Mario Party DS

Did You Know?

• Mario Party DS sold more than nine million units worldwide, making it the 11th-best-selling game for the Nintendo DS.
• In October 2020, the game became the subject of a viral fabricated anti-piracy screen uploaded by YouTuber Joey Perleoni; the game contains no such messages.

Gameplay

Mario Party DS allows up to four players to compete on an interactive board game, rolling dice to move between one and ten spaces. There are eight playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Princess Daisy, Toad, Wario, and Waluigi, and five game boards. Characters can be human-controlled or computer-controlled, with four AI difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard, and expert, the last being unlockable. The objective is to collect more Stars than opponents; most Stars require coins, which are earned by landing on certain spaces or winning minigames. Coins can also buy items. With five turns remaining, the "Final 5 Frenzy" event occurs, where Bowser aids the last-place player with coins or a Star via a roulette, and adds spaces for duels. The player with the most Stars becomes the Superstar; if Bonus Stars are enabled, additional Stars are awarded for criteria like winning the most minigames. The game includes 73 minigames, many using the DS's unique features such as the microphone, dual screen, or touchscreen. Minigames are played after each turn or when landing on a Duel Space, and are categorized into five types: four-player free-for-alls, teams of two, three against one, battle minigames for a communal jackpot, and five boss minigames against villains like Bowser.

Plot

One night, five Sky Crystals fall in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario finds one and shows it to his friends. Kamek drops party invitations from Bowser, who apologizes for his villainy. The group goes to Bowser's castle, but Bowser traps them, steals Mario's Sky Crystal, and uses a Minimizer to shrink them. He throws them out to a distant location. The crew treks back, recovering the four remaining Sky Crystals by defeating a Piranha Plant in Wiggler's garden, stopping a Hammer Bro from destroying Toadette's instruments, helping Diddy Kong free a petrified DK, and freeing a Koopa Troopa's grandfather from a book. At the castle, Bowser traps them in a pinball machine and prepares to shrink them further. DK and Diddy arrive, and DK bumps Bowser, causing him to drop the Minimizer, which DK steps on and breaks, restoring the heroes' sizes. Bowser uses a Megamorph Belt to transform into block forms for a boss minigame. After defeating him, the crew retrieves the Sky Crystal; the crystals form a crystal DS, unlocking "Triangle Twisters" mode. Mario and his friends invite Bowser and Bowser Jr. to play, and they accept.

Reception

Mario Party DS received mixed or average reviews on Metacritic. Famitsu gave it 33 out of 40. Critics praised the minigame variety but criticized the lack of Wi-Fi multiplayer. Some reviews considered it superior to Mario Party 8. IGN's Patrick Kolan called it "a worthwhile party outing for gamers who are new to the series," and Craig Harris described it as "a solid multiplayer mini-game experience with a lot of the flaws of the previous versions." The variety in minigame control schemes was praised, though some reviewers expressed concern about minigames using the microphone; others appreciated the option to exclude them. Reception to minigame design and pacing was mixed: GameSpot's Frank Provo found most engaging, Game Informer's Bryan Vore called them "suitably amusing," while Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson described them as "too simplistic, over too quickly or simply too dull to be enjoyable." Additional modes, especially Puzzle Mode, received mostly positive responses, though Nintendo World Report's Michael Cole found the puzzles "simplistic and cumbersome."