If you are still friends with me after playing all six boards of Mario Party 2 with me, then not only is your patience incredible, this is a friendship that absolutely will last.
Mario Party 2 lacks the wild swings of titles like Mario Party 3 or Mario Party 6, where a bounty of items raining down from a random space or a Reverse Shroom in the right place can shift the trajectory of a game in one turn. It's the best slow-burn Mario Party, where you'll need to decide your game plan for the next five turns and perform well in mini-games in order to actually achieve it. Options are limited, but that creates a rather consistent game state within the first five turns compared to other titles, letting you properly set up. After this point, it becomes a weapon of debilitating psychological warfare, as you try to convince everyone else of who's going for Happening Star, who's leading in mini-games, what the best decision to steal at a Boo would be. Board design is probably the best equipped for its item layout of the series, with the very limited options all being well considered and making item play not an instant swing, but a stepping stone to get there. Plus Bower Land, Horror Land, and Western Land probably have the best, most competitive Boo placement in the entire series.
Mario Party is as fun as you want it to be. If it's just a time waster to you, then yeah, it's fairly mid. But if you are willing to make deals, throw games, stab people in the back knowing that they will never trust you again but you NEED this win right now, desperately try to dig yourself out of a 1v3 where everyone wants you to lose a mini-game and you skill your way to the top because you're just that good at Hot Bob-omb? There's few experiences like it. Mario Party 2 hits the perfect sweet spot for me between being charming and accessible in how quickly understandable its mini-games are and how oppressive you can be with board knowledge and proper play (plus it has 1v3's that aren't total gimmes sometimes, and that's hard for this series!). And it's got the funny costumes that everyone will assume is the entire reason you like the game, because they're blinded by the allure of the Reverse and Sluggish Shrooms! But you know the truth. The funny costumes are the way. Bowser giving you money from his secret bank account if you're poor is the way. Getting in horrible debt to the Baby Bowser Bankers to the point where they'll steal a star from you if you try to repay your loan with zero coins is the way.
Congratulations, DK. You are the true super star!!!
Mario Party 2 lacks the wild swings of titles like Mario Party 3 or Mario Party 6, where a bounty of items raining down from a random space or a Reverse Shroom in the right place can shift the trajectory of a game in one turn. It's the best slow-burn Mario Party, where you'll need to decide your game plan for the next five turns and perform well in mini-games in order to actually achieve it. Options are limited, but that creates a rather consistent game state within the first five turns compared to other titles, letting you properly set up. After this point, it becomes a weapon of debilitating psychological warfare, as you try to convince everyone else of who's going for Happening Star, who's leading in mini-games, what the best decision to steal at a Boo would be. Board design is probably the best equipped for its item layout of the series, with the very limited options all being well considered and making item play not an instant swing, but a stepping stone to get there. Plus Bower Land, Horror Land, and Western Land probably have the best, most competitive Boo placement in the entire series.
Mario Party is as fun as you want it to be. If it's just a time waster to you, then yeah, it's fairly mid. But if you are willing to make deals, throw games, stab people in the back knowing that they will never trust you again but you NEED this win right now, desperately try to dig yourself out of a 1v3 where everyone wants you to lose a mini-game and you skill your way to the top because you're just that good at Hot Bob-omb? There's few experiences like it. Mario Party 2 hits the perfect sweet spot for me between being charming and accessible in how quickly understandable its mini-games are and how oppressive you can be with board knowledge and proper play (plus it has 1v3's that aren't total gimmes sometimes, and that's hard for this series!). And it's got the funny costumes that everyone will assume is the entire reason you like the game, because they're blinded by the allure of the Reverse and Sluggish Shrooms! But you know the truth. The funny costumes are the way. Bowser giving you money from his secret bank account if you're poor is the way. Getting in horrible debt to the Baby Bowser Bankers to the point where they'll steal a star from you if you try to repay your loan with zero coins is the way.
Congratulations, DK. You are the true super star!!!
The first actually good mario party, and it really improves a lot from the first game enough to still be one of the better ones in the series. Introduced items which is hard to imagine Mario Party without, as well as got rid of those damn stick spinning minigames. Definitely one of its biggest appealing features is that all of the characters dress up in fun outfits for each of the themed board while whoever wins gets an amusing little cutscene of them beating Bowser while 4th place gets terrorized in the background.
I'm pretty sure this was the first Mario game ever translated in italian. Which shocked me since I was sure it was Luigi's Mansion (no, not even the Super Mario Advance until Yoshi's Island).
Anyways: I really like what it tries to do to differentiate itself already by the predecessor.
Have to play it better, but sequels that take some variety are always interesting and deserves to be praised just for that (ofc if it is a good idea, this was definitely is).
Anyways: I really like what it tries to do to differentiate itself already by the predecessor.
Have to play it better, but sequels that take some variety are always interesting and deserves to be praised just for that (ofc if it is a good idea, this was definitely is).
Mario Party 2 is the definition of chaotic fun with friends! It's got those classic mini-games that'll make you want to hurl your controller, but also some really hilarious gems. The boards are more inventive than the first game, and the new items add a layer of delightful strategy. Sure, it can get repetitive after a while, and the solo mode is a bit of a snoozefest, but for a party? It's still a blast after all these years!
What's the best Mario Party game & why is it the one where we all get to wear fun, themed costumes? In all seriousness, though, what an improvement over the first. It recycles some of MP1's better content while adding a splash of paint all its own. It's not perfect & it's still riddled with that Mario Party-brand of RNG, but it's still a good time.
The best Mario Party game on the system for me and one of my favorite Mario Party games in the franchise! It has some of the best minigames, charm, and soundtrack! The only thing holding this game back is modern Mario Party games have the QoL improvements, but it is still a solid title, especially on the Nintendo 64.
This is probably the best mario party game. I struggle to think of good mario party maps but this one generally has the highest average I'd say. It's the first one with items, it's got the best bonus starts and generally has some pretty good minigames. It's also got the most soul because they wear silly costumes