I recommend you check out my review of Mario Party 1 before reading this review
Mario Party 1 laid a strong foundation but had some crippling shortcomings. Thankfully, its immediate follow up would solve many of these with one key addition; Items. The biggest overall problem with MP1 was the lack of player agency on the board game front. Most turns consisted of you rolling the RNG dice and watching your character move X amount of spaces. Maybe a funny event would play out but you'd rarely have a say in any of it. The introduction of items in MP2 means there's an entirely new step to take at the start of most turns. Even if a player decides not to use their item on a given turn, that's still a decision they had to make. While small, the list of items covers some varied ground and most will have their uses at some point or another in any given match. You have movement-based items like the Mushrooms that double or triple your rolls, a Warp Block that makes you switch places with a random player, and a Magic Lamp that teleports you to the Star Space. Just in this selection alone you have a fair bit to consider, since your aqquirement of items is largely your call. You get to choose what item you want to purchase at the Shop and what item to nab in an Item Minigame.
This system is held back by only allowing players to hold one item at a time but this arguably aids the pacing. Giving players too many options can lead to long periods of waiting for a decision to be made but MP2 keeps it straightforward enough that you're unlikely to be waiting on anybody for too long. There is some unfortunate imbalance, such as the Magic Lamp being so universally useful, and the Plunder Chest (which lets a player take a random player's item) discouraging other players from nabbing items, but these blemishes aren't likely encourage negative player strategies. Thanks to the one item limit and item shops being fairly far apart from one another, players can't reliably hoard useful items.
Perhaps in response to how much more varied each match plays out thanks to these items, the boards themselves have largely become more homogenized. There's strong exceptions, with Horror Land and Bowser Land making key adjustments that shake things up just enough without harming the base board mechanics, but most boards are contempt with playing it safe. This thankfully means there's no bad outliers but with only 6 boards compared to the 8 in MP1, there's less to see on this front. Minigames have also become homogenized, as players cannot lose coins in standard minigames though some minigames still let players earn extra coins with skillful play. To make up for the standard minigames lacking in that 'fuck you' spirit of the original MP, the sequel introduces Battle and Duel minigames so players can still (usually involuntarely) lose coins in some select skirmishes. Some of the rougher, less friendly edges of MP1 have been smoothed over but the game isn't afraid to remind you that this is still Mario Party, where luck is just as important to a player's chances as skill and strategy are. If anything, Duel minigames and some items in particular encourage smart players to single out dangerous opponents in a way the original MP rarely allowed, outside of Boo.
Most good Mario Party entries are a mixture of playing it safe with established elements while including new mechanics that compliment the existing ones, instead of overriding them. Mario Party 2 does exactly that, which is a large part of why it's so beloved. When you think of classic Mario Party, this is likely one of the first titles that'll pop into your mind. That doesn't mean this is the definitive Mario Party title, though. That'll come later...
Mario Party 1 laid a strong foundation but had some crippling shortcomings. Thankfully, its immediate follow up would solve many of these with one key addition; Items. The biggest overall problem with MP1 was the lack of player agency on the board game front. Most turns consisted of you rolling the RNG dice and watching your character move X amount of spaces. Maybe a funny event would play out but you'd rarely have a say in any of it. The introduction of items in MP2 means there's an entirely new step to take at the start of most turns. Even if a player decides not to use their item on a given turn, that's still a decision they had to make. While small, the list of items covers some varied ground and most will have their uses at some point or another in any given match. You have movement-based items like the Mushrooms that double or triple your rolls, a Warp Block that makes you switch places with a random player, and a Magic Lamp that teleports you to the Star Space. Just in this selection alone you have a fair bit to consider, since your aqquirement of items is largely your call. You get to choose what item you want to purchase at the Shop and what item to nab in an Item Minigame.
This system is held back by only allowing players to hold one item at a time but this arguably aids the pacing. Giving players too many options can lead to long periods of waiting for a decision to be made but MP2 keeps it straightforward enough that you're unlikely to be waiting on anybody for too long. There is some unfortunate imbalance, such as the Magic Lamp being so universally useful, and the Plunder Chest (which lets a player take a random player's item) discouraging other players from nabbing items, but these blemishes aren't likely encourage negative player strategies. Thanks to the one item limit and item shops being fairly far apart from one another, players can't reliably hoard useful items.
Perhaps in response to how much more varied each match plays out thanks to these items, the boards themselves have largely become more homogenized. There's strong exceptions, with Horror Land and Bowser Land making key adjustments that shake things up just enough without harming the base board mechanics, but most boards are contempt with playing it safe. This thankfully means there's no bad outliers but with only 6 boards compared to the 8 in MP1, there's less to see on this front. Minigames have also become homogenized, as players cannot lose coins in standard minigames though some minigames still let players earn extra coins with skillful play. To make up for the standard minigames lacking in that 'fuck you' spirit of the original MP, the sequel introduces Battle and Duel minigames so players can still (usually involuntarely) lose coins in some select skirmishes. Some of the rougher, less friendly edges of MP1 have been smoothed over but the game isn't afraid to remind you that this is still Mario Party, where luck is just as important to a player's chances as skill and strategy are. If anything, Duel minigames and some items in particular encourage smart players to single out dangerous opponents in a way the original MP rarely allowed, outside of Boo.
Most good Mario Party entries are a mixture of playing it safe with established elements while including new mechanics that compliment the existing ones, instead of overriding them. Mario Party 2 does exactly that, which is a large part of why it's so beloved. When you think of classic Mario Party, this is likely one of the first titles that'll pop into your mind. That doesn't mean this is the definitive Mario Party title, though. That'll come later...