During Gamescom 2018, Nintendo showcased some minigames for Super Mario Party. This was packaged in a challenge mode called Mariothon. It is here that you compete for the best scores, and try to stay ahead at every step. The result is a quick mode that matters until the very last minigame.

The first road in the Toad Cup was Barreling Along. You will tilt the Joy-Con forward, all the while moving it left and right. The character needs to hit the finish line to win, which you do by taking the route with the least amount of obstacles. Luckily, there are bumps and speed pads that can thrust you forward when needed.

The second minigame, Sizzling Stakes, sees you cooking every surface of a cube. You will need to lift the pan to make it lands on a different side. This isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world, particularly since the meat cube can slide off. It is all about doing it in the quickest time possible, and nailing down a certain rhythm. It was very much my favourite of the bunch.

Croozin’ for a Broozin’ is the most straightforward out of the bunch. You will need to keep running to the right and avoid the oncoming Broozers. It sees you moving the stick around, getting out of harm’s way and surviving the longest. There are easy and hard paths, which are fully randomised, so keep your movements sharp and to the point.

Tried Harder sees you moving about on an adorable unicycle, and getting to the finish line the fastest. This was, in all honesty, the weakest game out of the bunch. Not that it was bad, but it seemed on very specific motions that I couldn’t get the hang of. I was a bit bummed about that.

Last but certainly not least is Gridiron Gauntlet. It is an arena styled dodge game where you need to avoid getting tackled. Once you are tackled three times, you are out of the game. It required more simple movements of the stick, and making a mistake was one press away. I quite liked the twitchy feeling of it all.

All of the games were playable with one Joy-Con. Super Mario Party seems to make solid usage of the buttons as well as motion controls found here. All of the minigames are skill based, which is surprising. Nintendo usually likes to include a ton of luck based elements in their Mario Party titles.

One neat touch that returns from the older games is a preview screen. It is here that you can sample the minigame and all the details. This eliminates the purpose of a practice mode as you can learn all you need to know right there and then. In turn, the games will go faster and you can take in more of the core experience.

All in all, I quite liked what I played of Super Mario Party. The look in itself was light, but it provided in what the full experience could be like. In addition, I mostly liked the minigames present in the mode. These will provide entertainment and laughs for friends on October 5.