Mario Party 2 takes everything great about the first Mario Party, fixes nearly every flaw, and adds a fantastic selection of minigames, great boards, and tons of charm that is unique to it which makes it hold up great to this day as it carved out the formula Mario Party's are using 20 years later. While later Mario Party's have outdone it an complexity and strategic balance, Mario Party 2's simple charm and great selection of minigames and side modes still puts in on par with entries much later in the series.

Mario Party games are interesting games to review, because for almost 10 years, it was an annual release. So even though most players wouldn't put it in the same genre as sports games, it was following effectively the same model. This led to a lack of variability from title to title, and most people's favorite Mario Party game just tends to be the one they had at the time. While the model would inevitably get stale after so many releases in such a short time, Mario Party 2 was released early enough in the series where it still felt unique. And, building on the groundwork that was laid by the debut game one year earlier, Mario Party 2 became-and has remained-one of the most enjoyable entries in the series.

All Mario Party games worth playing essentially have the same gameplay, so usually personal preference will come down to what boards they enjoy, or which mini-games are their favorite. MP2, being the 2nd entry in the series, came at a time when the mini-games still felt fresh, and it removed most of the mediocre ones from its predecessor as well. This results in a much more pleasant-and less painful-gameplay experience. Each of the boards are unique and enjoyable enough, and the gameplay is attractive enough even to those who normally don't enjoy games. Players that are more competitive might not appreciate the RNG heavy nature of Mario Party 2 (or any of its sequels), but it's fun enough as a casual party game. The graphics, while poorly aged, aren't as bad as other titles from the same era; the game is still able to convey what is happening to the players relatively well. There's a single player mode as well, but it's mostly irrelevant.

Mario Party 2 doesn't really do anything unique, and it doesn't offer a great gaming experience, but it's content with what it is, and players most likely will be, too. It's not fair, but it's fun. The games generally do tend to go on for slightly too long, and it relies on all players being invested in finishing the game for it to be truly enjoyable. The Nintendo 64 was the king of multiplayer games at its time, and while there were certainly more engaging multiplayer games available on the system, Mario Party 2 is the best at what it strives to do. It's simple enough for anyone to play and enjoy, and it doesn't need to be anything more than that.

it's mario party. but again. make sure you bring some other people with you if you want to tackle all this game has to offer; theres no dedicated single player campaign, and doing regular mario party rounds by yourself is really sad and lonely. other than that, this is pretty much mario party 1 again, except with a lot less chance time and palm blisters. If you like physical pain, I think mario party 1 is a better pick than this, but honestly both this and the first are equally worth checking out.