You might or might not know, but I've been quite the avid Mario Party follower. Why? I don't know, but I can safely say I own Mario Party 1 through to 8, own the DS version and have played most of the GBA version (beating the story mode of that, at the very least). So I know a thing or two when it comes to a quality Mario Party. I thought I'd write up a nice little, short 'n' sweet article about what I've seen in the trailer, and whether or not I like it or not. Here's the trailer I'll be referring to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0Lnfrp1-M
(Uploaded by the one and only N3DSC YouTube channel, by the way!)
I'll give you the times of points at the video that I'll be referring to throughout, so let's get this started.
The trailer starts off with a nice "falling to the sky" kind of theme, that's decent. Makes it seem cool. At 0:10, we see the usual, i.e. four characters, redesigned dice block, everything's normal. Except for the car.
At 0:15, we see everybody's in the car. "What the heck is this?" I thought, but I kept on watching. It wasn't long before I realised that the car is a global transporter of all the players. Now, this is good and bad in two different ways. I tried to list the pros and cons, but I can't, so here's a list of interesting thoughts, some pros, some cons, some "Good to knows".
-Global movement, so we get to travel around the board much faster
-Changes strategies completely, no longer are we racing to get the star, we're virtually helping one another out. That is, if we're even chasing stars. At 0:28 we see Mario obtaining one silver star, so I'm guessing these will be the new things to chase. They don't cost money, so it looks like a giant dash around the board with silver stars constantly regenerating
-Get to see the board's features faster, and no more "two people landing on the same space triggers boring duel", which is good for those that hate duels (the duel system in Mario Party 7 and 8 was stupid if you ask me. Not sure how 8 did it again, but I know 7 didn't let you choose what you wanted to bet.)
-If somebody gets screwed over, EVERYBODY gets screwed over, heh (okay, a lighthearted look at a possible pro, but don't you hate it when you get constantly obliterated by crap rolls? Now if you make crap rolls, everybody suffers! But the same applies for opponents too I suppose... not good)
-No more individual happening spaces, perhaps? We see a Piranha Plant taking a chunk out of everybody at one point, so that won't be fun.
-Will this affect how mini-games are determined? Probably not, but still a good thought, considering nobody is "staying" on a space. I can't seem to find any red spaces in the trailer, just blue spaces and other spaces (some red) that have symbols on them.
Moving on, at 0:28, that's when the Piranha Plant takes a bite out of everybody. What exactly does that even do? Nobody seems to lose coins or silver stars. And I'm starting to think they've scrapped coins altogether. If my inklings are right, holy heck, this is one sure-fire way to change the face of Mario Party.
After a few mini-games, we see more of the board. Because I'm typing this up as I go along, my mini-game question is confirmed. At 0:36, look right above Yoshi's head. A "1 vs 3" space. If you've played Mario Party 6's "Solo Mode", you'll remember seeing familiar spaces. It seems as if mini-games are going to be initiated based on spaces! This is awesome in a way, because it can mean less mini-games, but then it can also mean more at the same time. Either way, I'm kind of excited to see this change. It should be interesting. On another note, still at 0:36, above this space is a purple star. Doesn't look like a good star, if you ask me. Ztar equivalent, perhaps?
More mini-games, see a few cool looking ones, but on that caught my attention was at 0:44. It looks boring, I know, but watch the characters. They have proper looking idle animations! ABOUT TIME! Then at 0:47, we see a mini-game that looks a bit similar to the bowling mini-game from Mario Party 1 and 2! I don't care if it's the same, it's a new spin on an awesome mini-game. I'd rather have that than some crappily programmed mini-game that makes you shake your wrist like an idiot.
FROM 0:52 TO 0:54, WE SEE A CERTAIN RED ROBED CUTIE DODGING BULLET BILLS. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME SAID CHARACTER WINS THIS MINI-GAME BECAUSE HE'S AWESOME.
0:54 is also a new mini-game, which I like the concept of to be honest. Same with 0:57, looks like a button masher. I love those mini-games.
At 0:58... WTF? Bowser Jr? Am I right in saying that? Surely I must be seeing things...
1:01 TO 1:02 SEES MORE OF A CERTAIN RED ROBED CUTIE PUMPING A ROCKET. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME SAID CHARACTER WINS THIS MINI-GAME TOO.
Interesting point to note at 1:07, as well. We see Mario in a giant copter thing, with Yoshi, Peach, Wario and- wait, there's another character? Yeah, that's Dry Bones over there, standing pretty still. He's probably not playa- WHOA HE JUST MOVED. Either Dry Bones isn't a playable character and moves as people approach, or we've got 5 player gameplay on our hands some how. I think it's the former, 5 player gameplay isn't out just yet, heh.
At 1:09, we see more Bowser Jr. It's possible he's a playable character, or perhaps has his own series of mini-games, much like Bowser and DK have in past instalments.
A few more mini-games are shown, and then we fly back off into the sky.
So after this analysis of the trailer, what do I think? I think Mario Party 9 is breaking away from the tradition we've seen in the past 8 games. It isn't going to do a GBA and wreck it completely, but it WILL be different. I predict that mini-games won't be turn-based, they'll be space-based. Coins will be no more, and those silver stars will be the key to winning the game. I think the car is here to stay, and also think these new mini-games are going to be more enjoyable. As for how much luck will be in this game, I'm not sure, but I hope there isn't a lot. I know, it's a board game, of course there will be luck (the dice block itself is luck), but luck based mini-games are just downright annoying 9 out of 10 times.
Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe the car is just one mode of the new game. If it is, then I won't be as happy... I want all of the game boards to be consistent, like in the ol' days. MP6 and onwards started challenging the way each board was played, and while I was alright with it in MP6, MP7 and MP8 made half of the boards boring as heck.
This is all just my opinion though, so I'm certain somebody disagrees with me on something (hopefully not the red robed cutie I mentioned two times). If you do, then that's all the more reason to post! I hope you enjoyed my in-depth little look at Mario Party 9 (the trailer, at least), and I hope to see some responses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0Lnfrp1-M
(Uploaded by the one and only N3DSC YouTube channel, by the way!)
I'll give you the times of points at the video that I'll be referring to throughout, so let's get this started.
The trailer starts off with a nice "falling to the sky" kind of theme, that's decent. Makes it seem cool. At 0:10, we see the usual, i.e. four characters, redesigned dice block, everything's normal. Except for the car.
At 0:15, we see everybody's in the car. "What the heck is this?" I thought, but I kept on watching. It wasn't long before I realised that the car is a global transporter of all the players. Now, this is good and bad in two different ways. I tried to list the pros and cons, but I can't, so here's a list of interesting thoughts, some pros, some cons, some "Good to knows".
-Global movement, so we get to travel around the board much faster
-Changes strategies completely, no longer are we racing to get the star, we're virtually helping one another out. That is, if we're even chasing stars. At 0:28 we see Mario obtaining one silver star, so I'm guessing these will be the new things to chase. They don't cost money, so it looks like a giant dash around the board with silver stars constantly regenerating
-Get to see the board's features faster, and no more "two people landing on the same space triggers boring duel", which is good for those that hate duels (the duel system in Mario Party 7 and 8 was stupid if you ask me. Not sure how 8 did it again, but I know 7 didn't let you choose what you wanted to bet.)
-If somebody gets screwed over, EVERYBODY gets screwed over, heh (okay, a lighthearted look at a possible pro, but don't you hate it when you get constantly obliterated by crap rolls? Now if you make crap rolls, everybody suffers! But the same applies for opponents too I suppose... not good)
-No more individual happening spaces, perhaps? We see a Piranha Plant taking a chunk out of everybody at one point, so that won't be fun.
-Will this affect how mini-games are determined? Probably not, but still a good thought, considering nobody is "staying" on a space. I can't seem to find any red spaces in the trailer, just blue spaces and other spaces (some red) that have symbols on them.
Moving on, at 0:28, that's when the Piranha Plant takes a bite out of everybody. What exactly does that even do? Nobody seems to lose coins or silver stars. And I'm starting to think they've scrapped coins altogether. If my inklings are right, holy heck, this is one sure-fire way to change the face of Mario Party.
After a few mini-games, we see more of the board. Because I'm typing this up as I go along, my mini-game question is confirmed. At 0:36, look right above Yoshi's head. A "1 vs 3" space. If you've played Mario Party 6's "Solo Mode", you'll remember seeing familiar spaces. It seems as if mini-games are going to be initiated based on spaces! This is awesome in a way, because it can mean less mini-games, but then it can also mean more at the same time. Either way, I'm kind of excited to see this change. It should be interesting. On another note, still at 0:36, above this space is a purple star. Doesn't look like a good star, if you ask me. Ztar equivalent, perhaps?
More mini-games, see a few cool looking ones, but on that caught my attention was at 0:44. It looks boring, I know, but watch the characters. They have proper looking idle animations! ABOUT TIME! Then at 0:47, we see a mini-game that looks a bit similar to the bowling mini-game from Mario Party 1 and 2! I don't care if it's the same, it's a new spin on an awesome mini-game. I'd rather have that than some crappily programmed mini-game that makes you shake your wrist like an idiot.
FROM 0:52 TO 0:54, WE SEE A CERTAIN RED ROBED CUTIE DODGING BULLET BILLS. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME SAID CHARACTER WINS THIS MINI-GAME BECAUSE HE'S AWESOME.
0:54 is also a new mini-game, which I like the concept of to be honest. Same with 0:57, looks like a button masher. I love those mini-games.
At 0:58... WTF? Bowser Jr? Am I right in saying that? Surely I must be seeing things...
1:01 TO 1:02 SEES MORE OF A CERTAIN RED ROBED CUTIE PUMPING A ROCKET. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME SAID CHARACTER WINS THIS MINI-GAME TOO.
Interesting point to note at 1:07, as well. We see Mario in a giant copter thing, with Yoshi, Peach, Wario and- wait, there's another character? Yeah, that's Dry Bones over there, standing pretty still. He's probably not playa- WHOA HE JUST MOVED. Either Dry Bones isn't a playable character and moves as people approach, or we've got 5 player gameplay on our hands some how. I think it's the former, 5 player gameplay isn't out just yet, heh.
At 1:09, we see more Bowser Jr. It's possible he's a playable character, or perhaps has his own series of mini-games, much like Bowser and DK have in past instalments.
A few more mini-games are shown, and then we fly back off into the sky.
So after this analysis of the trailer, what do I think? I think Mario Party 9 is breaking away from the tradition we've seen in the past 8 games. It isn't going to do a GBA and wreck it completely, but it WILL be different. I predict that mini-games won't be turn-based, they'll be space-based. Coins will be no more, and those silver stars will be the key to winning the game. I think the car is here to stay, and also think these new mini-games are going to be more enjoyable. As for how much luck will be in this game, I'm not sure, but I hope there isn't a lot. I know, it's a board game, of course there will be luck (the dice block itself is luck), but luck based mini-games are just downright annoying 9 out of 10 times.
Maybe I'm wrong? Maybe the car is just one mode of the new game. If it is, then I won't be as happy... I want all of the game boards to be consistent, like in the ol' days. MP6 and onwards started challenging the way each board was played, and while I was alright with it in MP6, MP7 and MP8 made half of the boards boring as heck.
This is all just my opinion though, so I'm certain somebody disagrees with me on something (hopefully not the red robed cutie I mentioned two times). If you do, then that's all the more reason to post! I hope you enjoyed my in-depth little look at Mario Party 9 (the trailer, at least), and I hope to see some responses.
