Mario Party Special

Mario Party Special is a game in the Mario Party series released for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS in June 2016. It serves as a simple throwback to the earlier Mario Party games by Hudson Soft and reuses many assets from those games.

Story[]

One day, Mario is walking with Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong, discussing about how he misses the older Mario Party games. Mario decides to host a competition referencing the classic games, with each character driving in their own individual karts. The four friends race off and the game begins.

Gameplay[]

Mario Party Special features gameplay similar to that of the first three Mario Party games, and as such, the rules of those games apply here. Players choose from one of four characters and move around the boards. As they go around, they collect coins and various other items that can help them or hinder others in their quest to collect Stars.

The older style of minigames returns for this game. The players will be grouped together in groups of two, three against one, or everyone for themselves. They then compete in a game that tests their reflexes, puzzle solving skills, or plain luck. The winners will be awarded coins depending on how well they did. Mini-games also exist that allow players to steal as many coins as they can from each other, adding to the thrill of each event.

Playable Characters[]

Mario		Princess Peach
Yoshi		Donkey Kong

Game Modes[]

Game modes are selected from the main menu, set in Mushroom Village from the original Mario Party, that the player is led to once starting the game. Each building or feature represents a mode, and the player can select one to play a certain mode.

Party Mode is the heart of Mario Party Special. Four players will play on a board, each getting a turn to roll the 1-10 Dice Blocks, which will determine how many spaces they will move across. After everyone rolls, a roulette will appear which will randomly select a minigame to play. This process will repeat itself until the set amount of turns is up.

Boards[]

Mario Party Special has six game boards, all of which come from Mario Party 2. However, unlike that game, the characters do not wear costumes depending on where they are. These boards are:

	Description	Difficulty	Host
Pirate Land	Pirate Land is the first board in the game, based around a pirate theme. If a player lands on one of the Blue Spaces that is on a dock, Sushi the Shark will appear. Sushi will then take the player to another dock on the board. The Happening Spaces make any player who is placed on the two corresponding bridges shot by a cannonball, which will send them back to the start space. There are a few short-cuts on this board, all guarded by Thwomps. For players to pass a Thwomp, they must pay a fee of one Coin. The fee will then increase by one Coin.	1 out of 3	Pianta
Western Land	Western Land is the second board in the game, based around a desert theme. The main gimmick of this board is Steamer the Train, who runs along the perimeter of the board. Players who want to ride Steamer have to pay a fee of five Coins at a toll. While riding Steamer, the player riding Steamer will hit a block, and choose what direction Steamer will move in, either forward or backward. Steamer will move on his own if a player lands on a Happening Space. Any player hit by Steamer will be sent back to Start. There is also a milk shop run by Wiggler. When a player passes it, it will ask if the player wants to have a hoedown for 20 coins. Accepting the offer brings every other character to the shop for a hoedown.	1 out of 3	Wiggler
Space Land	Space Land is the third board in the game, based around a space theme. The main unique feature of this board is the Bowser-faced junction in the very middle of the board. Every time the junction is passed, the number showing will decrease by one. When it reaches zero, the villain will fire a laser beam in the diagonal pathway that starts at the north-east corner of the map, and ends at the south-west corner of the map. Every player blasted by the beam will lose all of their Coins. The Happening Spaces make a Whomp and a Thwomp chase the player who lands on the space to the other side of the map. Any other player caught by the Whomp and the Thwomp will also be chased to the other side of the map. If a player passes by the Snifit Patrol, they will ask whether the player wants them to set up a speed trap on the board. Should the player accept this, the player has to pay a toll of five Coins. While the speed trap is active, the Whomp and Thwomp will be caught by Snifits, further sending away the chased players.	2 out of 3	Rosalina
Mystery Land	Mystery Land is the fourth board in the game, based around a jungle theme. The main feature of this board is the four islands that make up the board. For players to move from one island to another, they must land on a Happening Space. This will take any player who landed on the Happening Space to the next island in a clockwise manner. The other way for players to access other islands is for the player to pay a Bob-omb ten Coins. Another feature of this board is Shy Guy's Curse House. When players pass it, they can pay five Coins to make the Shy Guy put a curse on an opponent that the player chooses. The curse's effects include making the selected player only being able to roll a one to three on their next turn.	2 out of 3	Diddy Kong
Horror Land	Horror Land is the fifth board in the game, based around a Halloween theme. The main unique feature of this board is the day and night mechanic. The time of day will change every two turns, or whenever players land on Happening Spaces. Players may also change time from day to night only if they pass by the "Mystery Mansion" on the northern corner of the board where they will be greeted by Kamek. Kamek will then ask the player to ask the player to pay a fee consisting of ten Coins. Should they accept this, the time of day will change to night-time. During the night, if players pass by the dancing floor they are greeted by a few Boos and a Mr. I. For a fee of twenty Coins, they will dance to make it day-time. If players pass by Mr. I, he will ask them to pay a fee of either ten Coins during the day, or five Coins during the night. Should they accept this, they will be taken to the north-west corner of the board. Another feature in this board is the Whomps. When passed by, they will change their position. During the night, they will not be able to move. Another feature is the Big Boo on the north-east corner of the board. Should players pass by him during the night, he ask the player passing to pay three times the usual fee. Unlike normal Boos, he will steal from all players at once.	3 out of 3	King Boo
Bowser Land	Bowser Land is the sixth and final board in the game, based around a Bowser theme. The rules of the game is turned around on this board. The effect this has is that, when a player passes by a bank, they will gain five Coins instead of them having to pay the equivalent sum of Coins. This will add up to a loan to the bank. Also, unlike in other boards – where any player who lands on a Bank Space will receive all previously deposited Coins – they will have to pay the full loan (or less, if they do not have enough. If they have no coins, they will lose a Star). There is also an item shop where the owner, Bowser Jr., will force the player passing to buy an item he selects. While these features are prevalent, the main feature of this board is the Bowser Parade. After each five turns, the parade will start. Any player caught in the parade will lose two Coins per space, and they will eventually be sent back to start. However, if no players are in the parade's path, the parade will be cancelled. For players to control the path the parade will take, they can manipulate tiles with arrows on them. They can change the direction of the tiles by passing Bowser Jr. and paying him a fee of five Coins. The Happening Spaces near a red Warp Pipe make players warp to the next red Warp Pipe. Players who land on a Happening Space near Gooper Blooper at the north-west corner of the board will be taken to a "ride," where they will go in a circle until they manage to land on another Happening Space.	3 out of 3	Bowser

Spaces[]

Space		Description	Rarity
	Blue Space	When a player lands on this space, the player will receive three Coins. During the Last Five Turns Event, the amount of Coins is doubled.	Common
	Red Space	When a player lands on this space, the player will lose three Coins. During the Last Five Turns Event, the amount of Coins is doubled.	Semi-common
	Happening Space	When a player lands on this space, a board-specific event will unfold.	Semi-common
	Chance Time Space	When a player lands on this space, Chance Time will be initiated.	Rare
	Bowser Space	When a player lands on this space, Bowser will be summoned. An event from a number of events will then unfold.	Semi-rare
N/A	Star Space	When a player passes this space, Toad will ask the player passing by whether they want to purchase a Power Star for twenty Coins or not.	One per board
	Item Space	When a player lands on this space, a board-specific item minigame will be initiated. The minigame will not be initiated if it is the last turn, or if the player already has an item. If both criteria are met, the minigame still will not be initiated.	Semi-rare
	Battle Space	When a player lands on this space, a battle minigame will be played.	Semi-rare
	Bank Space	When a player passes by this space, they will have to pay five Coins (if the player does not have five Coins, they will have to pay as much as they can) to the bank. If a player lands on it, the player will acquire all previously deposited Coins. However, this is reverse in Bowser Land; they will obtain five Coins if the player passes by the same space, adding up a loan to the bank and they will have to pay the full loan (or as much as the player can pay if the player does not have enough) if the player lands on the same space.	Two per board

Minigames[]

See Mario Party Special Minigames for more information.

References to other games[]

Mario Party 2: This game borrows many influences from this game, from the core gameplay to all of the boards returning.
Mario Party 5: The characters' icons are taken from this game.
Mario Party 8: The player cursors are taken from this game.
Mario Kart DS: The text showing the players' names is taken from this game.
Mario Kart Wii: Many voice clips are recycled from this game.