Collection essentials #416: Mario Party 3 (N64)

When Mario Party proved to be a success, Nintendo and Hudson Soft realized that they could make new boards and mini games rather easily, and they decided to really start pumping these games out. For a while, a new Mario Party game was an annual occurrence! Mario Party 3 would be the last Nintendo title released on the Nintendo 64 in North America, coming out in May of 2001. 


This game actually has a proper story mode, though nobody buys a Mario Party game for the story. There are two prominently-featured characters introduced in this game, the Millennium Star and a cute little guy with a purple die head named Tumble, and these characters were almost never seen again after this particular game. This game also brought the recently-created Waluigi and recently-reintroduced Daisy into the fold as well, cementing them as recurring characters for multiplayer-oriented Mario games. The final unlockable board in this game is actually Waluigi-themed instead of Bowser-themed like in the first two games.


Mario Party 3 pretty much follows the same gameplay formula as the first two games, while adding some tweaks and quality-of-life improvements that a good sequel should. Perhaps the most notable basic gameplay change is that characters can now carry three items at once instead of just one, which is a welcome change in my opinion. 


Another major addition that is completely unique to this specific game is “Duel Mode”. This is a board game mode specifically for two players, which uses completely unique boards and different rules from the regular game. The goal in Duel Mode is to hire creatures and characters from the Mario universe, and to try and pass by your opponent on the board so your hirelings can attack and reduce the opponents hit points to zero, at which point the game is over. Minigames do not happen after every set of turns like in the regular game, and instead there are specific conditions under which they happen. It’s hugely luck-based, but it’s still fun and different.


Part of the reason why this game gets its own post separate from the other two is because this is the Mario Party game I have played the most in my life, by a country mile, because for years it was the only one I had. In the summer of 2001 while on vacation, I managed to convince my dad to get it. I believe it was at a long-gone store in Kittery, Maine called “Toy Liquidators”. The cartridge and manual shown in the photo are my originals, with my old save data still intact. Sadly I did not keep the box, or the front cover of the manual. I did darn near everything there was to do in the game and greatly enjoyed it.


So as you can probably guess, Mario Party 3 is my favorite Mario Party game. I can't conclusively say that it’s the best one because there are many Mario Party games that I just haven’t spent much time with. I believe fans do typically rank this one at or near the top, though. It’s yet another wonderful multiplayer option on the Nintendo 64, and an easy essential.

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