The 14 Best (and the Very Worst) Minigames on Mario Party: The Top 100
Mario Party: The Top 100 for the Nintendo 3DS takes the very best minigames from all 10 Mario Party titles and bundles them into one super playable game.
The Mario Party series has always been a ton of fun with friends, but playing against three computer-generated characters is another story. Waiting around for them to complete their turns was sometimes tedious, picking up steam only when it was time for a minigame.
This new title does away with the game boards to focus on the tiny games that make Mario Party so special. Nintendo gave us a copy of the game, so we unlocked every one of The Top 100's minigames to rank the 14 best (and the very worst) ones for your reading pleasure.
14. Catch You Letter
Featured in: Mario Party 6
In this sweet, simple game, a Shy Guy mailman runs across the screen dropping the mail. It's up to the players to pick up each letter, one at a time, and hand-deliver it to the rushing Shy Guy. Love letters are worth extra points!
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
13. Trace Race
Featured in: Mario Party 4
Sometimes, super straightforward games are the most satisfying. In this one, each player holds a giant crayon and attempts to trace a squiggly line to the finish. Something about getting a good score is strangely gratifying.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
12. Storm Chasers
Featured in: Mario Party 3
In this game, each player carries a potted Piranha Plant and chases a tiny raining cloud around the screen, trying to get the most water on their plant. The cloud zips around the stage at lightning pace, making this fun game way tougher than it sounds.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
11. Snowball Summit
Featured in: Mario Party 3
This minigame brings a snowball fight to a frosty mountain plateau, asking players to roll snowballs and toss them at their opponents to become the last one standing. Rolling the biggest snowball of all and pelting it at an enemy feels really good.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
10. Pushy Penguins
Featured in: Mario Party 5
In this game, big and small penguins stampede across the screen and players must survive by finding open spaces between them and not getting pushed into the icy water below. Not only are the penguins super cute, but managing to squeeze through the rush makes for a really exciting game.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
9. Night Light Fright
Featured in: Mario Party 5
This one is as stressful as it is fun. In a dark alley, a Chain Chomp slowly moves toward your character. You can turn around at any moment to stun it with your flashlight, but the winner is the person who can hold out the longest without getting chomped. It's easy to get too daring and get bitten before you get the chance to turn around, but that's what makes it so thrilling.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
8. Hotel Goomba
Featured in: Mario Party 5
In this minigame, Goombas block players' paths as they navigate through the floors of a swanky hotel. It's up to you to figure out the best path, pushing Goombas out of the way to get to your destination. In the last area, this becomes almost like a Legend of Zelda block puzzle where you'll have to use real logic to get to the end. When you do, it feels like you've really earned it.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
7. The Final Countdown
Featured in: Mario Party 7
The Final Countdown is another classic "knock the players off the field" minigame, with a twist. The ground consists of nine numbered tiles that are constantly ticking down, and when they reach 0, the ground falls out from underneath you before it ticks back to 9. As you're evading kicks and punches from your opponents, you also have to keep a close watch on the ground below.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
6. Face Lift
Featured in: Mario Party
Featured in the first-ever Mario Party, Face Lift is a classic. At the beginning of the game, a familiar character's face is stretched and contorted. It's up to each player to try to replicate the misshapen face by pulling each element of their own face to match. The funnier the face, the more entertaining the round becomes.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
5. Coney Island
Featured in: Mario Party 5
It's hard to beat a minigame about giant ice creams. Each player starts with an empty cone and must watch the shadows to anticipate falling scoops of ice cream and nab them before the other players do. The goal is to get the most scoops on your cone. In addition to being super charming, it makes us want dessert.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
4. Piranha's Pursuit
Featured in: Mario Party
Here's another totally classic minigame that'll keep your heart rate up. This game is three-against-one, with one player riding a skateboard and leaping over obstacles while the other three players ride on a cloud, ground-pounding it to make it rain on the Piranha Plant below. This makes the plant big, strong and capable of stopping the skateboarding player. If you're on that skateboard, you know just how scary and exciting that can be.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
3. Eatsa Pizza
Featured in: Mario Party 3
Food-themed minigames make the best minigames. In this one, players are separated into teams of two and set on a massive plate featuring a gigantic pizza sliced into two halves. Your goal is to crawl around on your hands and knees, consuming as much of the pizza as possible before the opposing team does. We love seeing that pizza disappear.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
2. Jump, Man
Featured in: Mario Party 7
This one-on-one minigame is an awesome tribute to the first Donkey Kong game. As you make your way up the stage, you'll have to dodge barrels and climb ropes, just like Mario did way back in the day. It's even better when you play with a friend.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
1. Jewel Drop
Featured in: Mario Party 10
Jewel Drop was an extra minigame in Mario Party 10 that we wound up playing more than the rest of the game combined. It's kind of like Puyo Puyo, where matching four or more colors in a row makes them disappear, but the falling pieces can be rotated in a full 360°, instead of 90°, and when the marbles land, they fall realistically, like gravity is pulling on them. This game is as addictive and as endlessly playable as Tetris, and we think a lot of people missed it on the Wii U, so we're ecstatic to see it back.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
The Worst: Dart Attack
Featured in: Mario Party 7
Maybe we're being hard on this minigame, but games controlled by blowing into the microphone on the 3DS are a little bit tired at this point. Not only is it awkward to do (especially in public), but when you're trying to be precise with the aiming of your blowdart, the mic controls just don't cut it. It's a quick game that won't waste too much of your time, but we're not sure it deserves a spot in the 100 best Mario Party games.
(Mario Party: The Top 100 via Nintendo)
If you love all things Mario, click HERE for a definitive ranking of every Super Mario Odyssey costume.