As the second game in the recent revival of the Mario Party series, Mario Party: Island Tour had a lot to live up to. Last year, developer Nd Cube was able to take the classic Mario Party formula and change it into something completely new with Mario Party 9. The changes shook the very foundation of the series, but this was met with both positive and negative results. The same is happening with Island Tour, so how does it fare?

Thankfully, Mario Party: Island Tour takes the series into the right direction, taking what Mario Party 9 did and correcting many of its mistakes. Gone is the car that confines players in a single vehicle, as the ability to freely move about each board is back. Players are now tasked to be the first to reach the end of a board, making it a race to the finish. Players expecting the return of collecting coins and purchasing stars will be severely disappointed, but what the game does offer is something new and interesting.

This new play style allows players to actively make their own decisions, even if luck is still overtly present. In Perilous Palace Path, players use various items to help speed up their progress down the path, or harm others as they try to do the same. This kind of back and forth is an important part of what makes Mario Party so enjoyable with friends, so it’s great to see this concept back. Each board brings something new to the table, and each one is uniquely tailored to the objective it presents. Kamek’s Carpet Ride is another great board that tests your skill by removing the dice block and adding numbered cards that allow you to pick the number of spaces you move. Testing your opponents and playing off their moves is exactly what Mario Party is about.

However, the balance between luck and skill is still murky.  In some boards, winning a minigame can be your ticket to the finish line, while other boards dwell so much on luck that minigame results mean very little in the end. Although the game helpfully cautions whether or not a board is skill or luck based, luck always seems to crop up in some of the worst moments possible.

As Mario Party 9 shows, Nd Cube is very much capable of masterfully executing the minigames, and this is clearly seen in Island Tour. Almost every minigame is fun and interesting to play, and you’ll rarely come across anything that falls flat. You’ll see classic minigame ideas like the boxing styled Fisticlouds, or something new like the rhythm based Xylophone Home. This time around, minigames are relegated to a single type, but this does not take away from creative nature or the enjoyment of these minigames.

Outside the normal minigames are several extra minigames that can be played outside the normal modes. Puzzle minigames like Emergency Hexit and Star Turn add a nice bonus for minigame play, as do the return of boss battles. Island Tour also plays with the special capabilities of the 3DS, including The Choicest Voice, a mic minigame, as well as two AR minigames. All these extra minigames are great, but don’t expect them to hold your attention for too long.

Players can also play through Time Attack, a challenge that has you playing 10 specific minigames in a row to score the lowest time completion score overall. Hot-Air Hijinx, the basic minigame mode, has players playing minigames until someone reaches a specified amount of wins. Outside of Free Play, a mode where players can freely play any minigame, Island Tour doesn’t offer much else in terms of minigames.

Multiplayer has its perks with Mario Party: Island Tour. As long as one player owns the game, up to three other 3DS owners can join in on the game. The lack of online mode is disappointing to say the least, especially when an entire board is set aside for human players only. With multiplayer already hard to set up on a handheld system, the lack of online play is puzzling.

Unfortunately, Island Tour’s greatest downfall is its replay value. While the game boasts a wide range of boards and over 80 minigames, Island Tour doesn’t offer much else. Bowser’s Tower is great way to quickly run through some minigames and can even be humorous at times thanks to the witty Green Toad, but this mode does not offer enough for continued play. The StreetPass ghost data is a nice, but will quickly get old, and the collectibles are almost laughable, consisting of simple voice samples and music themes.

Mario Party: Island Tour takes a big step to better the franchise, but this particular installment is held back by a lack of content and an unfortunate absence of online play. The game boards are great, the minigames are fantastic, and there is a lot of fun to be had, just not for very long. Veteran Mario Party fans will nonetheless enjoy this entry.

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(7 out of 10)

A digital copy of Mario Party: Island Tour was provided by Nintendo of America for review.