From the beginning, the mini-games were the star of the Mario Party series. Oftentimes, the board game aspect would just be a formality in between that moment where you were waiting to gang up on that guy who’s three stars ahead of everyone else, removing most of the luck from the equation. When Mario Party Star Rush was revealed to cut out most of the waiting, allowing everyone to act at the same time, it was a needed step in the right direction. This is taken a step further in Coinathlon, an extra mode that’s all about the mini games. We got a chance to try out the game and see how crazy things can get when the restrictions get thrown out the door.
Rather than move your characters with a traditional dice roll, Coinathlon is all about skill. Choosing from a pool of about three mini games, each of its boards have a certain amount of spaces that the character moves depending on how many coins they collect during the mini-games. The first player to circle the board a certain amount of times wins, while each player tries their best to sabotage their competition in a way that’s very similar to Nintendo’s popular kart racing game.
From activities ranging from hammering enemies on a set path, fishing for golden Cheep-Cheeps, and avoiding obstacles that slow you down with nothing but your reflexes, these games can get hectic pretty quick. To make things worse, after a player achieves enough success, a meter charges that lets them unleash a random weapon attack on a random opponent. Finally making the Blooper useful, the squid can ink an opponent’s screen, obstructing their view. Other items can stun, slow down or confuse opponents, hopefully leading to them falling further behind in your quest for board game supremacy.
To make things a little more fair between the skilled vs. the newbies, these games will begin to get more difficult for players who are closer to the finish line. Of course, if that player is REALLY good, this gives them the chance to rake in the coins even faster, leading to an ensured victory. This high risk, high reward style ramps up the stakes in a way that builds real tension when you’re close to winning, making the slightest mistake mean so much more. It truly has the potential to be some of the most fun I’ve had with the games in a long time, especially when you consider that this mode is one of the ways four players can get together and play with just one copy of the game.
And of course, we can’t forget the new amiibo that are launching alongside the game. With Wario and Boo being two highlights, we’re going to have to find more shelf space to give these guys the space they deserve. Especially Boo, who glows in the dark.
Mario Party Star Rush does away with the shared car and the wait in between turns and replaces it with the most fast paced version of the game to date. Is this enough to get you to join the party one more time? Share your thoughts with us in the comments, and check out the amiibo in action courtesy of the game’s latest trailer!