I haven't played Mario Party 3 until I was in my teenage years (at age 16), but I wanted to buy it when I was in fourth grade (at age 10) since I seen the commercial of it on TV when it was first released on May 7, 2001.
Presentation
Mario Party 3 has about a total of 70 all new mini-games. The board themes this time around are based on weather/climate such as and specific areas like Ice, Desert, and Sea boards etc. You can also buy items at shops when playing on the boards. Unlike the first two Mario Parties, Toad is not the host this time around. Instead, toad was replaced with a mushroom dude that has a dice block head.
What Mario Party 3 gets right is that it adds new modes such as story mode and duel maps. Plus, Daisy and Waluigi are new playable characters for the first time. However, Mario Party 3 has some problems that should have been addressed before it was released. For example, the actual boards aren't as creative as they were in Mario Party 1 and 2. Plus, some of the mini-games have some control issues such as this one mini-game where you have to press some buttons to bring fruit to another basket. Another minor problem that Mario Party 3 has is that the music itself sounds kind of weak, and really doesn't have any cheerful theme songs like Mario Party 1 and 2 has.
As I mentioned earlier, Mario Party 3 is the first game of the series to feature story mode. You can select some of your favorite characters and try to win stickers with the kindest award etc. After you beat the computer players at the end of each board, you earn a special sticker. Your main objective is to collect the most stars and coins to be able to successfully win.
In Duel Maps, you basically play against a computer player or a friend, and try to win the most mini-games and bring your opponent's stamina down. In Battle Royal Maps, you try to win the most stars.
Daisy and Waluigi are also playable characters for the first time. Both of those characters weren't well recognized until they were first playable in Mario Tennis (released in 2000) for the Nintendo 64. Plus, Waluigi actually first debuted in Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64 version). Daisy first appeared in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy Color in 1989.
The first minor problem that Mario Party 3 has is that the boards weren't as creative as they were in Mario Party 1 and 2. For example, Chilly Waters (which is an ice stage) is difficult to navigate since there are so many paths that can take you in all different directions which is apparent near the center of the board. Plus, there is part of the board (near the top) where the snowball can chase you either to another part of the board or back to the start space. Surprisingly there is an ice board in Mario Party 6 that is quite similar to the ice board in Mario Party 3 since it also has a snow ball that can chase you back to start.
Sounds
Another minor problem that Mario Party 3 has is that the music in general isn't quite as cheerful as they were in Mario Party 1 and 2. For example, the music begins to fall flat when you begin to select your character, board, and settings before you being playing the game.
Game play
The biggest problem with Mario Party 3 is that the controls don't work right for some of the mini-games. For example, there's one mini-game where you have to press the a and b buttons to pass some fruit to the basket which your partner character will hold. What's unresponsive about the controls is that pressing a and b can cause me to miss passing the fruit to my partner sometimes since passing fruit requires precise timing. Since the Mario Party series used to be released annually since 1999 (every year), the developers probably didn't have enough time to fine tune the controls enough before Mario Party 3 was released.
Graphics
Probably due to hardware limitations, the graphics haven't really changed that much from Mario Party 1 and 2. You won't really notice any graphical changes until you play Mario Party 4 because GameCube graphics have advanced more then graphics from the Nintendo 64 era.
Final verdict
Mario Party 3 is still a good game to play with friends and family, but there are several problems that prevent this game from being truly great. The main problems such as weak theme boards, music, and control issues bring the overall score down. Although the graphics barely changed, it will still not affect my rating since the graphical and hardware had more limitations back then.
The good - the first Mario Party to feature story mode and duel maps, Daisy and Waluigi are playable characters for the first time
The bad - boards aren't as creative, the music is kind of weak, control issues in some of the mini-games
Overall, GameSpot score 7.0 out of 10