Spike-n-Span

Spike-n-Span is a 1-vs-Rivals minigame featured in Mario Party 9. The name is a pun on "spic-n-span".

Introduction
A Spiked Ball lands on the floor, surprising the rivals. It rolls toward the leftmost rival, who jumps over it.

Gameplay
The solo player tries to maneuver the Spiked Balls into all of the Rivals by hitting the Spiked Balls from beneath the floor. Arrows show where a Spiked Ball will land, but not the direction it will go after landing. If the solo player hits the floor underneath the Spiked Ball, it will bounce, and depending on the angle, may change direction as well. If the solo player hits the floor under a rival, they will stumble. If a Spiked Ball goes off the screen, a new one will fall a few seconds later. Any rival who is hit by a Spiked Ball is immediately eliminated. If there is even one rival remaining after 30 seconds, the rivals win.

Trivia

 * The concept of this minigame is similar to the game Mario Bros..
 * A good concept for solo players is to do absolutely nothing while the Spiked Balls head towards the opponents. This is because the computer players are thinking that the player might send the Spiked Balls flying upwards and they keep jumping until the player tries to bounce the Spiked Balls.