After nearly a year of waiting, Nintendo is finally bringing Mario Party 3 to Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack.
In a new trailer, they revealed that the game will be arriving in October 27, 2023.
Mario Party 3 is a significant game within its own franchise, and also has the odd distinction of never having seen a rerelease in any form since it was first published for the Nintendo 64 itself in 2000 to 2001.
For starters, Mario Party 3 includes 70 new minigames, expanding the potential playtime over its predecessors significantly. If you had to choose between the three Nintendo 64 Mario Party games, this one is the way to go.
You can also carry three items at a time instead of one. If you can remember that Mario can carry items that he uses as power ups in Super Mario Bros 3, or can grab items from question mark blocks while racing in Mario Kart, this is the same idea. You can use items to improve your standing in the game, or get in the way of the other players.
Mario Party 3 also introduces duel boards. In this four player multiplayer game, duel boards splits you into two teams to compete against each other.
The game also introduces Daisy and Waluigi as playable characters. This would also go a long way to making the two popular and permanent members of Mario’s roster.
Perhaps of most interest to the modern gamer is that Mario Party 3 introduces a single player story mode. Playing through story mode allows you to unlock mini-games without having to buy them. This will become the convention for the Mario Party franchise moving forward.
For such an influential and highly sought after game, it may surprise you to know that Mario Party 3 fared averagely in reviews of the time. MetaCritic has retroactively ranked it a 74 % based on 12 reviews. IGN gave it a 6.4 out of 10, and Famitsu gave it a 31 out of 40.
Still, Mario Party 3 is about more than a nostalgia run for those gamers who remember it. It still does hold up as an enjoyable experience, even with the dated graphics, and the earlier versions and ideas of board party games that Nintendo would refine in future Mario Party installments. And of course, those who never got to experience it back in the day may find it worthwhile to at least give it a try.
You can watch the official release trailer below.
