Spike Strike

Spike Strike is a boss minigame in Mario Party 9.

Introduction
The players are on a lava flow, standing near the bottom of a stone platform with two to four ramp-like slopes. A couple of seconds later, Spike drops on the round top of the platform and spits out a giant Spiked Ball at the top of each slope.

Gameplay
The players have a short time to pick one of the objects shown on the screen to defend themselves from Spike's Spiked Balls. If a player chooses a hammer, they bat the Spiked Ball back at Spike. A regular hammer earns the player one point, but a golden hammer deals more damage to Spike and gives the player three points. If a player ends up picking a branch or does not choose anything within the allotted time, the Spiked Ball flattens their character, costing them a point.

The number of items varies depending on how many players are present, but during the very first round, there are always enough hammers for everyone (with only one being golden). As Spike's health drops, however, the number of hammers to choose from starts to decrease, ensuring that at least one player loses a point per round. In a two-player game, there are always enough hammers for both players during the first half of the minigame.

When Spike's health reaches its midway point, he gets angry and ground-pounds the platform. As a result, the platform lowers slightly in the lava, forcing the players to move closer to Spike, giving them less time to choose an item. Additionally, the number of hammers to choose from decreases even further, being reduced to only one hammer in a two-player game and two hammers in a four-player game. In a three-player game, only one hammer is present when Spike has less than a quarter of his health left. As usual, players who deliver the finishing blow to the boss receive three additional points, and the player with the most points after the battle wins.

Ending
Spike falls on his back and explodes, revealing Mini Stars in Party Mode and Solo Mode.

In-game text

 * Rules – "Grab a hammer as fast as you can to knock the rolling Spiked Balls back at Spike! Gold hammers are worth three points, iron hammers are worth one, and branches aren't worth anything!"
 * Controls – "Hold the Wii Remote vertically. Quickly point at a hammer, and press to choose it. Be careful you don't pick a branch by mistake!"

Trivia

 * If the player picks a branch, the character icon will have a sad expression that is not seen anywhere else in the game.

Spikes Hammerjammer