Mario Party DS

Mario Party DS is the eleventh installment in the Mario Party series (thirteenth in Japan), and the second for the handheld consoles (the first being Mario Party Advance for the Game Boy Advance, and third being Mario Party: Island Tour for the Nintendo 3DS and fourth being Mario Party: Star Rush for the Nintendo 3DS), and the only one for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan, China, & Taiwan on November 8, 2007, in the United States on November 19, 2007, in Europe on November 23, 2007 and in Australia on December 6, 2007. It was also released on Virtual Console for Wii U in the USA and Europe on Apr. 21, 2016 and Japan on Apr. 22, 2016.
This is the third and last of the three games in the Mario Party series overall which was released on Virtual Console (the third and last one after Mario Party 2 and Mario Party Advance). This is the last Mario Party game to be developed by Hudson Soft, who was succeeded by Nd Cube in 2012. Several voice clips are reused from Mario Party 8. This is the only handheld installment to feature the traditional Mario Party gameplay and would be the last installment overall to feature it until Super Mario Party, released for the Switch family eleven years later.
===Plot===
One night in the Mushroom Kingdom, five mysterious crystals fell from the sky. Mario found one of the sky crystals and showed it to his friends (Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and Toad). Suddenly, Kamek swooped above the gang, and dropped invitations signed by Bowser. The invitations promised a party and free food at Bowser's Castle, as an apology for all the bad things he has done. Mario and his friends rush over to Bowser's castle when suddenly, a large steel cage comes crashing down on the crew. Bowser Jr. and his father shrink Mario and gang down to size and steals the sky crystal. Bowser then launches the shrunken stars as far away from the castle as possible.
They landed in Wiggler's garden where they had to destroy an evil piranha plant, then moved one to Toadette's Music Room where they had to stop a Hammer Bro. They later trek across a vast jungle, where Donkey Kong had been imprisoned in large stone statue by Dry Bones. After rescuing Donkey Kong, Mario journeys over to Kamek's Library where he fights Bowser's trusted wizard in order to obtain his fourth star crystal.
==Gameplay==
===Mini-games===
There are a total of 74 mini-games. Most of the minigames involve using the stylus, given that the game is for the Nintendo DS. One example is Cucumberjacks where to player must swipe the stylus to cut up a vegetable. Four mini-games use the microphone, to blow over a Thwomp, freeze your opponents, ignite a bomb, and blow out birthday candles. The mini-game ideas are quirky, in the fact that they take place in an unrealistically large world, having characters hang from a clothesline or run on a globe. Mario Party DS also features five Boss Battle Mini-games, in which players must fight a Piranha Plant, Hammer Bro, Dry Bones, Kamek, and Bowser.
Puzzle mode features a puzzle minigame from an earlier Mario Party game: 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. It also features the unlockable Triangle Twisters, a newly introduced puzzle game where you twist triangles. In Frenzy mode, you have to connect 4 or more triangles of the same color to destroy them; in Focus mode, you have to twist the triangles to form 50 shapes.
==Characters==
===Playable===
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===Default Partners===
* Mario and Luigi
* Peach and Daisy
* Wario and Waluigi
* Yoshi and Toad
===Non-playable===
* Bowser
* Bowser Jr.
* Toadette
* Wiggler
* Piranha Plant
* Dry Bones
* Hammer Bro.
* Donkey Kong
* Diddy Kong
* Kamek
* Koopa
* Koopa Krag
===Minigame enemies===
* Goomba
* Scuttlebug
* Cheep Cheep
* Boo
* Shy Guy
* Whomp
* Bob-omb
* Monty Mole
==Team Names==
For the Tag Battle setting in Party Mode, each combination of playable characters create one unique team name. The list of possible results are shown below:
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
	 	Mario Bros. 	Fan Favorites 	Flower Players 	Foe Bros. 	'Stache Stars	Old Buddies 	Fungus Friends
	Mario Bros. 	 	Green Peaches 	Shy Sidekicks 	'Stache Clashers	Lean Meanies 	Green Machines 	Green Mushrooms
	Fan Favorites 	Green Peaches 	 	Power Princesses	Rotten Peaches 	Black Peaches	Sweetie Pies 	Peachy 'Shrooms
	Flower Players	Shy Sidekicks 	Power Princesses	 	Wilted Flowers 	Skinny Stars 	Cutie Pies 	Button Mushrooms
	Foe Bros. 	'Stache Clashers	Rotten Peaches 	Wilted Flowers 	 	Bad Boys 	Unlikely Pals 	Poison Mushrooms
	'Stache Stars 	Lean Meanies 	Black Peaches 	Skinny Stars 	Bad Boys 	 	Purple Dinos 	Bad Mushrooms
	Old Buddies 	Green Machines 	Sweetie Pies 	Cutie Pies 	Unlikely Pals 	Purple Dinos 	 	Star Supporters
	Fungus Friends	Green Mushrooms 	Peachy 'Shrooms 	Button Mushrooms	Poison Mushrooms	Bad Mushrooms	Star Supporters	
==Default Partners==
*Mario and Luigi
*Peach and Daisy
*Wario and Waluigi
*Yoshi and Toad 
==Boards==
*Wiggler's Garden - Find the Star and trade 20 Coins for the Star. Scramble around the plant-based board.
**Boss: Piranha Plant
*Toadette's Music Room - Find music notes and trade 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 Coins for a Star.
**Boss: Hammer Bro.
*DK's Stone Statue - Race and buy many stars for 20 Coins each. Just make sure that you have enough Coins.
**Boss: Dry Bones
*Kamek's Library - There are three jars. You can open one by paying 10 Coins. One has a Star, another has 5 Coins, and one is a cursed monster that will spit you back to the start.
**Boss: Kamek
*Bowser's Pinball Machine - Find the Star and trade 20 Coins for the Star. If you're in the Launcher, Bowser or Bowser Jr. launch you like a pinball ball, hoping you land in the Bowser Zone, which can cause loss of all Coins and Stars. You're hoping to land on Star Zone for free Stars. Sometimes, when you hope to get more than a Star, you get 1 Star and it may not be fair to you.
**Boss: Bowser
MPDS Wiggler's Garden.jpg|Wiggler's Garden
Toadette's Music Room MPDS.jpg|Toadette's Music Room
MPDSBoard3.jpg|DK's Stone Statue
==Modes==
*Story Mode (1 Player) - A single-player mode that follows the storyline of the game. It puts the player through the five boards of the game, requiring them to win a Battle Royal on each board and defeat the boss of it in a minigame to progress.
*Party Mode (1-4 Players) - The main mode of the game, where the player competes against several human-controlled or computer-controlled players on a party board in either a Battle Royale, Tag Battle or Duel Battle.
*Minigame Mode (1-4 Players) - A mode where the player can play six games that use the pool of minigames available in a variety of challenges that don’t take place on the game boards, those being Free Play, Step It Up, Battle Cup, Score Scuffle, Boss Bash and Rocket Rascals. The player can pit themselves against up to three other human-controlled players in the multiplayer version of this mode.
*Puzzle Mode (1-2 Players) - A mode where the player can play six puzzle-action games, the majority being classics from previous Mario Party games. This mode introduces the new touch-controlled puzzle game, Triangle Twisters, which offers two play modes, Frenzy Mode and Focus Mode. Additionally, the player can pit themselves against another human-controlled player in the Multiplayer version of this mode.
*Multiplayer (2-4 Players) - Using one game card, players can wirelessly play together in Party Mode, Minigame Mode (2-4 Players), Puzzle Mode and Extra Mode (2 Player) with nearby Nintendo DS users.
*Extras Mode (2 Player) - An exclusive multiplayer mode that includes games designed for two: the cooperative Pen Pals and the competitive Desert Duel.
*Gallery - Includes over 120 collectibles that can be viewed at the player's discretion when unlocked. This mode also allows them to listen to the game's music and watch the cutscenes seen in Story Mode when viewed at least once in it.
===Spaces===
Spaces 	Description
Blue Space 	The most common space, the Blue Space gives players three Coins if they land on it. It gives their section in the heads up display a blue color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames.
Red Space 	A fairly common space, the Red Space takes three Coins from players that land on it. It gives their section in the heads up display a red color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames.
Green Space 	This space causes certain events to happen that can benefit the player, harm the player, benefit a number of players, or harm a number of players. It gives the player's section in the heads up display a green color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames. In this case, the green color eventually flashes to red or blue.
Friend Space	When they land on this space in Battle Royale, players can select one opponent to be a friend. Both then receive 5 Coins. In Team Battle, the player and one of the two opposed team players get 5 Coins. It gives the player's section in the heads up display a green color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames.
Duel Space 	Engages with an opponent of the player's choice into a duel minigame. The winner gets to use a roulette that determines the reward from the opponent. It gives the player's section in the heads up display a green color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames.
Bowser Space	Any players that land here causes Bowser to arrive. Bowser causes a series of events that usually harms whoever landed on the space. It gives their section in the heads up display a red color, which is used to determine pairings in minigames. Bowser can cause events.
Star Space 	Once players reach this space, they can pay 20 Coins to receive a Star. Other boards may have different conditions players need to fulfill to earn a Star. Unlike the other spaces, this space cannot be landed on (unless a Star spawns directly on a player), and this space does not subtract from the dice roll.
===Ordinary Items===
Item 	Description 	Shop Price
Double Dice Set 	Allows the player to roll two Dice Blocks. 	3
Triple Dice Set 	Same as the Double Dice Set, but with three Dice Blocks. 	7
Halfway Dice Block	Allows the player to roll a Dice Block with the numbers 1 through 5. 	1
Warp Dice Block 	Causes the player to warp to a random space on the board, then roll. 	2
Snag Bag 	Allows the player to steal a random item from an opponent of their choice. 	8
Star Pipe 	Warps the player directly to them, allowing them to buy the Star if they wish and if they have 20 Coins, then roll.	15
Block Sensor 	Causes the next space the player lands upon to contain a Hidden Block. 	20
Grab Bag 	Removes all the player's current items and hexes and gives them a Star Pipe, Block Sensor, and Triple Dice Set. 	25
===Hexes===
Hex 	Description
10-Coin Hex 	Causes the player who lands on the hex to give ten Coins to the one who set it.
20-Coin Hex 	Causes the player who lands on the space to give twenty Coins to the player who placed the hex.
Coin Swap Hex 	Causes the player who set the hex and the player that lands on it to swap coin totals.
1-Star Hex 	The player who lands on this hex must give one star to the player who set it.
2-Star Hex 	The player who lands on this hex must give two stars to the player who set it.
Space Swap Hex	Both the player who lands on the hex and the one who placed it swap positions on the board.
Star Block 	The player who lands on this hex can hit a block with a 1 through 3 on it to gain that many stars.
Coin Block 	The player that lands on this hex is able to hit a block containing coins, by pressing the repeatedly, to gain as many as possible in ten seconds.
==Gallery==
==Reception==
The game had strong sales the first week of its release in Japan, selling 234,708 copies in its first week. The minigames were well received as being fun, creative, and stunning. Among major gaming websites, Mario Party DS has had generally positive reviews, unlike Hudson Soft's previous attempt at a Mario Party game. As of December 31, 2007, the game has sold 2.67 million copies worldwide.
===Reviews===
Rating	Reviewer
8.0 	Nintendo Power
7.0 	IGN
==Trivia==
*The Hexagon shape appears to be a key element of the game.
**The Spaces are all in a hexagon shape.
**There are pick-up items known as Hexes.
**Hexagons appear written on the chalkboard in Study Fall.
**The boss battle against Dry Bones is on a large Hexagon, and is called Hexoskeleton.
**Peach and Daisy's dresses appear to be hexagons when viewed from above.
**The Status boards are hexagons.
**The final prize assembles itself into a hexagon.
*This is the only Mario Party game in which there are no Bonus Stars given out in the Story Mode.
*This is the first and currently only Mario Party game not to have a visible host.
*If a CPU has a Space Swap Hex or a Warp Dice Block, they'll never use it.
*When a CPU lands on a Friend Space, the CPU always chooses another CPU, unless there is only 1 CPU in the game.
*Mario Party DS was the best-selling game in the series, until it was beat out by Super Mario Party.
*The roster in the game is similar to the roster in Mario Party 3 and Mario Party 4. The only difference is Toad is in the roster instead of Donkey Kong.
*This game marks the first appearance of Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr.. Both of these characters became playable in two later installments of the Mario Party series (that being, Mario Party: Star Rush and Super Mario Party).
**However, the latter --Bowser Jr.-- is the successor to Koopa Kid (from the previous seven installments --the original Mario Party to Mario Party 7). 
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Category:Nintendo DS games
Category:Mario Party series
Category:2007 games
Category:Spin-offs
Category:2000s games