Mario Party Advance Review

By Kristan Reed Published 7 July, 2005

Party on, dud.

Version tested: GameBoy Advance

How many games does the tubby plumber and his dysfunctional friends need to star in, exactly? Not content with his burgeoning Soccer career, reviving his side scrolling glories and planning an unlikely future as the leader of a hip hop gang (probably), his family now want to own the party scene on the handheld and it's a Mario game too far that is interesting only in its stunning ability to bore the pants off even the most ardent Mariophile.

Developed once again by party-poopers Hudson, the terminally long-running series has been roundly ignored for half a dozen incarnations on Nintendo's home systems for seemingly forever - and for good reason as it happens. Its first mistake is that it's possibly the only Mario title designed as a safe little suite of party games for kiddywinks. Anyone vaguely aware of what makes a good videogame can move swiftly on, as you'll very quickly discover that most - if not all - of its hundred odd mini games are among some of the most insultingly undemanding and badly-designed efforts you'll ever see associated with the beloved franchise. But after the brilliance of the WarioWare games we were somehow hoping the irreverent humour and quirky charm could translate to its first GBA outing. How wrong could we be?

Crimes against gaming parts 1 to 29

The premise is simple but cripplingly limited in scope and falls foul of repeated crimes against gaming. You kick off by having to select either Mario, Luigi, Peach or Yoshi with the general idea to chip your way through 50 'quests' that reside around a reasonably large game board. Depending on which character you choose you start in one corner of the board armed with four 'mushrooms' or lives, and a spinning dice to determine how many spaces you can move. At this stage you'll be looking to plot a passage to the nearest Quest while trying not to lose too many lives along the way. Land on a dice icon and you get a stay of execution and can roll again, but land on a no-entry sign or fail to crack one of the mini game challenges and you'll lose a life. On the other hand, if you beat a mini game you earn extra mushies, giving you the chance to push on and work your way through the Quests.

Quests and mini games are essentially one and the same in terms of the fact that they're based around short burst of very simplified gameplay; and it's here where the game never once comes close to being an engaging experience. While the hugely endearing WarioWare microgames are wonderfully cute snatches of irreverent brilliance, a typical game within Mario Party Advance is often tedious, badly designed and completely lacking in any endearing qualities at all.

'Mario Party Advance' Screenshot kart

It's Mario Kart, but not as we know it...

The examples are practically limitless, so we'll pick out a few examples that spring to mind. One such horribly crippled task involves timing a baseball bat swing in order to whack a home run, but so pathetically inept are the controls that there it's simply a matter of luck whether you'll time it right. There are literally two frames of animation on the bat, and the service is hideously unpredictable to boot. Elsewhere you might have to play bomb volleyball with Peach, and wrestle with turgid controls to haplessly try to outdo an unerring opponent that almost always manages to return the bomb just as it's about to explode. Elsewhere you might have to solve a stupidly dumb multiple choice crime scene quest, play a succession of chance-based gambling games or just fetch one of a number of objects back to their owner to win a 'Gaddget' that you can fiddle with elsewhere. If the minigames were any more tediously unengaging you might suspect Hudson was doing it on purpose, but after several hours of this unrelenting tedium it's just patently obvious that Mario Party Advance has no intention of being even close to fun. It's practically the dictionary definition of awful.

Not for us, not for anyone

Apologists might attempt to jump to Nintendo's defence by claiming that this is 'not meant for us', and is somehow meant exclusively for young kids, but don't buy that excuse for a second. As we've noted countless times in the past, party games have a limitless capacity to appeal to literally everyone, and the only possible way someone could extract enjoyment from this is if it was their very first videogame and they had no context. But bad games are just bad games whatever their age group targets are meant to be, and we'd be utterly amazed if even a six-year-old encountering this as their first videogaming experience couldn't express compelling reasons why this fails in its mission to entertain. No one likes to repeatedly lose through no fault of their own, yet Mario Party Advance seems to delight in doing just that.

'Mario Party Advance' Screenshot monkey

As you might expect, rescuing drowning monkeys is the highlight of the entire game.

What's even more galling is that it's not even just the standard of the mini games that's to blame. The entire board game structure is appallingly bloody-minded to the point of it being a rancid waste of your time. In a game where you lose a life just for the sin of moving one turn around the board and not being lucky enough to land on a dice roll icon, you'll soon tire of having to repeatedly restart the game from the beginning just for the 'reward' of possibly reaching a Quest you've never come across before. The chances are, even when you get there it'll tell you to sod off for not being the right character, or be some sort of pointless fetch and carry quest that involves blind dice rolling luck in order to pull off. Honestly, whether you play the game for ten minutes or ten hours, the main game never ever gets any more fun - and the only reason we played it further than the first handful of minigames was as a duty to our readers (as well as needing to kill time while waiting for a flight). No sane minded person would physically choose to engage in such videogaming torture when there are so many other better offerings out there.

In terms of the game's technical prowess, it's similarly ho-hum from start to finish. Its visual style and humour quickly reveal the extent of its appallingly limited ambition extend. Hudson never tries to make the game look more than the most generic Mario title possible, which isn’t to say it looks bad; just that it comes across exactly how you'd expect any other loveless franchise extension to look with the 2D art style just the same as has been for the past few decades. Animation is virtually non existent, the tedious chatty exchanges that take place between characters lacks any imagination at all and the whole project just smells like something thrown together to meet a contractual obligation. No Mario fan needs a game like this in their collection, and it strikes us as all the more insulting for being so depressingly generic at a time when Nintendo is having a whale of a time experimenting and pushing the boundaries like no other. Next to something like WarioWare, it's hard to believe the two products come from the same company.

Spread the pain around

'Mario Party Advance' Screenshot thrill

Race your opponent up a set of crumbling stairs by hammering the A button. Thrilling.

Of course, the hardest thing to come to terms with is that anyone would want to extend the pain into a multiplayer arena. With Nintendo pulling the usual stunt of requiring multiple copies of the game to access all but a few superfluous modes the chances of actually playing the game as it was intended are practically zero. Sure, there are a load of minigames that can be played on one GBA (with each player taking a button and maybe trying to become the first to smash a rock or something equally pointless) and you can swap unlocked Gaddgets and minigames with others, but, truly, the odds of ever finding other players to engage in Multi-Pak Penguin Races, Duels, Mini Bowser Battles, or even the single cartridge multiplayer attacks are incredibly remote. On paper there's loads to do, but you'll not feel compelled to do very much of it - even to try it out. After a few hours roaming around Shroom City playing minigames and quests you'll have seen more than enough.

And if you haven't got the message yet, Mario Party Advance is possibly the worst videogame Nintendo has had the misfortune to publish. Avoid at all costs; this is disgracefully bad.

1 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • roofles #1 7 years ago

    aahahaahahahahahaha

  • abeit #2 7 years ago

    It isnt that bad it's WORSE 0/10

  • sephy #3 7 years ago

    worst score evar???

  • abeit #4 7 years ago

    2/10 for space revolution and now 1/10 for this piece of crap. because its mario it'll still sell. LOL

  • Azu87 #5 7 years ago

    Why does Eurogamer seem to have something against Mario Partys. This (MPA) is a shitty game, but not that shitty. Mario Party 6 is probably the best Mario Party, even though it IS the sixth one but still... Eurogamer should have given the game two different points: one to the gamers who have already played the earlier games and one to people new to Mario Party.

    And don't get me wrong, Nintendo really should stop making Mario Partys, it was really fun during the first N64 Party and first Cube Party but not anymore, it's still the same. It hasn't changed enough, they shouldn't have released these in such a fast pace. Mario Party with REAL new ideas (not just new minigames).

  • Aretak #6 7 years ago

    Please stop making these games Nintendo. Please.

    Please?

  • Talha #7 7 years ago

    Its high time Nintendo was punished for milking a tired character for every last ounce of life. What is up with this Mario? Will we ever be able to get a Nintendo machine without that mustachioed face hogging the screen? As long as Ninty chooses to stick to the inphantile teeny weeny imagery perpetrated by the likes of Mario and Luigi, it will deservedly be last in every home console race ever.

  • mad_caddy #8 7 years ago

    I think i've pointed it out before but can't remember.......nintendo use the Mario character because he is recognisable.

    Super Mario "2" is the example, it was developed with other characters and then Ninty threw in the mario characters, otherwise it would have dissapeared.

  • Blerk #9 7 years ago

    Arf! A well needed chuckle this morning!

  • drumbaby #10 7 years ago

    Pika! Pika!

  • Genji #11 7 years ago

    1/10 is the lowest I've seen on EG, but I've seen other games get it.

    EDIT: Oh, and nice flamebait, boabg.
    EDIT#2: And Talha. This discussion is about to EXPLOOOOOOODE
    Edited by 2 at 07/07/05 @ 12:05

  • Gareth.de #12 7 years ago

    because its mario it'll still sell. LOL

    Yea, people like smelly and windy or whatever his name was have already ordered their 15 copies.

  • Talha #13 7 years ago

    Recognizable, you say? OK, lets see. Sony must have at least five recognizaible characters for Playstation 2 vs one for Ninty, thats why it has sold five times as much!!!! I think they must have been Pokemon - but wait, those were ALSO used by Ninty!!!

    Consoles are out of the infant age and solidly into adult category. It is high time Ninty grew up as well! You no longer need third-rate crutches to give legs to your poorly supported platform. I'd sooner have a PS2 with exculsice WRC and F1 licenses than a console touting a 20-year old character with the same face appearing on even the - aargh - sports titles!

    Tell me, would you rather have Tiger Woods or Mario Golf? Mario Kart or Gran Turismo? Mario Tennis or Top Spin? I think I have beautifully summarized the reasons why GameCube is third behind PS2 and XBox, and very eloquently!!! Ninty, pay my consultancy fees!!

  • Killerbee #14 7 years ago

    Great review. :)

    I seem to recall drunkenly playing Mario Party on the N64 for around 6 hours one night with some friends and having a fantastic time, but then never touching the game again.

    Why anyone thought this needed bringing to the GBA is beyond me... I mean, it's hardly a machine that's suited to party games, is it?

  • Genji #15 7 years ago

    Wow, Talha. Are you posting that just to get people mad, because I think it's going to work!

    And yeah, the GBA is not the best platform for it. I think it'd have a much better chance on the DS, especially if it was one-cart multiplayer. What with the wireless and all.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/05 @ 12:16

  • smelly #16 7 years ago

    a party game on the gba?!?

    Surely that makes no sense?

  • smelly #17 7 years ago

    "Yea, people like smelly and windy or whatever his name was have already ordered their 15 copies. "


    *sigh*.. some fangirls will never "get it" will they?


    "Please stop making these games Nintendo. Please. "

    No-ones making you buy it.. So why do you care?

  • Talha #18 7 years ago

    I hope I get people mad! Especially those at Nintendo. I sincerely hope that the 'Revolution's true revolution would be absence of any Mario games. But wait, its backward compatible!!! Shit, so much for that hope.

    For anyone thinking that hardware can be sold on characters, three words: Sega. Dreamcast. Sonic.

    Ninty, I think it is high time you started making games for grownups - afterall, the prices you charge for your hardware and software are already quite grownup!!!

  • ProfessorLesser #19 7 years ago

    *moderated*
    Edited by 2 at 07/07/05 @ 12:32

  • sephy #20 7 years ago

    Super Mario "2" is the example, it was developed with other characters and then Ninty threw in the mario characters, otherwise it would have dissapeared.

    jp mario 2= pal/us lost levels on Mario all-stars
    us/pal mario 2= altered Doki Doki Panic
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/05 @ 12:36

  • Talha #21 7 years ago

    *moderated*
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/05 @ 12:33

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #22 7 years ago

    Sorry guys, those that are moderated. We're trying to keep 'London' related comments in the forum, or a piece that is directly related to it.

    I agree with what you're saying, no disrespect meant.

  • Aretak #23 7 years ago

    "No-ones making you buy it.. So why do you care?"

    I don't remember asking for your opinion on my post... so why are you giving it?

  • roofles #24 7 years ago

    I want to see Nintendo Party instead of Mario Party. Nintendo Baseball. Nintendo Kart. Nintendo Golf.

    Piss off Mario.

  • Talha #25 7 years ago

    For those of you who believe Mario will keep Ninty going, three words: Sonic. Sega. Busted.

    I certainly mean no disrespect to Mario-lovers. Also, I am all for playability and feel-good factor, which should be the first priority in every game. My rage is directed at Nintendo which refuses to grow out of the infant mentality. I fear I am about to be inundated by a billion-strong army of Mariophiles, pesky toddlers that they are!

  • #26 7 years ago

    Don't think there's any such thing as a Mario-lover or a Mariophile.

    A Nintendophile - those who, to varying degrees, prefer Nintendo games - yes, but Mariophile? No.

  • Teeth #27 7 years ago

    I absolutely hear the people who are complaining about the prevalence of Mario as a franchise. For myself I don't see a problem with Mario as a character, it's just I wish they'd just stick to one or two types of game with it. Stuff like this, Mario Soccer tennis, kabaddi, whatever... it's just too far. Too much. Just give us Mario Kart and whatever platformer (high time we got a new Mario game in that vein) and leave it at that.

    Nintendo have a lot of work to do to get themselves out of this silly rut they've got themselves into.

  • abeit #28 7 years ago

    worse than Halo. hell yeah

  • smelly #29 7 years ago

    "I don't remember asking for your opinion on my post... so why are you giving it? "

    I'm not giving an opinion.. I'm asking a question.. Why do you, and the fanboys of the other consoles on here post saying "stop making these games", "stop making games with mario in them", "stop making games for kids" (when in most cases most of you are kids yourself).

    Why do you care? If they dont appeal to you - its simple surely, dont buy them? why demand that games companies only make games with YOU in mind and no-one else?

    Surely it's that attidude of only making games for the hard core nerds who hang about on forums which brings about all these endless fps and racing games on the other consoles?

  • deepmenace #30 7 years ago

    i was reading this and thought

    *this sounds like it could be a 1/10, but EG never give 1/10, it`ll be a 3/10....*

    excellent. well done EG. stick it the man.

  • smelly #31 7 years ago

    "excellent. well done EG. stick it the man. "

    lol.. because scores mean everything!

    I dont need to read review or see the score.. i can tell a party game on a handheld just isnt going to work for obvious reasons!

  • CrashyBoy #32 7 years ago

    badder then space invaders

  • skybluesam86 #33 7 years ago

    You guys *really* don't seem to like Mario Party games do ya?

  • smelly #34 7 years ago

    "You guys *really* don't seem to like Mario Party games do ya? "

    Well i disagreed with their cube review as put some kids in front of it, and they'll have a blast..

    But on this review, i fully agree (despite not playing it).. how on earth can you have a "party" game on a gba? Just doesnt work.. sorry.

  • Genji #35 7 years ago

    Unless you're the sort of person who judges games purely on appearances (surely not!), then the prevalence of Mario in various genres should pose no problem whatsoever. The character is old, but the games are new, and as long as they're fun to play I don't give a flying feck who stars in them.

  • smelly #36 7 years ago

    Manic Miner.. I love you.

  • bleed_together #37 7 years ago

    Leave all the reviewing to Tom, please

    Oh and i agree wholeheartily with ManicMiner
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/05 @ 15:22

  • allen #38 7 years ago

    Tahlla, thats because every sonic game after sonic 3 sucked big time. I had a dreamcast and the whole, hold stick in direction and watch sonic run in loads of different directions through loops, got really boring. Compare that to Super Mario 64 on the N64 and its a different ballgame. I don't own a gamecube so can't say what mario games are like on that but i still enjoy mario scrollers on gameboy advance.

    Piracy killed the dreamcast. It was so damn easy. No modding or anything of the boxes. When a company is taking a hit on console sales they damn what to get the license fees from games. Too many people weren't giving them this.

    I was actually playing mario party 3 yesterday on emu and it was fun. I would definatly buy a mario party ds. Wario Ware was fun so i bet they could get some decent minigames in there and then wireless party play would be very cool. I can't fathom why they made this for the gameboy.

  • gerg #39 7 years ago

    Look, Mario is there because he sells, among other points. Mario isn't just a gaming icon, he IS gaming. Mario is there because people recognise him. It's a tried and tested formual, which WORKS. So, if it ain't broken, why fix it?

    Secondly, Mario is FICTIONAL. This is great for a game where the main basis is FUN. Sure you can have a 'Street' version of Basketball or Football, but you still have to stick to a sense of realism. There's still a need for very real physics and many other featurs to keep the game true to life.
    But with Mario, you don't really need that. Although you need some physics, you don't need to have it to a greater extent. You can have extra power super moves, stuff which you can't get in the latest EA game. Mario is there so that football games aren't about precision passing and split-second shots, they're there so that you can have FUN. And of course a great game of this calibre has the amazing physics to boot.

    Thirdly, for all you people that think Nintendo is for kids. Stick this down your throats: http://dsrevolution. com/article.php?articleid=438&PHPSESSID=43724809297d6932c77c 28af48e04430
    Nintendo - N I N T E N D O - is a company for all ages. For all you shallow people who can't look beyond some colourful graphics which are there to make sure that the game can at least be played by everyone (as visuals are the most important factor to a game), then you're really missing something. Nintendo actually puts a recquirement of skill in a game. A seven year old will not be able to play Pokemon aswell as a 20-something; Superstar Saga has quite adult humour; Paper Mario recquires great tactics etc. Don't be shallow.

    And Nintendo has way more, better characters and franchises than any other company. Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Mario, Zelda, F-Zero, Metroid. All of those will outlive Jak & Dexter.

  • Stoatboy #40 7 years ago

    The problem I have with Mario is not that the games that feature him are for kids - it's that I find them childish.

    There's a big difference.

    Lego Star Wars is a game for kids, and it's top stuff, with genuine charm, subtlety and wit.

    Paper Mario 2 (as an example) is childish (IMO obviously). And no - this isn't because of the graphics (so if people could please stop telling me that it is that would be nice). It's because it's written specifically for children, and lacks the aforementioned charm, subtlety and wit in the narrative and characterisation.

    For example, creating a race of creatures called Koopas who all have names beginning with "Koop", and another called Goombas who have names beginning "goomb" is writing specifically aimed at children (and not particularly old ones at that). Having a plot device where a malevolent creature attempts to "curse" you when instead they are giving you an obviously powerful ability is also writing for children. Having locations called the Boggly Woods, Petal Fields and Glitzville... written for children.

    I know this doesn't bother some people, but it does bother me. I wouldn't read a Bob the Builder book, so why should I be expected to enjoy a game with a story pitched at pretty much the same target audience, featuring shallow characters and inane plot devices?

    This is the crux of the call for more mature games for me - quality of writing. Not more tits, violence or swearing, but likewise not being asked to adventure in a lawless port town called something as soul-achingly obvious as Rogueport. More mature = more subtlety, deftness, wit, and guile in the narrative and the design of the characters.

  • gerg #41 7 years ago

    Although I must admit that Paper Mario 2 isn't the greatst example at script writing, I don't think the characters are shallow. (I don't remember any specific plot devices) First, you have the onboard computer who, although being the stereotypical 'what is love? what are emotions?'-esque idea is not shallow. Then you have Bowser, who is out to beat the comptetition, which, although not the best example, has some depth to it.

    I can't argue on the best of grounds, as I havn't played the game for so long (not because of the 'lack of charm', but because I am stuck on the last boss). Thus, I don't know too many specific plot devices.

    Also, the game is not targeted at children. Like most Nintendo games, it is targeted at all audiences. Hence the skill recquired for bosses, for managing the abilties and uses of teh team mates correctly (and knowing what items etc.), and for pulling off star powers. Paper Mario: TTYD is a complex game indeed.

    And I would have to argue that Mario games generally have all that wit you seek, most notably in Superstar Saga. Then, as already mentioned, the on-board computer holds quite a lot of subtlety in it, as I can remember it finding it hard to say it's true feelings, and in the mini-games it required you to play.

  • spookyzombie #42 5 years ago

    I saw this score via the gamespot site and just knew it had to have been Krudster's work.