KCF Ranks the Mario Party 1-8+DS Maps

56. Kamek's Library (DS):

I have only played this map a few times, but I have had no fun with the map itself ever. It is so awful. I can't see how anyone could enjoy playing here

55. Neon Heights (MP7):

I know some people say that the series is highly luck based, I see a little bit of merit in it, but not much as a whole, and this map is probably the biggest reason as to why. It looks cool, but it plays like shit. I only played it once and that's all it took for me to not want to play it again. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. My sister and I played with 2 NPCs, one at the hardest and one at the easiest difficulty setting. The easiest setting NPC won and by 3 or 4 stars or something. It always chose the right treasure chest, always. Out of the 50 turns, I was on the winning side for at least 40 of the end-of-turn mini-games and I ended up with 3-4 less stars than the guy, I think it was Mario, who only won when my sister or I was on his team. It also doesn't help that each turn takes like 7-8 minutes, which is an absurdly high amount. In the N64 MPs, turns including the mini-game rarely took more than 3 minutes. It was just a horrible combination of everything that sucks, but it had some decent elements while Kamek's Library lacked any at all.

54. Space Land (MP2)

This was just a boring course. It had one of the worst music pieces of all MP boards and the map just felt empty. I don't mind that laser beam being there, but how about making it take half your coins? That seems more reasonable, especially when the NPCs sometimes take that one route that keeps looping around so they sometimes have the counter go down two clicks in just one turn.

53. Boo's Haunted Bash (MP4)

When I first played this back when I was 12, was the first game I played when I got a GC for Christmas in '02, I thought it was going to be the best map in the game. Nope, it was the worst. It was just a mess and you kind of just went with the flow of things. It didn't really implement the "haunted" theme much either, at least not in the way that I was hoping

52. Pagoda Peak (MP7)

It's theme isn't bad on its own, but when it loops over and over, it makes it the most annoying theme in possibly all of the MPs. I don't mind the one-stop, top-of-the-map star purchasing that was implemented in a few previous MPs, but it was done in the worst way. It seemed more like a chore than fun trying to reach the top. Like Neon Heights, this map suffered tremendously from having 8 minute turns. I could only play this map twice, once in story mode, before saying that enough was enough

51. Bowser Land (MP2)

Who honestly at Hudson thought that the parade was a good idea? I also didn't like the idea that I couldn't choose what I wanted to buy, though I have seriously only spent money at an item store maybe 10 times in the entire game, at the item shop. It looked pretty pathetic for a theme park too. Very disappointed that this was the final level in a game

50. Yoshi's Tropical Island (MP)

I feel as if this map had potential. It looked great, but it didn't have anything else going for it. I also hated the happening space effect. Too many bad things happened as a result

49. Eternal Star (MP)

This level, though interesting at the start, gets a bit too repetitive for my taste. I can only take so much of having to deal with the Cohorts and going through the warp spaces. I do enjoy looking at the overhead map though because of how interesting it looks

48. Koopa's Seaside Soiree (MP4)

Another tropical theme, another miss. It just didn't do anything for me and the map-specific things, like the hotel and dolphin were very lame. Try again Hudson

47. Bowser's Warped Orbit (MP8)

My main problem was with the star collection. Having all the stars already in the hands of the players is fine, but when you make items as the only means to collect them from others, it really sucks out a lot of the fun.

46. Bowser's Gnarly Party (MP4)

Bowser was such a bitch on this course, that he cost the board a better ranking

45. Bowser's Enchanted Inferno (MP7)

At least it's Bowser's best amusement park map, but it still has a lot of work to do

44. Koopa's Tycoon Town (MP8)

MP did not make a great transition to the Wii and this map is probably the best exhibit as to what I mean. It was the buggiest one of them all. I thought this would be a great one to play with my sister and friends. I was wrong. Very wrong

43. Goomba's Booty Boardwalk (MP8)

It just didn't feel like a beach-themed map. That may sound silly, but that really disappointed me. It was also one of the MP8 maps that just didn't make a nice transition to the Wii

42. DK's Stone Statue (DS)

Even with 50 turns, it just didn't feel like it was enough. It took so long getting to the place to buy stars, that it almost didn't seem worth it and while other maps in other games have done this, they also included something to go along with the map to keep you occupied. I really liked the look of it though, seeing as you were tiny and all of this wasn't actually all that big in reality.

41. Pirate Land (MP2)

I know I didn't talk about them on my Tropical Island write-up, but do away with the Thwomp-toll thing. I liked the item mini-game that went with this map, but the biggest disappointment had to have been the lack of implementing pirate things in it. Sure it looked like a pirate map, but hardly any interactions made you think that they were pirate-related

40. Bowser's Nightmare (MP5)

It's hard to believe, for some anyway, that I have yet to do 20 rankings and only two Bowser themed maps remain. This is easily the most "Bowser"-like map in the series and it is also quite large, so it is definitely neat to just browse the place, but when you play it, you kind of get the feeling that this is like a punishment. It just seems as if Hudson wants you to be frustrated often when you play this map. It is definitely challenging, which has made for some great experiences and intense matches. The good and the bad are almost on the same level, so it balances out to an average map with plenty of better options.

39. Sweet Dream (MP5)

I really like the cheerful beat here and who doesn't like looking at a bunch of desserts? Although I have had some very interesting experiences here, many that didn't go in my favor, it just plays out like an average map

38. Wario's Battle Canyon (MP)

You have to be very attentive in this map. Constantly blasting to poor locations on the next section can easily cost you in the end. I am indifferent with just about everything with this map, except for the music as it's one of my favorites in the game

37. Toadette's Music Room (DS)

The level design was the best in the game, it had one of the better musical themes in the game, and I liked how you were to get stars. For some odd reason, I just find it average. It may be due to the fact that it always seemed liked it was a 3-on-1 match every time I played there or something else

36. Spiny Desert (MP3)

Only MP6 has yet to have a representative listed. I would say that #56-51 are the bad boards, #50-43 are the sub-par boards, and #42-37 are the simply average boards. Spiny Desert starts off what I would consider the "fairly decent" boards. Spiny Desert is a vast map, and that is becomes a disadvantage when it has the "mirage" star too. Two stars will be on opposite sides of the map and it takes awhile to get to them. If you get to the mirage one, it is not a good feeling at all. This happens upwards of 7-10 times in a 50 turn session. The mirage thing is fine, but the map has to be smaller for it to work. It's a shame because the map was fun to play on other than that and could have maybe been in the Top 25

35. Chilly Waters (MP3)

I know you probably despise me for doing this Preston, but that's how I feel. The map is so simple, that it works quite well. I have just had so much more fun on the others that Chilly Waters happens to place 35th. One thing I didn't like is the ice in the middle. I always seemed to be the only one who would slip and fall on it

34. Pyramid Park (MP7)

This was just an excellently designed map. Both sections were perfectly balanced and there was a ton of stuff you could do on either side. This is an excellent map to go from star space to star space. What's that, this one uses chain chomps to go around stealing stars? Why use a perfectly good map and use a playing style that conflicts with it? It isn't all that bad a I make it out to be, it is under the "fairly decent" category remember, but the map could have been in the Top 15 with the standard "go from star space to star space" routine

33. Clockwork Castle (MP6)

This is one of the most bizarre map designs in the series. I wonder how they came up with this one. Having the star space move around constantly during the day and having to avoid Bowser during the night is challenging, but not frustrating, and exhilarating, but not overwhelming. It is such an odd experience when you play this map

32. Snowflake Lake (MP6)

This kind of style with the chain chomps and all the stars already in the hands of the players is fine, which was later used in the aforementioned Pyramid Park, but it only works well when played for 50 turns. You can't have a 20 turn session and come out satisfied. Unlike Pyramid Park, this map seemed to be designed for the chain chomp thing, so it is just above Pyramid Park for that reason

31. E. Gadd's Garage (MP6)

Normally, you wouldn't think that a garage of all things would make a for a decent map, but it worked. I really had a problem with that rotating thing in the middle that would change route whether it was night or day. It always screwed up my plans

30. Toy Dream (MP5)

I would have figured that a map based on a bunch of toys would be used in an earlier game in the series, but it took the fifth game to do it. This or Sweet Dream are probably the the boards that I have played from this game because they are favorites of my friends/sister. I don't happen to like it as much as them, but it's a fun board. They just didn't use the toys as I would have wished.

29. King Boo's Haunted Bash (MP8)

Arguably the most original star scenario concept in the series, it was very fun because you had no damn clue where you were going and the map changed each time someone got a star. This is one of the few instances where something mostly comprised of luck turned out to be great. Unfortunately, candies kind of ruined this map in some ways and I would have liked it if there was no map and you either had to memorize where you had been before or just go with the flow.

28. DK's Treetop Temple) (MP8)

This could have been in the Top 20 if it wasn't so buggy. I have always been a fan of the jungle themes, but I have to label it as fairly decent. It is the best of the fairly decent ones because starting with 27, we have the great boards (I'm becoming more and more original with titles)

27. Wiggler's Garden (DS)

This falls under the same boat as Chilly Waters as being so simple yet so enjoyable, but I found it more fun than that map, so I find this to be a great map

26. Mystery Land (MP2)

This map really grew on me. I used to hate it, though not as much as Space Land but more than Bowser Land. I don't know what made me change my opinion on it, but perhaps it just had to do with me getting older and appreciating new/different things. My biggest problem was a sort of reliance on landing on a happening space.

25. Windmillville (MP7)

I can't believe MP8 found a way to really screw up what this map did. It really is a fun map if you play it with 4 competent human-controlled players, or at least NPCs on one of the harder difficulty settings. If they are incompetent, then it may be a little too easy to fully enjoy

24. Shy Guy's Perplex Express (MP8)

And there you have it, a game in the series has lost its final map. This was the first map I played a full game on and I was really impressed with. I was disappointed when none of the other maps in MP8 were better than this one. It takes the least amount of time to go through a turn, its size is just the right amount so you don't have to wait forever to get another chance at a star, and you are on a map that is constantly in motion! My only complaint is that there seemed to be too many happening spaces that changed the structure of the train. That part got old very quickly

23. Waluigi's Island (MP3)

It felt really weird at first because this was the first non-Bowser final map. It was a very disproportional map that was very interesting to say the least. The section where nearly every space was the same had some chaotic stretches when they were all Bowser or Battle spaces. They could have done away with the bomb part in the beginning and it wouldn't lose any of its wackiness. It is inevitable that things won't go your way multiple times, so it is a blast to play with 4 people so you can hear everyone bitch and gripe every so often

22. Mario's Rainbow Castle (MP)

I could listen to this maps theme all day. Very beautiful. It looks nearly matched the music. It's weird because it plays bigger than it looks and it plays shorter than it looks. That may make no sense to anyone but myself, but I am supposed to give my input on the write-ups and there it is. I just wish that the penalty for getting Bowser wasn't so steep.

21. Undersea Dream (MP5)

It took me well over a year to actually play this map outside of story mode. What was wrong with me? I'm a sucker for underwater/marine things, so it would have been hard for me to not like this map. This was one of the better multiplayer maps in the game and I have actually only played this once outside of story mode. I liked it that much that one time to place it this high

20. Pirate Dream (MP5)

Like #21, it took also took me over a year to actually play this outside of story mode and once again, "What the hell was wrong with me?" I have actually played this multiple times outside of story mode though. I probably would have rated this higher had it not had the word "Pirate" in its title. It was misleading because it didn't feel pirate-like. The ship is the only thing that I can think of that could actually be associated with pirates. Cave Dream is a more suitable name, but even though I think that would be an awesome name, I know that wouldn't be the case with most people. It looks much bigger than it plays, which is good. It is the second best looking map in the game next to one that hasn't been mentioned yet.

19. Towering Treetop (MP6)

A map on giant tree. Simple, yet brilliant. This is a perfect map to play with those who have never played a MP game before because it is so easy to get the hang of. It isn't so simple so that a MP "veteran" like myself would be bored to tears with. I have also had some very close games on this map, which helps place it in the Top 20

18. Faire Square (MP6)

No pun intended, but this is probably the most fair map out there. #19 is perfect for beginner. This map is perfect for the younger audience. It allows you to buy multiple stars, sometimes at a discount or premium, so that anyone can remain in the game. It also has a slot machine that you know children could play around with for hours. I really like the European look of the map and it looks beautiful at night. Despite its pluses, I can't put it any higher because it is too easy. There's something about always finishing with 20+ stars that sucks a little bit of excitement out of me

17. Creepy Cavern (MP3)

Upon looking at a picture of it, it is smaller than I thought it was. I always seemed to be secluded on this map. Everyone else was on the opposite side of the map. That whomp was always in my way. I think I remember it requiring a particular item, which I never had. The funky music is one of the best fits for a map in the series. Part of my large list of bizarre things I like to do in life is to just go around the map. I sometimes don't think about where the star is or anything and just go around the board. If only there was a bit more to do on the board, then it would be in the Top 15.

16. Bowser's Pinball Machine (DS)

Our second game has come to a close as the DS game has lost its final map. I like winning as much as anybody, but if the entire session comes with little challenge, then it sucks some fun out. I would find more enjoyment losing a close match than winning by a large margin. I say that because this map almost certainly ensures that no match will be decided in the first 10 turns. Fuck happens and shit happens every turn. Faire Square allows you to be multiple stars to keep you in the game, while Bowser's Pinball Machine pretty much gives money to you just so you will always have enough money to buy the star when you get to one. There's also something about being in a pinball machine that makes me like it even more. The only reason I cannot place it in the Top 15 is because I have never played multiplayer in this game. I have always played alone. With the console games, my friends, sister and I can easily play together. I don't know about the DS setup. Almost none of my friends own a DS and none own this game, so if we need multiple carts and/or multiple DSs, then that isn't happening. If we can use just one cart and one DS, then that will just suck having to pass it around. It's a lose-lose situation for me

15. Goomba's Greedy Gala (MP4)

Here's what begins the "fantastic" maps. I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way or whether I am right or not, but I have always thought this game has the best graphics from a technical standpoint. I remember playing the games where you have to ground-pound on the thwomp made out of gelatin, or whatever it was, and the one that had one player on a thing in the middle trying to stay on balance while the 3 other players tried to knock him or her off, and just thinking, "These are graphics are amazing!" How that relates to this board is that this board reminds me of those impressive graphics from the games. It's not the objects that I'm talking about, but the colors themselves. That may sound a little odd, but Hudson put a lot of effort aesthetically, and it shows.

Enough about the looks though, this plays just like you would expect at a casino, chancy. I don't know if there's a formula to the roulette, but I have never figured it out and the roulette is the key to the map. It dictates which of the 4 sections you will go to and, obviously, there's only going to be a star on one of them. Unlike Neon Heights, which also had the flashy looks and the larger than usual amount of luck involved, I never felt screwed over or became frustrated. Even if things didn't go your way at first, if you were clearly playing the best out of anybody on the board, then you would definitely be rewarded.

14. Bowser's Magma Mountain (MP)

Bowser's best board was his first one ever. I don't know what the hell those things are officially called, but the volcano statues are one of the first images that come to mind when I think about this game. You are on top of a volcano searching for stars. It doesn't get any more badass than that. Happening spaces are generally hit or miss, and though most people that I know hated this one, I really liked it. It was very fair in making all red and blue spaces a single color for a couple of turns. Now that I think about, I am the only person I know that really liked this map, so I have played it by myself about half the times I have played it.

13. Western Land (MP2)

If there's one thing that I remember about this map is the hootenanny. It made no sense that a wiggler was running a milk bar, but I went along with it anyway. I know that the purpose of the hootenanny is to bring everyone there so that if someone else was close to a star, then now you brought them further away and gave you a better chance to reach it. I was/am a jerk on this map and will use Steamer for the hell of it, even if it puts me further away from the star, just so that I hit someone. I will always remember this map for what Bowser says at the end after a delayed reaction from getting hit from a cork gun, "Argh! Ya corked me"

12. Grand Canal (MP7)

I believe that this is the final board of the game. I could just give blooper as my reason and be fully justified, but I will delve a little deeper for the hell of it. Well, that's actually harder than I thought it would be, so let's just take my word for it as the twelfth best MP board and go on with our lives. I really did enjoy it that much even if nothing was truly special about it, besides the fact that blooper was there that is.

11. Horror Land (MP2)

This too is the last representative of a game. Long before MP6 rolled around, this map implemented the night/day system. The effects are far more dramatic in MP6 than this map though. I was amazed when I was like 10 when I would notice that a lot of the things that appeared at night were just simple things that gave the impression of something spooky. I remember that there was a blanket with markings on it and ketchup supposed to look like blood. It makes sense, but I don't like that Big Boo there. Being able to steal from all 3 players is a bit overkill. Take note that I hate the concept of using boos to steal from other players though. When my friends and I play, we implement a "no-boo" rule. I really like the original MP for having that no-boo item, so I don't remember the last time that I played with a boo on that game. I always liked the dual mini-game on this map

Top 10
The remaining maps are the must-play maps of the series. If you enjoy the series, then you simply have to play them some day if you haven't already.

10. Peach's Birthday Cake (MP)

It's hard beating a map on top of a cake. I used to love speeding through the map as fast as I could just to buy a seed and see what I would get. I was 9 when I first bought the game in '99, so I didn't know what "ciao" meant, but I loved the word. Having the star on a set space for this map was the right decision. Who can dislike the music either? It screams Princess Peach. My friends and I would implement a "no buying piranha plant" policy because when we used to play allowing ourselves to buy them, they would just be littered along the southern part of the map, making it almost certain that you would land on one.

9. DK's Jungle Adventure (MP)

This is my nostalgia pick, but definitely not the most controversial pick, which I will not in the write-up. It was the very first map I played. My friends and I used to fear taking to most northern path because of the boulder. I use to feel powerful whenever I went through one of those stone gates because I remember there being like a coin requirement. Like Birthday Cake, this music also screams the title character.

8. Toad's Midway Madness (MP4)

This ranking is not necessarily for how it looks, it's music. it's theme, or how it plays. Those were all fine, but if those were the only criteria, then I would probably place it somewhere in the 20-25 range. This placement is solely for the experiences I have had with this map. During the summer of '03, my friends and I literally played this map about 5 days a week and boy did some of those have spectacular and agonizing results.

In one instance, I was down three stars with four turns to go and I ended up getting two stars and then I got two of the three bonus stars to win the game.

Another involved the pinball-based chance time. I had built a 4 star lead with about 15 turns to go and I had to swap my stars and coins with someone and then I was down 6 stars. I ended up reaching the star before everyone else for the next few times and was down 3 stars. The person that got my stars and coins from before then lost them the same way to someone else. The last place person was my friend's 7 year old sister. On the very next turn, she got to trade everything she had to the first place person, so that she was now on top. At the end, she was three up on me, but I got all 3 bonus stars, so we had the same amount of stars. I lost by 2 coins and I landed on a red space on my last turn.

The final example I will talk about also had to do with the pinball game. I was on top on the final turn and I was ensured getting 2 of the 3 bonus stars. My friend lands on the pinball game space and we traded stars and coins with each other. I was so pissed that my victory turned into defeat in a fourth of a turn.

Experiences like these, whether it goes your way or not, make it more exciting instead of the usual being in first all the time

7. Deep Blooper Sea (MP3)

I can't decide if this or a to-be-mentioned board has the best music in the series. I always for some reason hear this and instantly think of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles, and that song is awesome by the way. The stationary objects are very impressive, especially the underwater volcanoes. Kind of like my unusual enjoyment in purchasing the seeds in Peach's Birthday Cake, I was eager to reach Sushi and hit the button. I always felt that the angler fish that tries to suck you up is one of the more intense things on any board in the series. I already mentioned in Undersea Dream that I love marine themed things, so they also helped propel it to the #7 slot.

6. Shy Guy's Jungle Jam (MP4)

Another game is finished as the last MP4 board finishes just outside the Top 5. I have never played a session in which I didn't enjoy myself in this map. Never. I just think that this board excels at board design. I can't think of anything that would be better if it was placed elsewhere.

5. Castaway Bay (MP6)

This took Mario's Rainbow Castle and made everything better, except for the music. It combines 4 distinct sections, but none of them seem out of place. If Bowser's ship is out in front, the map is designed to give you an opportunity to take as long as you can in hopes of having someone else get there before you. If you did happen to reach Bowser, the punishment for doing so wasn't as severe as before. You will still lose a star if you have one, but if you don't, you only lose like 10-20 coins. My friends don't like this style, so I don't get to play this often, but I have a blast when I do

4. Future Dream (MP5)

I generally dislike space themed stuff. For the most part, it never interests me. That's why it's a bit odd for me to place this as my fourth favorite MP map. Much like Grand Canal, I have a hard time putting together an explanation that would make sense to everyone as to why I like it this much. I guess one thing I can say is that like Shy Guy's Jungle Jam, I have always enjoyed myself with this map. I do like it how that if a star is far away from you, you have options in the taxi and rocket ships to help you catch up with your foes

3. Luigi's Engine Room (MP)

I don't know where Hudson even got the idea to have an engine room as the location of a map, but they struck gold with it. I feel a little sorry for Luigi because you would never associate him with a place like this and they just strapped his name to it to give him a place of his own, but he had the last laugh with having the best map in the game. I loved being a jerk and switching the gates, I always had the cash, to screw over my friends. My mind was blown when I found out this took place on one of those flying ships from Super Mario 64. Who says that something as dark and ugly as an engine room can't provide much fun?

2. Rainbow Dream (MP5)

It's easy to mess up incorporating 4 different ideas bound by a single theme, but Hudson didn't falter when making a map based off of four weather patterns. Everything about it is beautiful. the looks, the music, and uh...whatever other people would find beautiful because this map exudes that. It kept people from just constantly hoarding money by making them pay a small fee to cross over to the next cloud or having them take their chances landing on a happening space. The only thing that I would have changed about this map is that the rainbow spaces should allow you to go to any of the clouds. They should just charge you more based on where you were and where you wanted to go. For instance, if you were on the snowy-based cloud, it costs 5 coins, I think, to go to the cloudy one. They should charge you 15 if you want to go to the rain one and 25 for the sunny one. If anyone cares, the rainy-based cloud was my favorite.

1. Woody Woods (MP3)

There was no doubt in my mind that this was going to take the top spot. Just like how I always find that J.K Simmons makes any film that he is in ten times better, though the movies may still suck overall, Woody makes anything he is in ten times better as well. Based on that fact (any objections?), making a map based off of his forest would certainly be top-of-the-line and look where it landed on the top MP board list. It didn't get this far because of its great music, I throw that around a lot but I mean it, its layout that wasn't confusing but not bland, the paper cut-outs in the background that are second best to Deep Blooper Sea, or the evil Woody in the back that I think I have only landed on one of the spaces once. It got here for what made Woody Woods so different from everyone else, the junctions changed directions every turn. This makes it the most interesting of the maps. In most boards, the person who wins the most games generally has the most coins, who usually ends up as the winner. This map is entirely different. You need coins to buy stars yes, but they won't guide you victory. You are required to think things through and actually plan ahead of time. You need to know which items you should be buying, what path you should take, etc... You would have to be a person who is easily bored to find this map dull. I understand if some people would not find it the best. What I wouldn't be able to wrap my mind around is if someone said that this map was bad. This is the best map in all of Mario Party and it deserves it.