Mario Party DS

Mario Party DS
Full Title	Mario Party DS
Developer	Hudson Soft
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo DS, Wii U Virtual Console
Release Date	Nintendo DS JP November 8, 2007 US November 19, 2007 EU November 23, 2007 AU December 6, 2007 KO May 22, 2008 Wii U Virtual Console US/PAL April 21, 2016 JP April 27, 2016
Genre	Party
Gallery	GH Gallery
Rating	ESRB: E

Mario Party DS is the thirteenth Mario Party game and the third one released on a handheld (counting the arcade and e-Reader games). It is also the only Nintendo DS release for the series and the last installment of the series to be made by Hudson Soft, which would later close down and merge with Konami.

Story

Mario and his friends (as well as Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong) receive an invitation to a feast at Bowser's Castle, apparently as an attempt to atone for his bad deeds. This is naturally a trap, with Mario and his friends being shrunken by a device called the Minimizer and scattered while Bowser went to search for the Sky Crystals. They decide to stop Bowser and at the same time compete with each other to decide who will be the Superstar who will face Bowser.

Gameplay

The game utilizes gameplay similar to the console Mario Party games and is divided into modes. Unlike the single player-oriented Mario Party Advance, Mario Party DS allows four player games to be played through DS Download Play. As with most games, there is a single-player Story Mode as well as Party Mode where the player can play freely against human or computer opponents, and a Minigame Mode for playing all the minigames that have been unlocked. There is also a Puzzle Mode, a Multiplayer Mode that activates the DS Download Play and an Extras Mode which contains two-player modes. There are 74 minigames, some of which utilize the DS's touch screen and microphone.

The game uses the following eight playable characters:

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Peach
• Princess Daisy
• Yoshi
• Toad
• Wario
• Waluigi

Legacy

Ports/Remakes

• It was released for download on the Wii U as part of the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016.

Sequels

The next Mario Party game was Mario Party 9 for the Wii, which would not be released until 2012. The next handheld Mario Party would be Mario Party: Star Rush for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016.