first time. Like the original, it can only be enjoyed with three or four human players involved. The reasoning for this is that it's just not as immersive or intuitive as Mario party 2. The mini-games are more difficult with poor descriptions. You will need to Practice each mini-game a couple times to really get the hang of it.
One thing that we noticed is that the game seems to have suffered from inflation. Since you can now carry three items rather than just one, each item is less expensive to purchase. Furthermore, you're given quite a few opportunities to win items. Some of the new items, such as the Reverse Mushroom and the Lucky Lamp, add an interesting twist in playing each board. Holding three items at once may feel like an advantage, but knowing what to use and when can be a challenge.
The boards themselves are a much different experience. While the boards in Mario Party 2 were generally linear, these new boards often have loops and dead-ends as well as 'Action Time' events that change your location. We went nearly 15 turns before finally getting the star and that was only after using a Magic Lamp to take one of directly to it.
Overall, I judged this game poorly my first time around. I don't believe I could ever consider it as much a classic or fun time as Mario Party 2, but it's something that I could easily get used to and enjoy on a weekend night.
I must say that I had a much more enjoyable experience this time around. I had my girlfriend, two brothers and some friends over for a dinner party. After quite a bit of time preparing cupcakes for dessert (my girlfriend's cousin is a pastry chef) we finally settled into a game.
This is not a game that should be played with just two people, which is how I experienced it the first time. Like the original, it can only be enjoyed with three or four human players involved. The reasoning for this is that it's just not as immersive or intuitive as Mario party 2. The mini-games are more difficult with poor descriptions. You will need to Practice each mini-game a couple times to really get the hang of it.
One thing that we noticed is that the game seems to have suffered from inflation. Since you can now carry three items rather than just one, each item is less expensive to purchase. Furthermore, you're given quite a few opportunities to win items. Some of the new items, such as the Reverse Mushroom and the Lucky Lamp, add an interesting twist in playing each board. Holding three items at once may feel like an advantage, but knowing what to use and when can be a challenge.
The boards themselves are a much different experience. While the boards in Mario Party 2 were generally linear, these new boards often have loops and dead-ends as well as 'Action Time' events that change your location. We went nearly 15 turns before finally getting the star and that was only after using a Magic Lamp to take one of directly to it.
Overall, I judged this game poorly my first time around. I don't believe I could ever consider it as much a classic or fun time as Mario Party 2, but it's something that I could easily get used to and enjoy on a weekend night.
