Mario Party 9

Mario Party 9 is an upcoming game for the Wii. It is the fifteenth installment of the Mario Party series, the eleventh in the main series, and the second for the Wii. The logo was shown at the end of Nintendo's E3 2011 Conference. It will be released in the USA and Europe in March 2012 and later on in Japan in April 2012.

Story
One night outside of Princess Peach's Castle, Mario and his friends watch the stars in sky. As Mario peers though the telescope, he notices that the Mini Stars suddenly begin to get sucked through a vortex. It is soon revealed to be Bowser and Bowser Jr. on a spacecraft, who are using a vacuum-like machine to suck the stars in the sky. Upon witnessing this, Mario and the gang set out to defeat them and save the Mini Stars.

Gameplay
A new form of gameplay will be introduced in this game: players will move all at once through the board in a vehicle (a car in Toad Road, a magic carpet in Boo's Horror Castle and a legged machine in Bob-omb Factory, for example). Instead of trying to collect coins to buy stars, players receive Mini Stars if they pass by them. It is unconfirmed whether this will be a new mode or not, however, it is shown that the traditional, individual movement of characters will not be in the game. New minigames will be introduced in the Mario Party series, as well as 2 vs. 1 minigames against Bowser Jr, with one of them closely resembling one of the boss battles in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Players must try to avoid Ztars, which deduct their current amount of Mini-Stars. WiFi play is not implemented in this game.

Confirmed Characters
Similarly to the preceding games, Mario Party 9 will introduce newcomers to the series. There will be 12 characters in Mario Party 9, with one unlockable character. According to this page, it is possible that the twelve are just the starting roster; and that "Mario Party Points" can be used to buy more.

Playable Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Peach
 * Princess Daisy
 * Toad
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Waluigi
 * Birdo
 * Koopa Troopa (New)
 * Shy Guy (New)
 * Unconfirmed 12th character

Bosses

 * Bowser
 * Bowser Jr.
 * King Boo
 * Whomp
 * Blooper
 * Big Bob-omb
 * Lakitu
 * Chain Chomp
 * Wiggler
 * Cheep-Cheep

Other Characters

 * Goombas
 * Dry Bones
 * Whittles
 * Piantas
 * Thwomps
 * Bloopers
 * Wigglers
 * Bullet Bills
 * Cheep-Cheeps
 * Bob-ombs
 * Urchin
 * Boo
 * Yellow Toad
 * Green Toad
 * Dolphin
 * Magikoopa
 * Mecha-Koopas
 * Piranha Plants
 * Spinies
 * Sushi

Confirmed Boards
Mario Party 9 is confirmed to have a total of seven playable boards.
 * Toad Road
 * Boo's Horror Castle
 * Bob-omb Factory
 * An unknown underwater board
 * Lava Mine board
 * An unknown galaxy board

Confirmed minigames
Mario Party 9 will have over eighty Minigames in six confirmed categories; 4-Player Minigames, 2 vs 2 minigames, 1-vs-3 Minigames, Bowser Jr. Minigames, Boss Minigames and Extra Minigames. They will be played in a similar fashion to other games in the Mario Party series at the end of turns as well as when players land on Vs. Spaces and 1-vs-3 Spaces.

4-Player Minigames

 * Shell Soccer
 * Launch Break
 * Speeding Bullets
 * Skyjinks
 * Mecha Choice
 * Growing Up
 * Polar Extremes
 * Pizza Me, Mario
 * Goomba Go-Go
 * A minigame involving the competitors dodging six Thwomps.
 * A minigame involving a veggie crop.
 * A minigame where the players climb a cliff, pressing, , and.
 * A minigame involving the competitors pressing a highlighted button, with eight stages.
 * A minigame where the players take rings and make Cheep-Cheeps pass through them.
 * A minigame involving the competitors chop wood faster.
 * A minigame where the rivals Ground Pound panels, looking for Mushrooms.
 * A minigame involving a tower, where the players must dodge multiple Bullet Bills.
 * A minigame where the players try to discover a spinning pot design.
 * A minigame involving the competitors dodging incoming Spiked Balls.
 * A minigame involving drawings in a sandy soil.
 * A minigame where the players spin the to open chest dials.
 * A minigame where the rivals race in snowmobiles.
 * A minigame involving the players escaping haunted mansions.
 * A minigame where the players attack each other, in order to push the adversaries out of a platform.
 * A minigame where the player runs down three halls while being chased by Mecha-Koopas.
 * A minigame involving the adversaries jumping on White-Green Checkered Block.
 * A minigame where the competitors play jump rope pressing a set of buttons in eight turns.
 * A minigame involving the players riding Dolphins.
 * A minigame where the players collect balloons inside bubbles, while dodging Spiked Balls.
 * A minigame involving the players dancing.
 * A minigame involving the players on a raft float on a poison river, while infinite Bob-ombs fall from the sky.
 * A minigame where the competitors control disks to roll a ball to touch highlighted spaces.

1-Vs-3 Minigames

 * A minigame involving the solo player hit the team with a spiked vehicle, in a maze with Dry Bones.
 * A minigame where the team player try to avoid the attacks of the solo, that are electricity, fire and wind.
 * A minigame where the three players ride Cooligan-shaped carts inside an ice rink, while the solo player attempts to flee.
 * A minigame where the solo player must take an American football to the goal. The team tries to hit him or her three times.
 * A minigame where the solo player takes blocks from a side to the other, avoiding the boulder that the trio push toward him or her.

Bowser Jr. Minigames

 * A minigame where the duo chase Bowser Jr. in legged vehicles.
 * A minigame involving two players pushing Bowser Jr. inside a electricity circle.
 * A minigame where the players race through a level with Bowser Jr.
 * A minigame where the players shoot fireballs at Bowser Jr.

Boss Minigames

 * A minigame where the players shoot a giant Blooper the jumps out of the water.
 * A minigame involving the player deflecting Whomp's attacks.
 * A minigame involving the players, Big Bob-omb, and Bob-ombs of different sizes.
 * A minigame where the players shoot Bullet Bills at Lakitu, while avoiding Spinies.
 * A minigame where the players must pound a Wiggler's segments.
 * A minigame where the players face King Boo.
 * A minigame involving a fight with Chain Chomp, where the team launches cannonballs toward it.
 * A minigame involving a fight with Bowser.

2 vs 2 Minigames

 * Goomba Football

Extra Minigames
These minigames appear in the game's Car Extra Mode.
 * Goomba Bowling : a minigame where the players compete in a bowling-like game, using a shell to kick a row of Goombas.
 * Castle Clearout: this minigame involves puzzles.
 * Hexapuzzle

Returning Spaces

 * Blue Space
 * Miracle Space
 * Bowser Space
 * ? Space
 * Duel Space
 * Red and Blue ♪ Space
 * Back Space
 * 1-Vs-3 Space

New Spaces

 * Event Space
 * VS. Space
 * Bowser Jr. Space
 * Arrow Space
 * 3 Mini Stars Space
 * 3 Mini Ztars Space
 * Refresh Turn Space
 * Ø Space
 * × Space
 * +2 Space

Confirmed Items

 * Dice Block
 * Unnamed blue Dice Block with a 0 inside
 * Unnamed green Dice Block with a 3 inside
 * Unnamed yellow Dice Block with a 6 inside
 * Unnamed purple Dice Block with a 6 inside
 * Unnamed golden Dice Block with a 10 inside
 * Stars
 * Mini Stars
 * Mini Ztars
 * Mushrooms
 * Treasure Chest
 * Jewels
 * Koopa Shells

Trivia

 * In the E3 2011 trailer, the players' cursors were the hands of their characters.
 * The bridge tiles during the Goomba Bowling are very similar to the stones in Super Mario Bros. overworld levels.
 * This is the first Mario Party in the series not to be developed by Hudson.