Mario Party: Star Rush

Template:Justreleased Template:Infobox Mario Party: Star Rush is a party game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is the second Mario Party game released for the system after Mario Party: Island Tour, and the fourteenth game overall. The game, as with most entries of the Mario Party series, is a multiplayer-oriented party game, where up to four players compete in an interactive, digital board for the most stars. What sets this game apart from its precedents in the Mario Party series is its main mode, Toad Scramble, where, instead of players using designated Mario characters from the start, take control of a color-coded member of the Toad species and collect Mario characters around the board. Also unlike other Mario Party games, all players move at one turn, streamlining the gameplay. The board designs are non-linear as well, also unlike previous boards in the Mario Party series, where players travel in a straight line around the boards. It was released on October 7, 2016 for Europe and October 8 for Australia and New Zealand and is scheduled for release on October 20 for Japan, and November 4 for North America. The game is compatible with amiibo. The game uses up 3018 blocks for a digital download from the Nintendo eShop.

Gameplay

File:MarioPartyStarRush-ToadScramble.jpg

Gameplay of Toad Scramble, the main mode.

Mario Party: Star Rush's board gameplay is the main focus of the game. Players traverse around a board, using a Dice Block numbered from 1-6. Due to the nature of the boards, most spaces landed on the boards in Mario Party: Star Rush do not trigger a special effect, while there are very few spaces that do: for example, specifically landing on a ? Block space grants the player a random item for use. Minigames can be collected from playing Toad Scramble and Coinathlon, with both modes having different ways play a minigame; in Toad Scramble, for example, players need to pass a Coin Balloon to trigger a minigame.

Toad Scramble is the only mode where players cannot choose a designated Mario character, instead, starting out with a colored member of the Toad species, corresponding to a player; said Mario characters can be used only when collected in the board, set as the leader, or with a use of an amiibo. In all other modes, however, players can choose and play as a specific Mario character, including Toad himself as an option if players wish to play as a Toad in other modes.

Game modes

Ten game modes are confirmed to appear in Mario Party: Star Rush. At the beginning, the Toad Scramble mode is the only mode players can play, however, players unlock other modes as they play the game.

Toad Scramble

File:MarioPartyStarRush -ToadScramble2.jpg

A player acquiring Yoshi in Toad Scramble.

Up to four players can enjoy Toad Scramble, the central mode of Mario Party: Star Rush. Each player in the beginning starts out with a member of the Toad species, where their colors correspond to each player: red being Player 1, blue being Player 2, green being Player 3, and yellow being Player 4. Players are then notified of the appearance of a boss character in the map, as well as potential ally characters that the Toads can recruit. The goal of the game is to amass the most Stars, where players can retrieve Stars by placing first in boss minigames. Players can face off against bosses by landing on the space in front of them. Every time a boss minigame is completed, a new boss appears on the board on a different spot. Up to five bosses can appear on a board. When a player plays against a boss, other players need to tap to travel to the boss space to participate as well.

When players recruit ally characters, the ally characters help out by increasing dice roll amounts with their own special Dice Blocks and helping the players earn points simultaneously in video games. Ally characters have certain field abilities unique to them as well; for example, Mario can stomp on Goombas in grass while Princess Peach can make flowers bloom. Whenever a player recruits an ally character, they can switch characters before the start of any turn in order to directly use them. Up to four ally characters can be recruited for each team, having five characters in total at play. Players can duel each others' ally characters by participating in an Ally Duel, either by landing on the same space as another player or by using a Duel Glove. When an Ally Duel is triggered, one of the several events happen. One event is a Dice Block roll: the two players roll a die; whoever rolls higher wins. Another event has players choose cards with numbers facing upside-down; whoever picks a higher numbered card wins. When players win the Ally Duel, they steal an ally from the losing player. If the losing player does not have an ally character, the winning player earns coins instead.

Dotted throughout the board are coins that can be collected by running through them. Players can land on special spaces as well, such as a ? Block, which gives players an item that can help players and hinder their opponents. Players can land on a Lakitu space, where at a fee of one coin, players can travel to another player's space.

When a player passes through a Coin Balloon, the player earns coins, as well as starting a minigame. Similar to the Battle minigame of previous Mario Party installments, the player who landed on the space can choose a minigame out of four randomly selected, rather than traditionally letting a roulette decide which minigame to play.

Coinathlon

Yoshi participating in Coinathlon with two other players.

In a mode that up to four players can play, players must collect as many coins as they can in 60-second designated coin minigames to progress three laps around a map. As players collect coins in minigames, they proceed through the map as the minigames happen. Players can earn a variety of items via collecting coins; when characters collect enough coins, a transparent box containing an item shows up. Players can retrieve the item by touching the box, and when players press , they can momentarily use that item to stun their opponents. The items available are Blooper, Lava Bubble, Lightning Bolt, Kamek, Double Medal, and Money Bag. Players can also retrieve a Coin Trio to help boost their coin count. Whichever player crosses the finish line first wins the game.

Coinathlon comes in two modes. One mode is Free Play Mode, where players can choose the number of players, laps, and minigames available. The other mode, Rival Race, players can take on a series of challenges to try to earn 10 wins.

Mario Shuffle

File:MarioPartyStarRush -MarioShuffle.jpg

Mario Shuffle in play.

Mario Shuffle is a two-player oriented game mode that focuses on amiibo functionality. Players race across a linear, one-way board to a goal with amiibo. The red team tries to make it to the very right of the board, while the blue team tries to make to the left side of the board. Players roll two dice, and allow the outcome of the dice to affect two figurines. When a player crosses an opposing piece, the player jumps over the piece, making that piece unable to move for one turn. If a player lands on an opposing piece, the player knocks the piece back to the start of the board. Players can land on spaces that either make the piece continue further or moving back, depending on the directions on the space. If players do not have amiibo, a cardboard cut-out of a player character is used instead. A total amount of six characters can be used, each split into two teams of three. The first team who makes it across the board to their goal wins the game.

Balloon Bash

Gameplay of Balloon Bash.

Players, with up to four players, must collect coins and stars on a mini board with 20 turns and minigames after a player touches a coin balloon. The gameplay is very similar to Toad Scramble, except players navigate through smaller boards and are able to use designated Mario characters rather than a player Toad, and the main goal of the game is to collect the most Stars from Star Balloons that can appear in parts of the board. Players can earn Stars if they spend 10 coins on arrival with a Star Balloon. Star Balloons can come in twos or threes, and players can purchase multiple of them at once if they have the funds. When a Coin Duel is initiated, just as an Ally Duel for Toad Scramble, whichever player wins the Coin Duel earns coins.

Rhythm Recital

Players in Rhythm Recital.

Up to four players can cooperate and play classic Mario tunes using the touchscreen. Each character has their own instrument. Songs that are confirmed so far:

• Overworld theme from Super Mario Bros.
• Overworld theme from Super Mario World
• Overworld theme from Super Mario 3D Land
• Gusty Garden Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy.

Challenge Tower

Luigi in Challenge Tower.

A single player game where a player climbs a tower with LED spaces on it. Players need to pay attention to the color of the spaces as they ascend, while also avoiding Amps on their way up the tower. Blue spaces are safe, yellow, red and purple spaces mean danger is on a neraby space. Black spaces are spaces not climbed on at the moment. X spaces means that space cannot be climbed on. Players can also attempt to complete the 500-floor Master Tower, the hardest tower difficulty.

Boo's Block Party

Boo's Block Party.

A puzzle game that involves spinning sides of a number block to earn points. Points are earned when 3 or more sets of numbers match. When players break enough blocks, the blocks get sent to the opponent's screen. The game ends when the blocks reach the top of the screen. In single-player mode, players can face off against Boo in an endless mode to compete for a high score.

Character Museum

Main article: Character Museum

Viewing Princess Peach in the Character Museum.

The character museum allows players to view characters collected in the game. The playable characters can be chosen as the hub character. amiibo options are also found here: when players use amiibo, they unlock stamps.

Minigames

Players can play Free-For-All, Boss, Bowser, and Coinathlon minigames in this mode.

Multiplayer

Players can use the Nintendo 3DS's Download and Local Play features to play with their friends. The following table illustrates which features are available in each mode, leaving out Challenge Tower, as Challenge Tower is a single-player only game.

Play modes
Mode	Local Play	Download Play
Toad Scramble
Coinathlon
Balloon Bash
Mario Shuffle
Rhythm Recital
Boo's Block Party

However, new to the Mario Party handheld titles is the Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest feature. Similar to Download Play, it enables up to four players to play the game with only one game cartridge, but it gives players who do not have a copy of Mario Party: Star Rush to play with modes that only Local Play users have access to. Players need to download the Mario Party: Star Rush - Party Guest app off the Nintendo eShop into an available SD card slot and then hook up with systems that have a copy of Mario Party: Star Rush to enjoy. Additionally, progress such as unlocked characters and minigames are saved, and if players buy a full Mario Party: Star Rush copy, they can transfer the data into the copy.

amiibo features

amiibo can be used in Mario Party: Star Rush for the benefit and bonuses of the player, with each game mode supporting the Super Mario line-up of amiibo figures as well as the Mario characters in the Super Smash Bros. line up of amiibo. amiibo can be used to unlock locked characters as well. However, each mode has different effects for each amiibo when used on, as described in the following table.

amiibo effects
Image	Mode	Effect
	Toad Scramble	The character on the figure becomes an ally first turn. They are more powerful than characters encountered regularly during play. The amiibo character cannot be snatched from other players via Ally Duel, nor can they abandoned if the character roster gets full. They are the leader by default, but players can switch to Toads if they wish. The character also brings a special Dice Block with them. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo.
	Coinathlon	Players can use the character on the figure as well as using two items instead of one.
	Balloon Bash	Players can use the character on the figure. The amiibo grants a special Dice Block at the start of the game. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo.
	Mario Shuffle	The character joins the game as part of the player's team, giving the player a special Dice Block. Players cannot use more than one of the same character, however. If Mario Party 10 data is saved on it, players receive a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Dice Block depending what is saved on the amiibo. Tapping the Boo, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. amiibo allows players to use them.
	Rhythm Recital	Tapping the Dr. Mario amiibo unlocks a new music track that can be played.
	Challenge Tower	The character on the amiibo continues the moment the player has failed. Players can use the same character only once per day, however.
	Boo's Block Party	Tapping the Boo amiibo causes Boo to appear in the background.
	Character Museum	Players can unlock stamps. Each character comes with a different stamp design.

Compatible amiibo

• 

  Mario

• 

  Luigi

• 

  Princess Peach

• 

  Yoshi

• 

  Toad

• 

  Bowser

• 

  Princess Daisy

• 

  Wario

• 

  Waluigi

• 

  Rosalina

• 

  Donkey Kong

• 

  Diddy Kong

• 

  Boo

• AMIIBODEBOWSERJR..png

  Bowser Jr.

• AMIIBODEDRMARIO.png

  Dr. Mario

• 

  Gold Mario

Level up system

This article is under construction. Therefore, please excuse its informal appearance while it is being worked on. We hope to have it completed as soon as possible.

As players spend more time playing the game, and accomplish various objectives, they gain party points, and if they get enough party points, they level up. Players start at level 1, and each level up unlocks more game-play options.

Level	Option
1	Toad Scramble
2	Coinathlon
3	Balloon Bash
4	Toadette
5	Rhythm Recital
6	Rosalina
7	Mario Shuffle
8	Donkey Kong
9	Boo's Block Party
10	Challenge Tower
11	Diddy Kong & Dr. Mario Music
12	Master Difficulty
Star	Staff Credits

Characters

File:MarioPartyStarRush-CharacterSelect.jpg

Character select screen, with Mario Party 10 data being detected within an amiibo and thus rewarding the player.

The following characters confirmed via Nintendo's Treehouse Live stream at E3 2016 as well as Gamescon 2016 and the 9/1 Nintendo Direct.

Playable (Toad Scramble)

• 
• 
• 
• 

Other playable characters

These characters can be collected in Toad Scramble, but are the main playable characters in other modes. In addition to these characters, Toad himself is also playable in other modes and is represented with his own icon consisting of his blue vest. The four unlockable characters, Toadette, Rosalina, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong are unlocked by playing through the game. However, if players have an amiibo of the character, they can unlock the character by tapping them in.

• 

  crimson

• 

  green

• 

  hotpink

• 

  orange

• 

  gold

• 

  purple

• 

  limegreen

• 

  magenta (unlockable)

• 

  DodgerBlue (unlockable)

• 

  SaddleBrown (unlockable)

• 

  Peru (new) (unlockable)

Unlocking criteria

Unlocking criteria for these participants
Toadette	Reach Level 4
Rosalina	Reach Level 6 or scan a Rosalina amiibo
Donkey Kong	Reach Level 8 or scan a Donkey Kong amiibo
Diddy Kong	Reach Level 11 or scan a Diddy Kong amiibo

Mario Shuffle playable characters

In addition to the above playable characters, these characters are exclusively playable in the Mario Shuffle mode when players tap their amiibo in.

• Boo
• Bowser
• Bowser Jr.

Abilities and Dice Blocks

In Toad Scramble mode, each character has a unique ability and Dice Block.

Character	Ability	Dice Block	Numbers
Toads	Recruits a friend.	Standard Dice Block	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Mario	Stomps on Goombas in grass.	Super Dice Block	0, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7
Luigi	Stomps on Goombas in grass.	Jumpy Dice Block	1, 1, 1, 5, 6, 7
Princess Peach	Causes flower buds to bloom.	Speedy Dice Block	0, 2, 4, 4, 4, 6
Princess Daisy	Causes flower buds to bloom.	Friendly Dice Block	3, 4, 5, ?, ?, ? (? = characters in party)
Wario	Smashes rocks that have hidden coins.	File:DiceBlock-Wario.png Greedy Dice Block	- 1 coin, - 1 coin, 4, 5, 6, 7
Waluigi	Smashes rocks that have hidden coins.	File:DiceBlock-Waluigi.png Risky Dice Block	- 2 coins, - 2 coins, 6, 6, 6, 6
Yoshi	Loves fruit!	Flutter Dice Block	0, 1, 3, 5, 5, 7
Toadette	Causes flower buds to bloom.	File:DiceBlock-Toadette.png Cutie Dice Block	3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4
Rosalina	Mysteriously crushes glowing rocks.	Wondrous Dice Block	5, 6, ?, ?, ?, ? (? = current rank)
Donkey Kong	Breaks barrels.	Brawny Dice Block	0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 10
Diddy Kong	Breaks barrels.	Triple 7 Dice Block	0, 0, 0, 7, 7, 7

Bosses

• Mega Goomba
• King Bob-omb
• King Boo
• Petey Piranha
• Mega Blooper
• Mega Dry Bones
• Mega Monty Mole
• Kamek
• Bowser Jr.
• Bowser

Other

• Goombrats
• Shy Guys
• Peepas
• Goombas
• Galoombas
• Monty Moles
• Amps
• Koopa Troopas
• Bloopers
• Cheep Cheeps
• Gold Cheep Cheeps
• Urchins
• Fuzzies
• Wigglers
• Boo
• Swoops
• Gold Piranha Plants
• Spikes
• Lakitu
• Hammer Bro
• Bob-ombs
• Piranha Creepers
• Magmaarghs
• Bullet Bills

Board features

• ? Block
• Coin Balloon
• Lakitu
• Star Balloon (Balloon Bash only)

Boards

Mario Party: Star Rush features 15 boards, the most boards out of any Mario Party game in the series. The names of the boards are based off levels in various Mario platformers.

• World 0-1
• World 0-2
• World 0-3
• World 1-1
• World 1-2
• World 1-3
• World 2-1
• World 2-2
• World 2-3
• World 3-1
• World 3-2
• World 3-3
• World 4-1
• World 4-2
• World 4-3

Items

Item	Function
Dash Mushroom	Adds +3 to your roll, which lets you move an extra three spaces.
Golden Dash Mushroom	Adds +5 to your roll, which lets you move an extra five spaces.
Poison Mushroom	Subtracts -2 from a rival's Dice Block roll.
Warp Box	Warps you to the location of a rival.
File:MPSRItem -Duel Glove.png Duel Glove	Lets you select a rival to challenge to an Ally Duel.

Minigames

Main article: List of Mario Party: Star Rush minigames

Free-for-All

There are 26 Free-for-All minigames.

• Acornucopia
• Corkscrew Climb
• Piece of Cake
• Lava Labyrinth
• Piranha Plantemonium
• Greedy Eats
• Jump to Conclusion
• Rolls for Moles
• Wheelin' and Wigglin'
• Blowboat Battle
• Fruit or Foe
• Bumper Bugs
• Top It Off
• Splat-a-Stamp
• Parkour War
• Fruit Parade
• Haunted Hallways
• Roller Revenge
• Jewel Janitors
• Dodge Fuzzy, Get Dizzy
• Pop Quiz
• Shooting Stars
• Conkdor de Force
• Bridgesaw Puzzle
• Block Busters
• Goomba Guess

Boss Battle

There are 12 Boss Battles.

• Mega Goomba's Bad Dream
• King Boo's Light Smite
• Mega Monty Mole's in the Hole
• King Bob-omb's Boom D'état
• Petey Piranha’s Shell Smackdown
• Mega Blooper's Bayside Bop
• Mega Dry Bones' Femur Fever
• Kamek's Card Tricks
• Bowser Jr.'s Pound for Pound
• Bowser's Space Race
• Bowser's Shocking Slipup
• Bowser's Hit-or-Missile Mania

Coin Chaos

There are 12 Coin Chaos minigames.

• Tiles and Tribulations
• Rolling Rumble
• Goomba Gold Rush
• Leafboard Hoard
• One-Stop Toad Shop
• Cheep Cheep Reach
• Samurai Smackdown
• Pinball Brawl
• Silver Lining
• Conveyor Meltdown
• Steal Diver
• House of Boos

Bowser's Gauntlet

There are three Bowser's Gauntlet minigames.

• Bowser’s Fence Fury
• Bowser's Power Bomb
• Bowser's Fire Hazard

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Party: Star Rush staff

Reception

Mario Party: Star Rush has currently received mixed reviews, receiving a 71 from Metacritic based on 17 reviews and a 63.75% from GameRankings based on 4 reviews. The game has generally been praised for the new direction in the overall Mario Party series as well as its multiplayer functionality with friends, though its weaker points is that the game is not meant for single players and the low amount of minigames has been cited. Thomas Whitehead of Nintendo Life gave Mario Party: Star Rush a 7/10, praising the new direction of the series and the Party Guest feature while saying that it is not particularly spectacular and players shouldn't rush out to buy it. In his conclusion, he stated that "Mario Party: Star Rush achieves its goals. It's entertaining, charming and offers some easy-going minigame fun." Daan Koopman of Nintendo World Report gave the game a a 7.5 out of 10, also praising the new direction of the main mode, saying that "Toad Scramble does a good job of changing up other Mario Party elements as well, which helps makes games competitive but still tests of skill." However, he criticized the low variety of minigames, the Rhythm Recital mode, and that some modes need more content.

On the lower end, Nick Gillham of God is a Geek gave Mario Party: Star Rush a 5 out of 10. He notes that while the game is initially fun, especially with other people, it wears out and the game does not have much staying power. He also criticized how the maps have too much empty space in them and that the extra modes are superfluous and not as good as Toad Scramble.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Nintendo 3DS	Daan Koopman, Nintendo World Report	7.5/10	"A strong package overall. It has a lot of smart ideas that will hopefully be used in future games, and there’s a good variety of modes to play with."
Nintendo 3DS	Thomas Whitehead, Nintendo Life	7.5/10	"Mario Party: Star Rush may not excel in many ways, but it addresses some complaints from past entries and delivers some harmless entertainment. We're not sure you should rush out to buy it, but it still shows that Mario and company can be stars of a party."
Nintendo 3DS	Nick Gillham, God is a Geek	5/10	"If a group of buddies all chip in Star Rush can be a cheap night or two of fun, but it’s not much more than that."
Nintendo 3DS	Dave Irwin, TheSixthAxis	6/10	"Much like the console Mario Party on the Wii U, getting the most out of the game means you probably should have a compatible Amiibo on hand. For some modes this can mean that you gain a perk, such as an extra power up collected every time in Coinatholon or an extra try in the Challenge Tower. This could be used as an unfair advantage against human players in a game where luck is the main concept, which may not sit well with some players."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		71
GameRankings		63.75%

Gallery

• 
• 

  Mario

• 

  Green Toad

• 
• 

  Group artwork

External links

• Official Japanese Website