Mario Party (series)

The Mario Party series is a virtual board game in which the player may choose from a cast of prominent Mario characters, some of which have been Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, and many more, created by Hudson Soft, with each game featuring variations on the cast and storyline. The series is intended for four players, but computer controlled players may be selected as well. All of the games share similar gameplay in which the primary objective requires the player to move his or her character across the selected stage to gather a Star. Usually, the player must then pay a fee of twenty coins to the host, a non-playable character such as Toad. After each player has completed his or her turn, a minigame then begins, in which the player may be awarded coins, based on their performance.

At the end of the game, Stars and Bonus Stars will be tallied. The person with the most stars at the end of the game becomes the winner, or in this case, the Superstar. If Stars are tied between players, other statistics will be applied. These include the amount of coins collected, minigame victories, and so on.

The Mario Party series amasses eleven games, across the Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, and Wii consoles, as well as the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The series even sports a card game that works with the e-Reader peripheral. The cast of characters, character cameos, and minigames are numerous. Thus far, the series has been very commercially successful, and looks to continue its success.

Boards
The Mario Party series included many boards in various installments. Below is a list of all of them and what games they appear in.

Mario Party

 * Cake - Peach's Birthday Cake
 * Castle - Mario's Rainbow Castle
 * Cloudy Sky - Mario's Rainbow Castle
 * Factory - Luigi's Engine Room
 * Island - Yoshi's Tropical Island
 * Jungle - DK's Jungle Adventure
 * Peak - Wario's Battle Canyon
 * Space - Eternal Star (Unlockable)
 * Volcanic - Bowser's Magma Mountain (Unlockable)

Mario Party 2

 * Desert - Western Land, Mystery Land
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Mystery Land
 * Horror - Horror Land
 * Island - Pirate Land
 * Park - Bowser Land (Unlockable)
 * Railway (Non-roller coaster) - Western Land
 * Ship - Pirate Land
 * Space - Space Land

Mario Party 3

 * Cavern - Creepy Cavern
 * Desert - Spiny Desert
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Woody Woods
 * Island - Waluigi's Island (Unlockable)
 * Snowfield - Chilly Waters
 * Underwater - Deep Bloober Sea

Mario Party 4

 * Casino - Goomba's Greedy Gala
 * Horror - Boo's Haunted Bash
 * Island - Koopa's Seaside Soiree
 * Jungle - Shy Guy's Jungle Jam
 * Park - Toad's Midway Madness
 * Railway (Non-roller coaster) - Toad's Midway Madness
 * Volcanic - Bowser's Gnarly Party (Unlockable)

Mario Party 5

 * Cake - Sweet Dream
 * Castle - Rainbow Dream
 * Cloudy Sky - Rainbow Dream
 * Park - Toy Dream
 * Peak - Pirate Dream
 * Ship - Pirate Dream
 * Space - Future Dream
 * Underwater - Undersea Dream
 * Volcanic - Bowser Nightmare (Unlockable)

Mario Party 6

 * Castle - Clockwork Castle, Infernal Tower (Solo)
 * Cloudy Sky - Clockwork Castle
 * Desert - Thirsty Gulch (Solo)
 * Factory - E. Gadd's Garage
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Towering Treetop
 * Island - Castaway Bay
 * Snowfield - Snowflake Lake
 * Space - Astro Avenue (Solo)
 * Town - Faire Square
 * Volcanic - Infernal Tower (Solo)

Mario Party 7

 * Desert - Pyramid Park
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Windmillville
 * Park - Bowser's Enchanted Inferno! (Unlockable)
 * Peak - Pagoda Peak
 * Ship - Grand Canal
 * Town - Grand Canal, Neon Heights
 * Volcanic - Bowser's Enchanted Inferno! (Unlockable)

Mario Party 8

 * Jungle - DK's Treetop Temple
 * Island - Goomba's Booty Boardwalk
 * Horror - King Boo's Haunted Hideaway
 * Railway (Non-roller coaster) - Shy Guy's Perplex Express
 * Space - Bowser's Warped Orbit (Unlockable)
 * Town - Koopa's Tycoon Town

Mario Party 9

 * Castle - Boo's Horror Castle
 * Casino - Bowser Station (Unlockable)
 * Cavern - Magma Mine
 * Factory - Bob-omb Factory
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Toad Road
 * Horror - Boo's Horror Castle
 * Island - Blooper Beach
 * Jungle - DK's Jungle Ruins (Unlockable)
 * Railway (Non-roller coaster) - Magma Mine
 * Space - Bowser Station (Unlockable)
 * Underwater - Blooper Beach
 * Volcanic - Magma Mine

Mario Party DS

 * Casino - Bowser's Pinball Machine (Unlockable)
 * Forest (Non-tropical) - Wiggler's Garden
 * Jungle - DK's Stone Statue
 * Library - Kamek's Library
 * Music - Toadette's Music Room

Playable Characters
Playable characters are introduced in the first Mario Party. During the first two Mario Party games, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Wario, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong are the only playable characters in the series. Starting in Mario Party 3, the game introduces new playable characters in debut, the new playable characters are only playable in the Party Mode; the previous new characters that appear in the next game are now playable in the Story Mode. There are some exceptions in games like Mario Party Advance and Mario Party DS do not introduce new characters.

There are some exceptions of removing playable characters in later games; Donkey Kong is removed starting in Mario Party 5 because he now owns a space called a DK Space which he hosts, although Donkey Kong is playable in the Special Duel Mode in Mario Party 5. Another playable character named Koopa Kid (Mini Bowser in PAL regions) appeared in Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 6; he was removed after the last appearance because he now owns a space called the Koopa Kid Space. In Mario Party 9, Boo, Dry Bones, Blooper, and Hammer Bro were removed and given supporting roles. Toadette was also removed, and was completely absent from the game.

In the game Beach Volley Folley that appeared in Mario Party 4 and then Mario Party 5, there are exceptionally playable characters that can not be played as on the normal boards but are able to participate in this game.

The Mario Party series included many characters in various installments. Below is a list of all of them and what games they appear in.
 * 1 — The character is playable only in Beach Volley Folley.
 * 2 — The character is playable only in the Special Duel Mode in the game.
 * 3 — The character is playable only in the Party Mode in the game.
 * 4 — The character is playable only in the Extra Mode.


 * Check_small.png - Playable character
 * X_mark.png - Non-playable character
 * Question.svg - characters yet to be announced to confirm or deny in the future Mario Party Series.

Hosts
These characters lead each individual Mario Party game.
 * Mario Party: Toad and Koopa Troopa
 * Mario Party 2: Toad and Koopa Kid (only in Bowser Land)
 * Mario Party 3: Tumble
 * Mario Party 4: Toad, Shy Guy, Boo, Koopa Troopa, Goomba and Koopa Kid
 * Mario Party 5: Star Spirits
 * Mario Party 6: Brighton & Twila
 * Mario Party 7: Toadsworth
 * Mario Party 8: MC Ballyhoo & Big Top
 * Mario Party 9: Yellow Toad and Blue Toad
 * Mario Party Advance: Toad, Toadette, Tumble, and E. Gadd
 * Mario Party DS is the first and currently only game in the series to not have any visual host.

Spaces
All the spaces in the Mario Party games.

Items
Every item, capsule, orb, candy, and hex from the series.

List of All Minigames
The Mario Party series' popularity is due in no small part to its minigames. Throughout the series' nine console titles, the list of minigames has become tremendous. Below is a list of all 799 minigames, separated by game. The minigames' titles generally rhyme, use alliteration, or are puns of popular phrases.

Awards

 * Longest Running Mini-Game Series - Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's Edition 2009 - 2013

Trivia

 * Luigi mentions the Mario Party series in his diary in the events of Paper Mario.
 * The Mario Party games are mentioned in one of the Coin Block/Brick Block cards in Nintendo Monopoly. Here, the player gets $50 from every player for organizing a Mario Party in the 2006 version, and $10 in the 2010 version.
 * Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Yoshi are the only characters to be playable in every Mario Party game.
 * Only the very first Mario Party had minigames that involved Control Stick rotation. Because there were reports of people getting blisters on their hands from rotating the Control Stick too much, the later Mario Party titles removed those kinds of minigames.
 * Koopa Kid has appeared in every Mario Party game, except since Mario Party 8. He went by the name of Baby Bowser in Mario Party 1, 2 and 3. He was replaced by Bowser Jr. in Mario Party 9 and Mario Party DS and never appeared at all in Mario Party 8.
 * Goomba is the only host in Mario Party 4 who hasn't been playable in a later game. Toad was playable in Mario Party 5, Boo was also playable in Mario Party 5, Shy Guy was playable in Mario Party 9, and Koopa was also playable in Mario Party 9. This may because Goombas lack hands, making it difficult for one to participate in most of the minigames.