The Mario Party games are famous for simultaneously building and ruining friendships. But in between the moments of stealing stars and planning your opponents' demise, there's an underappreciated aspect of the series: cooperative minigames.
Every once in a while, Mario Party will ask you to call a temporary truce and team up with either one or all of your foes. These co-op minigames come in many forms, ranging from the classic 2-vs-2 category to the chaotic 16-player team minigames. If you're looking for a chance to lay down your weapons and work with each other, the following co-op minigames are the very best in the series.
8 Speed Hockey
- Appears in: Mario Party 2, The Top 100, and Superstars
Mario Party 2 is often considered one of the best games in the series, largely thanks to its excellent minigames. Speed Hockey is a prime example. Two teams are placed on a foosball table and must knock a Koopa Shell into the opposing goal. The catch? The longer the round lasts, the faster the shell moves.
This minigame has all the mayhem you'd expect from the series, requiring you and your partner to scramble to protect your goal as the shell reaches ridiculous speeds. It's a thrill to replay on the N64 and even better in Mario Party Superstars.
7 Boo-ting Gallery
- Appears in: Mario Party 8
Motion control minigames can be hit or miss, but Mario Party 8 knocked it out of the park with Boo-ting Gallery. Based on Luigi's Mansion, this minigame takes you through an on-rails tour of a haunted manor, where you and a buddy must point the Wii Remote at the screen to shoot Boos.
After you've explored the front yard and foyer, you'll venture into the basement for a fight against Big Boo. Whichever team defeats him first wins. Blasting ghosts feels really satisfying with the motion controls, creating a fun minigame that nails the feeling of arcade shooters.
6 Making Faces
- Appears in: Super Mario Party
Have you ever wondered what Bowser would look like if his mouth were on his forehead? Welcome to Making Faces, where your team must assemble a drawing of Mario or Bowser using a crane to place various body parts.
The catch is that one of you controls the crane's vertical movement while the other controls the horizontal movement. The result is often a hilariously warped illustration. Get ready for some seriously bizarre imagery, like Mario with his eyeballs on his hat or his mouth where his nose should be.
5 Panic Pinball
- Appears in: Mario Party 5
Think you're good at pinball? Try playing with just one hand. In Mario Party 5's Panic Pinball, you and a teammate each control one flipper of a pinball machine. The two of you must communicate where to send the ball to rack up the most points and nab some sweet bonuses.
The board is brimming with things to hit, including a slot machine and a Bowser head that spits out extra balls. Fast-paced with just the right amount of that classic Mario Party chaos, Panic Pinball stands out as an exhilarating hidden gem you can play alongside some drastically underrated boards.
4 Revers-A-Bomb
- Appears in: Mario Party 4, The Top 100, and Superstars
You can't have Mario Party without a bit of mayhem, and Revers-a-Bomb is as hectic as it gets. Two teams stand on opposite ends of six Bob-omb-filled conveyor belts. The goal is to reverse the direction of each conveyor to send the bombs to the opposing side. You'll need to be quick because the Bob-ombs get faster as time passes.
Communication is key if you want to save yourself and your teammate from a fiery doom. As one of the series' most fast-paced and chaotic minigames, Revers-a-Bomb never fails to evoke laughs.
This minigame is one of my favorites simply because of how ridiculously intense it is. It's even better when you're playing with three other people.
3 Eatsa Pizza
- Appears in: Mario Party 3, The Top 100, and Superstars
Have you ever wanted to dive head-first into a massive pizza pie? You can in Mario Party 3. The Eatsa Pizza minigame lets you and a partner embrace your inner Pac-Man by crawling around a giant plate and gobbling up as much cheesy goodness before time runs out.
While undoubtedly delicious, it's not as easy as it sounds. Those pesky pepperoni slices take extra long to eat, so you and your teammate must plan a route and use your time wisely to come out on top. Overall, it's a very fun minigame to accompany the game's many excellent boards.
2 Bumper Brawl
- Appears in: Super Mario Party
If you thought four-player minigames were chaotic, try playing with 16 people. In Bumper Brawl, two teams of eight roll around a battlefield and try to knock opponents out of bounds. You can even charge up an attack to unleash a devastating blow that sends your foes flying across the screen.
With so many people battling in such a tiny arena, things get hectic quickly. Spatial awareness is key if you want to avoid getting in your teammates' way. It's this type of delightful cartoonish chaos that makes Super Mario Party a blast to play with friends.
1 Dungeon Duos
- Appears in: Mario Party 4 and Superstars
Dungeon Duos is arguably the best example of teamwork in the Mario Party series. You and a partner must work together to escape an underground obstacle course by lowering walls, helping each other cross gaps, and inflating a giant getaway balloon at the end.
This minigame not only requires equal effort from both sides but also tests your communication and timing skills. One mistake can lead to your partner falling down a pit or getting stuck behind a wall. Be prepared for a ton of laughter and probably some yelling, too.
