This was undoubtedly the best entry in the Mario Party franchise for the N64 and my personal favorite on the system. There's a reason it's considered a fan favorite.
One day, Mario and his friends discover a new world get into an argument on who it should be named after. Bowser catches wind of this and decides to invade and name the land after himself. So now, Mario and company throw another competition, the winner of which is named by whomever collects the most stars and defeats Bowser in each of the six worlds the heroes explore.
Mario Party 2 introduces more creative aspects to the franchise. Each board not only has a different theme but provides the characters with new outfits as well. The boards also have more unique gimmicks that make the game more challenging. For example, in Pirate Land, you'll have to avoid cannonballs fired from a Shy-Guy ship, Horror Land introduces Mr. I, who can teleport you and change the time of day, and Bowser land has the Koopa bank spaces that force the player to pay five coins every time they pass, but if their turn ends on the Bank Space, they receive all the coins that have been deposited.
New features in Mario Party 2 made it far superior to the first entry. For starters, the item system was introduced and allowed the player to purchase mushrooms, skeleton keys, warp blocks, and others to assist them in collecting stars. These features introduced a more strategic style of gameplay than first games more straightforwardness. There were improvements to the mechanics as well, such as the fortunate removal of those annoying mushroom spaces, as well as no more single player minigame spaces.
The minigames were a fun combination of recycled classics from the first game and new ones; Shell Shocked and Speed Hockey were my favorites. Of course, there were frustrating, not-so-fun mini-games like Day at the Races as well.
If you're a younger gamer exploring Mario Party's past installments, definitely give this one a try. Don't forget to play with your friends for maximum fun.
