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 four ramp-like slopes. A couple of seconds later, Spike drops on the round top of the platform and spits out a Spike Ball at the top of each ramp.

Gameplay
The players must pick one of the objects shown on the screen to defend themselves from Spike's spiked balls. Each round, there will be three normal hammers, one golden hammer, and one branch to select. If the player chooses a regular hammer, they will bat the spiked ball back at Spike and earn one point. The golden hammer has the same effect, but gives the player three points. If the player ends up picking a branch or does not end up choosing anything before the allotted time is spent, the projectile will flatten their character, costing them a point.

When Spike's health reaches its midway point, the lava will rise, forcing the players to move closer to Spike and giving them less time to chose an item. Additionally, there will only be one gold hammer, two normal hammers, and two branches to select each round. When Spike's health is very low, the selectable items may be reduced to one gold hammer, one normal hammer, and three branches.

Ending
The Spike falls down to the ground and disappears revealing Mini Stars.