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]
Genre(s)	Party Minigame
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A (All ages) ESRB: E (Everyone) OFLC: PG PEGI: 3+

Mario Party DS (マリオパーティDS, Mario Pāti Dī Esu^?) is a party video game for the Nintendo DS. It is the eleventh title in the Mario Party series (twelfth in Japan), and was released in Japan on November 8, 2007; in North America on November 19, 2007; in Europe on November 23, 2007; and in Australia on December 6, 2007.

Plot

The Mario crew's adventure begins late one night when five Sky Crystals fall to earth. Mario finds one, then shows it to all of his friends. Just then, there's another surprise. Bowser sends party invitations to the whole crew. They read: "Hey, chumps! I'm throwing a Big Bowser Bash to apologize for being such a big jerk!" Of course, they're all suspicious! But free eats can't be beat, so everyone goes to Bowser's Castle to get first crack at the snacks. And, of course, it's a trap! Bowser steals the Sky Crystal, then shrinks everyone with his new Minimizer. So tiny in such a big world! Bowser doesn't want Mario and company in the way, since he has four more Sky Crystals to find. So he flings them to the far side of the kingdom! And there our party begins, with our wee heroes lost in a world full of gigantic challenges...^[5]

Gameplay

Fast Food Frenzy, one of the many 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.^[6]

The game is played by using a "dice block" numbered 1-10 and moving the player accordingly. There are many things such as "mole shops", "?", "blue" and "red" 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.

Mini-games

Mario Party DS features a total of 73 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. "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 "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. In Frenzy mode, the player has to connect four or more triangles of the same color to destroy them; in Focus mode, the player must twist the triangles to form 50 shapes.

Trivia

• This was the last game where Dolores Rogers voiced Bowser Jr.

Reception

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Mario Party DS received mostly positive reviews upon its release.

The game had strong sales the first week of its release in Japan, selling 234,708 copies in its first week.^[10] As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 1,730,191 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu.^[11][12] It is the 18th best-selling game of Japan in 2008.^[13] As of March 31, 2009, Nintendo has sold 5.85 million copies of the game worldwide.^[14]

References

External links

• Official website