Mario Party 9
[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Game Information
Developer: Nd Cube
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Party
Release Date: March 2, 2012
Platforms: Wii

---

Synopsis
Mario Party 9 (Japanese: 9 Hepburn: Mario Pti Nain?) is a party video game for the Wii.[4] It is the second Mario Party game for the Wii, the ninth in the home consoles, and the twelfth overall. It was officially announced at E3 2011 and was released on March 2, 2012 in Europe, on March 8, 2012 in Australia, on March 11, 2012 in North America, on April 26, 2012 in Japan, on June 29, 2012 in Hong Kong and on April 11, 2013 in Korea. It is the first Mario Party game in the series to be developed by Nd Cube, as they took over development of the series from Hudson Soft. Hudson Soft was absorbed by Konami on March 1, 2012. Mario Party 9 is followed by Mario Party: Island Tour.

---

Gameplay
The gameplay of Mario Party 9 is similar to most of the other titles. It features 2 to 4 players that can move around on a virtual board. Instead of all the characters moving around as one, the characters are moving around in one whole vehicle. At the beginning you hit the block and whoever has the highest number is determined to go first when rolling the block. Then after that is chosen you hit the block continuously until you reach the end of the level. While playing the level you chose you might reach a 1 on 3 circle or a 2 on 2 circle. Those are mini games that are on the level, if you land on one of those each mini game can be different every time so there is no guaranteed that your gonna get a mini game every time. There is also other circles you can land on that are special things on the map you chose. Like on one map if you land on it, you can go into a pipe to get more mini stars. Mini stars are the thing that if you collect them they are the thing you need in order to win the match. But there is something to stop you that can mess you up from winning and that is "mini ztars." Mini ztars are things that can decrease your regular stars, you want to avoid those as much as possible. Another thing that can cause you to lose is the bowser space. If you land on it you can get something good or something bad it is at random.

---

Plot
The plot is similar to most Mario games where peach gets taken away, well its just like that except peach doesnt get taken away, the stars do. One little night when Mario and his friends wanted to go Mini star watching and see the glitter in the sky. Then Mario begins to notice that the mini stars are slowly getting sucked in by a vortex. Well you guessed it Bowser and Bowser Jr. are behind this. Mario and his crew are then sent out to go and stop his evil plan and save the stars. After they start their journey, Shy Guy and Kamek are seen coming out of the woods and start following them, as part of Bowser's plan. They continue the journey until they defeat Bowser.

---

Graphics
The graphics of this game are similar in a way but have also improved since the other ones. Well of course your now in a little hover craft or ship and moving through the map. On each map that hover craft thing can change so it goes along with the map style. There are multiple dice blocks that have certain abilities to do things. You can easily see the difference in the block speeds, see what they do, and just it will make it easier for you. The characters in this game dont look as different as Mario Party 8 did, in fact they look quite the same. The courses on this are amazingly detailed with just the right circles or spaces in the right spots. If you land on a Bowser block your screen will get smashed and you can hear bowser laughing and see flames behind him. Then when it gets to the scroller it makes an annoying sound and decides your fate. The mini games are a big deal to this game, in fact they quite made the game really. Each map or game has a different function to it and they all look different. The textures of each mini game is great and makes you feel like your in there. Like the thwomper room it is a complete free for all. Your are looking at it from a birds point of view, and if your the last survivor you win. Well the graphics seem the same as your looking at it from any view. I had no absolute problem with the graphics they were great, but however they can effect the gameplay.

---

Controls
The controls mostly are easy and its pretty self explanatory depending on what your doing. In the mini games the controls are mainly moving around, pressing a series of buttons, pointing at the screen with your wii remote, or just pressing A. There just simple little controls like that. Depending on which mini game your playing it can be hard or easy at first. At the beginning of starting the mini game it will show the controls and let you practice a little so you get the hang of it. When your on the course all you need to know is hitting the button A. Once you tap the button A you will hit your dice and it will show you how much your moving. If you want to choose a special dice in the menu all you have to do is select it and hit away. I have no problem with the controls one bit, on some mini games I got confused and all I had to do is watch the screen and learn the controls. I think that it was a great idea to teach players controls on each mini game instead of leaving them clueless.

---

Rating
Synopsis 8/10
Gameplay 9/10
Graphics 9/10
Controls 9/10
Plot 9/10 (changed it up a bit)
Overall 9/10