In 1999, Mario Party brought board games and minigame chaos to the Nintendo 64, kicking off a franchise that entertained and frustrated friends for decades. We revisit its setup. Mario and friends competing to be the Superstar, and how dice rolls, coins, stars, and more than 50 minigames made it a staple at gatherings. Our conversation highlights challenges like Bumper Balls and Tug o’ War, along with the infamous joystick-spinning events that left players with blisters and led to lawsuits against Nintendo. We also trace the roots of party games before Mario Party, from Olympic Decathlon and Anticipation to You Don’t Know Jack, and look at how later titles like Super Monkey Ball and Overcooked carried the genre forward. Along the way, we share our own minigame quiz and debate which video game characters we’d most want to be on today’s trip down Memory Card Lane.
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A Trip Down Memory Card Lane