Test for the Best

Test for the Best is the only secret minigame mode in Mario Party 8. This mode is similar to Mini-Game Decathlon from Mario Party 5, Decathlon Park from Mario Party 6, Decathlon Castle from Mario Party 7, and Score Scuffle from Mario Party DS, though this mode is for one player only. The player character appears in a hot-air balloon, MC Ballyhoo and Big Top alongside them. MC Ballyhoo tells the player character that the goal is to earn points based on their performance in 10 minigames (and be graded with an F, D, C, B, A, or A+, the last one automatically netting the player 1,000 points); every point they earn sends them a foot into the air, and so the real objective is to fly as high as possible.

It is possible to access this mode without having unlocked all 10 minigames listed below, as long as this minigame mode is bought from the Fun Bazaar first. Any minigames played here that have not yet been unlocked will be unlocked after this mode is completed.

This mode stores the best five total scores in this mode, as well as points earned, the grade received, and the title earned for each minigame within each ranking.

Minigames

The 10 minigames that are played are the same ones every time. However, they are played in a random order.

• Alpine Assault
• Ion the Prize
• Kartastrophe
• Pumper Cars
• Rotation Station
• Saucer Swarm
• Settle It in Court
• Snipe for the Picking
• Surf's Way Up
• Swing Kings

The games are measured in either time or points.

Scoring

Unlike the Decathlon games in previous Mario Party games where the score was the sole purpose of determining the winner, this mode also uses a grading system as it is a single-player mode, though up to 1,000 points can be earned in one minigame.

Minigame grades

The number of points the player earns after converting the result from the minigame determines the grade for that minigame.

Grade	Points awarded
A+	1,000
A	900–999
B	800–899
C	700–799
D	600–699
F	0–599

Each minigame also earns the player a "rank" for that minigame, which is determined by the grade earned and the name of the minigame.

The A+ and F grades are S and E, respectively, in the Japanese version.

Titles

Minigame	A+	A	B	C	D	F
Alpine Assault	High-Speed Boarder	Super Boarder	Speedy Boarder	Average Boarder	Standard Boarder	Slow Boarder
Ion the Prize	Quicksilver Separator	Superior Separator	Skilled Separator	Semi-Separator	Radio-Inactive	Complete Meltdown
Kartastrophe	Fast-Track Titan	Supersonic Squealer	Rubber-Burning Pro	Passable Driver	Sunday Driver	Crash Dummy
Pumper Cars	Minecart Commander	Minecart Major	Muscle Major	Muscle Minor	Slow-Mo Master	Totally Exhausted
Rotation Station	Super Cougar Climber	Bighorn Climber	Expert Climber	Common Climber	Silly Stumbler	Fall-Down Fool
Saucer Swarm	Titanium Defender	Silver Defender	Iron Defender	Average Defender	Sleepwalking Shooter	Spaced-Out Shooter
Settle It in Court	Hoops Supershooter	Hoops Honcho	Expert Shooter	Basket Staller	Court Jester	Benchwarmer
Snipe for the Picking	Eagle-Eyed Sniper	Surefire Sniper	On-Target Sniper	Sniper Wannabe	Wobbly Shooter	Foot Shooter
Surf's Way Up	Cosmic Kahuna	Stellar Surfer	Wave Maker	Surfin' Sophomore	Surfin' Neophyte	Wipeout Kid
Swing Kings	Home Run King	Savage Slugger	Strong Slugger	So-So Slugger	Fly Swatter	Bat Butterfingers

Targets

The required results (in score or time) for each eligible grade are shown below. If the player does not meet the requirement for a D grade or higher (and, as a result, earns fewer than 600 points from the result of the minigame), it will be an F.

NTSC version

Minigame	A+	A	B	C	D
Alpine Assault	0:30.00	0:31.50	0:33.00	0:34.50	0:36.00
Ion the Prize	58	52	46	40	34
Kartastrophe	0:43.00	0:45.00	0:47.00	0:49.00	0:51.00
Pumper Cars	0:14.50	0:15.00	0:15.50	0:16.00	0:16.50
Rotation Station	0:35.00	0:45.00	0:55.00	1:05.00	1:15.00
Saucer Swarm	52	48	44	40	36
Settle It in Court	18	16	14	12	10
Snipe for the Picking	1,500	1,300	1,100	900	700
Surf's Way Up	800	680	560	440	320
Swing Kings	20	18	16	14	12

PAL version

Minigame	A+	A	B	C	D
Alpine Assault	0:37.00	0:38.50	0:40.00	0:41.50	0:43.00
Ion the Prize	50	45	40	35	30
Kartastrophe	0:44.00	0:46.00	0:48.00	0:50.00	0:52.00
Pumper Cars	0:17.50	0:18.00	0:18.50	0:19.00	0:19.50
Rotation Station	0:40.00	0:50.00	1:00.00	1:10.00	1:20.00
Saucer Swarm	50	46	42	38	34
Settle It in Court	18	16	14	12	10
Snipe for the Picking	1,500	1,300	1,100	900	700
Surf's Way Up	800	680	560	440	320
Swing Kings	20	18	16	14	12

There are also factors that determine the exact number of points the player will score in this mode. Depending on the player's performance in the minigames, it is possible to get the same grade but a different number of points in multiple minigames.

Points earned are calculated based on piecewise functions. Points rise linearly until the D grade requirement is reached, in which the points earned change in a piecewise fashion but are still linear. All decimals are truncated (e.g., scoring 53 in the NTSC version of Ion the Prize gives 916 points).

Overall targets

At the end of all minigames, the player is graded based on their total score, and given an overall rank appropriate to the player's total score. There are 20 possible overall ranks in this mode. Aside from earning 10 Carnival Cards for playing the minigames, the total score also determines the number of bonus Carnival Cards the player will also receive.

Overall rank	Total score	Bonus
Supreme Superstar	10,000	100 Carnival Cards
Superstar	9,800–9,999	50 Carnival Cards
Galactic Master	9,600–9,799	50 Carnival Cards
Celestial Royalty	9,400–9,599	50 Carnival Cards
Cosmic Champion	9,200–9,399	30 Carnival Cards
Meteoric Emperor	9,000–9,199	30 Carnival Cards
Orbital Master	8,800–8,999	30 Carnival Cards
Stratosuperior	8,600–8,799	30 Carnival Cards
Stratospheric	8,400–8,599	20 Carnival Cards
High Altitude	8,200–8,399	20 Carnival Cards
Skybound	8,000–8,199	20 Carnival Cards
Elite	7,800–7,999	20 Carnival Cards
Veteran	7,600–7,799	20 Carnival Cards
Advanced	7,400–7,599	10 Carnival Cards
Novice	7,200–7,399	10 Carnival Cards
Apprentice	7,000–7,199	10 Carnival Cards
Rookie	6,800–6,999	10 Carnival Cards
Beginner	6,600–6,799	Nothing
Peewee	6,400–6,599	Nothing
Groundling	0–6,399	Nothing

Signs

Every thousand-point mark is indicated by a sign. The creatures holding the signs are listed below.

• 

  1,000 points: two Paragoombas

• 

  2,000 points: two Green Paratroopas

• 

  3,000 points: two Red Paratroopas

• 

  4,000 points: one Flutter

• 

  5,000 points: one Klepto

• 

  6,000 points: one Fishin' Lakitu

• 

  7,000 points: two Toadies

• 

  8,000 points: two Fly Guys

• 

  9,000 points: one Magikoopa

• 

  9,800 points: various Captain Shy Guys on the Moon

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	アタックミニゲーム[?] Atakku Minigēmu	Attack Minigames
French	Dix Epreuves en Ballon[?]	Ten Trials on Balloon
German	Marios Marathon[?]	Mario's Marathon
Italian	Prova del Fuoco[?]	Trial by Fire
Korean	어택 미니게임[?] Eotaeg Minigeim	Attack Minigames
Spanish	El gran reto[?]	The big challenge