Sometimes Mario Party goes a little past wacky and fun party games into a more serious and ominous territory where the consequences of losing become much more dire.
- Mario Party
- Some find the Options House terrifying, mainly because of the freaky background music
and the process that you go through to delete your save data, which feels like you're activating a nuclear missile. The version in Superstars ultimately removed those bits of Accidental Nightmare Fuel by not just removing the laughter and vocals from the track, but also removes the option to delete your save data altogether. - Running of the Bulb is a very good example. Four characters have to protect a lightbulb as they run down to the end of a dark, Boo-infested hallway while being chased by one large, rather frightening-looking Boo. Letting this particular Boo catch you means you disappear in a similar fashion to Ghost Guess. Going even further, the lesser Boos are apparently capable of possession. It's pretty creepy having Mario characters slowly chase you zombie-style while glowing with a ghostly blue aura. And if you're the one possessed, all you can do is hope that another character will take the time to knock you back to your senses, and pray that the Boo controlling you doesn't decide to just go ahead and feed you to the big one.
- And then there's Pedal Power, one of the games that used the infamous Scrappy Mechanic of "spin your Control Stick around like there's no tomorrow". You have to pedal a stationary bike to light up a lamp behind you before the Boo gets you. The tension-inducing music does little to help matters.
- Any of the mini-games involving Boos eating the losers were creepy. There was Ghost Guess where you had to guess which was the leader of a pack of Boos (a dozen or so) circling you. The game gives you the tip: the first one to start their dances is the leader. But then again, it's pretty hard to figure out which of them does it. And when you pick the wrong one, all the Boos converge on you and take you to God-knows-where. As soon as they're gone, so are you.
- One piece of Nightmare Fuel that gets forgotten about a bit more by comparison is the setting of Teetering Towers. That mini-game starts out with the one player playing the game walking in the darkness of night trapped on a series of small, hexagonal shaped towers that tilt only moments after first jumping onto one of them. From there, you have to make your way on top of a hill to survive, for if you fall off one of the towers, there is a deep, dark abyss that shows that Nothing Is Scarier down below.
- Some find the Options House terrifying, mainly because of the freaky background music
- Mario Party 4
- The Bowser Space. In previous installments, the Bowser Space would simply take you straight to Bowser, who portrayed as a trouble maker in the same vein as Pete. Here, landing on the Bowser Space would immediately darken the board, display a big red insignia of Bowser, and drum up a dramatic Scare Chord filled with a demonic Evil Laugh. Then a massive Bowser falls from the sky and squashes you as he declares his board event. What's worse is that you might not get Bowser at all, but instead a Koopa Kid who takes your coins away, meaning that you'll never get used to Bowser's sudden appearance when it does happen. It's telling that future installments would downplay these elements, such as different music and a regular-sized Bowser squashing you immediately.
- Panels of Doom/Panel Panic. You're standing on one of nine numbered panels that crumble away into a void based on numbers rolled by a Dice Block. If your number happens to come up, you're presented with an overhead view of your character plummeting to their doom while reaching in despair towards where their platform once stood.
- The Bowser Space
- Mario Party 5: Night Light Fright features each player in a dark alleyway… with an enormous Chain Chomp approaching from behind them. The aim of the minigame is to turn around and stun the wild Chomp with the flashlight as close-up as possible at the risk of being attacked, which becomes somewhat unnerving when said Chomp is huge — taking up the entire alley in width and being easily the height of an entire floor of the surrounding apartments — and loud, jumping forth unpredictably while knocking over everything in their path. In the end, all that being attacked results in is the character being knocked awaynote , but it's incredibly startling and tense nonetheless. This mini-game also returns for both The Top 100 and Superstars, by the way.
- Mario Party DS
- Uh-oh, did you land on a Bowser Space? That means it's "Bowser Time", and he, in this game, looks really menacing, where he looms over you.
- In the minigame "Hedge Honcho", you are in a First-Person viewpoint and you have to make it to the end of a forest by brushing away giant leaves. Along the way, you'll come across ladybugs and bees. The ladybugs are okay, you just need to rub them a few times and they will leave. As for the bees, however, you must not touch them at all. Instead, you need to wait for them to leave automatically before continuing. If you happen to touch a bee, whether by accident or on purpose, it will violently rush toward the screen, stunning you momentarily.
- Mario Party 9 has a Free-for-All Minigame called Smash Compactor which is quite possibly the most violent minigame in the entire series. The objective is for the players to get to a safe zone before they are squished by the compactor. This minigame is notable for having its own tense theme and every time someone is squished, they float helplessly to the sidelines. It's a good thing that all Mario characters have Amusing Injuries as, otherwise, they could very easily die in this minigame. It doesn't help that a few Dry Bones are the ones operating the compactor.
- Super Mario Party: Don't Wake Wiggler. The minigame has a very calm atmosphere, with a tranquil forest and music that sounds like it fits with your dreams. Your objective? Pet Wiggler as many times as you can without waking him. But all the tranquility is replaced with Paranoia Fuel due to those fakeouts of snorting or opening an eye. The unlucky player who wakes him will not only be guaranteed 4th place (all their points are deducted), but all players are treated to his body turning red, with a growl and train whistle mix in the background. The part that makes this nightmare fuel? It's a Jump Scare, and the camera constantly zooming in and out does not remedy the situation. Even worse? This game is luck-based, so it's impossible to tell when this will actually happen.
