Mystery Land
| Mystery Land | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Appears in | Mario Party 2 | ||
| Difficulty | ★★ | ||
| Availability | Default | ||
| Description | "Become archaeologists in search of answers to the mysterious artifacts." | ||
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- “We’re here, everyone! This is Mystery Land!!! These are hidden jungle paths. Countless mythical artifacts tower over these mysterious pathways. As archeologists, search for the stories behind the artifacts. Your objective this time, is to defeat Bowser Sphinx, a legendary monster that poses riddles to all travelers it meets. Whatever it takes, defeat Bowser to become the Super Star of Mystery Land!”
- —Toad, Mario Party 2
Mystery Land is a board set in some ancient ruins in Mario Land in Mario Party 2, and features several Super Mario-based parodies of real-life cryptozoological and historical mysteries. It is divided into four areas, to which people warp to each time they land on a Happening Space. They can also pay 10 coins to have a Bob-omb UFO take them to another area, but sometimes the UFO will malfunction and take the player to a small area with ruins resembling King Bob-omb. Other interesting features on this board include the Shy Guy's Curse House, where a player can pay 5 coins to curse themselves or another player to reduce the number on their dice block to 1-3, rather like the Cursed Mushrooms and Cursed Dice Blocks from later Mario Party games. The Item Minigame is Mallet-Go-Round, and the Duel minigame is Psychic Safari.
At the end of the game when Toad is about to announce the winner, he is interrupted by a red Koopa Troopa who comes and alerts the players that the treasure has been found. A cutscene then shows a green Koopa with a golden Bob-omb statue. Then the villain of the board, the Bowser Sphinx, comes to challenge the Koopa to guess a figure shrouded in shadow. The Koopa guesses incorrectly, saying that it is a cow, and Bowser curses the Koopa by trapping him in a rock. Then, the winner of the game comes to confront him. The winner guesses Bowser's shadow riddle correctly, saying that the figure is him. The Bowser Sphinx disappears, a consequence of having his riddle guessed, and the statue breaks to reveal a Bob-omb Buddy that was trapped inside. The other Bob-omb Buddies come to take their rescued comrade away on their spaceship and takes Bowser in their custody. The winner of the board is then congratulated by the other players, Toad, Koopa, and a Star.
Areas[edit]
Bottom right area[edit]
This is where the players start. This area contains a Shy Guy's Curse House, a Koopa Bank, and a spot where the player can summon a Bob-omb UFO to take them to the top left area. It is the only one of the four main areas without a Bowser Space. A crashed airplane with a Goomba on the tail can be seen here.
Bottom left area[edit]
This area is Egyptian-themed and features a pyramid, some pillars, and a Nazca Line-esque imprint of a Bloober. The Item Shop is here, and there is a door which allows players to willingly access the upper left or bottom right area if they have a Skeleton Key. It is the only one of the four main areas without an Item Space.
Upper left area[edit]
This area features a Koopa Bank, Boo, and a spot where the player can summon a Bob-omb UFO to take them to the bottom right area. It is the only one of the four main areas without a Battle Space. Dorrie can be seen above this area, in a parody of the Loch Ness Monster.
Upper right area[edit]
Moais can be seen in this area, as well as a monument resembling Stonehenge with a limbless Whomp on top. This area contains a Chance Time Space and a Shy Guy's Curse House. There is another Skeleton Key door here, which serves the same purpose as the one in the bottom left area. In the forest, Peach's Castle is somewhat visible through the fog.
King Bob-omb ruins area[edit]
This small area is not normally accessible, but a player may be randomly sent here after summoning a Bob-omb UFO. It consists of nothing but Red Spaces and Happening Spaces. A statue of King Bob-omb can be seen in the central sinkhole.
Spaces[edit]
The following table shows how many spaces there are on the board, and how many there are of a certain type.
| Type of Space | Number of Spaces |
|---|---|
 Blue Spaces |
37 |
 Red Spaces |
9 |
 Happening Spaces |
18 |
 Battle Spaces |
3 |
 Chance Spaces |
2 |
 Item Spaces |
6 |
 Bank Spaces |
2 |
 Bowser Spaces |
4 |
| Total of Spaces | 81 |
Gallery[edit]
A Koopa Troopa being abducted
The introduction's background
Toad introduces the Bowser Sphinx
Map of Mystery Land
Yoshi being beamed up
Mario is dropped off in the King Bob-omb ruins area.
DK in the board's second area
Yoshi near this board's Boo
A Koopa Troopa guesses the Bowser Sphinx's riddle incorrectly.
The Koopa Troopa is cursed.
Luigi (the winner of the board) solves the riddle.
The Bowser Sphinx after the riddle is solved
The Bowser Sphinx is defeated, breaking his curse.
The Bob-ombs thank Luigi for saving them.
Mario watching the UFO depart.
The board results logo
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ミステリーランド[?] Misuterī rando |
Mystery Land | |
| French | Pays Mystère[?] | Country of Mystery | |
| German | Mystery-Land[?] | Mystery Land | |
| Italian | Misteri Land[?] | Mysteries Land | |
| Spanish | Mundo Misterioso[?] | Mysterious World |
Trivia[edit]
- Wario's outfit for this board somewhat resembles his normal form from Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3. This is because the player wears an archaeologist attire complete with a sun helmet, whereas Wario is seen wearing such a helmet in said game.
- On a similar note, Mario's outfit for Mystery Land resembles the outfit Mario wore in Mario's Picross.
- Also, Bowser's Sphinx costume for this board somewhat resembles his Koop Tut alter ego from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode, "The Ten Koopmandments".
- In the ending for the board, when Sphinx Bowser gives a riddle, Koopa's (incorrect) answer was a cow, with the actual answer being Bowser himself. This was a subtle reference to Bowser's design process, where Shigeru Miyamoto initially envisioned him as an ox, but ultimately worked with Takashi Tezuka to mix both turtle and ox designs for his final design.
- The menu icon for this board resembles the condor figure at the Nazca Lines.
- Despite the fact that this board has the fewest spaces of all boards in the game, Mystery Land has more Happening Spaces than any other board.
| Mario Party 2 | |
|---|---|
| Main characters | Mario • Luigi • Princess Peach • Yoshi • Wario • Donkey Kong |
| Other characters | Bowser • Toad • Goomba • Boo • Koopa Troopa • Thwomp • Kamek • Whomp • Big Boo • Mr. I • Mushroom Genie • Steamer • Snifit Patrol • Shy Guy • Sushi • Baby Bowser • Woody • Professor Fungi • Battle T. • Totem Bros. |
| Items | Mushroom • Skeleton Key • Plunder Chest • Dueling Glove • Warp Block • Golden Mushroom • Magic Lamp • Boo Bell • Bowser Suit • Bowser Bomb |
| Spaces | Blue Space • Red Space • Item Space • Happening Space • Battle Space • Bowser Space • Star Space • Chance Time Space • Bank Space |
| Boards | Pirate Land • Western Land • Space Land • Mystery Land • Horror Land • Bowser Land |
| Other | Crazy Counting • Dinky Rinky • Goodness Rakes • Melon Mayhem • Nomiss • Rules Land • Gallery • Mario Land • Media • Minigames • Pre-release and unused content • Quotes • Sound test • Staff |
