Which company developed the original 1998 Mario Party game?

Hudson Soft developed the original 1998 Mario Party game.

Released for the Nintendo 64, Mario Party was the first entry in Nintendo’s long-running multiplayer party series. Hudson Soft handled development, while Nintendo published the game. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, served as development supervisor.

The game turns a board-game format into a competitive video-game event: up to four players move across themed boards, collect coins and stars, and compete in minigames. Its six playable characters were Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario and Donkey Kong. The original release included 50 minigames and later became a foundation for the series’ familiar formula.

A common mix-up is confusing the developer with Nintendo, because Nintendo published the game and owns the Mario franchise. Hudson Soft continued developing the early mainline games through Mario Party DS in 2007. Starting with Mario Party 9, development moved to NDcube, later known as Nintendo Cube.