Test for the Best

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Test for the Best in the game Mario Party 8.

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[edit]

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

The games are measured in either time or points.

Scoring[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]

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[edit]

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