Mario Party: The Top 100 – Secrets & Analysis

Tris takes a closer look at everything currently known about Mario Party: The Top 100! The script is posted below the video.

During the September 13th, 2017 Nintendo Direct, Mario Party: The Top 100 was one of the surprise announcements for the Nintendo 3DS. Initially shown as a collection of 100 mini-games from throughout the series, could there be more than meets the eye from this reveal? Join me in taking a closer look at this game as we inspect its reveal in the Nintendo Direct, its trailer, and its official website.

To start off, let’s pinpoint exactly which minigames have been revealed from each game.

From the original Mario Party, there currently have only been four mini-games revealed: “Shy Guy Says,” which opened up the reveal of the game, “Bombs Away,” “Face Lift,” and “Tug o’ War.” Three of these minigames appeared in both the original Mario Party and Mario Party 2, but we know as a fact that these are the original incarnations due to the setting for “Shy Guy Says,” the pirate ship in the background for “Bombs Away,” and the use of Bowser’s head for “Face Lift.”

From Mario Party 2, a total of nine mini-games have been revealed thus far: “Bumper Balls,” which we know is the Mario Party 2 iteration as the original was only set on an island, “Cake Factory,” “Dizzy Dancing,” “Hexagon Heat,” “Honeycomb Havoc,” “Mecha Marathon,” “Roll Call,” “Shell Shocked,” and “Slot Car Derby,” which we know is the Mario Party 2 iteration due to its course layout and setting.

Moving on to the next game in the series, a total of ten mini-games have been revealed from Mario Party 3. These are “Bounce ‘n’ Trounce,” “Chip Shot Challenge,” “Eatsa Pizza,” “Ice Rink Risk,” “Rockin’ Raceway,” “Snowball Summit,” “Storm Chasers,” “The Beat Goes On,” “Toadstool Titan,” and “Vine With Me.” While it is not known exactly how many mini-games will come from each game, if ten mini-games are pulled from each game, then there may not be any more from Mario Party 3. This is the only game to have at least ten mini-games confirmed present here in Mario Party: The Top 100.

Now, let’s move on from the Nintendo 64 era, and on to the GameCube games, starting with Mario Party 4. A total of nine mini-games have been revealed so far. “Beach Volley Folley,” “Booksquirm,” “GOOOOOOOAL!!,” “Mario Speedwagons,” “Paths of Perils,” “Revers-a-Bomb,” “The Great Deflate,” “Three Throw,” and “Trace Race.”

Much like Mario Party 4, a total of nine mini-games have been revealed from Mario Party 5. “Coney Island,” “Dinger Derby,” “Heat Stroke,” “Later Skater,” “Leaf Leap,” “Night Light Fright,” “Pushy Penguins,” “Shy Guy Showdown,” and “Triple Jump.”

From Mario Party 6, only four mini-games have been revealed. “Catch You Letter,” “Rocky Road,” “Snow Whirled,” and “Strawberry Shortfuse.”

Moving on to the final Gamecube-era Mario Party game, there have been eight mini-games revealed for Mario Party 7. “Balloon Busters,” “Dart Attack,” “Deck Hands,” “Jump, Man,” Monty’s Revenge,” “Pokey Pummel,” “The Final Countdown,” and “Track & Yield.” So far, this is the only Mario Party game to have a mic mini-game and a Donkey Kong mini-game represented. What this means for The Top 100, we’ll come back to.

Now that we’ve finished the GameCube-era games, it’s time to enter the Wii-era with Mario Party 8. From this game, only three mini-games have been revealed. “Aim of the Game,” “At the Chomp Wash,” and “Crank to Rank.”

A total of nine mini-games have been revealed for Mario Party 9. “Bumper Bubbles,” “Don’t Look,” “Goomba Bowling,” “Logger Heads,” “Jigsaw Jumble,” “Magma Mayhem,” “Peak Precision,” “Pier Pressure,” and “Speeding Bullets.” Each of these games are 4-player free-for-all mini-games.

Finally, only three mini-games have been revealed from Mario Party 10. “Flash Forward,” “Jewel Drop,” and “Soar to Score.” Currently, Mario Party 10 has the least amount of mini-games represented.

Now that we spent time identifying each mini-game featured, it’s time we break down what this means. In total, there have been 54 Free-For-All Mini-Games revealed, with eight being battle mini-games in their original games, and two being Mic mini-games. The presence of these Mic mini-games likely means that the 3DS mic will once again be used. Each Mic mini-game originally had controller options as well, so while there is a possibility they will not utilize the 3DS mic, chances are high that they will. In terms of the other mini-game categories, we have three 1 V 3 Mini-Games, five 2 V 2 Mini-Games, two Duel Mini-Games, one DK Mini-Game, and two Extra Mini-Games. The three Mini-Games from Mario Party 8, currently revealed, as well as some from Mario Party 9, all originally used motion controls. While each can re-worked into normal button and control-stick useage, it’s possible that these Mini-Games will use the 3DS touch screen with stylus controls. Using the Mic and Touch Screen in the Mario Party games on the DS line has occurred in each game on the handheld systems.

If we look into the Mini-Games further, we can actually get an idea of what our playable roster will look like. So far, we have Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Daisy, Waluigi, and Rosalina all confirmed to be playable. Official art released for the game depicts Toad, Toadette, DK, and Bowser as well, leading many to believe the former three will be playable. This does not seem to be the case, however, as we can see some of these characters during Mini-Games. DK is the opponent in the DK Mini-Game “Jump, Man.” Toad appears as the driver in “Rocky Road,” as well as in the background of “Slot Car Derby,” “Crank to Rank,” and in “Hexagon Heat.” While we haven’t seen Toadette anywhere yet, it’s likely that she would play a similar role to Toad. Since DK Mini-Games return, there’s a good chance that some Bowser Mini-Games may return as well, hence Bowser’s depiction.

What does this mean for other characters? Well, since the games represented are only the core series found on consoles, it’s likely characters introduced in any handheld Mario Party won’t be playable. So, sorry Bowser Jr. and Diddy Kong. At the moment, we have eight playable characters confirmed. Barring Bowser from his own mode in Mario Party 10, as well as excluding Mario Party 6 as the odd one out, nearly all Mario Party games have an even number of playable characters, usually six, eight, ten, or twelve. If there are other characters in the game, it would likely be two or four more characters. Let’s work down the list of possibilities for other returning characters. We’ve already crossed off Toad, DK, Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, and possibly Toadette, though it would be strange to feature her without Toad. While it would be great to see the character again after so long, the role of Koopa Kid was replaced by Bowser Jr. in later games in the series, making it unlikely that he would appear. The frequent use of common enemies in various minigames and as background spectators makes Shy Guy, Koopa Troopa, Blooper, and Boo all less likely as well. While the same could technically be said for Hammer Bro., Dry Bones, Spike, and Magikoopa, there are no mini-games currently revealed that would explicitly use them…though, with the likelihood of more common enemies not returning as playable characters, these slightly-more-obscure enemies likely won’t return either. The only character left to return therefore would be Birdo, who actually has nothing pointing against their return. So, Birdo fans rejoice?

If Birdo does return, however, we would be at an uneven character roster of nine. Sure, Toadette or one of the obscure enemies could still re-appear as well, and admittedly, that would be far more likely than getting a brand new character such as, say, Pauline? While Mario Party: Island Tour and Mario Party: Star Rush, both on the Nintendo 3DS, each added a new playable character to the series, being Bowser Jr. and Diddy Kong, it’s unlikely that a collection made to reference and honor the older games would add a brand new character. What does this mean? Well, aside from the Pauline fans and anyone else wanting a new character needing to wait for another game, it means we may actually already know our final roster to the game.

Please keep in mind, though, that most of this section on characters is my own speculation based on what we have presented to us already.

Now, you may be telling me that the game needs unlockables in order to push more people to buy the game. After all, Mario Party: Star Rush had four unlockable characters, among other rewards, such as other modes. The thing is, you’re right, as this game needs to sell, and not just have everyone play Download Play. It is entirely possible that there are hidden unlockable characters despite potentially clashing with Mini-Game appearances. There may very well be alternatives to account for certain characters. Think of Alfonso taking over on the Spirit Tracks stage in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS when Toon Link is being played. If there aren’t other playable characters we’ve yet to see, however, there are other things that the game may be hiding…

Despite the trailer not detailing anything other than mini-games, there’s still more information to analyze about this game. If we check out the official website, it says, quote:

“Speed things up with simple minigame instructions and a Favorites options for quick selection. You can even set the number of turns for board-game play!”

This quote from the website directly tells us that there is more to this game than just its collection of mini-games. If we take a look at Mario Party 9 and Mario Party 10, as well as some of the handheld games, all of which play differently than the normal “Mario Party” that everyone is used to…the one consistent factor between all games is the strong presence of a variety of mini-games. While many may believe that if Mario Party: The Top 100 would have already stated it would bring back more than just mini-games, it is possible that Nintendo simply believes the mini-games are the biggest part and highlight of the game. If we take a look at the box of any Mario Party game, often times the mini-games are always the stand-out advertisement. What does this mean for Mario Party: The Top 100? It means that there is still much more for this game to be shown than has currently been revealed. It may not be a far-off assumption to think some classic boards may return too… To go more into this, however, would be speculation, and that while the character selection was educated speculation, I…don’t actually have anything for or against having retro board game play coming, as all we really have is the website quote. It should be safe, however, to say that it would not be new “bland” boards, since practically everything else in this game comes from the older Mario Party games.

We do know of some game modes, though!

If we check out the amiibo website, and look at the amiibo support for Mario Party: The Top 100, it specifically mentions some game modes. Quote: “Tap compatible amiibo™ figures to receive in-game bonuses on Minigame Island.” Minigame Island is a mode from the original Mario Party. In the original mode, players were challenged to clear 50 mini-games. The island was divided up into several Worlds, each filled with board-game-mode-styled spaces along the path. Each space was a mini-game, and losing a mini-game would make the player lose a life. Players would earn coins from each completed mini-game.

If we continue to look at the amiibo website, we can get a further idea as to how Minigame Island will play out in Mario Party: The Top 100. Like in the original mode, there are spaces for Koopa Troopas, which were save spaces, and usually located at the end of each world. There are going to be amiibo spaces, which can be used to get at least 10 coins. Minigame Island can be a fairly expansive single-player mode, especially since there are far more mini-games present in Top 100 than in the original Mario Party.

Now, some of you may think that Minigame Island is the “board game play” mentioned on the official website, especially since it includes the typical board-movement and spaces…however, there aren’t actually turns in this mode, so therefore, the official website is referring to yet another mode.

Speaking of other modes, this game is certainly full of them. Thanks to the amiibo website, we know that some modes will divide mini-games into “Minigame Packs” that need to be selected, and have various themes, such as a “Goomba Minigame Pack” and a “Koopa Troopa Pack.” Minigame Packs can be selected in at least the “Minigame Match” mode or the “Championship Battles” mode. “Minigame Match” may be similar to the typical “Free Play” mini-game mode, while “Championship Battles” may pitch several characters or players together in a bracket to win the most mini-games, which has appeared in some form in previous entries in the Mario Party series.

While some modes appear to be brand new, the large presence of the classic “Minigame Island” mode may hint at further modes returning. Could we see other classic mini-game modes return, such as Duel Mode from Mario Party 3, Mini-Game Decathlon from Mario Party 5, Treetop Bingo from Mario Party 6, or maybe High Rollers from Mario Party 9? It’s tough to say, as that dives too far into simple speculation.

Mario Party: The Top 100 clearly still has some secrets hidden that have yet to be revealed. We still don’t know what the official website refers to with its “board-game play” mention. It’s very likely that we’ll be seeing more on this in the coming weeks, as the game’s North American release is already a mere month away. Don’t write this game off just yet, it may be exactly what we need to get true Mario Party games back!

With that, I’ve covered everything I could on Mario Party: The Top 100 so far. What do you guys think? If you’d like to dive into the speculation side of things, taking all of this into account, you can do so in the comments below! Or, perhaps you disagree with my findings, and want to point it out! Don’t want to do it in the video comments? You can find me, Tris, using the links in the description below and tag me on Twitter! Either way, make sure you stay tuned to Source Gaming by subscribing and checking out the website for more content like this, as well as news, reviews, interviews, and so much more.