Mario Party DS

Mario Party DS
European Mario Party DS box art
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Composer(s)	Hironobu Yahata Shinya Outouge
Series	Mario Party
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP November 8, 2007[1] NA November 19, 2007[2] EU November 23, 2007[3] AUS December 6, 2007[4] KOR May 22, 2008
Genre(s)	Party Minigame
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: PG CERO: A (All ages) ESRB: E GRB: A PEGI: 3+

Mario Party DS (マリオパーティDS, Mario Paati Dī Esu^?) is a party video game for the Nintendo DS. It is a title in the Mario Party series, and was released in Japan on November 8, 2007; 11 days later, it was released in North America on November 19, 2007; in Europe on November 23, 2007, in Australia on December 6, 2007, and in South Korea on May 22, 2008. Mario Party DS is followed by Mario Party 9.

Plot

The story begins with five Sky Crystals falling onto Earth. Mario finds one of them and then shows it to all of his friends/allies. Soon after, Bowser sends party invitations to the whole crew. They're suspicious, but everyone goes to Bowser's Castle. Much to their dismay, it is a trap and Bowser steals a Sky Crystal. Using his new "Minimizer", he shrinks everyone. Mario and his friends find themselves tiny in a very big world.

Bowser wants to find the four other Sky Crystals without Mario and his crew in the way, and so he flings them to the far side of the kingdom.

The crew travels to Bowser's Castle,far away while helping Wiggler taking care of a piranha plant, stopping a Hammer Bro from ruining Toadette's instruments, helping Diddy Kong free DK after being turned to stone by a Dry Bones, and freeing a Koopa's grandpa who's been trapped in a book by Kamek. Each of them gives a Sky Crystal to thank Mario and his crew. Once the friends make it to the castle, Bowser traps everyone inside his pinball machine and prepares one again to use his Minimizer. Luckily, DK and Diddy received the invitation too, and have made it to the castle in time. While looking for the food, DK bumps into Bowser and breaks the Minimizer, returning Mario and friends to their rightful size. However, Bowser reveals his new "Megamorph Belt" and challenges the superstar. After Bowser is defeated the crew takes back the stolen Sky Crystal and puts it with the others. The crystals combine into a new game and Bowser is meaner now because the crystals were part of a castle legend. But in a surprising move, the Mario and crew invite Bowser and Bowser Jr. to play with them. They accept, and now everyone is happy, including DK and Diddy, who have eaten the entire buffet.

Playable characters

Main article: Mario Party#Playable Characters

8 characters are playable on Mario Party DS'

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Peach
• Yoshi
• Wario
• Princess Daisy
• Waluigi
• Toad

Gameplay

Fast Food Frenzy, one of the 1 vs. 3 minigames in Mario Party DS.

As with most Mario Party games, an emphasis is placed on the game's multiplayer aspect. A new element to the series is the use of the Download Play functionality of the Nintendo DS to allow four people to play wirelessly using only one game card. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Princess Daisy, Toad, Wario, and Waluigi are the playable characters.^[5]

The party mode game is played by using a "dice block" numbered 1-10 and moving the player accordingly. There are many things such as "mole shops", "? (green)", "blue", "red" and "bowser time" spaces that can help or hinder game progress.The boards are Wiggler's Garden, Toadette's Music Room, DK's Stone Statue, Kamek's Library and Bowser's Pinball Machine.

Mole shops

At the party mode, there are mole shops that players that passes through can choose to get in. The shops, with Monty mole as the shopkeeper, is offering special dice blocks, as halfway dice blocks (1-5 die), double or triple dice blocks. It also offers snag bags(steal an item from an enemy), star pipes (jumps you right to the star) and more.

Mini-games

Mario Party DS features a total of 74 mini-games, most of which utilize the unique features of the DS. While several mini-games use the buttons and control pad, others use the stylus and four mini-games use the microphone. For example, "Soccer Survival" involves trying to dodge soccer balls being kicked by a Goomba. "Camera Shy" involves characters taking photos of other characters and "Short Fuse" involves blowing on a fuse of a bomb in hopes to be the last player to survive. "Star Catchers" is a game where you need to tap stars that appear in the sky, and the goal is to get the most stars. "Shuffleboard Showdown" is a game in which one player shoots poker chips while three other players dodge the projectiles. Others include "Globe Gunners", a game in which the players run around on a globe, shooting projectiles at each other, and boss minigames, in which the player battles villains from the Mario series, such as Bowser and Dry Bones. In Multiplayer mode, there is an Extras Mode, where you can team up with a friend to trap the other players (Pen Pals),or you could play against another player in Desert Duel. You can't play the Boss minigames when you are connecting with your friends in Multiplayer mode.

In "Puzzle Mode", the player plays puzzle games from the Mario Party series: "Mario's Puzzle Party" from Mario Party 3, "Bob-omb Breakers" from Mario Party 4, "Piece Out" from Mario Party 5, "Block Star" from Mario Party 6, and "Stick and Spin" from Mario Party 7. There is also "Triangle Twisters", a new game in which the player twist triangles to create a given shape. this game is unlocked after completing story mode.

All minigames are divided into any of these 5 types:

4 Players: All players fight each other.
2 vs. 2: 2 Players versus 2 Players.
1 vs. 3: Single player versus 3 others.
Battle: Similar to normal 4-player games, with the exception of a determined amount of coins subtracted from each player to make a jackpot. The first place winner gets most of the coins, while the runner-up gets the rest of it. Play then resumes normally.
Boss Minigame: Battle by yourself against one of the bosses: Piranha Plant, Hammer Bro, Dry Bones, Kamek or Bowser.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	71% (based on 21 reviews)
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C+[6]
Game Informer	7 out of 10[7]
GameSpot	8 out of 10
IGN	7.0 out of 10[8]
Nintendo Power	8 out of 10

Mario Party DS received mostly positive reviews upon its release, although there had been some criticisms about its lack of online play and its basic storyline.

The game had strong sales the first week of its release in Japan, selling 234,708 copies in its first week.^[9] As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 1,730,191 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.^[10][11] It is the 18th best-selling game of Japan in 2008.^[12] As of March 31, 2009, Nintendo has sold 5.85 million copies of the game worldwide.^[13]

References

1. ^ "Mario Party DS scans". GoNintendo. 2007-09-12. http://gonintendo.com/?p=24837. Retrieved 2007-09-13. 
2. ^ "Mario Party DS at Nintendo". Nintendo. http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/bYOnzZFYh7E70cgflA2LY_o7i5sU382f. Retrieved 2008-05-22. 
3. ^ "Q4 Release Update". http://www.nintendo-europe.com/NOE/en/GB/news/article.do?elementId=89jrftS1pVrPRFHXwoueNuR9T4bKCNx_. Retrieved 2007-08-23. 
4. ^ nintendo.com.au - News from Nintendo
5. ^ "Nintendo - E3 2007 - Mario Party DS". http://ms.nintendo-europe.com/e32007/enGB/nds_mariopartyds.html. Retrieved 2007-07-13. 
6. ^ Fitch, Andrew (November 20, 2007). "Mario Party DS Review from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3164515&sec=REVIEWS. Retrieved April 24, 2009. 
7. ^ Bryan Vore. "Game Informer Online". Game Informer. http://gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/CFA79462-7A10-4D81-B49B-500613419851.htm. Retrieved March 17, 2009. 
8. ^ Harris, Craig (November 21, 2007). "IGN: Mario Party DS Review". http://ds.ign.com/articles/837/837102p1.html. Retrieved April 24, 2009. 
9. ^ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/mario-party-ds-hits-japan-top-spot Mario Party Sales
10. ^ Weekly Famitsu, issue 1020
11. ^ "Nintendo DS Japanese Ranking". Japan Game Charts. 2008-07-30. http://www.japan-gamecharts.com/ds.php. Retrieved 2008-08-03. 
12. ^ "JAPANESE 2008 MARKET REPORT". MCVUK. http://www.mcvuk.com/interviews/403/JAPANESE-2008-MARKET-REPORT. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
13. ^ "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2009: Supplementary Information" (PDF). Nintendo. 2009-05-08. pp. 6. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2009/090508e.pdf#page=6. Retrieved 2009-06-21. 

External links

• Official website