Bowser's Block Battle
- Not to be confused with Bowser's Block Party.
Bowser's Block Battle is the final boss minigame featured in Mario Party 9. The players only play this boss minigame and Bowser Jr. Breakdown every time on Bowser Station, instead of picking between three other boss minigames. The same happens on DK's Jungle Ruins.
Introduction
The view will be on the players, standing on a stone platform floating in space. The view will shift to the front of the platform as Bowser appears, roars menacingly, increases in size and pulls some dice out.
Gameplay
Players must attack Bowser by rolling dice marked with their own faces and Bowser symbols on the remaining sides. These dice are not typical Dice Blocks, but objects that players can pick up and throw if they do not like what was previously rolled. After a few seconds, the rolls will be set and dice can no longer be picked up (dice that are held by a player when the time limit expires will be thrown automatically and the roll will be included). Each character will then attack and deal damage to Bowser equal to the number of dice showing his or her face (players with identical numbers of dice will attack together), starting with the player or players with the most dice. After every player attacks, if any dice show Bowser's symbol, he'll attack by spitting a trio of fireballs once for each dice; anybody hit by a fireball will lose one point. Bowser will then throw a new set of dice onto the stage, and the process will repeat.
When Bowser's health drops below half (signified by his health bar dropping past the white line in the middle and turning orange), he will increase in size much more and make the battle more dangerous. After tossing the dice onto the field, the Koopa King will grab the stage, tilting it back and forth to complicate the players' attempts to roll the dice. If he gets any chances to attack, the fireballs will be larger and faster than before, making them more difficult to avoid. He also gains one new attack: after everyone has attacked with their dice, Bowser will roll a large, spike-edged die with images of the six bosses on it. After it lands, the camera zooms in to show which image is rolled the die disappears in a puff of smoke and the players must evade one of six elaborate attacks:
- If Wiggler's image appeared on the block, he walks around the arena three times before leaving.
- When King Bob-omb's image appears, he drops into the middle of the arena, causing Bob-ombs to fall out of the sky.
- King Boo's appearance on the dice causes him to summon groups of Boos that spin in gradually-expanding circles. The first group spins clockwise or counterclockwise and the second group spins in the opposite direction.
- If Blooper appears on the block, it floats near the northern edge of the arena (where Bowser is), tossing ten Urchins at players.
- Chain Chomp's image on the dice causes it to drop into the middle of the arena before charging at the players. When it hits a wall, it will change direction. Players must dodge a few charges before Chain Chomp leaves the arena.
- If Bowser rolls his own image on the dice, he'll launch five waves of fireballs straight ahead. The waves alternate between 3 and 4 fireballs, forcing players to weave between them.
Ending
Once defeated, Bowser will fly into the black hole behind the battlefield and explode, revealing several Mini Stars.
In-game text
- Rules – "Throw the dice! The more pictures of your character that show up on the dice, the more damage you'll do to Bowser. Be careful: if Bowser shows up on the dice he gets to attack!"
- Controls – "Hold the Wii Remote sideways. Press to move. Press while standing next to a die to pick it up. Press while holding a die to throw it"
Gallery
- BowserBlockBattle2-MP9.png
After Bowser throws the blocks, players will compete to try to get their icons to appear face-up.
- BowserBlockBattle3-MP9.png
If any of the players' icons appear face-up, they can attack Bowser.
- BowserBlockBattle4-MP9.png
Bowser will attack for each Bowser icon that's face-up.
- BowserBlockBattle5-MP9.png
Attack priority is determined by how many of a certain character icon is face-up.
- BowserBlockBattle6-MP9.png
Bowser will enlarge himself after he loses half of his HP.
- BowserBlockBattle7-MP9.png
During the second half, Bowser will throw a block, which has icons for all the main bosses, including himself.
- BowserBlockBattle8-MP9.png
The boss icon that appears face-up will be the boss who will do the attacking.
- BowserBlockBattle9-MP9.png
A Chain Chomp attacks.
- BowserBlockBattle10-MP9.png
Bowser will start tilting the arena when it's the players' turn to attack.
- BowserBlockBattle11-MP9.png
Bowser's fireballs will be larger during the second half.
- BowserBlockBattle12-MP9.png
King Bob-omb attacks.
- BowserBlockBattle13-MP9.png
The final attack before Bowser is sent flying into the black hole.
- BowserBlockBattle14-MP9.png
When defeated, Bowser will be sent flying.