Wii · 2012
Mario Party 9
The ninth mainline Mario Party for Wii, where up to four players ride a shared vehicle across each board, collect Mini Stars, and face mid- and end-of-board boss battles together.
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Format
- Optical disc
- Genre
- party video game
- Released
- 2012
01
Overview
Mario Party 9 retired the classic multi-lane board format in favor of a single shared vehicle that all players advance as a group, rolling dice blocks to move toward a common destination. Each board features a boss battle roughly halfway through and another at the end, where players cooperate to defeat a Bowser minion while still competing for their own Mini Star totals. The game includes eighty minigames and several dedicated minigame modes, along with a solo story mode and a Museum where earned points unlock extras such as new vehicles and modes.
02
Why it matters
Mario Party 9 was the first title in the series developed by NDcube after Hudson Soft's acquisition by Konami, marking a clear design shift toward shared-vehicle boards and boss battles. It is also one of the final Super Mario-branded games released for the Wii, making it a natural reference point when comparing the late-Wii era of the franchise.
03
The physical edition
A complete North American retail copy typically includes the optical disc, a plastic Wii game case, an instruction booklet, and promotional inserts, though contents can vary by region and release. Regional editions carry different product codes and language support, so a European or Japanese copy may differ from the North American one in packaging text and included materials.
04
Playing it today
The game runs on a standard Wii with Wii Remotes, and up to four players can participate using one remote each. Because the boards and boss battles are designed around group play, a small group tends to get the most out of it, though solo and minigame modes are available for single-player sessions.