Super Mario Party

This past Friday, Best Buy Canada celebrated the launch of Super Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch. A special launch event for the game was held at the Bay and Dundas Best Buy Canada store here in Toronto. I, along with many other gamers, spent the afternoon getting photos with gaming’s most famous plumber and playing one of the fall’s biggest party games.

The Mario Party series is one of Nintendo’s most longest running and most popular series. The franchise was first released in 1998 on the Nintendo 64 and has since went on to become quite possibly one of the best party games on home consoles.

Super Mario Party
Many gathered around to get their chance to try out some of the 80 new mini-games in Super Mario Party.

Super Mario Party is fun for all ages

I talked with quite a few gamers at the event and for many of them this was their first time playing a Mario Party game. When I asked what they liked most about Super Mario Party, many said that they liked that the game isn’t complicated and that the whole family can play and have fun.

I saw gamers aging from 4 years old all the way up to 60 years old take their turn at Super Mario Party. Watching so many people play was tremendous fun. The big grins on their faces were indicative of the sheer joy they were experiencing. From what I saw, a lot of copies of Super Mario Party were sold. And, even more were added to holiday wish lists too!

Super Mario Party
Super Mario Party is fun no matter what age you are!

Photos with gaming’s most famous plumber

Aside from getting to play Super Mario Party, Nintendo’s iconic Italian Plumber was a big hit with everyone. Mario couldn’t be out the whole time, so he periodically went to the back for a little rest. When he made his way back out to see fans, the smiles on people’s faces was priceless.

People crowed around Mario and it was like he had his very own entourage. What can I say, everyone loves Mario, including yours truly—I even sneaked a hug in! Just take a look at the photos below. You will see just how popular Mario was!

Super Mario Party game details

If you didn’t get a chance to make it out, let me tell you a little bit about Super Mario Party and all the different modes it features.

4 player board game mode

One of the many reasons why I am love Super Mario Party is because it marks the return of the 4 player board game mode. In this mode, up to 4 players take turns making their way across the board while competing against opponents in 80 new mini-games.

Super Mario Party
Mario looks on as gamers enjoy one of the 80 new mini-games in Super Mario Party

Partner Party and River Survival Modes

More over, there is a Partner Party mode that allows you to play in teams. A lot of people at the launch event loved playing this mode. River Survival Mode was a favourite at the Super Mario Party launch event—a 4 player co-op experience. You and your friends must make it to the end of the river playing as a team. There are mini-games for you to play along the way, which to add valuable time to the clock.

Super Mario Party
I can imagine that this combination will be on many holiday wish lists

Online mode

Just seeing how much fun everyone had was enough to put a great big smile on my face. Additionally, Super Mario Party has an online mode that allows you to play against others online—this mode wasn’t playable at the event. It features 5 random mini-games to compete against in and your scores are tracked via an online leaderboard.

There’s even more! Super Mario Party has a mode called Toad’s Rec Room. In this mode, you and your friend can link each of your Nintendo Switch consoles together and play in tabletop mode. This mode has several different mini-games that use both Nintendo Switch console’s screens to create an even bigger playing field. How cool!

Super Mario Party
Super Mario Party is fun for all ages!

Super Mario Party is one of the hottest party games this fall

As you can see, the Super Mario Party launch event at Best Buy Canada was loads of fun! Everyone was having so much fun that when it was time to leave, many didn’t want to go. I’ve spent the last week or so playing Super Mario Party. I can say it is one of, if not the hottest party games this fall. Look for my review soon right here on the Best Buy Canada Plug-in blog.

Make sure and check out my video of the launch event below. Have you played Super Mario Party? Let me know in the comments section below which mini-game is your favourite.

Get Super Mario Party for the Nintendo Switch

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Jon Scarr
Jon is the Gaming Editor and is based in Toronto. He is a proud Canadian who has a serious passion for gaming. He is a veteran of the video game and tech industry with over 20 years experience. You can often find Jon streaming the latest games on his YouTube channel. Jon loves to talk about gaming and tech, come say hi and join the conversation with Jon on Threads @4ScarrsGaming and @4Scarrsgaming on Instagram.

7 COMMENTS

  1. This game looks fun, but I don’t have a chance to play a lot of party games. I wish Nintendo would consider releasing a short demo so that people like me can at least try the game out at home. Also, Nintendo rarely does any events in Saskatoon. The last time that I knew about an event that they were supposed to do in Saskatoon it was for the original Splatoon. All the information was posted to their website and a number of people showed up to the event, but they quietly deleted the event from their website without apparently notifying anyone. I wish they would bring events like this out to smaller urban centers too.

    That being said, I’m glad for the people out in Toronto who had a chance to see this.

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