Mario Party 9

Mario Party 9

European box art
Developer(s) Nd Cube[1]
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Shuichiro Nishiya
Producer(s) Hiroshi Sato
Atsushi Ikeda
Composer(s) Toshiki Aida
Ryosuke Asami
Series Mario Party
Platform(s) Wii
Release
  • EU: March 2, 2012[2]
  • AU: March 8, 2012
  • NA: March 11, 2012[2]
  • JP: April 26, 2012[2]
  • AS: June 29, 2012
  • KOR: April 11, 2013
Genre(s) Party, adventure
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Mario Party 9 (Japanese: マリオパーティ9, Hepburn: Mario Pāti Nain) is a party video game for the Wii, the ninth installment in the Mario Party series.[3] It is the second and final Mario Party game for the Wii, the ninth for Nintendo's home consoles, and the twelfth overall. It was officially announced at E3 2011 and was released in Europe, North America, and Australasia in March 2012, and in Japan in April 2012. It is the first of the Mario Party series to be developed by Nd Cube, as they took over development of the series from Hudson Soft, which was absorbed by Konami on March 1, 2012. Mario Party 9 is followed by Mario Party: Island Tour. It is also the final Mario game for the Wii, due to the release of the Wii U in November 2012.

Gameplay

Thwomper Room, one of the free-for-all minigames in Mario Party 9.

Like previous Mario Party titles, two to four players move around a virtual board and play minigames. A new gameplay element in all of the boards is that all four players move around together in one vehicle.[4][5] The number of spaces the player moves is determined by a roll of the dice block found within the game. Instead of trying to collect coins to buy stars, players receive Mini Stars if they pass by them. While doing that, players must also try to avoid Mini Ztars, which deduct their current amount of Mini Stars. Mini Stars and Mini Ztars are replaced with bananas and Z-bananas on the board "DK's Jungle Ruins."

Minigames have a larger focus on the gameplay than they did in the previous game.[6][7] However, the minigames don't appear after everyone moves, but only when a player ends up on any of the spaces or events that triggers a minigame. A person can play on solo mode to unlock the final stage, as well as two playable characters.

Another new feature is that each board culminates in a boss battle that is played with all players in the vehicle.[8] There is also a boss battle at the halfway point of a board. There are 82 minigames in Mario Party 9, divided into five categories: Free-for-all, 1-vs.-Rivals, Bowser Jr., Boss Battle, and Extra.[9]

At the end of each stage, the number of Mini Stars the player collects is converted into Party Points, which can be used to buy new stages, constellations, vehicles, difficulties, and sounds in the museum.

Playable characters

Mario Party 9 features twelve playable characters, with two (Shy Guy and Magikoopa) being unlockable through the Solo Mode.

Plot

The player selects a character that is not Shy Guy or Kamek to play Story Mode. One night outside of Peach's Castle, the characters come to watch the Mini Stars glitter in the sky. As the chosen character searches through the telescope, he/she notices that the stars are being sucked through a vortex, controlled by Bowser and Bowser Jr. on a spacecraft, who are using a vacuum-like machine to suck the stars in the sky. Upon witnessing this, the character leads a charge with the others and sets out to defeat them and save the Mini Stars. Shy Guy and Kamek then follow them from behind, as part of Bowser's plan. The chosen character then travels through all six courses to recover the Mini Stars, fighting off two henchmen selected by Bowser. They must defeat Shy Guy and/or Kamek on each course, but will have at least one ally for the first five courses unless otherwise stated. If Shy Guy or Kamek win, the player must restart the course.

The final course is Bowser's station, where the character must defeat both Shy Guy and Kamek en route to defeating Bowser. Bowser's machines trapping the Mini Stars are destroyed, and all the Mini Stars will return to the sky. The player's character will wave goodbye to the stars as they depart for the night sky. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are seen flying in their Clown Cars, their plan to decorate the castle with Mini Stars foiled. All the characters then reunite to witness the Mini Stars once again, and the story concludes with the ending sentences: "And so the adventure came to an end. Rescued by (the character that the player chose), the Mini Stars were free to glitter in the night sky forever."

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic73/100[10]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Destructoid7.5/10[11]
Famitsu34/40[12]
Game Informer5.75/10[13]
Game Revolution[14]
GameSpot6/10[15]
GameTrailers7.2/10[16]
IGN7/10[17]
Joystiq[18]
Nintendo Power8/10[19]
VideoGamer.com7/10[20]
The Digital Fix7/10[21]

Mario Party 9 received mixed or average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[10] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one nine, two eights, and one nine, for a total of 34 out of 40.[12]

German magazine N-Zone gave Mario Party 9 a 75% score for single player mode, and 85% for multiplayer mode.[22] Nintendo Power said that "the majority of the game's 82 activities are fun", while commenting that "some may be discouraged by the game's radical changes".[19] IGN praised the game's graphical improvement and its control style. Like previous Mario Party games, IGN strongly criticized the luck-based factor of the game.[17] GamesRadar praised Mario Party 9 for being balanced, but criticized the predictability of the boards.[23] Ashton Raze of GameSpot said that the game is too "predictable" and "much too familiar". However, he praised the game's wide variety of fun mini-games and cheerful, colorful visuals.[15]

As of September 2012, Mario Party 9 sold 2.24 million copies worldwide.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mario Party 9". Nintendo. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mario Party 9 (2012)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ Fletcher, JC (June 12, 2011). "Yep, there's a Mario Party 9". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Nintendo announce Mario Party 9". Everybody Plays. June 14, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ kksl1der (June 9, 2011). "Mario Party 9 announced". The Nintendo Basement. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ Lucario (June 8, 2011). "E3 2011: Mario Party 9 trailer". Aussie Nintendo. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Mario Party 9, Nintendo.com
  9. ↑ "Official Site - Mario Party 9 for Wii". Nintendo. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  10. 1 2 "Mario Party 9 for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  11. ↑ Holmes, Jonathan (March 31, 2012). "Review: Mario Party 9". Destructoid. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Romano, Sal (April 17, 2012). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1220". Gematsu. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  13. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (March 9, 2012). "Mario Party 9: A Small Step Towards Positive Change". Game Informer. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  14. ↑ Severino, Anthony (March 19, 2012). "Mario Party 9 Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Raze, Ashton (March 13, 2012). "Mario Party 9 Review". GameSpot. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Mario Party 9 Review". GameTrailers. March 14, 2012. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Claiborn, Samuel (March 9, 2012). "Mario Party 9 Review". IGN. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  18. ↑ Cabral, Matt (March 14, 2012). "Mario Party 9 review: Rolling like a boss". Engadget (Joystiq). Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Mario Party 9". Nintendo Power. 276: 84. March 2012.
  20. ↑ Orry, Tom (March 2, 2012). "Mario Party 9 Review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  21. ↑ Gallagher, Gareth (April 13, 2012). "Mario Party 9". The Digital Fix. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ Schirado, Tyler (February 15, 2012). "New 'Mario Party 9' Gameplay Details and Mini-Game Descriptions". GameRant. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  23. ↑ Gilbert, Henry (March 6, 2012). "Mario Party 9 review". GamesRadar. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Financial Results Briefing for the Six-Month Period Ended September 2012" (PDF). Nintendo. October 25, 2012. p. 6. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
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