Writer: Doug Quimby

The next game mode in Super Mario Party were going to be talking about is River Survival. This game mode is about you and your friends traveling down a river a raft and trying to make it to the end  before time runs out. Communication is a big factor in this one. There are many routes you can take to get to the five different endings with a lot obstacles in your way throughout the game mode. All players are constantly playing through the entire game which makes this a very fun game to play. So let’s get into it.

The hardest thing to get down is the rowing. It’s best with two or four players, because it is not good to trust the computer partners. If the left side rows, the raft goes right and if the right side rows, the raft will go left. The thing to do is master rowing in sync. This helps you get through the river way faster than just letting it carry you. Add communication to that and you’ll be able to avoid obstacles and grab all the balloons and time bonuses.

You don’t start with much time so it’s important to hit every balloon you can. Balloons lead to mini games that can give you up to forty bonus seconds added to your clock that counts down. Most of the mini games in this mode are very team oriented and force your team to cooperate in order to succeed. The faster you are the more time you get. If you see any musical notes hit them! They drop a balloon if you hit them all. Besides the mini games there are +3 seconds throughout the river, so try to hit those too. Also ‘Yeah!’ Every time you can, those will give you a couple extra seconds (Quick tip: Hitting the A button makes your character Yeah!).

The course is the next thing to master. It always starts you off in the same spot and once you get through the first section it branches off into two different routes. Before the river branches off, it gives you a preview of what you’re going to be going through for the next section. The river will keep doing this until it ends in five different spots. If you’re able to end in three of the different spots you unlock Donkey Kong, you just have to find him in the plaza first. I want to stress how important communication is. If you don’t have that, then you won’t be getting far at all. Balloons will be all over the water and obstacles in your way more than you’d like. Good communication between you and your teammates can get you through all of this pretty smoothly.

River Survival is All For One and One For All. Knowledge of the course and which items to pursue will be useless without good communication between you and your friends. Get your friends, go unlock Donkey Kong, and stay tuned for more on Super Mario Party!