Mario Party: Island Tour Reviews
"Strategy has been removed."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Island Tour retards the Mario Party formula, removing all the new features of Mario Party 9, while giving very little back to help keep players engaged.
Ultimately, however, it feels like going on an island tour in a hot and cramped bus that's travelling at 10mph. There are things to see and fun to be had, but only if you're prepared to wait for it.
Slow animations make these already mundane board games not worth a purchase
Mario Party: Island Tour fails to innovate the franchise and comes across as a major misstep.
The only true merit of Mario Party: Island Tour is the ability to play Mario Party with your local friends on the 3DS. As long as they have a 3DS and are close-by, playing via Download Play is fairly quick and painless. However, the lack of online play and the overall single-player experience is a pretty big bummer. Unless you’re desperate and need a quick Mario Party fix on the go, stick with a console version if you can.
Good luck finding three friends that will waste their time with this
A game with some neat ideas, but one that ultimately doesn't work on a handheld. Take out the party mode, add online multiplayer, and a formidable game may appear.
The variation in objectives stretches past the typical bored-game rigmarole and into uncharted territory that frequently invites cruel, comeback-heavy sabotage.
Mario Party: Island Tour never seems a natural fit on the 3DS. It feels more like the game has been hammered into shape to fit as well as it can on the platform. Yet, with no online support and inconsistent mini-game quality, those concessions just aren't enough to warrant the franchise's move to handheld.
Mario Party: Island Tour is ultimately disappointing. It looks and sounds like a first-party Nintendo product but a great deal of the fun has been stripped out of it by tedium. The best way to experience the game also requires each participant to own a 3/2DS which makes it one of the most expensive multiplayer experiences out there (but cheaper for it being download play enabled).
Mario Party: Island Tour is too random for its own good.
Plenty of honest effort has been expended here, but Mario Party has never seemed like a sensible kind of game to turn into a portable title.
Mario Party: Island Tour’s single-player campaign is laughably bad, and the ambitious, content-rich multiplayer options and unique game boards are ultimately dragged down by mostly boring minigames and unfortunate system-jerking motion control. A group of friends might only have fleeting good times with this collection.
Mario Party is continuing to see sequels and unfortunately it isn't seeing much change. In its 3rd portable experience, Island Tour, I had hoped for more enjoyable single player and internet multiplayer to keep players interested when they can't get their friends around. Unfortunately, the bread-and-butter experience of 4 players is easier to implement and more enjoyable on console experiences. Though the game can be played with only one game cartridge (and 1-4 3DSs), there isn't enough incentive to join the party on 3DS.
Want to play a title where there is no guarantee of winning, no matter how good a player's skill level? Then Mario Party: Island Tour is something to pick up. Fun is there to be found, in small pockets of good mini-games (although not consistent or regular), but - as a big fan of Mario Party in general - this isn't the greatest of games.
If you're looking for a competent party game or multiplayer affair for your handheld, walk on by. It's no Fortune Street, but it's certainly one of the weakest Mario Party titles I've seen in some time.
The Mario Party franchise and I have always had a rocky relationship. I love its charming aesthetics and generally fun mini-games, but its focus on luck and random “surprises” always left a sour taste in my mouth. My favorites were the N64 titles, with sprawling maps and mad dashes to the power stars. Later entries tried to change the formula with varying success. Island Tour once again tries to shake things up ever so slightly, and again, has varying success.
Mario Party: Island Tour's lasting appeal is mainly in the multiplayer mode. Since the experience is always changing and the fun is shared amongst friends. It is a game that will provide a great party experience, but only when family or friends are over.