Title: Mario Party 9
Developed By: Nd Cube
Published By: Nintendo
Console: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Board Game / Party
Classification: This game has been classified G
Review Conditions: Australian Wii Version, Should be no differences between versions.
Special Thanks: A copy of this game was purchased out of my own pocket.
I have made mention several times to the fact that I own all eight previous installments of the home console Mario Party games, all the way back to the 1998/1999 release of Mario Party on the Nintendo 64. This is a game that has occcasionally adapted itself over the years however has remained faithful to the original “Hit-Dice, Move around Board, Play Mini-games” formula and while people have over the years questioned if it was time for a complete overhaul of the games systems – the Mario Party games have been a frequent party game in my household and amongst the laughter, purposeful diversions and strategizing… there have never really been any complaints about playing the game. However, after a several year break since Mario Party 8 was released on the Nintendo Wii (Which was most probably my least favourite installment in the franchise), Nintendo have decided to release Mario Party 9 with many a change…. did these work for me or did these not? Read on to find out in my review of Mario Party 9!
Before I go on, I would just like to say that irrespective of any comments made in this review, the one thing that this game did provide was lots of family ‘n’ friends fun and if possible should be played with at the very least three or four people. However as I sat down with similar people who like me had played all previous Mario Party games…. I could not help but feel that we were all a bit tense, perhaps reminiscing of the previous gameplay that has grown on us over the last decade or so. This feeling was however droned out by more competitive gameplay that while altered, is still very much present in the game.
I would like to quickly go through the previous style of gameplay for those who are not so familiar with the franchise. All Mario Party games consist of many characters from the Super Mario Bros series from Mario and Luigi to “enemies” such as Birdo and Koopa and generally consist of numerous themed boards that while all being similar in style require slightly different strategies to take part in. Previous games involved the collection of coins through mini-games and landing on different spaces which could then be traded in for stars or another alternative depending on the board you were on – with the overall goal being to collect as many stars as you could (Purchased from random areas on the board) while avoiding specific spaces or items that could deplete you of both of these.
In Mario Party 9 they have decided to shake things up and completely abolish the Stars and Coin system, instead having all of you wander around the board looking for mini-stars which can be earned from almost anything except landing on a space (Mini-games, boss battles, driving through sets of stars sparingly placed around the board, with the intention of not completing X number of turns but instead making it to the end of a mostly linear board that has the occasional deviation in it. As the board is linear, that means your characters are no longer spread out around the map and instead all share a vehicle which you take turns in hitting a block to drive – with one character being a leader and the others waiting their turn. While this led to some interesting little twists to the maps such as in the Haunted Mansion stage where if a Boo caught up to your vehicle the captain would lose half their stars (Yes, success in this game is 50% Skill and 50% Luck) – I could not help but feel a bit disappointed how quick it actually made the game run, coupled with the fact that there are no mini-games after every turn.
There will inevitably be some games which you may have only a handful of mini-games and others you might experience two or three in a single round. The mini-games have as usual been classified into several types “Free for All” and “1 vs 3” along with new “2 vs Baby Bowser” and “Boss Battle” games which in my opinion provide more challenge and are some of the best included within the game. Unfortunately however, most of the spaces you will come across will usually be Green Spaces or Blue Spaces that do nothing and give you bonus boxes respectively – with other spaces littered among them and in my playthroughs I usually found myself on the receiving end of the Bowser Space – resulting in me handing over hard earned mini-stars to the (usually) CPU player *pout*.
But overall, this was perhaps my least favourite element of the entire game – and I feel even with the new additions that the fun factor took a slight dip down in comparison to other games. Fortunately, this is where the negative comments end as this game still does offer a nice set of mini-games.
While I understand that these are four player games and not everyone has four nunchuks… I am starting to feel that more and more games are beginning to drop support for the accessory for a Wiimote exclusive experience. However, with the exception of one or two frustrating mini-games, I felt the compilation they included in this installment were diverse, fun to play and often in the 1 vs 3 mini-games did not give an unfair advantage to either party given some additional strategy. While I don’t have time to list the good points of every single one, there are a total of around 80 minigames over the different types that appear on the boards and in the extras menu and most should have you in fits of laughter or screaming at each other as you make your way to victory all to win a few measly mini-stars. A highlight to the collection were the new Boss Minigames, each of which feature a different Super Mario enemy and requires teamwork to complete but competition to receive the most stars from. Interestingly enough as well, you can choose to remove CPU players entirely, so if there are only three of you – the mini-games will adapt and eliminates the risk of nobody in your group winning.
This is however a game that is much more fun with a group of people than in the games single mode, which is essentially the same game with three CPU players which removes all the elements of fun that comes from sitting next to a group of friends or family. The game comes with other modes that allow you to replay mini-games, purchase new stages/characters/vehicles and other extra mini-game modes. I didn’t get to spend much time on them due to setting aside my playtest time for the actual game, but upon quick peruse showed that they are pretty decent extras – including the ability to play select mini-games more from the perspective of the character and not over-looking the top of the screen… proved to be quite a challenge. Overall, while I don’t think either Mario Party games on the Wii have reached the peak that the series did on the N64 or Gamecube, I do feel that this is still an enjoyable installment in the series that fans of past games should enjoy, and those that are new to the series should enjoy as well.
The game is aesthetically pleasing, with refined character designs that look like they are straight out of recent Super Mario games on the Wii and board designs that are as diversified as I would expect (Worlds range from a simple but luscious grassland area “Toad Road” to “Bowser Station” which is more or less based on the designs of Mario Galaxy. This detail is not only limited to the board game worlds, with most of the mini-games being based on the same “Super Mario” visual style and while they vary in actual detail – fit right into the series and complement the character designs well. Alas, the same as usual cannot be said about the audio – with overly repetitive music and the same grunts I feel I have heard in at least a couple of similar games before. The mini-game music however while repetitive does provide that little kick to get you into giving the challenge your all and are well selected.
To conclude, while I would have personally preferred them to have kept the whole board strategy system that they had included in the previous eight games over the vehicle system they have now added – if I were to overlook it you would once again have a pretty enjoyable Mario Party game that should provide you and up to three others with hours and hours of party-based entertainment.
Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: N/A
Design: B+
Music/Voice Acting: C-
Gameplay: C+
Replayability: A-
Personal Opinion: B
Overall Score: B-
