Mario Party 9

Template:Infobox Mario Party 9 is the ninth home console installment of the Mario Party series, the second and final installment for the Wii. The game was the first in the series to be developed by Nd Cube instead of Hudson Soft. It is also the eleventh in the main series (fifteenth in Japan). The host of the game is Yellow Toad for the boards while Blue Toad is the host for minigames, and Green Toad appears near the end of Boards to initiate an event similar to the Last Five Turns Event from past Mario Party games. This is also the twenty-fifth and the final Mario series' installment overall to be released for the Wii console.

Story

On a night outside of Princess Peach's Castle, Mario and his friends are gathered to watch the Mini Stars glitter in the sky. As Mario peers though the telescope, he is shocked as he notices that the stars are suddenly being sucked through a vortex. It is then revealed to be Bowser and Bowser Jr. on a spacecraft, who are using a vacuum-like machine to suck the stars out of the sky and into containers. Upon witnessing this, Mario and the gang set out to defeat them and save the Mini Stars. After they start their journey, Shy Guy and Magikoopa are seen coming out of the woods and start following them, as part of Bowser's plan.

Before each board, there is a cutscene that features Bowser admiring his collection of Mini Stars. Bowser Jr. then runs over to him to show his father the progression of Mario's group. Bowser is enraged, but summons two of his minions to stop the group before they can take all the Mini Stars. Eventually, however, the group reach Bowser's location, Bowser Station, and must face Bowser Jr. before they can reach his father.

After the final battle with Bowser, the player looks out from the stadium at Bowser's other platform, where the canisters containing all the Mini Stars burst and release them back to where they once were. As this happens, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are flying off. Bowser is mourning over the failure of his plan, which he reveals was to decorate his castle using the Mini Stars. However, upon seeing the released Mini Stars, Bowser is enraged and chases off the ones that fly near him. However, this only results in him falling out of his car; Bowser Jr. flies down to save him. Back at Peach's Castle, Mario and friends are once again gathered around the telescope to admire the Mini Stars as they glisten in the night sky.

Gameplay

Waluigi, about to lose half of his Mini Stars at Bob-omb Factory.

In Mario Party 9, a new form of gameplay was introduced in this game, retiring the old format seen in the prior eight titles: players move all at once through the board in a vehicle (a car in Toad Road, a magic carpet in Boo's Horror Castle and a legged machine in Bob-omb Factory, for example), still taking turns rolling, moving from a starting point to to an ending point. Instead of rolling a die with a 1-10 on it like in the previous games, players can only roll a dice block with a 1-6 on it; however, there are other dice blocks that can be collected, which includes a dice block that allows a 1-10 roll. Instead of trying to collect coins to buy stars, players receive Mini Stars if they pass by them. While doing so, players must also try to avoid Mini Ztars, which deduct their current amount of Mini Stars. The player who collects the most Mini Stars by the end of the game is declared the winner.

New minigame types are introduced in the Mario Party series, one example being 1 vs. 2 minigames against Bowser Jr. In this game, the minigames don't appear after every player has moved, but only when a player ends up on any of the spaces that triggers a minigame. Also, when receiving dice blocks, a minigame might pop up after as well. Unlike previous Mario Party games, where often only the winner(s) of a minigame receives a reward, all minigames are ranked from first to last place and generally all players receive Mini Stars, players that earn a higher position earn more Mini Stars.

During a party, there are two board events that are required to occur before advancing: Captain Events and Boss Battles. The former occurs whenever a player lands on a Captain Event Space. The event differs for each board, but they all allow the players to earn more Mini Stars, though the player that lands on the space always has some form of control over the event. As for Boss Battles, there are two Boss Battle Spaces on every board, one near a fortress and one at the end. During the Boss Battle minigames, players must work together to defeat a boss while attempting to increase their own individual scores, as the player with the highest score wins the minigame.

Modes

File:MainMenu-MP9.png

The Main Menu.

This Mario Party installment has 5 modes in all. They are:

• Party Mode
• Solo Mode
• Minigame Mode
• Museum
• Extras

Party mode

Once again returning from previous Mario Party games, Party Mode involves the players going around the board like with the previous games, but changed due to the new gameplay mechanics of Mario Party 9. The amount of party points that the players will earn is determined by how many Mini Stars they have at the end of the game. However, if handicaps are used, the handicap amount will not count towards the party point total; for example, if a player has a 50 Mini Star handicap, and finishes with 100 Mini Stars, they will only earn 50 party points.

Solo mode

The game's story mode, Solo Mode involves the players traveling across all six boards to defeat Bowser and save the Mini Stars. Completing Solo Mode will award the player 500 party points, and the Mini Star grand total will also be added onto the player's party point amount; for example, finishing Solo Mode with a grand total of 500 Mini Stars will award the player 1000 party points.

Minigame mode

File:FreePlay-MP9.png

Free Play mode.

Blue Toad is the host of Minigame Mode.

• Free Play: In the Free Play mode, the players can play unlocked minigames freely. Each minigame rewards players "1" party point when played.
• Step It Up: In this mode, players must win minigames to climb stairs. The player who reaches on the top first wins.
• Garden Battle: The players must get puzzle pieces to fill their gardens winning minigames. The player who completes it first wins.
• Choice Challenge: All the players choose three minigames from a group of five that they would like to play. These minigames are played and the player who get more points wins.
• High Rollers: In this mode, the players must win minigames to roll a Dice Block to pass through a panel floor. The player who gets 500 points first wins.
• Time Attack: The player must try to win 10 minigames as fast as he or she can.
• Boss Rush: The players must defeat a series of bosses to win, similar to Boss Bash in Mario Party DS.

Note: With the exception of Free Play mode, all game modes will award the players "10" party points when finished.

Museum

File:Constellations-MP9.png

Players can purchase constellations at the Museum, and then view them in the sky.

The Museum is where the players can spend Party Points on various things such as Mini Star constellations, game sounds, vehicles, extra game modes, or watch the credits. Once they return a constellation into the sky, the players can go back and see it in the sky.

Extras

In Extras, the player can play through various extra minigames such as an extended version of Goomba Bowling, Castle Clearout, or Shell Soccer. There is also a mode called Perspective Mode, in which the player plays through ten minigames with a changed camera angle.

Characters

The boss match-up screen.

The character selection and boss matchup screens.

Playable characters

Mario	Luigi	Peach	Daisy	Wario	Waluigi
File:MP9 Select Mario.png	File:MP9 Select Luigi.png	File:MP9 Select Peach.png	File:MP9 Select Daisy.png	File:MP9 Select Wario.png	File:MP9 Select Waluigi.png
Yoshi	Birdo	Toad	Koopa*	File:MP9 Shy Icon.png Shy Guy**	Magikoopa**
File:MP9 Select Yoshi.png	File:MP9 Select Birdo.png	File:MP9 Select Toad.png	File:MP9 Select Koopa.png	File:MP9 Select Shy.png	File:MP9 Select Kamek.png
*Newcomer **Newcomer that must be unlocked through Solo Mode Note: Magikoopa is named Kamek in the PAL version.

Bosses

Toad Road	Bob-omb Factory	Boo's Horror Castle	Blooper Beach	Magma Mine	Bowser Station	DK's Jungle Ruins
Mid-Bosses
Lakitu	Whomp	Dry Bones	File:MP9 Cheep Icon.png Cheep Cheep	Spike	File:MP9 Bowser Jr. Icon.png Bowser Jr.	File:DiddyKong-Icon-MP9.png Diddy Kong
			File:MP9 Cheep Bust.png		File:MP9 Bowser Jr. Bust.png	File:DiddyKong-Boss-MP9.png
Stage Bosses
Wiggler	File:MP9 Big Bob-omb Icon.png King Bob-omb	King Boo	Blooper	Chain Chomp	Bowser	File:DonkeyKong-Icon-MP9.png Donkey Kong
	File:MP9 Big Bob-omb Bust.png					File:DonkeyKong-Boss-MP9.png
Note #1: King Bob-omb is called Big Bob-omb in the European version. Note #2: In the case of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, they are not featured in the Boss Rush and are not actual bosses, but their respective minigames (DK's Banana Bonus and Diddy's Banana Blast) are considered to be Boss Minigames for the respective board.

Other characters

Yellow Toad Green Toad Blue Toad Goombas Dry Bones Whittles Piantas Cheep Cheeps

Bob-ombs Urchins Boos Dolphins Mechakoopas Bullet Bills Piranha Plants Spinies

Sushi Huckit Crabs Seagulls Swoopers Monty Moles Hammer Bros. Fire Bros. Buzzy Beetles

Penguins Spikes Mr. Blizzards Fish Bones Deep Cheeps Thwomps Scaredy Rat

Stages

Stage	Description	Captain Event(s)
Toad Road	Toad Road is the first stage in the game, and thus it is a simple stage with almost no gimmicks. It is designed after New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and features lush grassland, flowers and windmills. A broken bridge prevents players from moving forward, and if the Energy Meter does not add up, the players will fall to a lower route with Mini Ztar Spaces.	9 Island
Bob-omb Factory	Bob-omb Factory is the second stage in Mario Party 9. Players move around a room full of conveyor belts, and if the Captain lands on an Event Space, the conveyor belts will move the group of players around, including spaces. Bob-ombs will occasionally intrude a player's game. Whenever the Captain happens to stop the Bob-omb's countdown, half of the Captain's Mini Stars are lost.	Side-by-Side Zone
Boo's Horror Castle	Boo's Horror Castle is the third stage in Mario Party 9. Players move throughout a big castle, which is haunted with Boos. After a Captain passes a Boo Portrait, a Boo will come out of it. If a Captain is caught by a Boo, then a Boo will take away half of their Mini Stars. Boos will follow the players until they leave the current hallway, or enter an alternative room with lights. Before the players can face the boss, the Captain must roll a number higher than the specified numeral on the gate.	Scaredy Rat Race
Blooper Beach	Blooper Beach is the fourth stage in Mario Party 9. Players travel along an ocean to reach the end goal. If a Captain passes by a Dolphin, he or she will get five Mini Stars. However, Sushis will take away half of the Captain's Mini Stars. Huckit Crabs will turn all the Mini Stars on the stage into Mini Ztars if a Captain lands on an Event Space, and vice versa if they land on it again.	Sunken Treasure
Magma Mine	Magma Mine is the fifth stage in Mario Party 9. This stage takes place in an active volcano where players mainly travel up and out of the vent. Players must escape rising magma that rises two spaces each turn, and is increased further if a Captain lands on a Magma Space. The Captain must avoid getting hit by magma, or the Captain will lose half their Mini Stars.	Dice Block Chicken
File:MP9 Magma Mine.png
Bowser Station	Bowser Station is the sixth stage in Mario Party 9. Bowser Jr. and Bowser are the stage's mid-boss and boss, respectively. A Jackpot Machine here will increase in Mini Stars if a Captain lands on a Jackpot+ Space. If the Jackpot Machine happens to have 20 or more Mini Stars, a Jackpot Minigame will commence. Oddly enough, this stage has no actual hazards.	Heart Star Colony Bingo Colony Speed Star Colony
DK's Jungle Ruins	DK's Jungle Ruins is the seventh stage in Mario Party 9, which can be purchased from the Museum for 500 Party Points. Instead of collecting Mini Stars, players collect Bananas while trying to avoid Z-Bananas. Players make two laps around the stage before completing the whole set. Bananas and Z-Bananas are placed on each space rather than inbetween. The actual Boss Minigames in this stage are done in form of a bonus minigame to collect Bananas. These games are supported by Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong respectively.	Barrel Choice

Minigames

Main article: List of Mario Party 9 minigames

Items

Instead of more traditional items, Mario Party 9's items consist entirely of Dice Blocks, allowing the user to roll a specific number more easily from a specific range of values. These can be obtained by landing on a Dice Block Space.

Item	Image	Description
Dice Block	File:Diceblock MP9.png	Dice Block numbered 1 to 6.
Slow Dice Block		Dice Block numbered 1 to 6 that rolls slowly to allow for ease of rolling a specific number.
0-1 Dice Block		Dice Block numbered 0 to 1.
1-2-3 Dice Block	File:Mp9123die.png	Dice Block numbered 1 to 3.
4-5-6 Dice Block		Dice Block numbered 4 to 6.
1-10 Dice Block	File:Tendiceblock.png	Dice Block numbered 1 to 10.

Spaces

File:Mp9febtrailer37.png

Magma Mine

When a player lands on a space, something is going to happen. Each space has its own effect, but like in previous Mario Party games, every space is colour-coded. The colour of the space will tell what kind of event is going to happen.

• Normal Spaces
  • Blue Spaces - Triggers good events and will help the player who landed on it.
  • Red Spaces - Trigger bad events and will hinder the player who landed on it.
  • Green Spaces - Neutral spaces that often lets one or all players attend an event that can either help or hinder the player.
  • Yellow Spaces - Trigger minigames when landed on.
  • White Spaces - Adds Mini Stars to the Jackpot on the Bowser Station board.
• Star Spaces
  • Mini Star Spaces - Gives Mini Stars to the player who landed on it.
  • Mini Ztar Spaces - Takes Mini Stars from the player who landed on it.

If the player moves over a space with a half cross on it, he or she automatically stops at that space and an event starts. The only two spaces of this kind are the Boss Space and the Captain Event Space.

Because of the new rules in Mario Party 9, there are many new spaces introduced. Some old spaces returned as well, but some have a different effect (for example the Blue Space). With a total of 21 different kind of spaces, Mario Party 9 has the most spaces of the series. Also for the first time in the Mario Party series, some spaces are unique for a specific board. Here is a list of all the spaces in the game, with what kind of effect they have.

Space		Effect	Rarity
Appears on all boards
Green Space		Nothing happens when you land here.	Common
Dice Block Space	File:MP9 Dice Space.png	Land here to receive a Special Dice Block.	Common
Lucky Space		If you land here, something good will happen.	Semi-Common
Unlucky Space		If you land here, something bad will happen.	Rare
Event Space		If you land here, a special event will occur.	Uncommon
Shuffle Space	File:MP9 Alternate Space.png	The orders of Captains change.	Semi-Common (None when playing with 2 players)
Dash Space	File:MP9 Forward Space.png	If you land here, you will have to hit a Dice Block to go forward.	Uncommon
Back Space	File:MP9 Reverse Space.png	If you land here, you will have to hit a Dice Block to go backward.	Uncommon
Spin Space	File:MP9 Random Space.png	If you land here, something special will happen!	Uncommon
Bowser Space		If you land here...	Uncommon (Common near the end of stages)
Mini Star Space	File:MP9 +1MiniStar Space.png	If you land here, you'll get Mini Stars.	Rare
	File:MP9 +2MiniStar Space.png	If you land here, you'll get Mini Stars.
	File:MP9 +3MiniStars Space.png	If you land here, you'll get Mini Stars.
	File:MP9 +5MiniStars Space.png	If you land here, you'll get Mini Stars.
Mini Ztar Space	File:MP9 +1MiniZtars Space.png	If you land here, you'll lose Mini Stars.	Rare
	File:MP9 +2MiniZtars Space.png	If you land here, you'll lose Mini Stars.
	File:MP9 +3MiniZtars Space.png	If you land here, you'll lose Mini Stars.
	File:MP9 +5MiniZtars Space.png	If you land here, you'll lose Mini Stars.
Captain Event Space		Land here to start a Captain Event. This space cannot be skipped.	1 on each stage. 2 on Blooper Beach and Magma Mine. 3 on Bowser Station.
Boss Battle Space		You will automatically stop here and fight in a Boss Battle.	2 on each stage
Free-for-All Space		If you land here, everybody will compete in a minigame against each other.	Semi-Common
1-vs-Rival Space	File:MP9 1vs3.png	If you land here, a 1-vs-Rival minigame with 3 players will be triggered. The Captain is the solo player.	Uncommon (None when playing with 2 players)
Bowser Jr. Space		Triggers a Bowser Jr. minigame where the Captain and a randomly-chosen ally must defeat him.	Uncommon (None when playing with 2 players)
Battle Space	File:MP9 Competition Space.png	A minigame will commence in which all players must participate. Mini Stars are distributed differently from regular minigames.	Semi-Common (None when playing with 2 players)
Board-specific Spaces
Magma Space	File:MP9 +2 Space.png	Raises the lava level by 2 on the Magma Mine board.	Common
	File:MP9 +3 Space.png	Raises the lava level by 3 on the Magma Mine board.	Semi-Common
	File:MP9 +4 Space.png	Raises the lava level by 4 on the Magma Mine board.	Uncommon
Jackpot+ Space		Adds 5 Mini Stars to the Jackpot Machine on Bowser Station.	Common
		Adds 8 Mini Stars to the Jackpot Machine on Bowser Station.
DK Space		If you land here, DK will start an activity where the Captain tries to collect the most Bananas spinning in a circle around the board.	Common
Jackpot Space	No Image	Gives the Captain all the Mini Stars stored on the Jackpot Machine.	Rare

Critical reception

Reviews for Mario Party 9, similar to most Mario Party games, have been mixed to positive. IGN gave it a 7/10 explaining that the graphics are good but the music is repetitive and the luck plays a big role in determining a player's fate in the game. GameSpot gave it a 6.0 explaining that it is too familiar and that Solo mode is tedious and required for unlocks.

Mario Party 9 is the 21st best selling game for the Wii, having sold 2.73 million copies worldwide, as of March 31, 2014.

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Mario Party 9 pre-release and unused content

The design of the Toad Road board for the build presented during the E3 trailer had a somewhat simpler design. While an early version features the same layout and many of the same features, the "9 Island" seen in the final game is not present, featuring a circular island in its place. The circle island on the final board also replaces a mountain with a waterfall in an early version.

Gallery

• MP9MarioArt.png

  Mario with a Star.

• Toad and Yoshi - Mario Party 9.png

  Yoshi and Toad ground-pounding.

• Big Bob-omb - Mario Party 9.png

  King Bob-omb, about to toss a Bob-omb, with Toad and Koopa Troopa.

• Mp9 c.jpg

  Wario hitting a Dice Block on Toad Road.

• SockIttoLakitu1-MP9.png

  The Boss Minigame Sock it to Lakitu.

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Party 9 staff

Mario Party 9 is developed by Nd. Cube, the same company that has developed Wii Party. Nd. Cube consists of former employees of Hudson, a company involved in the previous Mario Party titles. Shuichiro Nishiya and Tatsumitsu Watanabe are the main directors of this game. The programming director is Shinji Shibasaki. The sound director is Hiroyuki Tsuboguchi while the music director is Chamy. Ishi. Meanwhile, NOA Product Testing has been involved in debugging the game.

‎References to other games

• Super Mario Bros.: An extract of the overworld theme is in the song "Freshen Up!" (played in the minigame Speeding Bullets), also the song "Super-Duper Mario Bros." features the complete theme (played in Castle Clearout and Shell Soccer), plus the music in the Minigame mode Choice Challenge is a remix of the underworld theme, also a remix of the overworld theme can be heard in the Museum.. The bridge tiles during Goomba Bowling are very similar to the stones in the overworld levels, and a portrait in Boo's Horror Castle features Mario from this game jumping out of a warp pipe.
• Super Mario World: An extract from the music of the Results screen of the boards is a remix of the overworld theme. Also Bowser appears with his Koopa Clown Car.
• Mario Kart (series): A lightning bolt appears in King Boo's Puzzle Attack
• Super Mario 64: The music when Bowser appears to initiate a Boss Battle is the beginning of the Koopa's Road theme.
• Luigi's Mansion: King Boo is a boss. Also, Boo's Horror Castle resembles the mansion.
• Super Mario Sunshine: A Pianta appears in the minigame Pianta Pool.
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The vehicle from DK's Jungle Ruins resembles the DK Jumbo. Also, some voice clips are recycled.
• Mario Party Advance: The game uses a vehicle to move on the board. Also, Toad Mobile, the default vehicle from Toad Road resembles the car from this game.
• Super Mario Galaxy: The Ground-Pound Switch icon appears on Wiggler's body segments and on Whomp's back. Also the music of some Bowser Jr. minigames is a remix of Bowser Jr.'s theme of the game. Voice clips reused from this game include Boo's. The concept of underwater shell riding (used in the Cheep Cheep Boss Battle) is taken from this game and its sequel.
• Mario Party DS: Step It Up is a minigame mode, and it was also in DS.
• Mario Kart Wii: Some voice clips are recycled.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Many of the environments and minigames in the game are based on the worlds of this game, including the background of the minigame Upward Mobility. Yellow Toad and Blue Toad also reappear as the hosts of the game. The design of the Ice Flower of this game appears in King Boo's Puzzle Attack. Bowser Jr. appears in his Junior Clown Car. Also some of the Bowser Jr. Minigames music is a remix of Bowser Jr.'s battle music in this game. Toad houses also appear, in the style that they did in this game. The character stances are also from this game. Also, the jumping noise is the same from this game.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2: In the minigame Logger Heads, a group of Whittles appear. They also appear in the Step It Up minigame mode in the background of the tree, and they congratulate the winner when they reach the top of the tree. The setting of the boss minigame Bowser's Block Battle is similar to the areas where Mario would meet Bowser in the game. The hammers Bowser Jr. uses in Bowser Jr. Breakdown are similar to the ones used by Megahammer.
• Super Mario 3D Land: In the minigame Goomba Spotting, the Goomba Tower enemy returns and the binoculars interface resembles the one used when Mario or Luigi looks through the binoculars. Graphics and a few elements are borrowed as well.

Differences from other Mario Party games

This is the first Mario Party in the series:

• to not be developed by Hudson Soft.
• to have Mini Stars instead of coins and Power Stars.
• to change the core board gameplay by having all the players together in one vehicle.
• to not have Red Spaces, replacing them with Mini Ztar Spaces.
• to not include Advice or Hints in the Minigame Rules Screen.
• to not include a category of 2-vs-2-Minigames, and the first since Mario Party 2 to not include a category of Duel Minigames (if the 1-vs.-1 Story Minigames and/or the etc. Minigames from Mario Party 4 are counted as Duel Minigames). Additionally, it does not have the team battle mode first introduced in Mario Party 4.
• since Mario Party 2 not to have three separate save files (excluding Mario Party DS, which has two).

Trivia

• Toadette is the only playable Mario Party 8 character to not appear in this game, as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, Waluigi, and Toad are playable, Blooper and Dry Bones appear as bosses, Hammer Bro appears for battle minigames and Boo appears in Boo's Horror Castle.
• This is the first and currently only Mario Party to have fewer characters than its numbered predecessor.

External links

• Official American Website
• Official European Site
• Official Australian website
• Official Japanese website
• Official Korean website