During our preview event on June 30, we were treated to various presentations of upcoming Nintendo games. Among them was Mario Party Star Rush, the next entry in this long running franchise. The last couple of entries weren't anything to shout about, and that was particularly the case with Mario Party 9 and 10. While riding in a car together was a neat idea, it didn't create many chances to screw the other players over. It was something I loved doing in those games, so naturally I had to find new ways to make things go my way. Luckily, it seems that some of the greatest aspects of the franchise have returned for a brand new portable installment on the Nintendo 3DS.

Mario Party Star Rush is different, and that is clear right from the very start. The main mode of the game is Toad Scramble, where you star as the well known mushroom people. Just like the previous games, your goal is to net yourself Power Stars and be the one that has the most at the end of the game. You get those by having the coins to afford them or beating various boss characters in bigger and more challenging minigames. The major twist for Star Rush is that you all roll at the exact same time. Next to that, the board is more free and it allows you to go wherever you desire.

That sounds incredibly neat on paper, but there is a downside to all of this. You move about on a grid based environment that doesn't feature any original sights or attractions like the other Mario Party titles. This is the case for the twelve boards (spread across four worlds) that Toad Scramble features, which is a bit off-putting to say the least. To somewhat compensate for this, they’ve introduced new mechanics and board elements to make the action engaging. The main draw is that you pick up Ally characters, which are all well known entities from the Mario universe. You race for them, add them to your team and use their abilities to your advantage. These abilities can give you more of an edge by rolling the dice. Take the red plumber for example. When you use Mario, you get access to a Super Dice Block. This adds a 7, but also a 0 to your dice block. Your Toad can add to that throw by rolling its own dice as well and that makes for one killer combination.

The Ally advantage doesn't stop there though, as they are super handy in the various boss battles. The allies turn into CPU helpers that will help you score points and take overall control in these large minigames. A good example of this is the King Bob-Omb stage, where you have to throw bombs into cannons that appear on the playing field. With more helpers in your party, you also have more room to screw it up. The cannons appear every so often, so if the allies don't react quick enough, you could lose points as well. Speaking of the boss battles, they introduced a very cool mechanic to keep all players on their toes. When the first player reaches the boss space, the others have to keep tapping the A-button to get closer to the correct spot on the map. This gives you actual reason to try your darnest and become the guy or gal that travels the most distance on the map.

There are plently of tricks like this to keep everyone on the edge of their seat. If two players land on the same space, they face off in an Ally Duel. Here, players have to select cards and draw the highest number they can. The winner takes an Ally away from the opponent, which is certainly handy if you want quick dominance on the board. If your die rolls are terrible, there is even a dedicated Lakitu space to help out. By paying just one coin, you will be placed on the space of the opponent instantly and bring the war to their doorstep. It becomes a true tug-of-war, and the players may begin to have heated arguments as a result!

Naturally, there are also other spaces that will remind you of the older Mario Party games. There are item spaces where you get stuff like a Dash Mushroom, which grants you three additional spaces, at no additional cost. Another important factor are the Coin Balloons and these start the normal 4-player battle royal minigames. The big difference from before is that everyone receives coins. How many depends on how well you do, but it is cool to see that all players get rewarded for their efforts. The minigame they showcased sees players carrying a tray of nuts to the end goal. You would have to avoid the Goombrats or else you would lose one of your tasty treats. By losing all three, it would instantly be game over for you, so some quick movement is definitely a requirement.

While we got a good taste of Mario Party Star Rush, we didn't get an idea what a full match would be like. How long they do last and what is the trigger for the end game? There was no clear indication on that front, which leaves plenty of questions for the future. Another point I am wondering about is if the game features more content. I can't imagine that this is it for Star Rush, or else you would be done with it before long. It has the potential to be a good local multiplayer game, and I do appreciate many of the ideas that they are trying in this one. The game releases on October 7 in Europe, so there isn't much time left to wait for these answers.