Mario Party 9
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 A decent way to end the Mario games on the Wii.
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Mario Party 9 is the ninth home console installment of the Mario Party series, and the second and last to be released for the Wii. It was developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo in 2012. It is the first Mario Party game to not be developed by Hudson Soft, due to being acquired and dissolved by Konami in March 2012. This is also the final Mario game to be released for the Wii.
Plot
During the nighttime outside Peach's Castle, Mario and his friends watch the Mini Stars glitter in the sky. However, when Mario peers through the telescope, he and his friends are shocked that the Mini Stars are being sucked through a vortex. Then, it is revealed that on a spacecraft, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are using a vacuum-like machine to suck the Mini Stars out of the sky into containers, as their plan to decorate their castle with Mini Stars. Now, the player's character rallies everyone to stop Bowser and Bowser Jr. and save the Mini Stars. After they start their journey, Shy Guy and Kamek/Magikoopa appear from the woods, and they infiltrate their group as part of Bowser's plan.
Why It's What Fans Wanted In 5 Years
- Great graphics for a Wii game, which hold up pretty well even to this day thanks to the designers.
- Awesome, catchy soundtrack, especially the Battle with Bowser Jr., Toad Road, Freshen Up, Bowser Station, or the mad King Bob-omb/Big Bob-omb theme. Despite being forgettable, the soundtrack will never be bad at all, especially since many Mario games are known for catchy and awesome soundtracks. NDcube managed to make the soundtrack catchy for the game.
- Koopa Troppa, Shy Guy, and Kamek/Magikoopa make their debut in the Mario Party series, starting with this game. Although they were not playable in some other Mario Party games, they were playable again in Super Mario Party. If you wanted Koopa Troopa, Shy Guy, or Kamek/Magikoopa to appear in the Mario Party series, this game delivered you them.
- While the car mechanic is flawed, the cars' designs are good, and they fit the boards' theme perfectly, especially the ones in Bowser Station, Toad Road, and Blooper Beach.
- The selection of minigames is pretty good. Alongside, all the mini-games are unlocked by default rather than playing them if you are playing a board. Also, because of this, the game is suitable for players who are more into the mini-games than the board gameplay, so if you want to play mini-games more than the boards, you can simply play mini-games without even playing the board.
- The bosses are enjoyable to play, especially Dry Bones, Lakitu, Wiggler, and King Boo. Each one of them has a good theme, and the ways to beat them are impressive. For example, in the Lakitu battle, you must hit a block that will shoot 1, 2, or 3 Bullet Bills to Lakitu, or drop a spiny that will make you lose a point if you touch it. Another example is that in the Dry Bones battle, you must pick a card that has a shape that Dry Bones is standing on, and if you choose the right one, it will damage Dry Bones, but selecting the wrong one will make the card fly away. Also, if you choose a card with Dry Bones' head, it will throw a bone into the player and it will make him/her lose a point. Also, the boss's outrages can be hilarious to watch.
- As expected from a Mario game, the voice acting is great, especially since the voice actors were talented enough to make the voice acting great for Mario Party 9. It's just as good as the other Mario Party games.
- The game has a good number of boards. There are 7 of them, and one of them, which is DK's Jungle Ruins, can be purchased by spending 500 Party Points, which is a nice price, especially since it's not expensive, and spending 500 Party Points for that board is worth it. Also, the boards are great, even though 2 of them have a problem (see BQ#4).
- Good story mode. The characters' decision to save the Mini Stars from Bowser to be back in the sky is a novel idea for a story in a story mode for a Mario Party game.
- The idea of reverse-style minigames where the goal is to get Last Place to win is hilariously ironic and creative.
- There's even mod support for the game which allows you to play as custom characters!
Bad Qualities
- The car mechanic was not executed well, as mentioned in WIWFWI5Y#4, and this also upset some of the fans of the series. This was primarily due to previous Mario Party games receiving weaker reviews from critics for the repetitive concept, so NDcube attempted to rework the series into having a car mechanic, but unsurprisingly, it didn't turn out very well.
- Some minigames can be bad or unfair, such as Launch Break, Mecha Choice, 10 to Win, and Block and Roll.
- Bob-omb Factory and Magma Mine have parts that can make you lose many Mini-Stars. In Bob-omb Factory, you get a Bob-omb on your car that explodes after moving ten spaces. In Magma Mine, lava will eventually rise, and rolling too low can result in getting caught in it. Both the Bob-omb and the lava make you lose half of your Mini-Stars, and it is extremely crippling to the point where having a Bob-omb explode on you or being burnt by the lava is an instant loss of the game.
- The battles with Whomp, King Bob-omb/Big Bob-omb, and Bowser Jr. are annoying since they are mostly luck-based. You have to be lucky to not get smashed by Whomp to not lose a point and let everyone else get some points in his battle, and you must try your best to select a bomb that no one selected in the King Bob-omb/Big Bob-omb's battle, and you have to hope your roll is a number that lands exactly on a numbered star to attack Bowser Jr.
- The only items you can use are Dice Blocks. There are no other items you can use.
- Bowser's motivation for stealing Mini Stars is rather dumb and not thrilling at all. He just wants to decorate his castle with them.
- You only play minigames whenever a minigame spot is being landed on, and not at the end of every turn. This makes the players feel bored because of that reason, no pun intended.
Reception
Ratings
| Aggregate score | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 73/100[1] |
| Publication | Score |
| Nintendo Life | 8/10[2] |
Critical reception
Mario Party 9 received mixed-to-positive reviews. On Metacritic, it has a critic score of 73/100, based on 45 critic reviews, while it has an user sore of 6.8/10, based on 223 ratings. On GameFAQs, it received 3.48/5 stars from 765 users, while Nintendo Life gave it 8/10.
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