Mario Party: The Top 100 features 100 minigames that were previously featured in earlier games in the Mario Party series, all of which are taken from the home console entries. Most of the minigames were visually updated from the originals. Several minigames that appeared in Mario Party games for the Wii were reworked to properly function on the Nintendo 3DS, which lacks the Wii's motion controls.[3] The game features several game modes; in Minigame Match, which is hosted by Toad, players move around a single game board at the same time, with the goal being to collect the most coins and stars as in previous Mario Party titles.[4] Minigame Island is also hosted by Toad, and it consists of playing through pre-selected minigames to advance along a linear path in 4 worlds. Championship Battles is hosted by Toadette, and it consists of playing 3 or 5 minigames from a selected pack with the player(s) winning the most minigames being declared the winner. Decathlon is also hosted by Toadette, and it consists of playing 5 or 10 minigames to see who gets the most points. The game also includes a freeplay mode in which the player can choose which minigames to play.[4] 41 of the game's 100 minigames must be unlocked by first playing through Minigame Island.[5][3] The game supports multiplayer for up to four players, either through the use of individual copies of the game or through 3DS download play with only player required to have a copy of the game.[3]
The game has eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and Rosalina.