Mario Party 3
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| Mario Party 3 | |
| Developer | Hudson Soft |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| System | Nintendo 64 |
| Release Date | JP December 7, 2000 US May 7, 2001 AU September 1, 2001 EU November 16, 2001 |
| Genre | Party |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
| Rating | ESRB: E |
Mario Party 3 is the second sequel to the original Mario Party, and it is the last Mario Party game released for the Nintendo 64. It is the first of the series to add new characters, in the form of Daisy and Waluigi (but the new characters are not playable in Story Mode).
Story
The Millennium Star is a special star that is born once every thousand years. According to legend, whoever possessed the Millennium Star would become the Superstar of the universe. However, after the latest Millennium Star was born, it fell from the sky due to being just a newborn.
The Millennium Star crash-landed on the front lawn of Princess Peach's Castle where Mario and his friends were having fun. They all argued over who should keep the Millennium Star, but the star broke up their arguments by teleporting them into a toy box and suggesting they settle the matter by competing to collect all seven Star Stamps from him by passing his tests. Only then would he accept that person as the top superstar in the universe.
Gameplay
Mario Party 3 continues the standard gameplay from the previous Mario Party games. The main mode consists of four-player board games in which players compete to see who can win the most coins and Stars, coins being earned from spaces and by winning minigames, while Stars are purchased with the coins from special characters. Minigames are held at the end of each turn with coins as prizes.
This game is the first to feature a single-player Story Mode which is separate from the multiplayer games. The Party Mode is for more casual playing and allows multiplayer games (this is also the mode where the newcomers Waluigi and Daisy are playable). Additionally, there are now two different types of maps with their own rules. The Battle Royal maps are the normal board game modes from previous games. The other is a new mode, the Duel Map.
The new Duel Map mode is for two players. Each player can hire a partner (which is usually a generic creature from the Mario games such as a Goomba or Piranha Plant) with different strength and stamina, and each partner charges different amounts of salary. The goal is to use the partner to attack the opponent and his partner, and to drain the opponent's life force. This mode is exclusive to Mario Party 3 and was abolished from later installments in the series.
Minigames
List of Mario Party 3 minigames
Legacy
Sequels
Afterwards, the series moved to the Gamecube with the release of the next game, Mario Party 4.