Mario Party: Island Tour

Mario Party: Island Tour[lower-alpha 1] is a party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. The third handheld game in the Mario Party series, it was announced by Satoru Iwata in a Nintendo Direct presentation[5] in April 2013,[6] and was released in November 2013 in North America, in January 2014 in Europe and Australia, and in March 2014 in Japan. The game features seven boards,[4] each with their own special features, and 81 new minigames.[7] It was followed by Mario Party 10 for the Wii U in 2015.

Mario Party: Island Tour
Packaging artwork
Developer(s)NDcube
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Yukio Umematsu
Producer(s)Miyuki Hirose
Atsushi Ikeda
Designer(s)Shinichi Nakata
Programmer(s)Michihito Ishizuka
Artist(s)Yuji Asano
Composer(s)Rei Kondoh
Sara Sakurai
Satoshi Okubo
SeriesMario Party
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • NA: November 22, 2013[1]
  • HK/ROC: January 10, 2014
  • EU: January 17, 2014[2]
  • AU: January 18, 2014[3]
  • EA: March 20, 2014
Genre(s)Party
Mode(s)Single player
Multiplayer[4]

Gameplay
One of the 81 minigames with four players.

The gameplay is similar to previous installments in the Mario Party series. By rolling the Dice Block, the player advances on the game board and triggers a minigame.[8] The minigames can be played any time, even when not on a game board; the game also features AR (augmented reality) and StreetPass.[8] Each board has its own rules, such as racing to the finish and using items to enhance the amount of spaces advanced as well as hinder opponents and collecting the most Mini Stars to win.

Reception

Island Tour received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of all four eights, for a total of 32 out of 40.[11]

Game Revolution praised the 7 new boards and boss minigames; however, the repetitive gameplay, character voices and board music were criticized.[13] GamesRadar said, "Island Tour isn't the Mario Party you remember, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. That said, there are definitely some missing pieces that keep it from being a memorable entry in the franchise." GameSpot commended the game's usage of four-player local download play, great minigame designs, and also Island Tour's single-player mode, but criticized "a few bad games in the bunch", and the lack of online play.[14] IGN said, "Mario Party: Island Tour’s rich multiplayer options are sullied by boring minigames and unfortunate motion control."[16] Nintendo World Report listed Island Tour's pros as being the game boards, "extensive" single-player mode, and the fact that it utilizes almost all the Nintendo 3DS features, and the cons as the fact that the difficulty of Bowser's Tower is not changeable, the instruction screens, which they described as "repetitive", and also that there is no online multiplayer.[18] Pocket Gamer said, "Island Tour will provide you and a bunch of mates with a great evening of laughs, but most of the time you'll be laughing AT it rather than with it."[23]

Notes
  1. Japanese: マリオパーティ アイランドツアー Hepburn: Mario Pātī Airando Tsuā

References
  1. Mallory, Jordan (August 28, 2013). "Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Mario Party: Island Tour hit 3DS Nov. 22". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  2. Nintendo UK (November 13, 2013). "Nintendo Direct Presentation - 13.11.2013". YouTube. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  3. "NINTENDO ANNOUNCES LAUNCH DATES FOR ANTICIPATED Wii U & NINTENDO 3DS TITLES FOR 2013". Nintendo Australia. October 2, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  4. Fletcher, JC (April 17, 2013). "New Mario Party coming to 3DS this winter". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  5. Makuch, Eddie (April 17, 2013). "Mario Party 3DS revealed". GameSpot. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  6. Usher, William (April 17, 2013). "Mario Party Coming To Nintendo 3DS". CinemaBlend. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  7. Narcisse, Evan (April 17, 2013). "Mario Party Coming to 3DS This Winter". Kotaku. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  8. Whitehead, Thomas (April 17, 2013). "A Mario Party is Getting Started on 3DS This Winter". Nintendo Life.
  9. "Mario Party: Island Tour for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  10. Cooke, Caitlin (November 27, 2013). "Review: Mario Party: Island Tour". Destructoid. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  11. Romano, Sal (March 11, 2014). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1319". Gematsu. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. Ryckert, Dan (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  13. Kevin S. (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  14. Kemps, Heidi (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party Island Tour Review". GameSpot. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  15. Cooper, Hollander (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour review". GamesRadar. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  16. Thompson, Scott (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour Review". IGN. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  17. Letcavage, Dave (November 22, 2013). "Review: Mario Party: Island Tour". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  18. Keller, Kimberly (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  19. Skrebels, Joe (January 18, 2014). "Mario Party: Island Tour review". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on January 20, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  20. Riendeau, Danielle (January 7, 2014). "Mario Party: Island Tour review: slumber party". Polygon. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  21. Martin, Liam (January 15, 2014). "Mario Party: Island Tour review (3DS): Badly designed board games". Digital Spy. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  22. Lechevallier, Mike (November 27, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  23. Rose, Mike (November 22, 2013). "Mario Party: Island Tour review". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
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