Mario Party 9

Mario Party 9
North American box cover For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developers	NDcube CAProduction Nintendo SPD Group No.4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Wii
Release dates	Original release: March 2, 2012 March 8, 2012 March 9, 2012 March 10, 2012 March 11, 2012 April 26, 2012 June 29, 2012 June 29, 2012 April 11, 2013 Nintendo Selects: November 6, 2014
Languages	English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese Chinese (Traditional) French (Canada) French (Europe) German Italian Korean Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Europe)
Genre	Party
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone CERO: - All ages PEGI: - Three years and older USK: - Six years and older RARS: - All ages ClassInd: - General audience[?] GRAC: - All ages[?] GSRR: - All ages[?] ACB: - General FPB: - Parental guidance[?]
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Wii: Optical disc
Input	Wii: Wii Remote
Serial codes	TSA-RVL-SSQJ-JPN (box); MAA-RVL-SSQJ-JPN (manual) RVL-SSQE-USA RVL-SSQP-EUR

Mario Party 9 is the ninth home console installment of the Mario Party series, the sixteenth in the series overall, and the second and final installment for the Wii. It was released in March 2012 in most territories, in April 2012 in Japan, in June 2012 in China, and in April 2013 in South Korea. This was the first Mario Party game developed by NDcube, succeeding previous developer Hudson Soft. It is also the final game of the Super Mario franchise overall to be released for the Wii.

The host of the game is a yellow Toad for the boards, while a blue Toad is the host for minigames, and a green Toad appears near the end of boards to initiate the Almost There! event, similarly to the Last Five Turns event from past Mario Party games.

Story

Bowser stealing the Mini Stars using a vacuum machine

On a night outside of 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 Mini Stars out of the sky and into containers. Witnessing this, the player's character rallies everyone into setting out to defeat Bowser and save the Mini Stars. As they start their journey, Shy Guy and Kamek appear from the woods and infiltrate their group as part of Bowser's plan.

Before each board, there is a cutscene that features Bowser admiring his collection of Mini Stars (or fuming in the last two). Bowser Jr. then runs over to inform his father the progression of the player's group. Bowser is enraged, but confidently summons two of his minions to stop the group before they can take all the Mini Stars. Eventually, however, the group reaches Bowser's space lair, Bowser Station, and face Bowser Jr. before battling 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 Koopa Clown 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, instead of the old format seen in the first eight console 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 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.. Unlike in previous games, players do not compete in minigames after every player has moved, instead only when a minigame is triggered from the space that is landed upon. Also, when receiving dice blocks, a minigame may pop up afterwards. 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, with players in a higher position earning 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 arrives 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 has started the event always has some form of control over the event, putting him or her in an advantage state. 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, which gives more Mini Stars than normal.

Modes

The main menu

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. Here, players travel together through the stage in a vehicle in a linear path, instead of individually. The goal is to earn the most Mini Stars, which are found on the board, through winning minigames, and through Lucky Spaces. Unlike in previous games, minigames are not played at the end of a turn once all players have rolled, but are instead triggered from landing on certain spaces or after a player receives an item from a Dice Block Space. New to the boards are boss battles. The players will battle one boss in the middle of the board and another one at the end. After the second boss is beaten, the players are rewarded bonus Mini Stars (if they are turned on) if they achieved the most of something during the game. Then, the player with the most Mini Stars is declared the Superstar and the winner.

The amount of Party Points that the players earns is determined by how many Mini Stars they have at the end of the game. A player can earn up to 999 Party Points, which is the maximum number of Mini Stars that can be obtained in a single game. However, if handicaps are used, the handicap amount does 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 only earn 50 Party Points. Notably, should a player end a game with less than 10 Mini Stars, 10 Party Points are added regardless of how low their Mini Star count is. This is independent for each player that ends with under 10 Mini Stars (for example, a 4-player game that ends with Mini Star counts of 105, 67, 60, and 3 gives a total of 242 Party Points without any handicaps, although the Mini Star total is only 235).

Solo mode

The game's story mode, Solo mode, involves the players traveling across all six boards to defeat Bowser, Bowser Jr., Kamek, and Shy Guy and save the Mini Stars. Completing Solo mode awards the player 500 Party Points, and the Mini Star grand total is also be added onto the player's Party Point amount; for example, finishing Solo Mode with a grand total of 500 Mini Stars awards the player 1000 Party Points. Shy Guy and Kamek or both appear in all six boards as CPU players competing against the player.

Also, instead of always playing against three other computer players in a 4-Player match on each board, sometimes, the player plays a 3-Player match against two computers, or a 2-Player (also known as Duel) match against one computer (either Kamek or Shy Guy, which ensures the player must be the Superstar or tie to move on). The minigames for the 3-Player matches are Free-for-All minigames and 1-vs.-2 minigames, and all minigames in 2-Player matches are Free-for-All minigames, adapted for duels. The award system for minigames in a 3-Player match is five stars for first place, three stars for second place, and one star for third place, and the award system for minigames in a 2-Player (Duel) match is five stars for first place and one star for second place. The player often has at least one ally on four boards; if they win instead of the player, then they can still continue to the next board regardless of their final position. If Kamek or Shy Guy wins, then they take all the Mini Stars from the other players and the player must replay the board, similar to a Game Over, and the results screen does not show up. If Kamek or Shy Guy ties with the player or an ally, the player still continues to the next stage.

Minigame mode

In Minigame mode, players can play various different game modes involving minigames. A blue Toad is the host of Minigame mode. When finished, all game modes award 10 Party Points, except for Free Play, which awards just 1 Party Point per finished minigame.

Free Play

Free Play mode

In the Free Play mode, the players can freely play any minigames they already unlocked in Party mode.

Step It Up

“Be the first player to win a certain number of minigames to become the champion!”

—In-game description, Mario Party 9

Birdo playing Step It Up

Step It Up is a returning game mode from Mario Party DS. As before, players must climb to the top of a staircase by winning minigames; however, in Mario Party 9, this mode can be played with only two or three players instead of requiring four. Players advance upwards four steps when winning a minigame as opposed to one, and the last place player selects a random minigame from a roulette wheel. If everyone wins, everyone gets to climb the stairs. If a minigame ends in a draw, no one climbs up any stairs. Players can select whether they want 3, 5, or 7 minigame wins required for victory. Whoever gets to the top first wins and is greeted by a number of celebrating Whittles if they get first to 3 wins. If the player gets first to 5 wins, a large silver statue of the winning character is seen. If the player gets first to 7 wins, the statue is gold.

The background of Step It Up resembles Tall Trunk Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2, with more Whittles clapping in the background.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	かちぬきバトル Kachinuki Batoru	Knockout Battle		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	爬梯對戰 Pátī Duìzhàn (Mandarin) Pàhtāi Deuijin (Cantonese)	Ladder Battle		[?]
French	Course à l'escalier	Stair Race		[?]
German	Kletterkampf	Climbing Fight		[?]
Italian	La scalata	The Climb		[?]
Korean	승자진출전 Seungja Jinchuljeon	Winner Advance		[?]
Spanish	Escalera hacia el éxito	Stairway to Success		[?]

Garden Battle

Garden Battle

Garden Battle is a mode that can be played by up to four players. The objective in this mode is the players must fill up their garden with groups of colored plant blocks. The plant groups are randomly chosen from a large cart, and the player who places in first in the previous minigame chooses their plant groups first, followed by second place, then third, then last. If everyone is tied for either first or last place, no one puts any plant blocks. A minigame starts when a player chooses one in the minigame wheel. The player who picks the minigame is at first chosen at random, and then the succeeding choices are made by the player who places in last at the preceding minigame.

The plant groups must be able to fit in their garden, or the player does not have a chance to place one in the patch. The game is won when a player completely fills their garden with plants.

The winner has their flowers bloom with the middle one being the biggest. They then do their victory animation and the losers, as well as the yellow and blue Toad, applaud the winner. If the game is played with fewer than four players, the green Toad applauds the winner too.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	ガーデンバトル Gāden Batoru	Garden Battle		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	花園對戰 Huāyuán Duìzhàn (Mandarin) Fāyún Deuijin (Cantonese)	Garden Battle		[?]
French (Canada)	Bataille de jardin	Garden Battle		[?]
French (Europe)	Bataille de pousses	"Sprout battle", pun on Bataille de pouces ("thumb war")		[?]
German	Gartengerangel	Garden Tussle		[?]
Italian	Giardinieri in erba	Budding Gardeners		[?]
Korean	가든 배틀 Gadeun Baeteul	Garden Battle		[?]
Spanish	Batalla de jardines	Gardens Battle		[?]

Choice Challenge

"Choice Challenge" redirects here. For its musical theme, see Underground BGM (Super Mario Bros.) § Mario Party 9.

“Players choose three out of five minigames. Points are awarded based on the results of each minigame. The player with the highest total at the end is the champion!”

—In-game description, Mario Party 9

Choice Challenge

Choice Challenge is a game mode that can be played by up to four players. Five free-for-all minigames are randomly chosen, and each player selects three that they would like to play by pressing a corresponding button on the Wii remote. One minigame is announced before the players make their selection as the Chance Minigame; this minigame is worth extra points for the first place player, but normal points for other players.

The players hide in Warp Pipes and emerge only when a minigame they are playing is announced, so it is not clear who is competing in each until then.

The minigames are played in the order of how many players selected it, starting at the least and working up to the most. If only one player selects a minigame, that player is automatically awarded first place points without competing. Sometimes, a character appears out of a pipe when they are not participating in the minigame. If that happens, the blue Toad apologizes for his error and corrects the mistake.

Points are awarded for place in minigames, and standings are announced after each minigame. The players with the most points at the end win. The most points a player can score is 350, while the least is 30. It is possible for all four players to win. The losing players emerge out of their pipes in the order of their point totals (from lowest to highest) and perform their losing animation as their points are displayed. The winning players jump out of the golden pipe and perform their victory animation.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	えらんでバトル Erande Batoru	Choose Battle		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	選擇對戰 Xuǎnzé Duìzhàn (Mandarin) Syúnjaahk Deuijin (Cantonese)	Choose Battle		[?]
French	Le bon choix	The right choice		[?]
German	Qual der Wahl	Agony of Choice		[?]
Italian	Ardua scelta	Hard Choice		[?]
Korean	골라서 배틀 Gollaseo Baeteul	Choose Battle		[?]
Spanish	Triple elección	Triple choice		[?]

High Rollers

“Play minigames to determine the order in which players roll around the board to pick up points. The first player to reach 500 points is the champion!”

—In-game description, Mario Party 9

High Rollers

High Rollers is a game mode that can be played with up to four players. In this mode, players compete in a series of minigames to gain up to 500 points by rolling their cube over the panels worth 30, 20 or 10 points. The board is composed of 20 panels and the POW Space in the center. When a player rolls over a number panel, the amount of points it gives a player decreases by 10. When a panel reaches zero, after everyone moves, the blue Toad resets the panel's value to 30.

The number of spaces the player can move depends on what place they get in the previous minigame. First place is allowed to move four spaces, second place moves three, third place moves two, and last place only moves one. The selected player chooses a minigame by stopping the Minigame Wheel. The player who picks first is selected at random, then the succeeding choices are made by the player who finished last place in the last minigame. Any ties are settled by rolls via Dice Blocks. When there are four players, if there are ties for both first place and last place, the first place players roll first and the players in last place roll next. However, if everyone finished first or last in a minigame, no one moves any spaces.

When a player rolls over the POW Space in the center of the board, every panel's point value is decreased by 10. If a block is at zero, then its value resets to 30. The POW Space can only be used by one player per turn, and is first active when everyone has taken their first turn.

Finally, when there is a 100-point gap in between players, the losing players gain a Boost item, which allows them to dash across the board, rolling over number panels and pushing off other players in their way, without using up a space to move. Players who are knocked off the board are unable to take their turn. When they do get a turn again, they land on the POW Space, activating it if it hasn't already been. If a player is blocked by other players and cannot move, they are teleported to the POW Space.

The game ends when one player gets 500 points or more.

The winner gets to go in the hot-air balloon with the blue, yellow, and green Toads while the others hang on to the string underneath the balloon.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	コロコロバトル Korokoro Batoru	Rolling Battle		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	滾滾對戰 Gǔngǔn Duìzhàn (Mandarin) Gwán'gwán Deuijin (Cantonese)	Rolling Battle		[?]
French (Canada)	Défi au cubes	Cube Challenge		[?]
French (Europe)	Jeu de cubes	Cube game		[?]
German	Wolkenwürfel	Cloud Cube		[?]
Italian	Il dado è tratto!	The Die is Cast!		[?]
Korean	데굴데굴 배틀 Deguldegul Baeteul	Rolling Battle		[?]
Spanish	Bloques rodantes	Rolling blocks		[?]

Time Attack

Main article: Time Attack (Mario Party series)

Time Attack is a single player mode. The objective of this mode is to beat the ten given minigames in the quickest amount of time, while earning Challenge Bonuses from completing the Bonus Objectives in each minigame. Earning a Challenge Bonus cuts three seconds off the player's completion time for that minigame.

Boss Rush

“Compete for Points in a series of six or twelve Boss Battles. The Player with the most points at the end is the champion.”

—In-game description, Mario Party 9

The hub of the Boss Rush game mode

Boss Rush is a game mode that can be unlocked by purchasing it for 500 Party Points in the museum after the player beats Solo mode, and allows up to four players. In this mode, players compete against each other in six or twelve boss minigames to see who can receive the most points at the end of the game. If the player finishes first in a minigame, they receive five points; finishing second gives them three points; third gives the player two, and fourth gives the player one.

The player has the option to play against either the mid-bosses, the stage bosses, or all bosses. The bosses are fought in the same order as Solo Mode. Diddy's Banana Blast and DK's Banana Bonus are not fought in Boss Rush, due to the fact that despite being categorized as boss minigames, they are just bonus minigames, and Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are not faced during them. The player with the most points at the end is the winner.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Japanese	ボスゲートバトル Bosu Gēto Batoru	Boss Gate Battle		[?]
Chinese (Traditional)	首領之門對戰 Shǒulǐng zhī Mén Duìzhàn (Mandarin) Sáulíhng jī Mùhn Deuijin (Cantonese)	Boss Gate Battle		[?]
French	Galerie des boss	Bosses gallery		[?]
German	Boss-Marathon	Boss Marathon		[?]
Italian	Corsa allo scontro	Race to Clash		[?]
Korean	보스 게이트 배틀 Boseu Geiteu Baeteul	Boss Gate Battle		[?]
Spanish	La guarida de los jefes	Bosses hideout		[?]

Museum

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

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

Extras

In Extras, the player can play through various extra minigames such as Castle Clearout, Shell Soccer or an extended version of Goomba Bowling. There is also a mode called Perspective Mode, in which the player plays through ten minigames that have a modified camera angle, making them harder to win.

Characters

The character selection and boss matchup screens

Playable characters

There are a total of 12 playable characters in Mario Party 9, consisting of ten default characters and two unlockable characters, Shy Guy and Kamek, who must be unlocked by completing Solo Mode. Koopa is fully playable for the first time in the series, while Kamek also makes his playable Mario Party debut. Due to their roles as opponents in Solo Mode, neither Shy Guy nor Kamek are playable in that mode. Shy Guy, previously playable in Mario Party 4's Beach Volley Folly minigame, is also considered a new playable character. Outside of North America, Magikoopa is referred to as Kamek.

• 

  Mario
• 

  Luigi
• 

  Peach
• 

  Daisy
• 

  Wario
• 

  Waluigi
• 

  Yoshi
• 

  Birdo
• 

  Toad
• 

  Koopa (new)
• 

  Shy Guy (new)
• 

  Magikoopa (new)

Bosses

Each board has a boss and a mid-boss. With the exception of DK's Jungle Ruins, each boss is fought as part of a Boss Minigame on the respective board. King Bob-omb is referred to as "Big Bob-omb" in the British English version.

Board	Toad Road	Bob-omb Factory	Boo's Horror Castle	Blooper Beach	Magma Mine	Bowser Station	DK's Jungle Ruins
Mid-boss	Lakitu	Whomp	Dry Bones	Cheep Cheep	Spike	Bowser Jr.	Diddy Kong
Boss	Wiggler	King Bob-omb	King Boo	Blooper	Chain Chomp	Bowser	Donkey Kong

Other characters

• Toads
• Goombas
• Dry Bones
• Whittles
• Piantas
• Cheep Cheeps
• Bob-ombs
• Urchins
• Boos
• Dolphins
• Mechakoopas
• Bullet Bills
• Piranha Plants
• Spinies
• Sushi
• Huckit Crabs
• Swoopers
• Monty Moles
• Hammer Bros.
• Fire Bros.
• Buzzy Beetles
• Penguins
• Spikes
• Mr. Blizzards
• Fish Bones
• Deep-Cheeps
• Thwomps
• Scaredy Rats

Boards

There are three different exclusive vehicles for each board, one available from the start and the other two purchasable from the Museum for 200 Party Points each. They all function identically, but their type depends on the board (for example, cars are used throughout Toad Road). The third vehicle is based on the stage boss.

Board	Description	Captain Event(s)	Available vehicles
Toad Road	Toad Road is the first board in the game, and thus it is a simple stage with almost no gimmicks. It is designed after World 1 from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and features lush grassland, flowers and windmills. A broken bridge prevents players from moving forward, and if the players fail to roll a certain total number, they fall to a lower route filled with Mini Ztar Spaces.	9 Island	Toad Mobile	Rickety Ride	Wiggler Wagon
Bob-omb Factory	Bob-omb Factory is the second board in the game. Players move around a room full of conveyor belts, and if the Captain lands on an Event Space, the conveyor belts move the group of players around, but also the various spaces. Bob-ombs occasionally intrude the players' game. Whenever a Bob-omb explodes, the Captain loses half of their Mini Stars.	Side-by-Side Zone	Factory Walker	Gear Shifter	King Bob-omb Bus
Boo's Horror Castle	Boo's Horror Castle is the third board in the game. Players move throughout a big castle, which is haunted with Boos. After a Captain passes a Boo Portrait, a Boo comes out of it. If a Captain is caught by a Boo, the Boo will steal half of their Mini Stars. Boos 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 higher number than the specified numeral on the gate.	Scaredy Rat Race	Flying Carpet