Our Mario Party 3 unlockables guide details how to get every board, unlock every minigame, and reveal all secrets and N64 cheats.
The third game in the Mario Party N64 trilogy that many regard as the best in the series. Released back in 2001 on the Nintendo 64, Mario Party 3 brought introduced two additional playable characters with Daisy and Waluigi and the ability to hold up to three items. They also introduced a story mode and a duel mode! The game is currently set to be rereleased on the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Now onto the Mario Party 3 unlockables! Does Mario Party 2 have any unlockable characters? Nope, both Daisy and Waluigi join the roster of six characters right from the start. The rest is detailed below! Use the links to jump to different sections:
- Unlockable Boards
- Hidden Minigames
- Unlockable Modes and Difficulty
- Story Mode Unlockables
- Secrets and Tips
Unlockable Boards
Two unlockable boards this time! One battle royale board and one duel map, a total of six boards for each mode.
How To Unlock Waluigi’s Island
During Story Mode, get first place on the sixth and final board, Waluigi’s Island. Afterwards, it’ll be available to select in Party Mode. The difficulty does not matter and you do not need to reach the credits. This is the last board you play in Story Mode.
How To Unlock Backtrack
During Story Mode, defeat Daisy on the sixth and final duel map, Backtrack. Afterwards, it’ll be available to select in Duel Mode. The difficulty does not matter and you do not need to reach the credits. This is the last duel map you play in Story Mode.
Hidden Minigames
Minigames are unlocked to play freely once they are selected while playing a board. You simply have to get lucky to get them all.
Unlockable Minigames
Three extra minigames! Each one is a single-player minigame and the means to unlock them are different:
Stardust Battle | Complete Story Mode at least once. |
Dizzy Dinghies | Unlock the other 64 minigames. Does not include these extra three. |
Mario’s Puzzle Party Pro | Collect over 1,000 coins in one run in the Game Guy Room. |
Unlockable Modes and Difficulty
Most modes in Mario Party 3 are unlocked, but there are a few minigame-related modes you can’t access from the start.
Unlockable Minigame Modes
Noticed the two locked doors in the Minigame Mode? The blue door leads to the Battle Room and the red door leads to the Game Guy Room. How do you unlock them?
To unlock the Battle Room, play and unlock at least three different minigames in a single minigame type. These range from 4-Player, 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 2, Battle, and Duel minigames. Each minigame type needs three different minigames unlocked before it appears in the Battle Room.
To unlock the Game Guy Room, earn the Miracle Star rank in Story Mode, the highest rank you can achieve. More on rank requirements in our Story Mode section.
How To Unlock Super Hard Difficulty
Complete Story Mode at least once to unlock Super Hard difficulty in all modes.
Story Mode Unlockables
It can get a bit confusing understanding how Story Mode works and what it has to offer. Use this section to brush up on best practices and ways to maximize your rank!
Everything Story Mode Unlocks
Here’s a quick breakdown of everything you can unlock in Story Mode:
Backtrack (duel map) | Complete Daisy’s challenge. |
Waluigi’s Island (board) | Complete Waluigi’s challenge. |
Stardust Battle (minigame) | Complete the Millennium Star’s challenge. |
Super Hard (difficulty) | Complete Story Mode once. |
Face on Mountain | Complete Story Mode, face depends on character used. |
Character Faces on Mountain
Every time you complete Story Mode, the face of the character you used will appear on the mountain in the back of the main menu. It doesn’t matter what rank you get in the end. If you want the full set featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong, you’ll have to play through Story Mode six times. Daisy and Waluigi do not get a spot. No, there is no such thing as a golden version of the mountain.
How Star Ranking Works
Story Mode takes you through six boards, six duel maps, and one boss battle. Completing (and winning) each one earns you a certain rank (S, A, B, or C) based on your performance. After you complete Story Mode completely, all of your thirteen ranks will determine your final rank. These include:
- Miracle Star
- Ultra Star
- Great Star
We have to run a few more tests to see if there are any lower ranks and what the requirements would be.
We also don’t have the specifics on what exactly triggers Miracle Star, but we were still able to achieve it after getting mostly S ranks with one A and one B.
What are the requirements for each letter rank? We’re still trying to figure out the specifics, but we have what we know below. Remember, the difficulty you choose at the start of Story Mode has no effect on the rank requirements.
Battle Royale Boards | |
S | Finish the board with two more stars than the second player. |
A | Finish the board with one more star than the second player. |
B | Finish the board with same amount of stars as the second player. |
C | Finish the board with same amount of stars and coins as the second player, and win the dice roll. (Unverified) |
Duel Maps | |
S | Finish the map with three more hearts than your opponent. |
A | Finish the map with two more hearts than your opponent. |
B | Finish the map with one more heart than your opponent. |
C | Finish the map with the same amount of hearts as your opponent. |
Stardust Battle | |
S | Finish under 2:00:00. |
A | Finish under 2:20:00. |
B | Finish under 2:40:00. |
C | Anything above 2:40:00. |
Secrets and Tips
Not unlockables, just smaller secrets and tips for Mario Party 3 that you should be aware of!
Taunt With L
I mean, that’s essentially it! When playing a board, hit the L button when it’s not your turn to get your character to audibly taunt.
Coins With Double Rolls
Use either the Mushroom or Golden Mushroom to grant yourself an extra dice roll or two. Get matching numbers and you’ll be rewarded with coins! Matching 7s gets you a bigger bonus.
Double | 10 coins |
Double 7s | 20 coins |
Triple | 20 coins |
Triple 7s | 50 coins |
File Name Secret
When deciding to pick a name for your save file, don’t input any characters and hit enter. The game will randomly select one of six characters and use their name as the save file name. These include Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and D K. Yes “D K” with the space. No Daisy or Waluigi!
Character Favorite Items
Each character has a favorite item. This means if that character is used as one of the computers, they are more likely to purchase or use said item. The include:
- Mario – Golden Mushroom
- Luigi – Skeleton Key
- Peach – Plunder Chest
- Daisy – Cellular Shopper
- Yoshi – Warp Block
- Wario – Dueling Glove
- Donkey Kong – Reverse Mushroom
- Waluigi – Poison Mushroom
Myth: Gold Mt. Mariomore
Unlocking golden versions of the faces on the mountain is nothing more than a myth that started not long after the game was released. To this day, other websites and cheat pages include “Gold Mt. Mariomore” as a secret, and we’re here to tell you not to waste your time. The fabricated cheat expected you to get the Miracle Star rank for all six characters in Story Mode while playing on the hardest difficulty.
We went ahead and ran some tests to confirm. As you can see in the image above, we completed all six Story Mode runs with each character. All S ranks for boards, duel maps, and the boss battle. We also played on Super Hard difficulty. No golden mountain. Sorry folks!
Remove Hidden Blocks
The “Bonus” option when selecting your board and characters is not just about Bonus Stars at the end of a board. Select “No Bonus” and Hidden Blocks that randomly appear when landing on blue spaces will be disabled.
Extra Partner Buff
In Duel Mode, get two of the same partner to get a bonus point in attack power. No additional cost!