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Mario Party 9: anyone excited?

Looking forward to playing this with my family. After playing Wii Party and Knockout Party a lot, I think it's time of something new, and this seems to fit my requirements.
 
Short of Smash, Bomberman and the Naruto GC games, the Mario Party series always was something nice to play with my college buddies.

I'll be keeping an eye on this. Might still be good to pull out at our "meet ups".
 
This change in the formula is actually pretty intriguing. Obviously, not having classic mode is a bit of a bummer, but maybe we're finally getting the "evolution" that so many people keep asking for from the series.
 
Interested to say the least...


I really hope they allow players to create "profiles" that would incorporate some light stat traking (Wins/Losses, mini game records, time played etc. etc.)
 
Anddddddddd..... now I'm completely turned off from this game.

MP2 & MP3 were and still are the best Mario Parties simply because of the mini-games and the awesome hilarity of the luck that ensues between players. Outside of broken Boo, those two games are still ridiculously fun to play. I can understand Nintendo wanting to take out the competition part of MP, but really, this is just... ugh. MP was always a franchise that reminded me of the simple board games growing up and is partly why I liked the series, but when you take it in this direction, it doesn't remind me at all of board games anymore because it's not 4 player free for all. It's now "work together to reach to the end" sort of (though they imply some kind of competition in the press release there, albeit it sounds very slight).

Either way, the initial E3 trailer didn't get me hyped because of the car clips and now that I know for sure this won't be a traditional Mario Party I'm not even going to give it a try, especially because I couldn't stand the MP8 wiimote mini-games and chances are, these won't be much better and certainly won't hold a candle to the likes of Skateboard Scamper or Hot Rope Jump... of MP1 & MP2.
 
I've never played a Mario Party game, but I'm thinking it would be a fun time for my girlfriend and I to play together. Which is the best one so far? Is 9 looking like it's going to be a good one?
 
9 looks great to me, personally. Even though they seem to have changed some big things, the mini-games look stellar.
 
I believe this is the first game developed internally (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes, I am somewhat excited.
 
ace3skoot said:
people get excited about mario party? i mena if you like it fair enough but there always the exact same game :p
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In the case of Mario Party 9 specifically, people are excited because it looks to be a big step up in quality from the atrocious Mario Party 8. Additionally, this game actually does look come off as a departure from the rest of the series. The style of the game makes it uniquely Mario Party, but otherwise it looks like a blend of old and new. So it's looking like it's NOT going to be exactly the same.

The idea of playing a somewhat fresh Mario Party experience is worth getting excited over.
 
I don't think Mario Party has ever been better than the 4th iteration back on the GC. Mario Party 5 came close, but it added so much capsule nonsense and not enough Boos/stealing stars for 50 coins.

Still, I suppose 9 can't be any worse than that microphone controlled one.
 
Crub said:
I believe this is the first game developed internally (correct me if I'm wrong).

Yes, I am somewhat excited.
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It's done by NDCube, which is an internal studio. Still, the studio largely comprises former Hudson employees from we know.
 
PK Gaming said:
I was excited until it was confirmed that there wasn't any online play.

How utterly archaic.
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Did you honestly expect online play for this? MP is the type of game you play with people around you. Personally, it would bore me to death having to wait for other people's turns.
 
gotta feel sorry for Luigi...

tumblr_lyexewpfki1qbot5oo1_400.jpg
 
I'm actually reasonably excited that they're changing stuff up. If I want to play a traditional Mario Party game, I can play the majority of them on Wii already (I think except for MP1 and 3, and the portable ones).

If I were to happen upon the chance where I have three friends over ready to play some Mario Party, this game sounds like it would be excellent. It's just, I don't know if that will ever happen regularly. :(
 
SteeloDMZ said:
Did you honestly expect online play for this? MP is the type of game you play with people around you. Personally, it would bore me to death having to wait for other people's turns.
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Yes, I expected Nintendo to get with the times. Even Fortune Street has online play as well. If you personally don't care about online play, thats fine but the fact there's no online play fills me with an unfathomable rage. I've played every single Mario Party game with my younger brother, and I was hoping that I could play this MP game with friends on the net.
 
PK Gaming said:
Yes, I expected Nintendo to get with the times. Even Fortune Street has online play as well. If you personally don't care about online play, thats fine but the fact there's no online play fills me with an unfathomable rage. I've played every single Mario Party game with my younger brother, and I was hoping that I could play this MP game with friends on the net.
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Fortune Street has considerably less going on at any given time than Mario Party. Plus their implementation for it is pretty lackluster anyway.
 
I don't think Mario Party fits with an online play mode, unless it worked like a play-by-mail game. Even then, the mini-games wouldn't work...
 
Perspective Mode lets you play minigames in third person viewpoint.
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That review has a lot of spelling errors in it ("Time Trail"), so I assume this should be "first person" since the games are already played in a 3rd person point of view.

This sounds kind of cool if true.
 
Well this is disappointing, I liked how competitive Mario Party was, I don't like this team work board game idea.

But then I think the only Mario Party game I've played is 2. I guess I could get that for the Virtual Console. Are any of the GameCube MP games good? Wiki says DK isn't playable past MP4, and Mario Party 6 & 7 use the stupid microphone, so it looks like I'm stuck picking between 4 and 5. Which is better?
 
shiptoncraig said:
I don't think Mario Party has ever been better than the 4th iteration back on the GC. Mario Party 5 came close, but it added so much capsule nonsense and not enough Boos/stealing stars for 50 coins.

Still, I suppose 9 can't be any worse than that microphone controlled one.
Click to expand...
The 4th one? Pokecapns LP made it look kind of bad and I recall reviews of the time complaining about how luck based board movement was at times with traps etc...might be mistaken.

Plus, there were two microphone controlled ones. It was only the occasional minigame or board event (which was always super easy like "how many mellons were there?") making it even more pointless.

Chris B said:
gotta feel sorry for Luigi...

tumblr_lyexewpfki1qbot5oo1_400.jpg
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Luigi? That reminds me, Waluigi, Waluigi? WAAALUUIGIIIII!
I know hes playable but shows how hes fallen from grace, even Yellow Toad made it on the cover. Yellow Toad! Unless that blob next to Daisey is him...

WordAssassin said:
Well this is disappointing, I liked how competitive Mario Party was, I don't like this team work board game idea.
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Ever played Zelda 4 Swords? That gets pretty fierce and may be more cooperative than this Mario Party will be. Hopefully like that game this has voting at the end for least helpful player etc (you can hide your votes too by using the Wii D-pad as in "Press up to vote Luigi").

P.S.: Your tag goes to a domain parking page, I assume it should go here
 
Starwolf_UK said:
Ever played Zelda 4 Swords? That gets pretty fierce and may be more cooperative than this Mario Party will be. Hopefully like that game this has voting at the end for least helpful player etc (you can hide your votes too by using the Wii D-pad as in "Press up to vote Luigi").
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Huh, I guess that's true. Kind of like the Ratchet and Clank ame for PS3 that has 4-players co-operatively playing through levels but at the same time competing with each other for bolts and other scores? I'll wait for some reviews then but that could be fun I suppose.
P.S.: Your tag goes to a domain parking page, I assume it should go here
Click to expand...

Oh shit, thanks for pointing that out. How would I go about fixing that? I guess PMing a Mod? Hrm.
 
Luigi? That reminds me, Waluigi, Waluigi? WAAALUUIGIIIII! I know hes playable but shows how hes fallen from grace, even Yellow Toad made it on the cover. Yellow Toad! Unless that blob next to Daisey is him...
Click to expand...

He's right there in the Koopa Clown Car, near Daisy.

Speaking of which, cool to see the SMBW Dolphins here.
 
shiptoncraig said:
I don't think Mario Party has ever been better than the 4th iteration back on the GC. Mario Party 5 came close, but it added so much capsule nonsense and not enough Boos/stealing stars for 50 coins.
Click to expand...
Mario Party 4 had great mini games but terribly boring boards.

Mario Party 5 had pretty good games and much improved boards, but introduced cut-scene nonsense with capsule usage that considerably slowed down the game.

Recently I played A LOT of Mario Party 6 with friends. Just played it for the first time only last year. Didn't have high expectations but we all agree that it's the best Gamecube Mario Party game (though we haven't tried 7). The boards are like MP5's, but the capsule system is streamlined. The mini games are really competitive and remind me a lot of some of the offerings in Wii Party. The method of getting stars actually varies by board; not every board uses the typical "random star placement" that's in all previous Mario Party games. The one potential drawback is that the Coin Star is replaced by the Orb Star ("orbs" are what "capsules" are called in MP6, and the person who uses the most of them wins the bonus star).

So, my favorites in the series are probably MP2 and MP6, as of now. The former is good for the simplicity of it. The latter is good for striking a balance of classic play with new (but balanced) gimmickry. I'm hoping that MP9 does the same thing and offers a balanced experience.
 
Second review is in.

N-Zone (German magazine)

It says the best Mario Party game of all time!

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New bits of information:
Minimal loading times, you won’t notice them.
Luck minigames are gone, you might find one or two.
Unlockable ”Zodiacs” that resemble Nintendo characters and fireworks.

On minigames:
Gegen den Pfeil – An arrow is shown and you need to tilt the remote in the opposite direction. The tester would have liked to push buttons instead.
Wegelagerei - Single player needs to carry three blocks to the other side. The team tries to stop Single, by pushing boulders down. Said to be much fun – when playing with friends, of course.
Steinblockschlag – We have seen this kind of game in older Mario Parties, right? Avoid the blocks that come falling down from above.
Wettlauf ins All - The screenshot says it all, there’s a cursor. Button mashing when the cursor is at the area of the buttons, waggling during the last part.
Fiesband – Everyone starts at random places inside a maze. Which is filled with conveyor belts. With this obstacles, you need to find your way to the center of the maze.
Grafitti Geballer – The screen explains it all. The one who has more paint of his or her colour at the wall wins.

Older Mario Party Comparison

Old problems in the series:

CPU-Turns can’t be skipped
Screen was 4:3, a 16:9 TV had black… ehrm… “things” in the way.
Buying items at shops slows the game down.
The lenth of a game varies.
It could be 30 minutes or three hours long.
You know too soon who’ll win, because of the stars the players own.
Coins are useless and only there to trade them for stars.

Could remove MP9 those problems?

All players are inside the same car – whatever happens, it happens to everyone.
The tempo has been nested.
16:9 in all modes, unlike MP8.
You’ll receive items without time being lost.
One game lasts about 45 minutes and rules can’t be changed.
The mini stars you collect are the only currency in the game, which makes the game more exciting.

Pros:
Exciting
Faster
Fun minigames
16:9
AI controlled players are optional

Cons:
Unlockables are boring and useless
Playing this game alone is boring
Music sounds like you’re on a funfair
Click to expand...
 
Used to enjoy Mario Party quite a bit, but the series went straight into the toilet after 3. Mario Party 8 was agonizing. WOuld take some extremely good impressions to get me to jump back in.
 
Rash said:
Recently I played A LOT of Mario Party 6 with friends. Just played it for the first time only last year. Didn't have high expectations but we all agree that it's the best Gamecube Mario Party game (though we haven't tried 7).
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Totally agree. MP6 is the pinnacle of the series. 7 and 8 are alright, but definitely not as good as 6.
 
My brother and I went on a recent Mario Part tear. We played through 1, 2 and 3 this past Winter Break. Nothing beats 2, but I think I'll definitely pick up 9 if only for some good multiplayer action. Nintendo knows how to do local multiplayer like no other. Hopefully there's online.
 
Kamek said:
My brother and I went on a recent Mario Part tear. We played through 1, 2 and 3 this past Winter Break. Nothing beats 2, but I think I'll definitely pick up 9 if only for some good multiplayer action. Nintendo knows how to do local multiplayer like no other. Hopefully there's online.
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There's not.
 
Another great review for Mario Party 9! This time it's courtesy of Nintendo Gamer. I'm already pretty hyped for this game but this slew of positive impressions is pushing me over the edge!

Instead of jogging around individually, as in the previous games, the two/three/four players now ride around in a Noddy-esque novelty car, taking turns to drive it on a road trip from one end of the board tÂ’other.

...

If it were implemented poorly, you could accuse them of gimmickry, but the truth is theyÂ’ve done a great job of structuring Mario Party 9 around it.

...

Thankfully, Nd Cube have ... built each stage of Mario Party 9 around its vehicle guest star. The game’s seven boards – comprising *deep breath* Toad Road, Bob-Omb Factory, Boo’s Horror Castle, Blooper Beach, Magma Mine, Bowser Station and DK’s Jungle Ruins *dies* – are reassuringly inventive and unique, rather than the flat, cardboardy backdrops fans may have been expecting.
Click to expand...

Score:
80%

Read the rest of the review. This thing sounds ace!
 
The Nintendo World Report review copy arrived today. I'll be sending it out to our reviewer tomorrow, but I'll probably gather some friends and try it out tonight.

Anybody have any pressing questions that need answerin'? I'll do my best to mess to answer them in my whirlwind tour of what looks to be a pretty great new Mario Party game.
 
hmmmm surprised to hear the "there should be no online" mode for anything mario party


I'll give you no online for boards since people would drop out if they are losing but online is perfect for mini games.


Hell i would play Mario Party 5's penguin mini game 100000000000 times if i could play it online, with cpu players is just ok.


that being said, i love mario party games so i'll pick this up but i'll be forever alone since i have no one to play with :(


nron10 i have a question, any remake mini games/boards from past mario parties?
 
I love the Christmas world in Mario Party 6. When it turns night and you see all the colorful lights on the snow-blanketed pine trees encircling the frozen lake... *swoon*

Anyway, no particular interest in MP9, other than the return of Big Bob-omb (SM64 nostalgia!) and boxart brighter than a neon bulb.
 
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