Shy Guy's Perplex Express
| Shy Guy's Perplex Express | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Appears in | Mario Party 8 | ||
| Luck | Payday Waystation | ||
| Availability | Default | ||
| Description | So close, yet so far! Rush to the front car to get a Star. Simple? Not on this train! | ||
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- “Who's at the wheel?! How long is this train?! Are you ahead...or behind?! Welcome aboard the Perplex Express! Where are we going? Insane! And at the speed of crazy! So many cars! So much luxury! But what looks like such a straight run to the front locomotive... is actually a disorienting trip! And if you somehow reach Shy Guy, he'll give you a Star for 20 coins!”
- —MC Ballyhoo, Mario Party 8
Shy Guy's Perplex Express is one of the boards in Mario Party 8. Shy Guy's Perplex Express is set on a moving passenger train. The board consists of the inside and the top of the train's cars (there is also a secret area called Payday Waystation). The steam locomotive is driven by a Shy Guy engineer, and the train cars themselves are inhabited by Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Shy Guys. The objective on this board is to get to the front of the train, where the Shy Guy engineer gives away a Star for 20 coins. The board is a one-way board, without junctions. Green Candy cannot be obtained on this board.
Players who land on a DK Space cause the train to be switched with Donkey Kong's Barrel Train. The player who makes it to Donkey Kong first gets a free Star. In Star Battle Arena, Donkey Kong doubles the player's coin total, depending on the number of coins the player has by the time they get to him. If the player has zero coins, however, he gives them 10 coins instead. Shy Guy's train comes back after Donkey Kong gives a Star away. When players land on a Bowser Space, Bowser comes on his train, the Bad-Breath Express. If players meet Bowser, he takes a Star away from them. In Star Battle Arena, Bowser steals half of the player's coins. However, when a player comes without a Star or coins in Star Battle Arena, Bowser gives the player 10 coins. The Lucky Space causes the train to stop and let the player off at Payday Waystation, which has many coins and a free Star.
In Star Battle Arena, the winning conditions are to buy a Star for 50 coins from Holly Koopa. Players who meet the conductor get 10 coins from him, if they do not have 50 coins. Only three passenger cars appear in Star Battle Arena.
Green Spaces
- If a player lands on the Green Space in front of Holly Koopa, she offers to buy one of their Candies for several coins. The number of coins offered is linked to the Candy's cost when bought at a Candy Shop. Players in low positions (3rd/4th in Battle Royale) receive higher offers than players in high positions (1st/2nd in Battle Royale).
- The Green Space in front of the Shy Guy chef's heat vent causes the player to be sucked up to the roof of the train and vice versa for the Green Space in front of the vent on the roof.
- The Green Space on the roof of the green car makes the Shy Guy conductor come and ask for the player's assistance. He informs the player that Holly Koopa's Candy was stolen and says that either Bandit or Mowz did the act. The player must then choose a car where they think the perpetrator is. If they are correct, Shy Guy rewards them with 20 coins (10 only in the Star Battle Arena).
- Green Spaces in the red car, on top of the yellow car (before the vent Green Space) as well as on top of the indigo car will cause Magikoopa to appear and use his magic to move the front car to the back of the train, and move the other cars upward to the front.
- The Green Space on top of the red car will cause the characters on top to be hit back to the start by a bar, causing them to lose 5 coins each.
- The Green Space on top of the light blue train car causes a Shy Guy to throw a coin bag into the engine's firebox, which then causes coins to erupt from the smoke stack and land on players on the top, with each player receiving between 2 and 10 coins. Players in lower positions will receive a higher number of coins.
Payday Waystation
Payday Waystation is a short station encountered while riding Shy Guy's Perplex Express. It appears as a subsection of the board and can be reached only if the player lands on the board's Lucky Space. Upon doing so, the train will quickly stop at Payday Waystation, and the lucky player will exit the train.
The station is five Blue Spaces long, and each Blue Space has three coins. At the end of the station is a Shy Guy conductor, who gives the player a free Star for reaching him. Immediately afterward, a handcar operated by a few Shy Guys will arrive at the station. The player will jump on and be brought back to the train's caboose.
Spaces
The following tables show how many spaces there are on the board, and how many there are of a certain type.
Battle Royale / Tag Battle
| Type of Space | Number of Spaces |
|---|---|
 Blue Spaces |
23 |
 Red Spaces |
8 |
 Green Spaces |
9 |
 Lucky Spaces |
1 |
  DK or Bowser Spaces |
3 |
| Total of Spaces | 44 |
Duel Battle / Star Battle Arena
| Type of Space | Number of Spaces |
|---|---|
Blue Spaces |
7 |
Red Spaces |
3 |
Green Spaces |
6 |
 Vs. Spaces |
3 |
 Challenge Spaces |
2 |
DK or Bowser Spaces |
1 |
| Total of Spaces | 21 |
Controversy
In the United Kingdom, various copies of Mario Party 8 were recalled due to this board featuring a scene where Magikoopa would alter the order of the cars, chanting "Magikoopa magic! Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic!", "spastic" being a highly offensive word in the UK for anyone with cerebral palsy. Later copies changed the lines, replacing "spastic" with "erratic". Later American copies even had the line changed completely to "Let me use my magic to make this all a little more interesting!"
Gallery
Panel
Intro
End of the train
Passenger cars
The start
Candy Shop
A Shy Guy throwing a coin bag into the engine
Last 5 Turns!
Pause menu logo
Results logo
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ヘイホーのドリームエクスプレス[?] Heihō no Dorīmu Ekusupuresu |
Shy Guy’s Dream Express | |
| French | Le Marrant Express de Maskass[?] | Shy Guy's Funny Express | |
| German | Shy Guys Wunderbahn[?] | Shy Guy’s Miracle Train | |
| Italian | Treno senza Freno di Tipo Timido[?] | Shy Guy's Unretained Train | |
| Korean | 헤이호 익스프레스[?] Heiho Ikseupeureseu |
Shy Guy Express | |
| Spanish | Expreso de Shy Guy[?] | Shy Guy's Express |
