Mario Party 9
Mario Party 9 (Japanese: マリオパーティ9, Hepburn: Mario Pāti Nain) is a 2012 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The ninth main installment in the Mario Party series, it was announced at E3 2011 and released in Europe, North America, and Australia in March 2012, followed by Japan a month later. It was the first game in the series not to be developed by Hudson Soft, which was acquired and dissolved by Konami on March 1, 2012, the day before the game's European release. Instead, development was taken over by Nintendo studio NDCube (who remains the developer of the series to this day). This was also the final Mario game to be released on the Wii.
| Mario Party 9 | |
|---|---|
North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | NDcube |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Shuichiro Nishiya |
| Producer(s) | Hiroshi Sato Atsushi Ikeda |
| Designer(s) | Tatsumitsu Watanabe |
| Programmer(s) | Shinji Shibasaki |
| Artist(s) | Hiroshi Hayashi |
| Composer(s) | Toshiki Aida Ryosuke Asami |
| Series | Mario Party |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Party |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Mario Party 9 was the second and last game in the series released for the Wii, and was followed by Mario Party: Island Tour for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, and Mario Party 10 for the Wii U in 2015. It was also one of the last official first-party Wii games released in North America, followed by Project Zero 2: Wii Edition and Kirby's Dream Collection.
Mario Party 9 includes 7 board maps, 82 minigames, and 12 playable characters. The game received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay, graphics, multiplayer, minigames, and content, considering it an improvement on its predecessor. However, its overhaul of mechanics received a mixed reception for its linear boards and emphasis on luck.