Mario Party DS

The last time portable players could join the Mario Party was on the Game Boy Advance in one of the series' lamest iterations: Mario Party Advance. It had some value, but eventually, while having the same development studio as the console versions, it just couldn't keep up with the rest of the Hudson Designs (long live Mario party 6 for the GameCube).

Mario Party DS, on the other hand, represents a significant improvement over the previous portable edition, putting the on-the-go version in line with what has been created for the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii consoles. And perhaps this is what keeps the DS game in the realm of "decent": it's just more Mario Party, a decade-old tradition of different quality mini-games strung out in a board game presentation, but now with touchscreen and microphone-blowing mini-games. Mario Party DS, like the rest of the Mario Party series, is a series of Mario-themed board games in which four players, either human or computer AI, roll the dice and roam the field accumulating points and competing in action or chance tasks.

The Nintendo DS version is one of the first to incorporate an overarching "theme" to its universe: all of the heroes have been shrunk down (by Bowser, of course), and the board designs and mini-games take advantage of this concept. Players will explore massive gardens, libraries, and even a large pinball machine, competing in tasks that take place in sinks, remote-controlled toy vehicles, dining tables, and other locations.

Link to buy: amzn.to/3PFgX0Q