New Game Introduces Vehicles, Boss Battles and 80 New Minigames

VANCOUVER, B.C., Mar. 12, 2012 – Nintendo invites everyone to party with Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom friends like never before. Mario Party 9 is now available exclusively for the Wii console, loaded with scores of fun minigames, unlockable extras and new elements that add some unexpected twists to the fan-favourite Mario Party franchise. With a unique mix of competitive and cooperative challenges that up to four players can enjoy together, this super-charged game delivers classic characters, boundless replay value and nonstop smiles for everyone in the household.

In Mario Party 9, players vie to become the Superstar as they make their way through adventurous new stages, overcoming obstacles and collecting Mini Stars. For the first time, players also travel across each stage together in vehicles and join forces in boss battles to defeat a common enemy. This means they must work together to beat classic villains like Bowser and King Boo while still giving their individual scores a boost. Throughout the stages, players take turns acting as Captain of the vehicle, hitting Dice Blocks to move the party toward the goal. As they progress, players may encounter 80 new minigames that might have them making pizzas, escaping haunted houses, bowling shells at Goombas and more.

"There's no party like a Mario party," said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager. "The lineup of classic Mushroom Kingdom characters in Mario Party 9 will have longtime series fans feeling right at home, while new elements like cooperative boss battles and vehicles really ratchet up the excitement."

Each stage in Mario Party 9 has its own progression from a starting point to a destination and contains multiple paths for players to choose. In addition to collecting Mini Stars, players also earn Party Points that can be taken to the in-game Museum to unlock a variety of extras, such as character constellations, additional vehicles, a Donkey Kong-themed stage and more. There are also new minigame modes that let players compete in shorter amounts of time, plus a Free Play mode for practicing individual minigames and a fun Extras mode. Additional Wii Remote controllers are required for all multiplayer modes and are sold separately.

Mario Party 9 is the first new Mario Party game since 2007. To date, more than 32 million console and hand-held games in the Mario Party series have been sold worldwide.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii.

For more information about Mario Party 9, visit http://marioparty9.nintendo.com.