Mario Party Retrospective | Chance Time

We tackle Mario Party for the N64 in the first episode of Chance Time! Review, Retrospective, Analysis: whatever the case, we pick it apart with a fine-toothed comb.
Edited by: Liam Triforce
Patreon: / kingdomklannad
Twitter: / kingklonoa
Twitch: / thekingklonoa
Last Life: last-life.net/
My Script:
docs.google.com/document/d/1N...
Liam's Channel:
/ @liamtriforce
Liam's Patreon:
/ liamtriforce
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Sources:
(DO NOT ASK FOR ROMS)
-Mario Party Netplay Discord:
/ discord
-Mario Party DS TAS:
• [TAS] Nintendo DS - Ma...
Giant Bomb MP1:
• Mario Party vs. Jeff G...
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#MarioParty #KingK #ChanceTime

[@KingKlonoa]

Hi, glad to see people enjoying this video! In regards to the premiere feature I used, don't worry: after reading dozens of comments that only said "premiere is bad lol" and generally just whining and complaining at me about a feature I decided to try out because I didn't know anything about it, I'm never using it again. It was fun to chat with people, but some of you were honestly a little insensitive about it. If people were more polite I wouldn't be complaining, but there were so many comments that said "lol premiere is bad" and NOTHING else. Sorry to say I'm removing your comment if that's all you have to say, if you have that kind of problem don't flood the video comments with it, or include it within an actually worthwhile comment. Don't worry though, I guess you all succeeded at dissuading me from ever using it again. I would please ask you just watch the video and think before you leave a comment, thanks. Enjoy.

[@bb010g]

I don't see an issue with using Premiere, personally. People still can comment when they finish the video if they're watching live, it doesn't stop you from starting the video normally if you're 5 minutes late (I was 20 minutes late and my experience was not affected in the slightest), and it offers a nice opportunity to chat with those who also watch that's not normally available. What sucks about it?

[@Armm8991]

Too bad i missed it... I thought it was a cool feature

[@dieckiedx]

I also thought that it was a bad and weird feature, but then there was a premiere of I think Game Score Fanfares Video, and he chatted with us while we were watching his video. This actually was pretty cool. Sadly I missed this one, I think you should do an premiere again, because I believe it can be pretty motivating.

[@BraveSirRobin-hx2eq]

Are you going to do the handhelds (or at least DS...)?

[@-kxvin-5239]

Check out Counter Arguments video on it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rquQmGx3mtpnjMk

[@curtishammer748]

30:54 "Having all 4 players work together just feels... wrong." Until you discover that you can strategically throw the game in order to prevent the player with 18 coins from getting the star before you.

[@roondar6141]

If you think I'm gunna waste three quarters of an hour watching someone talk about Mario Party 1 you're god damn right

[@eymed2023]

I don't call it waste, I call it time well spent.

[@crosstie417]

I had all 3 mario parties on 64. Me and my bro and our neighbors played it to death. Rip analog sticks

[@bowserjr1345]

I got something to say something about Luigi's AI skills. I played with a hard CPU Luigi on External Star. First, Luigi has two options: the star or bowser. He rolled enough to get too the star and then he chose bowser instead. i was like,"wow Luigi is an idiot! You could have gotten the star." Next, Luigi on another turn had to options again: bowser or chance time. He chose bowser and still lose a star. He could have landed on chance time to not put himself in danger of losing a star. He could have chosen two other CPU's to lose their stuff other than him. Luigi still won the game after that bullshit.

[@markymark443]

*E X T E R N A L S T A R*

[@crosstie417]

Tell me you are a champion luigi without telling me you're a champion of Mario party

[@antogame1178]

Champion Luigi: My goal are beyond your understanding

[@MangoTurtlenova]

Mario party has a breakdown of about 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, and 50% pain

[@shuntarofurukawa5577]

That's the fun of it

[@niahoad]

Blisters on rotating hand

[@thunderzproductions5474]

lmao

[@santiagoramirez9601]

100% of Luigi doing nothing

[@Pants.69]

And 100% reason to NEVER play Marioparty 9 or 10

[@blockyoxwinkle5829]

'Seriously hurts to play"... Well they did have to give people gloves so that's not entirely false. But I'll never forget my mom bringing it home, popping it in for me and my older brother, and reading the intro to me bc I was too young to read. I've never forgotten the little joke she made when toad says "But" and turns away from the camera. My mom just said "I guess he's showing us his butt now" and for some reason that's always stuck with me

[@Hambs23]

One time when I was very little and didn't know a single English word, I was playing Mario Party with 2 of my much older cousins. I was very dumb and didn't know how to use any kind of strategy, and I don't know if they were schemin against me, but they and the CPU all had 2 stars and I had 0 at the end of the match. The only thing I was good at were the minigames, which I memorized how to beat (not that they were super complicated, even without reading). Obviously I got the bonus minigame star, but somehow I got the other 2 bonus stars aswell, despite not having a huge coin advantage (think I had 22 or close, and the others were at 15 and below). I was screaming in happiness when I saw Luigi posing at the victory screen. I never felt so proud in my entire childhood.

[@padacuw4722]

Aww

[@dontreadthiscomment3026]

Gamer moment

[@king_big_pp]

Hey come on, 'ztar' is hysterical

[@KingKlonoa]

It is hysterically dumb to pronounce

[@posthumanoid]

@@KingKlonoa Just pronounce it with a fun lisp

[@Verticom10]

Lolol

[@autobotstarscream765]

Duuuuuuuuude, it's totally 90's! 😎

[@wareforcoin5780]

No, no, it wasn't youtubers that made me think of Mario Party as friendship killers. It was the friendships that ended over Mario Party.

[@KBash]

Like were your friends socially invalid or what

[@wareforcoin5780]

@@KBash We were like, 5. So yeah, you could say that.

[@wingedmirage4226]

Yeah I remember the friendship killer jokes started way before LPs became popular. And considering a lot of young kids played these, and even a lot of the older players still think it’s mostly luck-based, it kinda makes sense why it got that reputation. Is it overblown? Yes. Is there still some truth to it, especially if you’re playing with immature and/or short-tempered people? Also yes.

[@briansilva3765]

@@KBash I just watched your Thief video, now seeing you on a reply of a Mario Party analysis is so random...

[@TheQuashingoftheTub]

If anything, TRG proved that Mario Party is a friendship enhancer. As for me, well, jokes on Nintendo. I didn't _have_ any friends to lose growing up! Hah! Wait-

[@LevelZeroToInfinity]

Finally, FINALLY someone talks about actual strategy in Mario Party. Ever since playing Super Mario Party (which is a strategic dream compared to the other games) it has made me think a lot about the way strategy is employed in Mario Party's mechanics as a franchise. While it feels like nothing can be done to have a leading edge (some things like hidden blocks are absolutely random), I think there's a lot of thought that goes into how people work through the game in order to win that so many people will brush off as just "random luck."

[@pumpkinpartysystem]

I thought 7 was pretty strategic too. I loved the orb spaces you could do in that. It's my favorite Mario Party.

[@train4292]

So...is there no strategy to Super mario party? Or am i taking the “strategic dream” part the wrong way

[@Velvet_Vylure]

@@train4292 super mario party is more strategy than luck. thats why he said its the dream.

[@train4292]

ThotZelda oh, ok

[@BoydTheMilkmanX]

Mario Party 2 had strategy. But yeah, by 3 it overwhelmingly became a game of luck.

[@millabasset1710]

The first Mario Party is really dark... Hearing "miss" with the failure music and seeing your character's face is never fun. Then there is Shy Guy says were you will get sent into the ocean to die if you raise the wrong flag

[@warioland523]

Mario Party games are rather sadistic when you think about it. Especially whenever Bowser is involved. Even in the GameCube Mario Parties Bowser is just outright sadistic. One such game I remember is Fruits of Doom where Bowser fries one of the characters for bringing him a piece of fruit he doesn't like.

[@malmal9184]

I especially love how the person in last place is shown a humiliating cut scene of themselves falling to their deaths or being eaten by a piranha plant. I used to sit there laughing at my friend or family member because they would be SO mad while watching it. It is dark and even worse it brings out the darkness in the people that are playing.

[@ECL28E]

That's what I miss about the old games. When you lose a mini-game, you fucking know it.

[@RickSatan]

my mom did not let me go trick or treating this year becuase she says i might cathch the coronavirus and kill all of my friends...

[@inybisinsulate]

I miss the DRAW, or rather the spoken word then the catchy music and noone getting money.

[@mack_r-s]

I've always thought of difficulty meaning how complexed a board is, with boards like Mario's Rainbow Castle being very simple in where you go and what you do, while boards like Luigi's Engine Room have a lot more going on in it.

[@Troopertroll]

I always liked the Peach's birthday cake board the most. It was just so "sweet", with upbeat colours and a feeling of progression as you climbed the layers. In a really frustrating game, it was the best at soothing the player.

[@Zeturic]

If someone did happen to learn the patterns for Wario's Battle Canyon, it'd completely ruin the board for everyone else because there would be very little that other players could do to stop them from just dominating that board every time.

[@scottgrasser9737]

i have done it alls you do is learn the spot right before were you want to hit and then press A on that spot and yes it makes it super easy and boring

[@FlamezOfGamez]

Oh my gosh dude, I am so excited for this whole series. It's so great to hear someone talk about what truly is the appeal of Mario Party, its strategy, and just, well everything! I especially can't wait to hear your view on the item economy, some of the board variations during the Gamecube era, and just your general thoughts on Mario Party 2 and 3. I already can't wait for the next part!

[@alyssafleischer8449]

me, my voice, choking back tears: daniel i will come to your house and play mario party

[@Timmytimmy123123]

KingK: "Chance time, where one player will give something to another player at random" Zoomzike: "Are you challenging me, mortal?"

[@kinjogoldbar]

It seems like the game design of the Mario Party games rarely gets discussed, so I'm super happy to see this. Great video, can't wait for the next one!

[@pyrrhickong]

See, for a bit of a contrary point here, I LOVE the control stick spinning mini-games. Well, not Pedal Power or Deep Sea Divers, but Cast Aways, Tug-O-War, and especially Paddle Battle are legitimately great due to the weird, cruel nature of Mario Party 1. Mario Party 1 is so oddly antagonistic toward the player - Bowser will buy stars off of you if you don't have any coins but do have stars and it's "coins for Bowser" time, board events typically cost a lot more than they would in later games due to the lack of items to buy, and most importantly, you lose coins if you lose a 1v3 or 2v2. It makes the game work SO incredibly well as an exercise in cruelty, trying to convince your friends that you NEED to burn a hole through your hands so you can deny the 1 player 15 whole coins and prevent them from getting a star in Tug o War, or trying to bleed it out of them in the slow, agonizing stretch that's Paddle Battle. There's Bowser giving you a coin only to take 20 after, or the fact that fourth place gets embarrassed for DARING to come in last on the six main boards. There's such a sense of schadenfreude to Mario Party 1 that the rest of the series dares not approach, and it gives the game its own unique charm that I think makes it stand out. (Also I did an analysis on the Designing For channel on Peach's Birthday Cake being built around a 50 turn game. Don't like plugging but I felt it actually added to the conversation so thought I'd mention. Sorry to shill even a little =< ) Overall I really love the direction of this series. As a lonely kid who played from Mario Party through Mario Party 7 on his own to get all of the unlockables so that his friends could enjoy a rare 20 turn game, even all of the mountains for MP3 story and the rooms in MP4 story, seeing someone 'get' the AI patterns, the strategy that everyone becomes luck, the frustration... that's really gratifying. Thank you for that. I really hope that videos like these can help Nintendo take the Mario Party series more seriously. I know that a lot of criticism won't be seen by developers, but with the prevailing sentiment on Mario Party being that it's a luck-fest, and the devs seemingly doubling down on that with recent entries, I really hope that a new sentiment can be borne from essays like these toward the Mario Party series. One a lot more fond than the current one. And if you ever need someone to get footage with, hit me up. There is very rarely a time that I am not down to party, as long as DK or Boo is playable. And eh, sure, personal MP1 board rankings: DK > Yoshi > Mario > Bowser > Peach > Luigi > Wario > Star

[@Sophi023]

Just watched your analysis after reading your comment, good points!

[@MagicSpartan1992]

They're really satisfying to win but you hate how much pain you're in once you've put yourself through torture and still ended up losing.

[@hockeater]

To be fair mario party is B tier friendship killer material. If you really want people to HATE each other, like with ACTUAL enmity, set them to playing any variation of dokapon.

[@spartanq7781]

If you want that play Sonic Shuffle. If you hate everyone and/or yourself. I hate myself but not that much to suffer that garbage.

[@wareforcoin5780]

Monopoly will always be the true friendship ender.

[@spartanq7781]

@@wareforcoin5780 I would say that woumd be Sorry. That game trains you to be a dick.

[@hockeater]

@@spartanq7781 The problem with Sorry is that the game is so gosh darned simple it's never unclear what the best move is with any card you've picked.

[@claire4708]

Kirbys dream course is A-tier shit

[@Salem-Arrak]

I heard once that if the content you want isn't on youtube, you make it. I've been playing Mario party for years (6 is my favorite), and I always wanted to see a video on the design of mario party, and what makes a good board and a good minigame, but no one takes Mario Party seriously. I thought I should make a video but I'm so glad you were able to hit that niche for me and doing it so well! Can't wait for the future ones!

[@Whirlwhind1]

The thing that strikes me as weird the most about Mario Party 1 is that not even the dice rolls are in your control. Typically you'd think that the number you roll is determined by when you strike the dice block, right? Well, that only applies to every Mario Party that isn't 1 or DS. In these games the number that you roll *is determined at the start of the turn* removing any kind of timing involved. Using savestates on an emulator, I've made several attempts at dice rolls, only to get the same result every time. The *only* instance where it changes is if you place a save on the results screen of a minigame, *before* the start of a turn. These predetermined dice rolls aren't limited to just your regular roll either. Even Eternal Star's Koopa kids, Magma Mountain's shortcuts, and mushroom spaces are affected. The fact that your actual input on the boards is limited to nothing but dialog boxes and directions kinda rubbed me the wrong way. It was almost like the game was playing itself.

[@allsystemsgootechaf9885]

Knew it

[@enderallygolem]

Either way you can't control your roll anyways, so it really doesn't matter

[@Wokiis]

The meaning of dice rolls are that they are supposed to be effectively random. The odd fact that it can be manipulated in later titles seems like more of an issue.

[@2SeizeTheDay]

It's effectively the same as a dice roll regardless. Just imagine you pressed A to break your die as soon as the minigame results screen ended as opposed to when the die is above your head. The fact that your actual input is an illusion doesn't change the nature of a random dice roll. Which is unsatisfying nonetheless I will admit.

[@chaptap8376]

save states are cheating. play the game for real if you’re gonna complain about it lol

[@SuperGamer61499]

Dude, honestly? I love this. :D Analyzing a series known for being "random" is so fun to me. ;) I love Mario Party. I'll always play 2,3,6,or 7 with my girlfriend. It's honestly fun if cruel to just come out on top. (I remember at one point, I read a comment from someone asking Matthewmatosis to do it for Mario Party but a lot dismiss the idea.) Seriously, I want to see what you think of the others. So many games to go through. Hope you get buddies to make it more fun. (Playing with CPUs is fine. But with someone else? It can be a blast.)

[@church7089]

"I have what I'd like to consider an addiction..." Who would like that? You're mad KingK! Mad!

[@ContemplatingHope]

Words can't describe how much I enjoyed this video and will enjoy this series. I don't think I've ever met anyone until now that understands my deep obsession, fascination, time spent, contemplation, and love with this series. Not to mention how much time I've spent contemplating and debating the strategy/skill vs. luck factor of the series. To say I'm looking forward to this series is an understatement.

[@rbikidportland]

That blonde streamer guy is the dude from the blinking meme isn’t he

[@Doritomurderer]

thank you for starting off with a giant bomb mario party party clip. love that series to death

[@GameBrainOfficial]

Awesome video dude! Incredibly consistent throughout, look forward to more.

[@fabioandthecastles]

Love your analysis!! Glad to see that there are great fans that has so much love for this franchise🎲✨ it really made me feel so nostalgic and i’m about to blast some mario party for a couple of hours, thank you!

[@AshbySound]

I watch the Giant Bomb Mario Party Party videos all the time. Looking forward to the second video!

[@SpicyWah]

I love at 31:52-32:08 they’re jumping to the rhythm of the music

[@ForteUltimus]

I have to admit, I have never before seen an avid lover of the Mario Party series before, and I'd love to get your perspectives the other games down the line, as well. That being said, this was a huge video, and I love that dedication you had in critiquing the first game, in its' entirety. Though I resent the first Mario Party, your overall analysis on it was fantastic, and leaves me with great expectations.

[@Eddyoshi]

This series is a truly awesome idea, not enough mario party appreciation going on! ...but its made me realise that the recent Super Mario Party on the switch is almost a remake of this game...and a more stripped down version at that.

[@antimatter3084]

Super Mario Party is Far from a remake or a stripped down version of MP 1.

[@GameDevYal]

Really liking how in-depth this is (your videos always are and that's what's making them awesome), and there's a lot of insightful little details that most people brush over normally. Like pointing out that easier AIs are usually made from hard AIs that get artificially dumbed down, and that the only thing the single-player minigames achieves is forcing everyone else to wait longer before they can do anything. For me, the strategy aspect is the main aspect of the Marioparty series, so it's gonna be really exciting to see how this series turns out once you get to the really good entries!

[@SparktheYoshi]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this video. I like your voice, it's pleasant to listen to. Your retrospectives are interesting to me and I found myself unable to stop watching your Super Mario 64 one, despite pausing it multiple times cause I was busy last night. All of your respectives either confirm thoughts I've had about X game in a positive way (like 'oh yeah, I remember that, that was a great thing/design/etc') and even bring things I didn't realize to light. Seeing your commentary and retrospective made me go..."oh hey, I miss playing Mario Party, I forgot how fun it was, I should see if I could find some online friends of mine willing to setup netplay with it"

[@arthurlima2768]

dude, your videos are flawless. i just love your channel. congrats!

[@pissqueendanniella4688]

I am actually living for this series. Please never stop making these until you catch up into the mario party aeries 💜💜

[@Akay4444444444444444]

Peach's Birthday Cake is my second favorite board from Mario Party (Though I haven't played Mario Party in like... a decade. Since game rentals were a thing). Then again I like the higher number of turns so that might be why some of its gimmicks like the Piranha plants are more enjoyable to me

[@Chocolatepain]

Haven't started this yet but excited. You make really good content dude. I LOVE videogame retrospectives/analysis and you always make great long videos to enjoy. Cheers.

[@CrokeyHigati]

Ive been so excited for these videos! I love Mario Party and definitely sunk lots of time in playing them as a kid and can't get enough of them now that I'm older. I can't wait til you pull apart Mario party 2 - 4 as they are some of my favorites in the series. I would definitely want someone to make a truly Online Mario Party one day where settings and changes could be made to make whole different modes of play. Now that sounds like some well deserved fun.

[@charlesgriffiths4901]

After recently coming across your videos (watched all the zelda videos now), I have to say they are all excellent. Great insight and very informative. As someone who does not get a lot of time to game anymore, it's great to have a good old look back into some true classics. Please keep up the good work.

[@tba6]

Kingk you did it again mario party 7 is my favorite mario party of all time and I put thousands of hours to that game not exaderaiting even to the point where we got perfect times on mini games and we time dice rolles perfectly and consistently moreover you just broke down mario party showed what made it fun and the tacticall and I’ve never seen another KZbinr talk about that usually they just say how fun the dumb luck is which is not true to a certain extent so thank you it’s good to see smart people like you

[@kylestillwell7031]

This was really good. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@CartoonCade]

This is quite possibly the greatest video-essay-type video I have ever seen. Great work man!

[@SlasherLink]

Dude, this is what I needed. I got Super Mario Party a few days ago and was loving it even without having any friends to play it with yet and it got me thinking about why I love the Mario Parties from the N64 and Gamecube -namely 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7-, why 9 and 10 were so bad and so disappointing, and why Super Mario Party felt like such a grand return to form even if it isn't as fantastic as some of the previous games imo. By the end, I pinpointed that 1 through 8 all relied on a mostly consistent balance of three pillars: skill within the minigames, strategy on the boards, and luck that isn't as prevalent as the previous categories but tends to create massive power shifts when it happens (see Chance Time and it's various iterations or the handful of luck-based battle and duel minigames that can have massive coin amounts or stars up for grabs). 9 and 10 lost this balance by cutting back the prevalence of skill by making minigames something you have to land on as opposed to naturally occurring and strategy by making the game's based on one sole currency: mini stars, as well as putting everyone in the car along linear boards which means you won't often have a say in what you're doing or about to do most of the time. This meant that games were mostly determined by luck which created this series downfall. But then came Super Mario Party, which in spite of the lackluster online among a few other shortcomings, really did bring back a lot of 1 through 8's basics, cut the crap from 9 and 10, and added a slew of unique, differentiated modes along with some small but enjoyable gimmicks such as the character specific dice. This was what I was looking for ever since 9 and 10 came out and was easily the best thing I got out of this year's E3 that wasn't Smash. I'm not gonna lie, I felt so fucking good when you said those exact same 3 elements comprise the core of Mario Party. And what followed was just an excellent critical analysis on the whole of the original. Looking forward to the rest of these, especially 6 and 7 which are my personal favorites.

[@wariolandgoldpiramid]

Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the newer Mario Party games giving rewards to somebody who gets 2nd, 3rd, and sometimes even 4th place in a minigame? I personally feel like it's a good idea, it gives you a reason to try your rest. Even if you know you aren't getting first,you have a reason to try aiming for 2nd or 3rd. Althouht it shouldn't have been done in SMP's Partner Party. However, I've seen a lot of people say "no, only the winner should get coins, like it used to be", without really explaining much. So what are your thouhts on that?

[@SlasherLink]

@@wariolandgoldpiramid Eh, really I'm a little wishy-washy on the revamped reward system myself. On the one hand, it helps give newer or less-skilled players a bit more of a chance against others by allowing them to score a handful of coins or mini stars in minigames. Coming from someone that is the top-dog among his friend group at Mario Party, I still feel good when I win minigames because...well, I won the minigame and I'm reaping the most rewards from it. I've always felt that the coin/mini star distribution for minigame placement has been on-point ever since it's debut in 9 which is probably the other reason I don't feel like it's giving the winner a relatively lackluster payout, all while giving the losers enough so that they don't feel entirely discouraged even after a loss. That being said, it's pretty obvious to me that the only reason the minigame payouts were changed was to accommodate the far fewer minigames you'd run into during a board playthrough in 9 and 10 since you can't just play a minigame after a turn like a normal Mario Party, god-forbid. I've always preferred 1 through 8's method of 10 coins to the winner(s). It's certainly not as beginner-friendly but that's just a part of classic Mario Party's ruthless nature and I love it. It also leads into some of MP's most tense moments where one player obtaining a star or paying Boo for a star steal or whatnot will be determined by if they manage to win the next minigame. This pushes everyone to the next level and encourages fierce competition whereas these moments are almost entirely absent in 9 and 10 and much harder to come across in Super due to the reduced prices for everything. Still, I'm ultimately fine with it, and of all the things Super had to inherit from it's predecessors, this change is so small and harmless that it never really impacted my thoughts on the game.

[@koopanique]

I'm so glad to see someone finally standing up and explain why Mario Party isn't exclusively "luck-based". This was an excellent video making excellent points about the series, and it even made me reflect about stuff I had never thought about during my countless hours playing the game

[@mcnamaraky]

Wish I had people to play Mario Party with :(

[@ninto55ssequesterrecording8]

Your best bet is the Mario Party Netplay Discord. It was even mentioned in the video. They provide the emulators and save files and all the instructions on how to set it up. Then you can play games with other people in the discord server. Google "mario party netplay discord" and it is the first thing that comes up.

[@shuntarofurukawa5577]

@@ninto55ssequesterrecording8 that's cool. Is it super complex? Where can I get the rom?

[@ninto55ssequesterrecording8]

They have guides in the discord that will walk you through downloading the emulators and setting them up. You can use google to get the roms.

[@everythingpony]

@@ninto55ssequesterrecording8 and they are gone

[@ninto55ssequesterrecording8]

@@everythingpony What do you mean? I still see the guides in the discord. In the #rules-land channel, they have a "Netplay Builds + Guides" section.

[@ReinLovesKawakaze]

I genuinely enjoyed the video a lot! Good work and I look forward to more videos related to the Mario Party series!

[@angerock49]

Your essay is so much more in depth than others I've seen! Thanks!

[@TheCoooom]

Keep this up, excellent and very interesting series! I've always wanted someone to do this for the Mario Party series!

[@shaankelly1302]

Dude yes! A Mario Party Marathon series is right up my alley! Thank you!

[@TheLeonardProduction]

Wow, someone that doesn't think bumper balls is trash, I thought I was the only one. "Two humans will always stay alive in the end and there's gonna always be a draw" they say... but if you know a draw is a loss, wouldn't you try to make it NOT be a draw? All you need to do is ACT, just take a chance and go near the edge, either the other guy will try to follow you and possibly be baited into the edge, or you will have a speed boost and be able to knock the other player out of the center. Staying safe in the center isn't the goal, murdering your friends in cold blood is, and much like in real life, you gotta take some chances to accomplish that.

[@train4292]

What are you talking about?! A lot of people love number balls!

[@TheLeonardProduction]

@@train4292 I've seen more people hate on it online than like it... almost 5 to 1, so that's where I'm coming from... I always loved it, so it was a chock to learn that

[@samsonfgc3472]

the issue is that if you act, there is no chance you can take that is too high, short of just rolling off the side by yourself. if you roll at someone and miss they can't punish your inability to turn around because they also cant turn around because they had to get out of the way. You also dont need much momentum or space to cancel out someone who's got a lot of both. You can end up in a situation where one player runs at another that's near the edge and just barely doesn't hit them off, and then they both just stop. Neither player can budge the other because neither has momentum, now the player on the inside has to back up and let the other player back into the center, a spot in which you are literally unkillable. On top of that the minigame is designed such that if you have the minigame star or just a lot of coins, and the other player has neither, you are in an advantageous position as long they don't win. Its so easy to force a draw that it just helps the rich get richer, or more accurately, keep the poor poor.

[@maertens29]

A draw isn't a loss, though. It's a draw. By trying to "bait" your opponent you're unnecessarily placing yourself in a losing position. "Fun". Even against AI this game will result in a draw more often than not.

[@zefsku3206]

I spammed this mini game when I got back into the game a few years ago, We would load up, and just play bumper balls for hours.

[@Okapi540]

I like to think of MP1 as the hardcore entry in the franchise. It isn't the best entry (definitely in my top 5), but the lack of items and the fact that losing mini-games make you LOSE coins really fascinates me and my friends. It's a good challenge. We all use what I call "The Gentleman's Rule," which is that we all agree to just use our thumbs for the mini-games that require you to rotate the Control Stick. It works when everybody has the same handicap. I am really looking forward to this series. I liked your discussion of survival strategies, because it is something I always knew about but could never articulate. I hope we agree on the other Mario Party games more than we agree on Wind Waker and The Minish Cap. :P

[@hannahdarrough9189]

Your Nintendo retrospectives give me life. So glad you're taking the time to actually analyze these games, there's so much more strategy involved in them than people give them credit for.

[@rickydo6572]

Nothing beats the feeling of losing all your Stars to another player on the last turn of a 35 turns match and going from 1st place to dead last. It happened to me once, and i didn't even get mad because it was the funniest shit ever.

[@sonyvssnes]

Rickydo once in MP3 Daisy stole 3 of my stars in one turn and I got em all back via bonus stars.

[@ryodestroyer2]

Oooh, a retrospective channel? I love these kinds of videos!

[@spongyoshi]

After seeing those videos pop-up in my recommended for a while now, I'm finally giving it a go! And as another Mario Party addict, usually playing alone,I really enjoyed this! I don't agree with everything but it's great to see a retrospective of that series and I'm one of those fellas who really enjoy Mario Party 1 for it's uniqueness, especially the fact that the pay-out system for minigames was all over the place which made them feel way more important than future installment! (A trait that Sonic Shuffle shares, it's still a pretty good partygame I'd say and it's even made by Hudson Soft even if I wouldn't say it's in the same league as the majority of Mario Party games) I hope you keep it up and that you'll give a fair shot to every entry! It's a bit sad when those series don't give a chance to handheld installments or those that are brave enough to change up the formula as I think every game (Maybe except Top 100 if I'll have to be honest) has something unique & fun to offer! Regarding to the video in question tho, I'm pretty sure the AI difficulty just changes up their difficulty only in the minigames as I haven't noticed much changes on the board gameplay for different AI difficulties. Also, you get no punishment for going too early in Musical Mushroom so you can easily just rotate the joystick in the direction of the mushroom, letting you go at the exact frame the music stops! Also, since people in the comment did their own board rankings: Peach > Wario > Star > DK > Mario > Yoshi > Bowser > Luigi

[@jamespatterson9805]

Damn, I repressed that Boo Cycling mini-game. My palm hurt just seeing it like some kind of pavlovian trigger. Keep it up!

[@douglasjordan9259]

Love mario party, love the video. Can’t wait for every video. Love your review/critique style.

[@aronaar]

I'm delighted to see some analyzing Mario Party with such depth ! I convinced a friend to try the series some weeks ago and I've showed her that, indeed, you can regularly make your own luck in Mario Party, going so far as to lose on purpose a 2 vs 2 minigame, so that your AI teammate won't have enough coins to buy the star close to him. The possibilities grew as the series produced more sequels- well, to a a certain extent. As you pointed out, the bonus stars are critical for enabling a strategy, but when they introduced random bonus stars, what a letdown. More bonus stars is not a bad thing in itself, but not knowing wich ones will be enabled for the current party cripples strategic planning. In any case, I'm looking forward to your future "Chance Time" videos ! Subscribed.

[@KatlyHong]

I won pedal power once and had that lil spiral in my palm for a while afterward. Agh, those games ended up killing all of my controllers

[@autobotstarscream765]

"At Game Informer, we've been on the warpath against the Mario Party series since day one."

[@wolfenfloffen7066]

Great content, I'm a huge fan dude. MP 3 is my favourite, I'd do anything to be able to play it again. You're doing the lord's work, thank you sir!

[@ninto55ssequesterrecording8]

This is something I have wanted to see for a long time. I look forward to the future episodes. One thing I've always thought would be interested to see when discussing the minigames is a breakdown of the percentages. Divide each minigame into a type, and display a screen with the percentages of each type in each game (as you go along you would still show the percentages of the previous games covered for comparing). It would probably be useful to also display the number of minigames too. Mainly so we can see how these breakdowns make the game feel. Maybe all have an even amount of minigames, or maybe some of the games feel more luck based because they actually have a higher percentage of luck based games. And even if they do have a different amount of luck based games, which percentage breakdown works best for play? How you choose to break these down is up to you, but I've always thought a breakdown of "Skill" "Mashing" and "Luck" would be appropriate. The rest of this comment will just be an explanation of why I think of the minigames in this way, but if you're not interested in my breakdown and would like you use your own, feel free to stop reading now. To me, those three types of minigames are just about who will win. A "Luck" game is obviously just luck based, any player has an equal chance of winning. The "Mashing" based games are also obvious, but what is less obvious is why I don't consider it a "Skill" game. That's because (in my experience) every time a button mashing game is played, the player who is best at mashing is going to win. There isn't really any way for that to change unless two or more of the players happen to be so even on their button mashing, which I think is uncommon. Between any two players there is bound to be some difference, and that difference basically guarantees who will win your average "mash the a button the most to win" minigame. I suppose control stick spinning should probably also be in here, but that is just in Mario Party 1, so it probably isn't too big of a deal. After that, "Skill" minigames are just everything else. It is putting a lot of things together, Action, Strategy, Puzzles, Coordination, etc. But the idea here is that when you start it, any player can win based on their skill. If you play a platforming action game, the one who is best at platforming has the best chance of winning. But if you play a puzzle game, the player in the group who is best at that is most likely to win instead. So my break down of "Luck" "Mashing" "Skill" is meant to represent how likely people are going to win. "Everyone has a random shot at winning", "One person is going to win every time", and "Each player may win based on their own skillset" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Also, in Musical Mushroom, you can just hold your control stick towards the center the whole time, rotating it as your character runs around the screen. Then you'll start running to center immediately. That's pretty much what the computer players are doing.

[@SpicyWah]

Knowing my luck, I will land on that one specific space with the piranha plant in peach’s birthday cake out of dozens

[@Saplingbat]

I just found your channel today and I was really sad when I noticed that this video is so new and doesn't have a sequel yet. I eagerly await the next one :D

[@tohomoko5120]

Dude I'm so excited for this series! I can't wait to see more about other Mario Party games!

[@nyyankeefandp]

Great job with this video! Excited for the next one.

[@adammorrell9553]

I was looking for more Mark Brown videos when I found you. It was a good find! Thanks for your videos!

[@perspectivesofthesoul9934]

A 44-minute documentary on Mario Party. You, kind Sir, have just earned a new sub! Great work!

[@maisydog]

Never played Mario party and likely never will, but this was a really cool video. I enjoy these long, in depth retrospectives :) I'm looking forward to the next one :D

[@clecanadalawexplained6330]

It’s funny how people often complain that the Mario Party games are luck based while simultaneously complaining that the same member of their group of friends wins the vast majority of the time.

[@Illumirage]

you do some of the best game videos on the net. Keep it up bud. I'm not fucking kidding. You actually put thought and effort into these. I really enjoy your work.

[@jwolf2074]

I loved running of the bulb though. It's so good!

[@pumpkinpartysystem]

Mario Party 7 is my favorite. I love the orbs in that game, they really helped make it great for me. All of the boards are pretty good too, though the Bowser one's island sinking can be a bit much sometimes.

[@ECL28E]

Something I think the subsequent games are missing that made the first game a true "friendship-killer"; Mario Party 64 treats loss more harshly. That biting music-sting, the failure animations and voice-clips, losing your coins (sometimes to your rivals), the last-placer cutscenes... The first game was a friendship-killer because when you lost, the game rubs it in your face.

[@ViewtifulJoe7]

Would love more vids like this! Great stuff my dude

[@kaniza3092]

Lol I found this channel today and wanted to se ep2, noticed you uploaded this 2 days ago. Good job!

[@cecillewolters1995]

Loved this video, can’t wait for future ones! Have a nice day :)

[@Sophi023]

Super excited for this series! I love me some Mario Party and video game analysis :D

[@poultriarchy]

Core A Gaming did an incredible video regarding increasing accessibility in fighting games and part way through he talked about how at the highest level of poker you consistently see the same winners even though the game is “supposedly” predicated entirely on luck. He mentioned that “party games” typically increase the power of factors like luck in order to protect egos (e.g. I lost because of rng vs I lost because you are a better player), allowing a higher pool of potential players to have fun irrespective of gaps in skill. That said, even these luck based games can have high skill caps (in poker that being psychological conditioning and cold reading), and Mario Party might be the perfect example of a game with a high skill ceiling, a low skill floor, and a strong luck element working in tandem to reach the largest possible player base. This video rules hard dude. So glad you covered this.

[@Tronk_]

I’m so glad to know an amazingly in depth game analyzer, who (like me) played Mario Party for HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF HOURS! I fucking love every Mario Party, and I don’t even hate 9 or 10, but traditional Mario Party is something you cannot replicate an experience of. Great video as always KingK!

[@ultracrazed2215]

00:25 "This is bullshit! Fuck this game!" Probably the most relatable phrase in Mario Party history.

[@EduardoWeidmanBarijan]

That was an interesting tackle on the Mario Party subject, because everyone else thinks it is only about luck. I just played 9, so I am waiting for this episode. Anyway, good analysis as always. I enjoy how you talk about the game and sounds like a documentary of some sort.

[@QuantaSolace]

I grew up playing all of them. Out of all of them that I have played, Mario Party 2 is my favorite. I loved everything about that game from the boards to the outfits for each board.

[@minirop]

What is the more shocking thing I learnt about that game is that dice rolls are not random in the expected sense. when the die appear above your head, you can wait as little or as much as possible you aways get the same value. Same for the turn order at the start, the game generates 4 dice rolls and it's the order in which the players "roll" that set the order.

[@villabong11]

mario party 1 was very dark in terms of quality of life stuff, but this of course is due to be the first entry in a party board console game and also ofc the mario party series. Now in my experience i win and loss countless board games with friends but to me the laughing was the most important part of the game it taught that sometimes things could just fall apart and had to learn that getting salty will take me nowhere so i learn to enjoy bad and good moments, learn to keep my positive side even the most hopeless moments, it is a game yes but not eveyone can do this even with a simple game. i even appreciate how my friends laught at my bad luck, watching them having a good time was at this point in my life (20 years later) something that i remember with a lot of joy. TLDR: is just a game that is all about multiplayer chaos, and just like life, things can just fall apart randomly and if that happen you need to just learn to stay still, be positive and move forward.

[@zlatkajupe]

My friends and I used to have drunken Mario Party sessions. Ahhhhh I miss those days.

[@niiinjaaaaa]

I adore the Mario Party series, and am overjoyed to finally see someone do serious videos on the design of the whole series. I'm highly looking forward to the rest of the retrospective.l

[@vvlaze]

This is fantastic. I really can’t wait to see more.

[@queenaraphel7154]

aghhhhhh Im so glad to see someone talk about this! its the way my friends i have played this game forever

[@Furluge]

I really liked this. I've never been a big fan of Mario Party before but I really like your analysis of the gameplay.

[@TheDragonpaul22]

Mario Party retrospective..... I did not expect this and I have to say I loved it!

[@DeathWishBoi666]

Before I looked at the publishing date I was so confused not hearing anything related to Corona when he was talking about "having friends over"

[@DavvaBG]

Great video man!

[@rohinkartik-narayan7535]

This was a really good video! I definitely think my views on Mario's Rainbow Castle have softened a bit. I still thing the Ztar taking away 40 coins is *way* too punishing but I guess it's fine. They even brought back the gimmick later. Personally my favorite is the first one I ever played: the definitely-most-hectic-and-almost-most-unbalanced Mario Party DS. I mean, that credits music puts it up there on its own. But I can't wait for you to talk about how wild the AI is, either being easily beaten or impossible to beat. I'm really looking forward to the future videos in this series

[@lukekinder4959]

Just happy to hear your amazing voice. Music to my ears

[@rickrhone8420]

i love listening to this guy talk about video games.

[@andrewthemaroon8608]

Awwwwww yeeeeeeee new Kingk!!!! I recently binged watched everything you did at work. So this is exciting lol

[@grizzlymang1930]

Ahem "work" AHAHAHAHAHA 😂

[@andrewthemaroon8608]

@@grizzlymang1930 im a custodian with free wifi and blue tooth headset. I guess a more accurate phrase is listen to while at work lol

[@javi1989]

Great video. Hope videos like these become more commonplace in the community.