The Nintendo 3DS represents a revolutionary milestone in handheld gaming history thanks to its glasses-free stereoscopic 3D visuals and wealth of inventive features like augmented reality and motion controls. As you may know, these capabilities made the 3DS a haven for outrageously fun party games perfect for lively gatherings with family and friends.
In this guide, I‘ll be counting down the absolute best 3DS party games ever made to add some extra chaos and excitement to your next get-together!
What Exactly is a Party Video Game?
Before we dive into the details, let‘s quickly overview what defines a great multiplayer party game specifically designed for groups, since it differs considerably from conventional single player titles.
Party video games are built from the ground up to thrive in social settings like parties, family events and holidays. While traditional multiplayer modes focus more singularly on competition, party games cast a wider net by emphasizing both cooperative AND competitive elements so that players of all backgrounds can participate.
More specifically, excellent party games are characterized by:
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Straightforward Controls – The controls need to be intuitive and simple enough for beginners to easily pick up and play. Complex button combinations don‘t mesh well with the party atmosphere where you want guests to quickly join the action.
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Zany Themes & Characters – Vibrant, lighthearted themes and worlds filled with creative characters appeal broadly and set a playful mood perfect for parties.
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Minigame Variety – The most memorable party games offer a wealth of rapid-fire minigame activities that constantly rotate to keep excitement levels high. Short bursts of gaming goodness prevent boredom from setting in.
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Elements of Chance – Random elements like dice rolls and roulette wheels guarantee new surprises every game to keep players of all skill levels invested. You never know what will happen next!
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Customization & Power-Ups – Options to personalize your character and use wild power-ups for a temporary leg-up over the competition add an extra dimension of strategy.
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Bombastic Audiovisuals – No party game is complete without flashy, exaggerated visual effects and catchy music to liven up the atmosphere even more!
Now that you have a firm grasp on what separates a properly festive party title from more conventional multiplayer fare, let‘s get this countdown started!
#5 Mario Party: Island Tour (2013)
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The Mario Party franchise has continually redefined party games ever since its Nintendo 64 debut in 1998, so its about time the chaos made its way to Nintendo‘s glasses-free 3D handheld!
Mario Party: Island Tour packs the strategic board game antics the series is known while taking full advantage of the Nintendo 3DS hardware with over 80 all-new minigames relying on touch controls, motion sensors and augmented reality.
Up to four players take turns rolling dice to scamper around seven unique game boards filled with references to Mario universe staples like junctions laden with piranha plants and Chain Chomps. Land on a space, and one of the snappy minigames begins, forcing everyone to compete or cooperate in activities ranging from shredding on a guitar, to feeding hungry Yoshi‘s, to taking selfies with celebrities!
This delightedly odd variety keeps spirits high and smiles wide during extended competitive sessions. The minigames last no longer than a few minutes at most, so if Lady Luck isn‘t on your side one round, a new wacky challenge greets you shortly after for a shot at redemption.
Of course, what Mario Party would be complete without ample opportunities to sabotage friends and family? Players can acquire and use items to trigger traps on the board affecting other characters. Special Duel Maps meant solely for two players encourage even more direct confrontation too!
To switch gears, Bowser‘s Tower provides a cooperative climactic gauntlet for the whole crew to team up against. Each of the 30 floors houses a unique minigame or boss encounter comprised of – you guessed it – even more minigames! This mode alone doubles the already generous amount of activities.
While Mario Party: Island Tour does lack online multiplayer features, its local 4 player mayhem distills the essence of party gaming. Approachable, brevity-focused game design makes it easy for new guests to rotate in and out of matches seamlessly.
In the end, Mario Party: Island Tour fits over a decades worth of mini-game insanity onto the 3DS with clever touch controls and fun themes that scream party, whether you seek to cooperate as a team or compete for bragging rights!
#4 Super Monkey Ball 3D (2011)
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The core Monkey Ball franchise dates back to Sega arcade cabinets in 2001, but the games joyful blend of tilt-based navigation and party play made a perfect match for the Nintendo 3DS.
Super Monkey Ball 3D once again casts players in the role of the adorable monkey AiAi who must quickly guide a transparent ball housing him towards the goal before time expires over hundreds of maze-like stages.
Tilting the actual 3DS system shifts the sphere‘s momentum, allowing for incredibly intuitive motion controls. Yet that barely scratches the surface of this iconic party game/puzzler mashup ported expertly to handhelds.
Two full classic Monkey Ball arcade releases with over 100 combined stages remake up the Challenge mode core, while two original multiplayer battles let family and friends square off. Monkey Race provides top-down kart-like racing action across 15 courses filled with winding paths and devious traps. Monkey Fight on the other hand pits up to 4 combatants against each other atop floating platforms…while wearing elaborate inflatable monkey suits of course!
These fresh competitive modes demonstrate incredible creativity that fully leverage the 3DS hardware for part fun. Local multiplayer supports download play from only one game card too! Special Augmented Reality functionality utilizing the outward facing cameras and included playing cards also made appearances at launch, but were unfortunately removed from digital re-releases.
Cute characters with tons of costumes and personalization to unlock, a stellar soundtrack to keep energy levels high, and even remixed levels utilizing the internal 3DS gyroscope for motion controls round out this content-rich package. Approachable enough for party guests of all ages, yet deeply strategic during later Expert stages.
With boundless replay value spanning over a decade of Monkey Ball content reinvented through a party game lens, Super Monkey Ball 3D delivers premium primate antics and brings people together.
#3 Mario Party: Star Rush (2016)
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The Mario Party series continues to innovate over two decades after its first Nintendo 64 outing reinvented multiplayer – this time by allowing everyone to strategize and scamper frantically around the board simultaneously rather than await their turn!
Mario Party: Star Rush cranks up the excitement by enabling all participating players to plot their own route and use items during what was previously downtime. Doing away with turns also significantly trims session lengths from hours to minutes – a perfect fit for parties.
The new Toad Scramble mode has groups cooperating to defeat bosses, while traditional head-to-head competitive styles return with new tactics now that well-timed dice rolls let you outmaneuver opponents. Over 50 unique minigames also join familiar faces like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and pals!
One standout addition comes in the form of Coinathlon – a fiercely contested mode where the only objective involves collecting and safeguarding as many coins as possible within an allotted time frame. Every man for himself, no minigames or spare moments to catch your breath – just pandemonium centered purely around golden currency.
It exemplifies the amped up bedlam and surprise elements that run through Mario Party: Star Rush‘s veins! Yet more relaxed Free Play and Rhythm Recital modes cater towards casual party enjoyment too when competition grows too hot.
Balancing this refined range of party play with accessible controls, bubbly themes and non-stop propulsive energy makes Mario Party: Star Rush a 3DS highlight. Newcomers can easily be coached by veterans during Toad Scramble cooperation, transforming into fierce foes moments later!
Blending crafty innovation with that signature Nintendo charm, Mario Party: Star Rush is social organized chaos distilled into video game form.
#2 Mario Kart 7 (2011)
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Mario Kart always seemed destined for party potential with its friendly cast of Nintendo mascots paired with creative weapons and traps used to undermine rivals during dynamic races. But 3DS entry Mario Kart 7 exemplifies the telephonic camaraderie that cemented the franchise‘s reputation for bringing people together!
Local multiplayer supports 8 players – an astounding number for a handheld title – thanks to the inclusion of Download Play. This built-in functionality allows up to 8 3DS systems to play multiplayer wirelessly using only a single game card!
Couple seamless accessibility and connectivity with over 30 meticulously designed courses based on locations from previous Mario games, and Mario Kart 7 keeps the foot to the floor for high speed entertainment. Players now traverse land, sea and air while gliding and propelling through stages packed with secrets and shortcuts.
Memorable weapons like red shells and banana peels return to torment friend and foe alike in the heat of the moment. Innovative course mechanics also leverage the system‘s outward facing camera and internal gyroscope for new racing gameplay opportunities on select tracks during moments like driving through ocean depths or gliding past gigantic Mario enemies.
The tactical item usage and drift-boosting technique mastery carry over from past entries, but Mario Kart 7 opts for pick-up-and-play controls and a vibrant, cheerful mood perfect for kickstarting parties. This infectious exuberance even won over critics, with Mario Kart 7 earning aggregated review scores over 90 out of 100!
Mario Kart 7 represents the pinnacle of multiplayer racing on 3DS – an exhilarating ride packed with endless replay value thanks to timeless course design and local connectivity prime for party sessions.
#1 Mario Party: The Top 100
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The Mario Party name has been synonymous with party games since the first Nintendo 64 release revolutionized local multiplayer in 1998. Since then, over 800 delightfully bizarre minigames have graced the franchise across 10 mainline home console releases.
So what better way to commemorate over 20 years of party memories than with Mario Party: The Top 100 – an expansive compilation exclusive to Nintendo 3DS containing the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to mini-games!
Over 100 all-time greats make up the diverse collection, including many fan favorites not seen since their debut like Bumper Balls from the Nintendo 64 original. Nintendo wisely focused exclusively on games from home console versions, since the diversity of Joycon motion controls and elaborate game boards don‘t make easy handheld translations.
The minigames themselves span an astonishing range, from rhythm games like Tap Troupe where players attempt to match the tempo with button presses, to contests of shear speed like Puzzle Sprint. Many utilize the 3DS touchscreen in innovative ways, like the drawing-based Pianta Pen.
The infectious, unpredictable variety keeps every play session fresh. Groups can choose custom sets of minigames or progress through the main Minigame Island mode where arbitrary selections frequently rotate after players take turns navigating a smaller board filled with Mario characters. This party-style structure creates thrilling chaos!
Extra modes allow practicing your skills, or change up the victory conditions towards cooperation. Combined with colorful HD visuals that still retain the unmistakable Mario aesthetic, Mario Party: The Top 100 bundles nonstop surprises into a single cartridge with nearly unlimited replay value perfect for jumpstarting parties.
20 years of Mario Party excellence distilled into 100 of its top minigames makes this anniversary bonanza the definitive party game title on Nintendo‘s stereoscopic handheld.
A Portable Party Powerhouse
Well, those represent my personal top five can‘t-miss Nintendo 3DS party titles for lively multiplayer gatherings and get-togethers! With innovative console quality gameplay leveraging unique hardware features like stereoscopic 3D and augmented reality coupled with Nintendo‘s family-friendly flair, the 3DS amassed a stunning library of party experiences both casual and hardcore centering around competition and cooperation.
These social-focused games emphasized bombastic personas and worlds brimming with color to appeal to gamers of all ages and remain endlessly replayable at holiday events and celebrations for years to come. Local wireless connectivity allowing up to 8 players on a single cartridge in certain titles also demonstrated remarkable technical ambition not found elsewhere during the handheld era.
Here‘s hoping Nintendo carries the 3DS party pedigree forward in exciting ways on whatever hardware innovation comes next! But for now, no single-screen gaming session needs to be mundane again thanks to these delightfully chaotic 3DS party classics built to bring friends and families together.
Which Nintendo 3DS party game stands out the most to you personally? Are you itching to call over some friends and family to experience these titles again firsthand? Let me know in the comments below, as I‘m always eager to discuss and debate Nintendo favorites with fellow fans!
