Mario Party

This is approximately how my first run through Solo Mode went. I was Luigi:

• Toad Road: Luigi + Mario + Shy Guy
• Bob-omb Factory: Luigi + Shy Guy
• Boo's Horror Castle: Luigi + Daisy + Yoshi/Birdo + Kamek
• Blooper Beach: Luigi + Yoshi/Birdo + Kamek
• Magma Mine: Luigi + Wario + Shy Guy + Kamek
• Bowser Station: Luigi + Waluigi + Shy Guy + Kamek

Won every time.

If there's any Magikoopas that appear alone for no reason and seems important in status or gameplay, it's probably Kamek.

edited 19th Mar '12 3:51:48 PM by Folt

I can attest 4 people are not guaranteed on the last 2 boards. Only 3 people, me, Shy Guy, and Magikoopa (Kamek).

The only story-moded Mario Party in which I really have any experience with the story mode is DS. That game's story mode is actually pretty hard at times. For one thing, DS has some pretty smart AI. For another, you don't get any bonus stars, so even if you play well enough to win every mini-game, you can still get short-shafted—especially since Story Mode uses short-as-heck ten-turn games.

However, it does save after every turn, so Save Scumming is possible. I did that once to win on Bowser's Pinball, because I'd dealt with a very obnoxious Daisy AI all game and did not want to let her win...

Hey, I finally got Mario Party 9, and I must say, it's pretty much my favorite MP now! It's exactly the sort of change in pace that I've been craving since MP4!

edited 20th Mar '12 2:51:59 PM by Komodin

The only ones I've played to any real capacity are 4 and 5. Both were a lot of fun for me, but I despised the luck-based minigames. It always seemed as though they were rigged in the CPU's favor.

Also, simultaneous mashing of two buttons.

I'd say I'm experienced in MP 3's story mode since it was the only Mario Party game I owned during the great gap between my N64 and Wii. Save Scumming is a must in story mode, especially when you use a Game Guy coin.

edited 20th Mar '12 4:10:31 PM by ElecRei

Anyone noticed that the last two boards you play through in story mode is a lava board followed by a space board? That kinda reminded me of Mario Party's unlockable boards: Bowser's Magma Mountain and Eternal Star. Those two are also guaranteed to be played last the first time you try out the boards, and in that order.

Also, both Shy Guy and Kamek (the two Moles in Solo Mode) can be considered archenemies to Yoshi above everyone else, both player characters and bosses. (Shy Guys fill the main Mook role in the Yoshi series and Kamek is basically Yoshi's Island's Big Bad.)

Bought the game: have to say, I love the new gameplay style. It feels a bit less like chaos and a bit more like a continuous game, but still have that element of mayhem that makes Mario party great. Replacing coins and stars with ministars was a great idea.

One random element I'd've rathered they didn't change, though - being able to choose minigames and a few other things.

Also, I have to say: I love the music in this game. There's tons of great music, both original and of the Musical Nod variety.

@The Kamek conversation we had a while ago.

Having played the game for a while, I can definitely say that the Magikoopa likely isn't intended to be the Kamek, but a generic Bowser minion (like Shy Guy). Not that that will stop me from thinking of him as Kamek anyway, but I can tell it wasn't a translation error or anything.

edited 25th Mar '12 12:44:15 AM by KnownUnknown

I think I lost track of how many times I've played 9's Bowser battle. So much fun, especially in the second half when the platform tilts and Bowser randomly sends out one of the other final bosses to attack you.

Also, it gets chaotic if you end up getting a bunch of Bowser faces.

Also, Bowser Station's music is awesome.

The last Bowser Battle is indeed pretty fun, and I liked that he summoned other bosses! That said, I prefer Magma Mine, both stage wise, boss wise, and music wise.

I'm just gonna refer to him as Kamek either way, if only for the fact that it makes both of your Token Evil Teammates be the main antagonists in Yoshi's Island.

edited 25th Mar '12 7:02:02 AM by Folt

After playing it for a while, there is one criticism I would make:

The ways you can gain ministars aren't exactly strong: most give stars to other players and only give you between 2-5 stars lead - however, the ways you can lose ministars tend to be fairly large and somewhat rare. As a result, if you fall behind it can be difficult to come back.

Basically, if you're behind you have to rely either those rare opportunities to get more than the normal amount of stars to gain ground, or on the equally rare events where the opponent loses a large amount. Otherwise, you're pretty much stuck were you're at.

Most of the games I've played have everyone pretty much get into their place in the first fourth of the match and stay there for the rest of the game.

I prefer the ministar system to the stars, but I suppose not being so easy to gain ground is a necessary side-effect of the ministars being much less pivotal than stars.

Actually, if you're in last place, I have one piece of advice to give you. LAND ON A BOWSER SPACE! Sounds stupid, but this is actually one of the best things you can do, as those spaces have been completely upgraded into a Comeback Mechanic in this game, since the only bad thing Bowser can really do to you, is take away your dice blocks. Since coins are no longer a thing, taking the mini-stars away from last place would make it harder for players to catch up.

This is why the Bowser spaces at the end is a thing, so lower players have a higher chance of catching up.

Also, I really like the Reverse Mini-game concept, but I feel like they could've done more with it. Just 4 mini-games? Come on. I know not every mini-game is compatable, but it feels kind of wasted to be honest. Maybe they might explore that concept more in the inevitable 10th installment.

edited 25th Mar '12 5:47:39 PM by Marioguy128

More than that, a last-place player who lands on that space and gets a "give Mini-Stars to the player in last place" gets more Mini-Stars, and getting "Lose half of your Mini-Stars" will have Bowser actually double your Mini-Stars! (I learned that the kinda hard way when it happened to Shy Guy, though at that point I had such a commanding lead it didn't matter.)

I'm doing some "Re-exploring" of some of the older games now.

5 had more interesting mini-games than I remember. Its boards also had some beautiful designs, though the actual space layout on them was kind of "meh," I feel. Still, I remembered really liking Sweet Dream, and that remains true.

^^^ But that's kind of my point - besides Bowser spaces, the occasional boon of having someone ahead get Ztars and a back space (or you getting Stars and a backspace), or being the captain and winning the boss, there isn't that much that can bring you up when someone has a really commanding lead, and all of those are fairly rare.

Not that it's an extreme problem - it's only a problem when you're 20-30 stars behind, and if you're really diligent and a tad bit lucky you can even make that up - it's just unexpectedly difficult to do so.

I mainly only considered it a problem in single player mode, where if something causes you to fall far behind early and the computer is being particularly lucky (common in the later maps), there's really no point in continuing.

Beta spaces and◊ spaces that were cut from Mario Party 9.◊

Standouts among the cut ones include the Red Space and something called the Stop Space.

Urgh... I don't think I've ever been as irritated at a final stage in Mario Party as I am at the one in this game. Bowser's Station, in itself, isn't a bad stage. It's actually pretty fun - or it would be.

What's bugging me is the computer players: I'm really getting tired of the laws of probability bending over backwards so they can win - they always get what they need on the main map, never get negative spaces, always get exactly the number of spaces they need to be captain (it's worth noting that being the Captain for the last event on the stage is extremely good regardless of if you win it, and as such they always get it). I'd guess they pick the exact time to hit it to get the favorable number, which is... irritating.

It doesn't help that your "ally" computer player is a freaking idiot, and fairly unlucky as well. I'd be fine with them being hard computers who are very good at the minigames if they weren't absurdly effective on the main map as well.

And Bowser Jr.'s boss battle - to hell with it. Eventually I just started surfing the web and absentmindedly constantly pressing A to get through it - it doesn't matter what you do in that game anyway.

edited 27th Mar '12 11:12:52 AM by KnownUnknown

Shaking the Wii Remote will make the dice block spin faster, and bigger so you can get the numbers you want... with a bit of practice. This applies to ALL dice blocks, including the one in Bowser Jr. Breakdown.

And yeah, Bowser Jr.'s boss battle is pretty bad. There's no strategy to it unless you know how to manipulate the dice block, in which case would be:

• If Captain, get a 6.
• Hope the other players screw up.
• HOPE THAT NO ONE GETS A 15. You're screwed if this happens early on in the mini-game.
• Get the next highest number available.

And yeah, the Mini-Star system is a lot better than the Stars and coins system in the earlier Mario Parties, though it still needs just a bit of tweaking.

edited 27th Mar '12 1:12:28 PM by Marioguy128

Nintendo ALWAYS have their AI cheat and don't bother trying to mask it. They know people will keep playing until they can beat the AI or get some people to play with to replace the AI.

When the AI isn't cheating though... it's absolutely retarded.

Hmm. I played Mario Party 3 the other day, and my god, it looks horrible. The cartoony cardboard look does not fit at all.

edited 27th Mar '12 1:56:30 PM by Marioguy128

I love that video.

Pretty much. There's hardly a middle ground. Either the AI is extremely stupid or extremely cheatsy/aggressive. Playing in teams? Have fun having a team with down syndrome while you face off against what is basically clones of Superman.

The cardboard look is only for the menus. the actual stuff is polygons and sprites. XD

No, it's on the boards and mini-games too. Not all of them, but it's definitely there. As a kid, I didn't mind the asthetics of Mario Party 3, but looking at it now, it looks really bad in my opinion. I like the game, I'm not a big fan of the asthetics.

Yeah. 9 still has some stupid AI. Like, the computer players will always use their special dice for some reason, like a 4-5-6 block, when they're right next to a Captain event or boss space.

I do too. That cart battle, and Bumper Balls are the best parts!

Oh yeah, someone made a Mario Party 9 version of that video. Not nearly as entertaining, cause it doesn't showcase the AI's stupidity as much. And some of the mini-games involve time your choices, which is kind of pointless to showcase. The only ones really worth watching are near the end of the video. Shy Guy tries to steal Luigi's strategy of doing nothing, and surprisingly it works! XD ... up until the very end at least. Also, he saved Luigi's life in that thwomp mini-game.

edited 27th Mar '12 9:44:37 PM by Marioguy128

Finally beat the last stage, mostly by getting a high enough amount of stars through luck in the first few ticks of the game to get a commanding lead, and then refusing to let it slip through my fingers through sheer force of will.

Magikoopa's computer got Bowser four times, each time something beneficial. Twice it was "play for half your stars," presumably as it's the only thing that could have really torn me down with the lead I had. I won both times. Finished the stage with 128 ministars and two middle fingers pointed directly at the screen.

Then I played DK's stage, which was a nice reversal. Also - DIDDY! AND DKC BONUS ROOM INSPIRED "BOSS BATTLES" YAY!