What date was the original Mario Party released in Japan?

The original Mario Party was released in Japan on December 18, 1998.

The Nintendo 64 game was the first installment in the Mario Party series. It was developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo, establishing the formula of board-game movement followed by competitive minigames. The Japanese launch came before the game reached other regions: North America received it on February 8, 1999, while PAL regions received it on March 9, 1999.

Mario Party’s early release history is easy to confuse because the regional dates fall across two calendar years. The title is therefore a 1998 game in Japan but a 1999 release in North America and Europe. December 18 refers specifically to the Japanese launch, not the North American or PAL release.

The original game featured six playable characters, eight boards, and 50 minigames. It also introduced the series’ signature Party Mode, in which up to four players compete to collect stars. A single-player mode called Mini-Game Island challenged players to clear the minigames in sequence.

Mario Party 2 followed in Japan in 1999, but it did not replace the original’s launch date or make the alternate dates correct.