Well, it’s nearly here! In just under an hour, Mario Party Superstars will be released in the UK, with all the coolness that entails. From 5 classic boards from some of the best games, to more than 100 of our favourite minigames, the title is filled to the brim with amazing content that’s sure to be a blast for any and all Mario Party fans.

Yet did you know the feature list doesn’t end there? That in addition to the classic boards, mini games and stickers, the game also adds a ton of other neat little features and throwbacks too?

Yep, from bonus star options to music changes, title screens to endings, the game has a ton of awesome additions that you’d never expect to see coming.

So in this list, we’re gonna look at 10 of the best ones. You ready? Let’s do this!

10. Classic Bonus Stars Can Be Toggled

Starting with a neat feature that fans have wanted for a while. Basically, you know those bonus stars you can get at the end of a game? The ones given for doing various things in the match?

Well in later games, the tasks you get them for are randomised, with some of these being annoying as hell. These include bonus stars for being attacked the most often, attacking players the most often, using the most items and moving the least on the board.

This gets annoying, especially if you’re a fan of the olden days of the series.

Fortunately though, Superstars lets you customise this. So, if you want exactly the stars found in the N64 games, you can pick just those. Same with those based on other games/eras of the series too.

pic.twitter.com/JXkFWdDIjb

— Elu! (📌 Bugtober!) (@EluTranscendent) October 24, 2021

Everyone wins!

9. The Music Changes In the Last 5 Turns!

However, not all the interesting new features are customisation related.

No, some are just genuine presentation improvements instead. Most notably, the game now has separate board map songs for the last 5 turns of a game!

Yep, just like in Mario Kart and other spinoffs, the music will now change to a faster paced, livelier version when the game nears its conclusion. And based on the leaks heard online, these songs sound incredible too:

So yeah, if you like musical variety, Superstars certainly has you covered here!

8. Profile Cards Can Be Created!

Of course, music isn’t the only addition to the formula in Mario Party Superstars. No, profile cards are an interesting inclusion too!

These are like the trainer cards from the Pokemon series, and can be used to list your favourite character, board and mini game with a variety of different styles and backgrounds. Pretty neat really, especially given how many options you’re given for them in the shops in this title…

7. Mini Game Variations Are Selectable

Back to features that affect the gameplay now though, with something that we long wished was in Mario Party the Top 100. Basically, you know how some older mini games had different variations? Like Bumper Balls with its multiple stages?

Well, in Top 100, you could only play one of these variations. This meant the variety was rather lacking overall, and the games got repetitive pretty fast.

Fortunately though, this was fixed for Superstars. Now you can choose the variation when you start the mini game, including both arena options for titles like Bumper Balls and endless options for ones like Booksquirm or Hot Rope Jump. So don’t worry old school Mario Party fans! Your mini game variations are back once again!

6. Both the Original and Remixed Music is Selectable

And that’s not the only thing you can choose different versions of here. No, you can also choose between the original and remixed soundtracks for boards too! This means if you prefer a certain board’s original song, you can set it to only play that version, regardless of the status of any other boards.

This is probably the most surprising thing to me for Mario Party Superstars. pic.twitter.com/Tf2ZP1oATm

— S19M (@m_s19) October 24, 2021

Good news for anyone who’s not a fan of any of their modernised remixes here!

5. The Number of Turns Can Be Changed Mid Game

You can also change the number of turns a game lasts partway through as well, with the option existing to add a certain amount of extra turns to a game in progress at any time before the last 5 turns:

This means if you like a board more than expected, or get a bit more extra time due to your schedule being cleared up… You can extend your game to fit circumstances. That’s pretty awesome if we do say so ourselves!

4. You Can Disable/Enable Mini Games By Category

Still, let’s get back to customisation now, since Mario Party Superstars is apparently really good with it. Basically, have you ever wanted to turn off luck based mini games? Or have some sort of control over the types you encounter in a Mario Party game?

Oh we’re sure you have. Everyone’s probably looked for a way to get rid of games like Get a Rope or Tug O’War at some point or another after all.

But now it’s a real possibility! Yep, in the settings menu in Mario Party Superstars, you can now choose the types of mini games you’ll encounter during the game, including only skill based ones and only ones for a certain era (like the N64 or GameCube one). Time to finally kick those terrible luck based games out of the roster!

3. Mario Party Has a Canon?

Onto a cool throwback now. Did you know that Mario Party Superstars explicitly says the earlier games actually happened?

Yep, in the story for the game, it quite literally talks about how long it’s been since the characters last used the warp pipe in Mushroom Village, and how they’re finally returning to some old favourites to become the superstar once more!

And that’s not the end of it either! No, when you actually choose a board…

Something similar happens there too. You get a brief story recap of the original version (including pictures from the N64 version), then a quick tale about how the spirits have returned (or what not) and a new superstar is needed to save the day.

So this game isn’t just reusing content for nostalgia sake. It’s actually trying to justify it in story too, and positions the title as a distant sequel to the N64 games in the process. That’s pretty goddamn awesome if you ask us!

2. Board Specific Title Screens Return!

Speaking of throwbacks, the board specific title screens from Mario Party 1 return too, with the one chosen being based on the last one you played. Here’s a gallery showing them all in action:

As you can see, they look absolutely awesome, and capture the charm of the original games perfectly. What’s more, they’re also sometimes literal references too!

Yep, as you can see below, the ones from the original game are actually revamped versions of the relevant artwork from said game! So yeah, enjoy the cast playing volleyball on Yoshi’s Tropical Island once again…

And enjoy the cast enjoying some of that delicious cake too!

1. As Do Board Specific Endings!

Finally, the game also brings back board specific endings too! Yep, just like the earlier games, each board has its own ending, where the losers are chased away and the winner is rewarded with the superstar role, complete with a fancy image and text.

It’s pretty cool really, especially given how every board’s ending stars a character from the board in question. Horror Land? Mr I appears. Woody Woods? Warukio drives you off with spiky fruit. Peach’s Birthday Cake? Well, those Piranha Plants had to come in handy again, right?

So yeah, here’s a video showing the one from Horror Land in action:

As well as the equivalent from Peach’s Birthday Cake:

And you’ll be able to find the full list on our YouTube channel when the game is released too.

Either way, there’s the list. Ten awesome new features from Mario Party Superstars, all of which you’ll be able to experience for yourself tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed it, and we hope tomorrow, you’ll be able to enjoy playing the game too.

So what did you think?

Did we do a good job with the list? What other features could we have included here?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or on our Discord server today!