Mario Party 5 Retrospective: A Fever Dream

0:00 - Intro
0:24 - Board Mechanics
2:36 - Items
7:38 - Last 5 Turns
8:28 - Boards
16:09 - Minigames
22:46 - Minigame Modes
24:04 - Bonus Mode (Card Party)
25:46 - Super Duel Mode
26:26 - Beginner Friendliness
27:10 - Conclusion (Mario Party Series Ranking)

When I think of Mario Party 5, I view it as a very instrumental and experimental game in the Mario Party series. After Mario Party 4 brought the series into a new generation with some fantastic minigames, Mario Party 5 seeks to really take risks with the formula, rather than get comfortable with what had been established by the Nintendo 64 games. Did these experiments work? Well, welcome back to Mark’s Rec Room, where today we will be talking about Mario Party 5, the one that changed things up. If you are interested in a comprehensive Mario Party series review, I will be taking an analytical look at all of the Mario Party games in this series. From N64 Mario Party to Gamecube Mario Party to even Mario Party DS and Mario Party Superstars, this retrospective series will have it all, so definitely subscribe to keep up with it! Mario Party 6 review coming soon. :) If you get this far in the description, leave a comment telling me what your favorite Mario Party 5 minigame is.

#MarioParty5 #MarioParty #MarksRecRoom

[marksrecroom]

Thanks so much for watching!! what’s your favorite minigame in Mario Party 5?

[crocodileman]

MP5 is pretty much the MP1 of the Gamecube games.

[claytonrios]

It's crazy that I spent a considerable amount of hours in Card Party and Super Duel Mode when I played this as a kid.

[thehussiteking]

Wow. MP6 really fixed the item system. Can't wait for you to cover the best game in the series. Also Astrological is the best minigame. Fight me.

[BIDENKART]

Mario Party 5 might not be the most balanced game, but its aesthetics and soundtrack knock every other installment out of the water

[emme]

I really love 5, I think the capsule system, while unrefined, adds a lot of fun. My friends sometimes just like to throw Chain Chomps and Wigglers on the board and watch as they continue to get landed on over and over and derail the match. Every match feels completely different and that's what I love, which is weird since my favorite is 3 and that's all about control.

Good review, you definitely deserve more views. A small correction on Random Ride is that last place gets to pick first, then third and so on, so picking order is not random.

[supermariof]

Is it weird that this is my number one favorite installment in the series?

[MatthewSmart]

I have just as much nostalgic fondness for Mario Party 5 as I do with 4. As a kid, this felt like it evolved the formula in a great way with more dynamic boards, great minigames, and a surplus of side modes that easily made me consider this my favorite entry in the franchise... which is why it pains me to say that this video really is on point.

I think as kids, we tend to ignore glaring issues with the games we grow up with and just appreciate them for what they are, and when we revisit them as adults, a lot of times that nostalgic love is shattered and we see the bigger picture. For example, I loved Sonic Heroes as a kid, and it was always one of my favorite Sonic games of all time. Replaying it as an adult though, it is painful just how unpolished that game is and it makes me wonder why I even enjoyed it at all, especially when I already had the vastly superior Sonic Adventure 2 right there. Mario Party 5 obviously isn't flawed to THAT degree. It's still perfectly playable, and I'm so used to the old formula that I can still have fun with it. But it arguably has the worst player agency from the Hudson Soft entries outside of 1 and maybe 4. I do prefer 5's boards over 4's though since they feel more alive and have more junction options, but the capsule system is definitely a hinderance to the fun. The minigames are a mixed bag too, as 5 has some of the greatest most imaginative minigames in the whole series on TOP of some of the most bland and forgettable ones. The highlights for me are Coney Island, Pushy Penguins, and Hotel Goomba, and the fact that the latter isn't in Superstars should be a crime. I also think some of the side modes are series highlights like Mini-Game Circuit, Bonus Mode, and especially Super Duel Mode, and I'll give credit to the Story Mode for actually providing a different experience compared to the regular Party Mode. I still enjoy 5 at the end of the day, and I'd still probably consider it a better game than 4, but it's clear as day that it's not the masterpiece that I thought it was way back when.

Also, side note. That Drake reference was so smooth and quick that it had me laughing for a good 30 seconds. I like that you occasionally throw in a joke like that without it ever becoming the focal point.

[starman]

Fantastic video! Mario Party 5 definitely set up the foundation for which both Mario Party 6 and 7 would polish.

[Carrottime]

Nah, you misunderstand Vicious Vending, it's a perfect metaphor and distillation of the entire concept of a luck game in a tight knit package of villany. It's a truly 11/10 minigame!

[Formula_Zero_EX]

One of the ways I would make to adjust 5’s capsule system is to either:
A) Prevent the space that the player put their own capsule on from applying any capsule-related effect on the player, so that the capsules would feel less indiscriminate on how it affects players. (I would leave certain capsules that actually benefit the player when landing on their own spaces be.)
2. Or, make it like Mario Party 6 and 7, where landing on your own capsule/orb spaces would grant you a bonus.

[kaleido]

Dang. MP5 is one of my favorites. I really appreciated the chaos of the weird orb system (though it had its flaws) and the chaos of the last 5 turns. Also the board designs (graphically) are probably the best in the series.

[kenyaholloway-reliford]

Out of all the Mario Party games on the Gamecube, this was the only one I didn't play during that era. I had fond memories of playing 7 and 4, and vague memories of playing 6, all on the Gamecube. I didn't get a chance to play 5 until I was a preteen in the Wii era, and even then, the disc stopped working fairly quickly, so my time with it was short lived.

[BigShowGunnoe]

14:56-15:09, outstanding insight here.

[MetalGamex]

You really deserve more subscribers. Like, I've seen so mich worse top list's when it comes to mario party frim people with so much more subscribers.

Reall reall cool content that sends me fliying right back to when I was a kid!

I'd like to see some mario party top lists in the future! :)

[Ukysseus]

9:31 I thought the same thing about Rainbow Dream until last time I played on it with my friends. They found a strategy that consists in throwing as much orbs (preferably like chance time or the one that send you to the star) as possible on one island and staying on it waiting to land on one of those. They absolutely destroyed me who was playing normally, running after each star.

[luxerhusku]

I dunno about the Minigames in this game. I feel that there are too many Luck and Mashing Minigames that makes it feel like the devs had been kinda lazy along with the amount of Board Events from previous games being gone and want the players to decide for themselves. I would say Button Mashers is the most skillful out of all of the Mashing Minigames with Triple Jump at a close second.

[KurffyOriginal]

Been watching your channel for a while now. I love your editing and writing

[lightninja]

I think that your problem with mario party 5 is not that the board gameplay is weak but you put so much value on decision making and while i agree with that i also dissagree that having luck is a bad thing. Have you seen videos of crazy things happening in mario party and everyone is laughing and screaming thats one of the reasons why mario party is so fun. Its fun to screw with people and watch them mess up. So if your only looking at mario party 5 as a strategic game then i agree it is on the weaker side but if you look at mario party 5 as a chaos game and learn to love it for that then i think you will see a really good mario party game here.

[isaac]

There is a cool strategy with items like Pirahna Plant. If you don’t want to lose the Rich Star by someone using a Goomba Capsule you could use The Pirahna Plant on yourself to lose half of your money and keep the highest amount of coin.