Mario Party 3
The biggest, most ambitious Mario Party on the Nintendo 64 — and the last one before the series moved to GameCube. Mario Party 3 brings Princess Daisy and Waluigi into the series for the very first time, debuts proper Duel boards alongside the classic Battle Royale format, and packs in over 70 brand new mini-games. Hudson Soft’s third Mario Party on N64 added the Story Mode, the Millennium Star, an item-carry slot expansion, and the now-iconic Game Guy’s Room gambling mode — the most feature-rich Mario Party yet.
Story — A Star is Born
From the Mario Party 3 instruction booklet:
Mario and his friends were all relaxing one afternoon when the Millennium Star came crashing down right in front of them. The argument over who should keep it was loud, immediate and very Mario — until the Star itself flashed brilliantly and transported the whole arguing crowd into a magical toy box.
Seven Star Stamps. Six toy-box worlds. One Superstar — only the player worthy of all seven can claim the Millennium Star. This sets up Mario Party 3’s Story Mode, the first proper single-player narrative campaign in the series. Each world ends in a duel against a rival character for that world’s Star Stamp — Courage, Kindness, Strength, Love, Beauty, Wit and Mischief.
The seven Star Stamps
Courage
Kindness
Strength
Love
Beauty
Wit
Mischief
Game modes
Mario Party 3 packs more modes than any Mario Party before it — the first to fully separate single-player Story Mode from multiplayer Party Mode, plus a brand new Duel Board format and Game Guy’s standalone gambling mini-game room.
| Mode | Players | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Story Mode | 1 | Solo campaign through all six Battle Royale boards in a fixed order. After each board, you duel a rival character on a dedicated Duel Board to win their Star Stamp. Collect all seven and become the Superstar. Daisy and Waluigi are NPCs in this mode — if you’ve picked one of them as your character, Luigi steps in as your duel opponent in their place. |
| Party Mode | 2–4 | Classic multiplayer. Pick from the six Battle Royale boards or the six Duel Boards. Set turn count, handicap, and bonus rules. The mode the series is built on. |
| Duel Mode | 2 (within Party Mode) | Brand new for MP3. A 1-on-1 board format played on six dedicated Duel Boards. Each player has a partner character (a Goomba, Koopa, Toad, etc.) and HP. Steal Coins or run your opponent out of HP to win. The format that defined Mario Party Advance later. |
| Mini-Game Mode | 1–4 | Play any unlocked mini-game directly — sorted by type (4-player, 1v3, 2v2, Duel, Battle, Item, Rare). Includes Battle Room for tournament-style mini-game runs. |
| Game Guy’s Room | 1 | Brand new gambling mini-game room. Start with 10 Coins, bet on each of Game Guy’s mini-games, hit a balance of 1000 Coins to clear it. Lose all your Coins and it’s game over. Clearing this unlocks Mario’s Puzzle Party Pro, one of three rare mini-games. Requires 8 S-rankings in Story Mode just to unlock the room itself. |
| Mini-Game Stadium | 2–4 | Pure mini-game multiplayer with no board — first to a target Coin count wins. |
Characters
Mario Party 3 brings back the six original playable characters from MP1/MP2 and introduces two brand new faces to the series: Princess Daisy (only her third Mario appearance, after Super Mario Land and NES Open Tournament Golf) and Waluigi (his second appearance ever, after Mario Tennis 64 the same year). Each character has an “associated colour”, a default Duel partner, a “favourite item” the AI prefers when playing as them, and the Star Stamp they award when defeated in Story Mode.
| Character | Colour | Default partner | Favourite item | Star Stamp awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario | Red | Koopa Troopa | Golden Mushroom | Courage |
| Luigi | Blue | Goomba | Skeleton Key | (steps in for Daisy/Waluigi duels) |
| Peach | Pink | Toad | Plunder Chest | Love |
| Daisy (series debut) | Yellow | Snifit | Cellular Shopper | Beauty |
| Yoshi | Green | Boo | Warp Block | Kindness |
| Wario | Purple | Bob-omb | Dueling Glove | Wit |
| Donkey Kong | Brown | Whomp | Reverse Mushroom | Strength |
| Waluigi (series debut) | Black | Piranha Plant | Poison Mushroom | Mischief |
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy ⭐
Yoshi
Wario
Donkey Kong
Waluigi ⭐
Daisy and Waluigi are playable in Party Mode and Mini-Game Mode only — in Story Mode they appear as NPCs (the rivals you duel for the Beauty and Mischief stamps).
Items — the new 3-slot system
One of MP3’s biggest gameplay changes: you can carry up to three items at once, up from just one in Mario Party 2. Items appear only on Battle Royale boards and are bought from Toad’s Item Shop or Baby Bowser’s Item Shop, or picked up by landing on Item Spaces. Some items are exclusive to one shopkeeper, some to both, and a handful of rare items can only be found through Item Spaces or hidden blocks.
Toad’s Shop — the helpful items
| Item | Effect | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Mushroom | Roll two Dice Blocks instead of one. Match doubles for 10 Coins, double sevens for 20. | 5 Coins |
| Warp Block (Yoshi’s favourite) | Switches your position with a randomly chosen rival, then you roll normally. | 5 Coins |
| Cellular Shopper (Daisy’s favourite) | Phones either Toad or Baby Bowser to come to you so you can shop without travelling. | 5 Coins |
| Dueling Glove (Wario’s favourite) | Summons a Goomba and starts a Duel mini-game. You pick the opponent and the wager. | 10 Coins |
| Golden Mushroom (Mario’s favourite) | Roll three Dice Blocks. Triple match = 20 Coins; triple sevens = 50 Coins. | 10 Coins |
| Boo Repellent | Stops Boo from being summoned to steal from you. | 10 Coins |
| Magic Lamp | Summons the genie to whisk you straight to the Star Space in Spiny Desert. | 20 Coins |
Baby Bowser’s Shop — the nasty items
| Item | Effect | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse Mushroom (DK’s favourite) | Forces the chosen player to move backwards on their next roll. | 5 Coins |
| Poison Mushroom (Waluigi’s favourite) | Limits the chosen player’s next roll to a 1, 2 or 3 only. | 5 Coins |
| Bowser Phone | Calls Bowser to inflict his usual mayhem on a player of your choice. | 10 Coins |
| Bowser Suit | Steals 20 Coins from any rival you pass during your turn. | 10 Coins |
| Lucky Lamp | Moves the Star Space to a new random location. | 10 Coins |
| Plunder Chest (Peach’s favourite) | Steals an item from a chosen rival. | 15 Coins |
| Boo Bell | Calls Boo to steal Coins or a Star from any chosen rival. | 15 Coins |
Sold by both shops
| Item | Effect | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Skeleton Key (Luigi’s favourite) | Auto-activates at locked gates — lets you pass through and choose to keep or discard the key. | 5 Coins |
| Item Bag | Random grab bag — hit the bag 1–3 times for that many random items (depending on shop). | 30 Coins |
Rare items (Item Spaces, Hidden Blocks & Item Bags only)
| Item | Effect |
|---|---|
| Wacky Watch | Sets the game to “5 turns left” — can rescue you from a doomed game or rob a leader of theirs. |
| Barter Box | Forces every rival to swap their items with yours randomly. |
| Koopa Card | Use at the bank space to take all stored coins instantly. |
| Lucky Charm | Guarantees first place in the next mini-game prize roulette. |
Board spaces
The board is the heart of every Mario Party. Land on different coloured spaces and different things happen.
| Space | What happens |
|---|---|
| Blue Space | Gain 3 Coins (6 in the last 5 turns). |
| Red Space | Lose 3 Coins (6 in the last 5 turns). |
| Item Space | Spin a roulette to win a free random item. |
| Happening Space (?) | Triggers the board’s unique event. Wildly different per board — cacti bouncing you in Spiny Desert, Woody flipping arrows in Woody Woods, and so on. |
| Bank Space | Pay 5 Coins into the Bank, or pass over the Bank Space yourself to claim its accumulated jackpot. |
| Battle Space | All four players ante in Coins, play a Battle mini-game, winner takes the pot. |
| Chance Space | Spin a wheel that swaps Coins, Stars or items between two random players. |
| Bowser Space | Bowser appears and inflicts a curse — usually steals all your Coins or a Star, or starts a Bowser mini-game. |
| Game Guy Space | Bet your Coins on one of Game Guy’s gambling mini-games. Win big or lose everything. |
Battle Royale boards — the six worlds
Six themed boards form the Story Mode worlds and the main multiplayer Party Mode. Each has its own quirky Action Time — a board-specific mechanic triggered by Happening Spaces — plus its own art style and personality.
Chilly Waters
Deep Bloober Sea
Spiny Desert
Woody Woods
Creepy Cavern
Waluigi’s Island
Duel boards — the brand new 1v1 format
Mario Party 3’s biggest format innovation. Duel Boards are smaller, faster maps designed for one-on-one matches. Each player picks a partner character (Goomba, Toad, Snifit etc.) who fights alongside them. You don’t collect Stars — instead you fight to drain your opponent’s HP or run them out of Coins. Six dedicated Duel Boards in total, plus all six are used in Story Mode for stamp-winning duels.
Gate Guy
Arrowhead
Pipesqueak
Blowhard
Mr. Mover
Backtrack
Mini-games — all 71 of them
Mario Party 3 packs 71 brand new mini-games — nothing carried over from MP1 or MP2. They’re split into seven categories based on team format and unlock condition.
4-Player mini-games (20 games)
Free-for-all chaos — everyone for themselves.
1-vs-3 mini-games (10 games)
One unlucky player against the other three working together.
2-vs-2 mini-games (10 games)
Pair off into teams of two.
Duel mini-games (10 games)
1-on-1 head-to-head used in Duel Boards and the Dueling Glove.
Battle mini-games (8 games)
Triggered by Battle Spaces — everyone antes Coins, winner takes the pot.
Item mini-games (6 games)
Won by buying an item or landing on an Item Space.
Game Guy mini-games (4 games)
Bet-and-pray gambling games triggered by Game Guy Spaces or in Game Guy’s Room. Pure luck.
Rare mini-games (3 games)
Unlocked by completing specific challenges.
Regional differences
| Region | Notable changes |
|---|---|
| Japanese release | Original release. Some character voice clips and a couple of mini-game animations were tweaked for Western releases. |
| European release | Multi-language menu select on first boot (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian) — rare for an N64 cartridge. Released a full 11 months after Japan. |
| iQue Player (China) | Released alongside the Chinese N64-compatible iQue system. Translated into Simplified Chinese. |
| Wii U Virtual Console | Re-released in 2016 worldwide. Off-TV play on the GamePad. |
| Nintendo Switch Online — N64 | Released October 27, 2023. The first re-release on a current-gen Nintendo platform — long-rumoured to be impossible due to Konami acquiring Hudson Soft in 2012, but it eventually arrived. Online multiplayer support added. |
Reception & legacy
Mario Party 3 was a critical and commercial high point for the N64-era series. Reviewers praised the larger boards, the Story Mode, the brand new Duel Mode, and the increased item depth from the 3-slot system. It went on to sell over 2.6 million copies in North America alone and was the highest-rated Mario Party of the N64 trilogy on aggregate.
The game’s reputation has aged remarkably well — the boards are still consistently ranked among the best in the series, the soundtrack (composed by Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger fame for the menu themes) is widely loved, and the Story Mode remains the best single-player offering in any Mario Party. Its lack of availability on modern platforms (notably absent from Nintendo Switch Online) has only added to its cult-classic status — as of 2026, the only legitimate way to play it on modern hardware is the now-defunct Wii U Virtual Console.
Trivia
- Princess Daisy and Waluigi’s series debut. Both characters appear in Mario Party for the first time here. It’s also Daisy’s third Mario game ever (after Super Mario Land and NES Open Tournament Golf) and Waluigi’s second appearance overall (his debut was Mario Tennis 64 a few months earlier).
- The final Mario game to show the Princesses in their classic dress designs — from Mario Party 4 onwards, both Peach and Daisy moved to their modern royal gown designs.
- Toad gets replaced as the in-game guide — Tumble the Magic Die (a sentient Dice Block) takes over hosting duties for the first time. Toad runs the helpful Item Shop instead.
- The only Mario Party with no Bowser-themed board — in MP1 the final board was Eternal Star, in MP2 Bowser Land, but MP3’s “final” board is Waluigi’s Island instead. Bowser only appears via Bowser Spaces and the Backtrack duel.
- Snifits make their N64 debut as Daisy’s default Duel partner.
- The last Mario Party game on the Nintendo 64. Mario Party 4 launched on the GameCube the following year.
- Hudson Soft’s original musical lead Yasunori Mitsuda contributed several themes — the same composer who scored Chrono Trigger and Xenogears.
- The “Millennium Star” name was a nod to the year 2000 release date in Japan — the millennium that had just ended.
- Story Mode forces Luigi to step in as your duel opponent if you’re playing as the character you’re meant to be duelling. The most awkward example: playing as Daisy means Luigi gives you the Beauty Stamp.
- The game has a bug where Bounce ‘n’ Trounce can softlock if every player gets eliminated on the same frame.
- The maximum possible balance in Game Guy’s Room is 7,299 Coins — achieved by holding 999 Coins, betting 100, and getting the rare ×64 multiplier.
- Star Stamps appear nowhere else in the Mario series — entirely unique to MP3.