Mario Party DS
Encyclopedia
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
.
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.
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
.
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.
, 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.
The game had strong sales the first week of its release in Japan, selling 234,708 copies in its first week. As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 1,730,191 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu
. It is the 18th best-selling game of Japan in 2008. As of March 31, 2009, Nintendo has sold 5.85 million copies of the game worldwide.
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. It is a title in the Mario Party series, and was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
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
Mario Party 9
Mario Party 9 is an upcoming party video game for the Nintendo Wii. It was officially announced at E3 2011 and is currently under development....
.
Plot
The story begins with five Sky Crystals falling onto Earth. MarioMario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
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
Diddy Kong
, originally known as Donkey Diddy, is a fictional character in the Donkey Kong series of video games, first appearing in the 1994 game Donkey Kong Country. He lives on Donkey Kong Island in the Kongo Jungle, and is identified by his red hat, which has a Nintendo logo on it, and shirt...
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
8 characters are playable on Mario Party DS- MarioMariois a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
- LuigiLuigiis a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
- Princess PeachPrincess Peachis a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
- YoshiYoshi, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
- WarioWariois a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series. The character was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
- Princess Daisy
- WaluigiWaluigiis a fictional character in the Mario series of video games. He accompanies Wario in spin-offs from the main Mario series, oftentimes for the sake of causing mischief...
- ToadToad (Mario)Toad, known in Japan as , is a fictional character belonging to an anthropomorphic mushroom-like species of the same name in the Mario series, created by Shigeru Miyamoto. A citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad is one of Princess Peach's most loyal attendants and is constantly working on her behalf...
Gameplay
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
, Princess Peach
Princess Peach
is a character in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom, and often plays the damsel in distress role within the adventure series. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of...
, Yoshi
Yoshi
, is a fictional dragon-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super...
, Princess Daisy, Toad
Toad (Mario)
Toad, known in Japan as , is a fictional character belonging to an anthropomorphic mushroom-like species of the same name in the Mario series, created by Shigeru Miyamoto. A citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad is one of Princess Peach's most loyal attendants and is constantly working on her behalf...
, Wario
Wario
is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series. The character was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
, and Waluigi are the playable characters
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
.
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-gamesMinigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
, 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
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
from the Mario Party
Mario Party
is a party video game for the Nintendo 64 game console, developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on December 14, 1998, in North America on February 8, 1999, and in Europe on March 9, 1999...
series: "Mario's Puzzle Party" from Mario Party 3
Mario Party 3
is the third in a series of board game style video games for Nintendo platforms, featuring popular Nintendo characters. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan on December 7, 2000, following a North American release on May 7, 2001. It was released in Australia on September 3, 2001 and in...
, "Bob-omb Breakers" from Mario Party 4
Mario Party 4
is the fourth installment in a series of board game style and is the first game in the series to be released for Nintendo Gamecube, featuring popular Nintendo characters. Mario Party 4 was released in North America on October 21, 2002, in Japan on November 8, 2002, and in Europe and Australia on...
, "Piece Out" from Mario Party 5
Mario Party 5
is a party video game published by Nintendo and developed by Hudson Soft. It is the second game in the Mario Party series for Nintendo Gamecube. It was released in North America on November 10, 2003, in Japan on November 23, 2003, and in Europe on December 5, 2003...
, "Block Star" from Mario Party 6
Mario Party 6
is the sixth game in the Mario Party series of board game-style video games by Nintendo and is the third title in the series made for Nintendo GameCube and was released in Japan on November 18, 2004; North America on December 6, 2004; in Europe on March 18, 2005; and in Australia on September 15,...
, and "Stick and Spin" from Mario Party 7
Mario Party 7
is the seventh in a series of board game style video games for Nintendo platforms and is the fourth and final title in the Mario Party series for Nintendo Gamecube. Mario Party 7 features popular Nintendo characters. It was released on the Nintendo GameCube in North America on November 7, 2005, in...
. 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
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. As of July 9, 2008, the game has sold 1,730,191 copies in Japan, according to Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
. It is the 18th best-selling game of Japan in 2008. As of March 31, 2009, Nintendo has sold 5.85 million copies of the game worldwide.