Super Mario Party Gamescom 2018 Gameplay First Impressions
During my time with Nintendo on Gamescom 2018, I had the chance to have the smallest of tastes of the upcoming Super Mario Party for the Switch. And, wouldn’t you know it, it seems that Nintendo has this figured out. Granted, I only got to see a small bunch of the minigames (none of the actual game board, sadly), but they were an absolute blast to play. Might just end up picking up a Switch for myself, who knows.
First Gameplay Impressions of Super Mario Party on the Switch
I have to reiterate, the experience I’ve had with Super Mario Party at Gamescom was really limited. I didn’t get to see any of the actual game board, and I only played a handful of the minigames. Apparently, the devs are cooking up about eighty minigames, and I got to play, like, six or so. By the way, shout out to my host at Nintendo, Daniel, who beat me by the skin of his teeth. If you’re reading this, I demand a rematch! Now that I’ve gotten my salt out of the way, let’s get into my impressions.
Long story short, every single one of the games I’ve played was a ton of fun. Some of them don’t use the Joy-Con in creative ways, but others make full use of the new peripherals that the Switch has. The two that stick out most in my mind is the tricycle race (pictured above), and the frying minigame. Yes, they both have different names, but I can’t remember them. Anyway, the tricycle race has you spinning the Joy-Con, as if you’re pedaling with your hands. As for the frying minigame, it uses the vibration of the Joy-Con to signal that one side of the meat cube is frying, and you have to swipe the controller upwards to flip it to the uncooked side. It’s silly, and a lot of fun.
To be honest, all of the minigames were cooky and silly and a blast to play. Whether I was trying to dodge football players trying to flatten me (if you’re curious, I was playing as my boy Yoshi), running away from ghosts, or riding trikeys, I was having a ball. But, here’s the thing, and this is basically me discovering the wheel here: you absolutely need at least another person to play with. Every one of those games was fun, to be sure. However, if it hadn’t been for my host maining a certain lanky purple fellow and yelling WAAAAAAA every now and again, it would’ve been way less entertaining, I feel.
In Conclusion
If those minigames I’ve played are any indication of the overall quality, then the game is going to be a complete blast to play. I absolutely recommend that you check it out when it comes out on October 5th this year. As if I even needed to tell you that. If you own a Switch, I’d hazard a guess that you’d be getting Super Mario Party either way. All I’m saying is, you’re in safe hands. The game is absolutely going to fulfill your expectations, if not exceed them.
