Mario Party DS

Mario Party DS is the eleventh installment in the Mario Party series (thirteenth in Japan) and was released for North America on November 19, 2007. It includes more than seventy new minigames and five new game boards. It's functions include touch control, microphone control and dual-screen challenges. It is possible for up to four players to play in wireless mode.

Story
The game begins with an average day in the Mushroom Kingdom. This is soon changed when Kamek drops off some fliers inviting Mario and the gang to a get-together at Bowser's Castle to have dinner. However, once there Bowser and Bowser Jr. entrap everyone behind bars and shrink them to the size of chess pieces; they seek five powerful crystals and shrink down the crew so they can’t stop them. They are then dropped off by sack in the middle of a neighborhood which leads them to the first board, Wiggler's Garden. Each of the tiny heroes wants to be the one and only Superstar that brings down King Bowser; from there on out it's everyone for themselves.

A Wiggler plees for their help to get rid of a Piranha Plant, and since they can't leave anyone in need, they take down the Plant. Wiggler give them the first Sky Crystal as thanks. They set off again when they meet Toadette. She asks them to to stop a Hammer Bro, because it is beating up her instruments. Once they beat him in a drum-off, Toadette gives them another Crystal. with two in hand, they set off for the jungle. When the got there they ran into Diddy Kong. He asks them to save Donkey Kong, because a Dry Bones turned him to stone. After they electrocute Dry Bones three times, he gives up the third Crystal and Donkey Kong is freed. They continue forward when suddenly they see Bowser's Castle. But their victory is shortend when a Koopa runs up carrying a book. He asks them to help his grandpa, who was trapped in a book by Kamek. When Kamek gets finished the grandpa koopa returns to normal. They give them a Sky Crystal as a thank you. Once they beat the last board, Donkey Kong comes in for dinner, and accidentally smashes Bowser's Minimizer. They are all back to normal size, and they immediately fight Bowser. After they tie up Bowser and Bowser Jr., they combine the last piece of the crystal, which combines into a Crystal DS as the player unlocks a puzzle mini-game called Triangle Twisters. Bowser explains he knew that all five crystals made a fun challenge and that he got a bit too carried away. Mario forgives him and unties them, as they at least got some Mario Party fun! Shortly after that, in the last scene Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are full after eating dinner as they relaxed.

Characters
There are eight playable characters. The tiny characters will encounter friends and gigantic foes from the Marioverse.

Playable Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Wario
 * Yoshi
 * Peach
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Toad

Non-Playable Characters

 * Toadette
 * Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bro.
 * Donkey Kong
 * Bowser
 * Kamek
 * Wiggler
 * Diddy Kong
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Boo

Team Names
In Tag Team Mode, each combination of characters create one unique Team name. This are the Team Names of each players.


 * Mario's team names
 * With Luigi: Mario Bros.
 * With Peach: Fan Favorites
 * With Daisy: Flower Players
 * With Wario: Foe Bros.
 * With Waluigi: 'Stache Stars
 * With Yoshi: Old Buddies
 * With Toad: Fungus Friends


 * Luigi's team names
 * With Peach: Green Peaches
 * With Daisy: Shy Sidekicks
 * With Wario: 'Stache Clashers
 * With Waluigi: Lean Meanies
 * With Yoshi: Green Machines
 * With Toad: Green Mushrooms


 * Peach' team names
 * With Daisy: Power Princesses
 * With Wario: Rotten Peaches
 * With Waluigi: Black Peaches
 * With Yoshi: Sweetie Pies
 * With Toad: Peachy 'Shrooms


 * Daisy's team names
 * With Wario: Wilted Flowers
 * With Waluigi: Skinny Stars
 * With Yoshi: Cutie Pies
 * With Toad: Button Mushrooms


 * Yoshi's team names
 * With Wario: Unlikely Pals
 * With Waluigi: Purple Dinos
 * With Toad: Star Supporters


 * Toad's team names
 * With Wario: Poison Mushrooms
 * With Waluigi: Bad Mushrooms


 * Wario's team names
 * With Waluigi: Bad Boys

Modes

 * Story Mode (1 Player): In this solo mode, the story is as mentioned. As players make their way to Bowser’s castle, they must win first place on each game board, then beat the Boss Minigame for each board.
 * Party Mode (1-4 Players): Compete against player or system-controlled players on a party board in a Battle Royale, Tag Battle or Duel Battle.
 * Minigame Mode (1-4 Players): Play six games that draw upon the pool of all minigames for challenges that don’t take place on the game boards: Free Play, Step It Up, Battle Cup, Score Scuffle, Boss Bash and Rocket Rascals.
 * Puzzle Mode (1-2 Players): Play six puzzle-action games, which include five classics from previous Mario Party games. This mode also includes the new touch-controlled Triangle Twisters, which has two play modes. In Frenzy Mode, players clear the field by twisting triangles so they connect with those of the same color. In Focus Mode, they twist them to build complex shapes, like turtles and pinwheels.
 * Multiplayer (2-4 Players): Using one game card, players can wirelessly share Party Mode and Minigame Mode (2-4 players), plus Puzzle Mode (2 players) and the download-only Extras Mode with nearby friends who have a Nintendo DS.
 * Extras Mode: Includes games that are designed for two-player gaming: cooperative Pen Pals and competitive Desert Duel.
 * Gallery Mode: Check out 150 prizes, which includes figures, music and cut-scenes.

Spaces

 * Blue Space
 * Red Space
 * ? Space
 * Friend Space
 * Duel Space
 * Bowser Space

Items
Mario Party DS introduces two types of items that are used during gameboard gameplay: Normal items and new items called Hexes. Items are basically selfuse items that the player can use by itself; they can be perchased in Item Shops. Hexes are new items that players use to place them on spaces; they can be obtained by passing a Hex Area.

Normal Items

 * Double Dice Set
 * Triple Dice Set
 * Halfway Dice Block
 * Warp Dice Block
 * Snag Bag
 * Star Pipe
 * Block Sensor
 * Grab Bag

Hexes

 * 10-Coin Hex
 * 20-Coin Hex
 * Coin Swap Hex
 * 1-Star Hex
 * 2-Star Hex
 * Space Swap Hex
 * Star Block
 * Coin Block

Trivia

 * This is the second Mario Party without Koopa Kid; the first was Mario Party 8.
 * This is the first Mario Party without a visual host character but the voice of the host.
 * The characters Hammer Bro, Birdo, Blooper, Dry Bones, Boo and Toadette were playable in the past games, but not in this one.
 * This is the first Mario Party since Mario Party 5 to not have any Donkey Kong spaces.
 * This marks the first appearances of Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr. in a Mario Party game.