is synonymous with strange burns in the centre of our palms and broken three-pronged controllers. Many hours were spent on the original N64 for versions of these games, often with friends or siblings.

Mario Party has never felt so at home on the Nintendo Switch

I'm currently unbeaten at Super Mario Party's titular mode. That isn't to say I'm particularly good at the Mario Party mode, which is ostensibly the title's main attraction. Mario Party sees you and three friends (or a combination of friends and AI players) stomping around a game board with the aim...

Shy Guy is great; Genuinely quite funny; Tons of content

It's a collection of minigames, so if you hate minigames.., Like, it's just minigames; That's it

Nintendo's virtual board game is revamped for the Switch, but are its charms just a little too simple to appeal to everyone

The back to basics approach works great and the new boards and mini-games are all cleverly designed and fun; Very little downtime, accessible controls, and plenty of extra modes

Could have done with more mini-games and boards; Reliance on luck will frustrate some players

If party-gaming is what you crave, Nintendo consoles have always been the best bet. The Wii captured the public imagination thanks to its party-gaming capabilities and, if anything, the Switch (at least on paper) has even better party-gaming credentials, thanks to its added portability.

Surprisingly innovative; Board game element more fiendish than ever; Excellent mix of co-operation and competitive play; Makes good use of Switch's unique attributes

Lacks structure when viewed purely as a game; Should include more Mario Party boards; Online play requires Nintendo Online subscription; Joy Con only

The Nintendo Switch in the last year and a bit has become the home for a lot of successful ideas and concepts, and at first glance one would think Super Mario Party is the perfect fit for the hybrid console.

With its motion-sensing Joy-Con controllers and hybrid portable/fixed-console nature, Nintendo's Switch might just be the best party-gaming device ever devised. So it makes perfectly good sense that the Japanese company would bring Mario Party , its long-running party-game franchise to the Switch.

Recent Mario Party games have previously had a somewhat sterile feel to them, but with Super Mario Party that simply isn't the case. This isn't a cash-grab with Mario's face on the front; this is a well-constructed and beautifully realised Mario Party game which takes the series right back to its...

The Switch has been home to games that have marked a return to form for their series after divisive entries.

Super Mario Party is the best Mario Party game we've had in the past decade, maybe ever. It'd be nice to have extra boards but what is there is going to be a ton of fun. To this day, no franchise brings together casual and expert gamers as well as Mario Party.

Great Boards; Accessible; Fun Minigames

Few Boards; Singleplayer Still Feels Boring