Mario Party: The Top 100 packs 100 mini-games into one package for the 3DS. It is a compilation of challenges drawn from the first ten Mario Party games for home consoles, with fresh graphics and sound for most of them. The game asks players to pick a character — Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, or Rosalina — and face off on a single shared board.
Trailer, via Nintendo of America.
The Board and Its Rules
Players roll dice to move around the board and gather coins, earning one Star for every ten coins collected. Stars are the goal. Items sit on the board and can be picked up to give a player an edge over rivals. Unlike earlier Mario Party games, mini-games no longer play automatically after every turn. Instead, they start when a player uses an item or pops a Minigame Balloon.
Minigame Island
A separate mode sends players through a set path of pre-chosen mini-games, facing Bowser, Donkey Kong, or other foes along the way. Finishing this mode unlocks several dozen hidden mini-games. Beating it once opens a harder mode, and gathering every Star requires a full run through the harder version.
The Minigame Match Mode
Here the familiar formula returns. Up to four players, human or AI, compete on a board game guided by Toad or Toadette. The goal remains simple: be the first to gather enough Stars by the end of the board.
What Works
The premise is strong. A hundred mini-games, taken from across the series, give players a wide mix of tests to try: timing tests, reflex puzzles, skill contests. They are bite-sized and easy to pick up, which fits the series’ history of quick, chaotic fun.
What Falls Short
There is not much beyond the mini-games themselves. The board game modes add little new beyond the rules already described. The game does not offer enough reason to return once the collection is fully unlocked.
How It Compares
| Feature | Mario Party: The Top 100 | Mario Party Superstars |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | 3DS | Switch |
| Release Year | 2017 | 2021 |
| Mode Focus | Board game + Minigame Island | Pure mini-game mode |
| Mini-games | 100 from home console games | 100 from home console games |
| Player Count | Up to four | Up to four |
Both games share the same core idea: a large set of mini-games drawn from the series’ past. Superstars drops the board game framing entirely, offering pure mini-game play instead. That difference changes how the two feel to play, even though both draw from the same pool of content.
Final Word
Mario Party: The Top 100 succeeds at what it sets out to do: bring together a hundred mini-games from the series’ past in a single package. It fails to build much around that core beyond the board game modes, which offer little that hasn’t been done before in the series. For players looking for a quick fix of familiar chaos, this holds up. For anyone hoping for something new, the game delivers mostly the same experience found in older entries.
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