Mario Party is back. After taking quite a break, Mario Party has changed in many ways. Coins are replaced with Mini-Stars, everyone travels together now, and mini-games only happen if you land on certain spaces. Mario Party 9 also includes a new feature of Boss Battles, with everyone working together to beat one of Bowser's Baddies. Do these changes improve Mario Party or is it too big a risk?
First off, forget about worrying about getting coins in exchange for Stars, you now have to collect Mini-Stars. Some are scattered around the board, you can win some from lucky spaces, mini-games, and other ways. You can also lose them from Mini-Ztars (opposite of Mini-Stars), which are also scattered around the board and there are other ways to get Mini-Ztars (which you don't want) as well. I don't mind this feature, it's different. Though something I don't really like is everyone travelling together. One person will drive and be named the "Captain" and whatever they land on will happen to the Captain. After the Captain hits the dice block and lands on a space, the next person is now the "Captain". Everyone together makes the game more luck-based.
The dice block is now 1-6 instead of 1-10 numbered. You can get such dice blocks as 1-3, 4-6, or 1-10 from landing on certain spaces though. I've always been used to the 1-10 numbered dice block, so it took me awhile to get used to this. Mario Party 9 doesn't have a number of turns, the game ends when you get to the end of the board, which may take 30-45 minutes of gameplay. I don't actually mind this either.
One thing that I really like about Mario Party 9 is the mini-game, something I feel Mario Party 8 failed on. Most are fun and refreshing, and not too many are luck-based. The one thing I don't like is that you can't play mini-games after every turn (since turns don't really exist anymore) and you have to land on a space to play a mini-game. I'm always itching to play a mini-game after awhile of playing and always hope someone lands on a mini-game space. Sometimes a mini-game will randomly come from a different space. The kinds of mini-games are Free For All (which is all players against each other), 1 vs. 3, Battle, Boss Battle, Bowser Jr. (1 vs. 2), and Reverse.
Boss Battles are new to the Mario Party series, you play two per board (one near the start and one at the end) and you'll go against one of Bowser's minions, such as Cheep Cheep, Lakitu, Chain Chomp, and plenty more. I don't have a problem with them, it just seems weird for everyone to work together, when the game is everyone against each other. Whoever gets the most hits usually gets the most Mini-Stars. The captain gets a few extra coins. Reverse mini-games, which you can only play through a Bowser space, are also new and have you do the opposite from a regular mini-game. An example is a mini-game where you must not get hit by the incoming Bullet Bills. In the Reverse mini-game, you want to be the first one hit to win. I find these to be a fun new twist. Bowser Jr. mini-games is just two party members vs. Bowser Jr. (Captain lands on Bowser Jr. space, and Bowser Jr. picks your partner for one of his mini-games.)
Mario Party 9 is pretty fun, but here's the kicker, it's too luck-based. From everyone driving in the same car, to one unlucky space ruining everything for you. Landing on a Bowser space can be unfair for everything you've worked so hard for. You could be leading by 50 Mini-Stars, but a Bowser Revolution could change all that or so could a battle for half of everyone's Mini-Stars. I don't think it would be so bad, but near the end, a total of about three to seven Bowser spaces will be added to the board, making it pretty hard to avoid. All your Mini-Stars could be taken away from you when you could just be one or two steps from the finish line.
The game doesn't have too much to do other then Party mode. You can play a single-player mode, but I don't like it because you have to be first to move on to the next board. If you're not first, you have to redo the whole board, which can be pretty frustrating, so I usually don't play it. I've played this game with friends and I've had a blast with it. The game is more luck-based, but sometimes you just have to lighten up a bit and remember it's just a game. I've had plenty of fun with the game, and I give it an overall rating of 8/10.
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