There always comes a time where a franchise is milked too much, and Mario Party Island Tour is the byproduct of that. The relentlessly overworked Mario cash cow has produced a boring, insipid game that I absolutely do not recommend you buy.
As with all Mario Party games, Mario Party Island Tour is a game made to be played with friends. You pick an iconic character from the Mario universe and play a bunch of minigames, board games, and puzzles. Single player and multiplayer modes are clearly denoted, and it was nice that Nintendo listed on each mode’s button how long the games would take. Game boards would also have meters showing how much skill or luck is required to complete them.
All games in the Mario Party Island Tour cartridge come prefaced with simple instructions teaching you how the game works. These instructions mostly feature the minigame’s controls, and can omit how you should actually play. This was a problem with the more complicated mini games; other games featured exceedingly long and boring explanations.
While playing Mario Party Island Tour alone is possible thanks to the AI, the computer opponents are dumb and slow, and prove no challenge when it comes to games of skill. They’re also pretty unlucky when it comes to the luck-based games, though I must say they are well animated and even shriek occasionally. The single player campaign, Bowser’s Tower, involves you beating a series of minigames as you advance towards the top. It’s nothing special, but at least has a simple storyline for players to follow.
Mario Party Island Tour makes use of the 3DS’s features, like the gyroscope and touchscreen. But it doesn’t do it well. Controls are clunky and awkward, and the mini games are far too simplistic to prove a challenge. As mentioned above, the AI is also pretty stupid. That makes them easy to beat, though, which is sort of a good thing since completing each minigame nets you points which can be used in the collectible shop.
Hardcore completionists will enjoy trying to unlock all collectibles, which include audio clips for characters, new characters, and new boards. That is, if they’re big enough fans of Mario Party Island Tour to want to unlock all of that…
The main problem with Mario Party Island Tour is its slow pace. Its time attack minigame mode has no sense of urgency. Its single player campaign is calm and steady. Party games are meant to be played in a frantic rush, because half the time it’s the adrenaline that gets you laughing with your friends. But Mario Party Island Tour? It potters along with instructional cutscenes and boasts a clutch of minigames that are so slow and simple my grandmother could play them.
To be fair, it is visually impressive. It has a bright colour palette straight from any Super Mario game and it does capture each character very well. Familiar (or sometimes directly lifted) elements from the Super Mario universe can be seen scattered around the Island’s game boards and mini games, and Nintendo has made a fan game worthy of its iconic plumber. But these visuals alone cannot make up for its clunky gameplay and lack of excitement.
Mario Party Island Tour knows it wants to be a party game, and to offer hours of fun to friends. But it hasn’t done a good job and will probably appeal only to people who are obsessed with the Mario franchise. Frankly, it’s probably more exciting just to play analog Monopoly.
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