A new update to Super Mario Party, its first in two years, finally adds the main board-game modes to its online options. The update went out Tuesday, so you and your friends can now enjoy all the rage of Mario Party together from anywhere in the world.
Of course, to play online, players must have a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online premium service. But the update lets them play both the classic Mario Party and Partner Party modes online in Super Mario Party. When playing online, players will have access to all 20 of Super Mario Party’s characters, as well as all of the game’s maps, regardless of their progress toward unlocking them in the regular game.
Players can start matches in two different kinds of lobbies, the Friends Match, which is just for friends, or the Private Match, where anyone who has the password can join. Up to four players can join each game and at least one of the groups can share a Switch as well — though only one Switch in each match is allowed to bring a second player online.
Before this update, Super Mario Party’s online functions were limited to just 10 mini-games. Players could join lobbies for specific events, or use the Online Mariothon mode to compete in a random selection of five. The update now means 70 of the game’s 80 mini-games are available to play online.
While this is mostly aimed at making sure there are enough mini-games to keep the classic modes interesting, it also means that players have more activities to choose from if they want to play online.
For a look at all the changes coming to Super Mario Party, here are Nintendo’s full patch notes. They which also specify which of the 10 mini-games can’t be played online.
Super Mario Party ver. 1.1.0 patch notes (Released April 27, 2021)
Feature Added
You can now play the following modes over the internet:
- Mario Party
- Partner Party
- Free Play (Minigames)
Important: To play over the internet, a subscription to the paid Nintendo Switch Online service is required.
Playing over the internet
- To play over the internet, select either Mario Party, Partner Party, or Minigames, then select Online Play.
- There are two ways to play over the internet: Friend Match, where you can play with Friends, and Private Game, where you can play with anyone using passwords.
- The combinations through which you can play over the internet are as follows:
Up to 1 player per system (you can play with between 2 and 4 players)
Up to 2 players per system (you can play with between 3 and 4 players)
- If two players are each playing on their own systems, they cannot play with two players using a third system.
- Playing over the internet supports the Invite Friend feature. If you select Invite Friend on the screen at which you’re waiting for rivals, your selected Friends can join from the Online Play Invites on their user-page icon in the top left of the HOME Menu.
- Online Mariothon does not support the Invite Friend feature.
- When playing over the internet, all 20 characters and all maps are available, regardless of your current in-game progress.
- When playing over the internet, 70 of the total 80 minigames are available to play.
- The following 10 minigames are not available when playing over the internet.
Strike It Rich
Time to Shine
Take a Stab
All-Star Swingers
Rhythm and Bruise
Pep Rally
Wiped Out
Fiddler on the Hoof
Clearing the Table
Baton and On - Play data won’t be saved when playing over the internet.
