Step It Up

Step It Up is a minigame competition in the Minigame Modes of Mario Party DS and Mario Party 9. This competition requires four players (CPUs included) in DS, but can also be played with just 2 or 3 players in 9. The aim of this challenge is to see who can be the first to win 3, 5 or 7 minigames, depending on the options chosen, and after each minigame played the characters who win the minigame get to climb one step of the staircase in DS or four steps of the staircase in 9. The first player to win 3, 5, or 7 minigames wins the mode. This mode is a reincarnation of a mode that has appeared in previous installments in the series.

In Mario Party DS, the player could choose to play only 4-Player, 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 2 minigames, or a randomized mix of all three. In Mario Party 9, the player can only pick between Free-For-All minigames or 1 vs Rivals minigames. If players were playing the Mario Party DS version, the minigame would be chosen randomly. However, in Mario Party 9, the player in last place would get to choose between five different minigames randomly chosen from the minigame wheel.

The background of the Mario Party 9 version resembles Tall Trunk Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2. Whittles can also be seen in the background.

In-game description
Mario Party DS: "Be first to reach the top of the steps! Minigame victories get you there!" Mario Party 9: "Be the first player to win a certain number of minigames to become the champion!"