Five months after its releaseSuper Mario Partyon Nintendo Switch has received its first update. Unfortunately, while most long-awaited updates tend to feature big improvements or bug fixes, this patch is pretty disappointing.
TheSuper Mario Partyupdate actually went live on Thursday, so those who own the Nintendo Switch game have likely downloaded the fix already. We say fix because the update includes only a single changelog entry: “Fixed an issue with Online Mariothon in which ranking data was not displaying properly.”
Yes, the first update forSuper Mario Partyon Nintendo Switch includes one change and it’s a small one at that. Still, for those players that care about that sort of thing, it’s nice to see Nintendo make sure that rankings work correctly in the Online Mariothon mode.
Super Mario Party’s Online Mariothon mode is a far cry from what true onlineMario Partyshould look like but it is still a fun element in one of the better series entries (read ourSuper Mario Partyreview). Essentially, players battle online in a series of 5 minigames to compete for the top spot. If players do well, their rank increases in a worldwide leaderboard, which Nintendo is now trying to preserve with theSuper Mario Partyupdate.
As far as expectations, most Super Mario Party owners were hoping that if Nintendo did release an update for Switch that it would add true online play. When fans heard thatSuper Mario Partywould feature online multiplayerthey thought of playing the true, board game-based Mario Party experience with friends online. What they got was this Mariothon mode.
So if the update only makes one small change, why did it take 5 months? Does thisSuper Mario Partyupdate pave the way for future content? Nintendo is keeping quiet on that but at least the sanctity of the ranking system has been strengthened.
