Video Game / Mario Party 2

Mario Party 2 is a video game developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in western regions. It's the second installment of the Mario Party series.

Mario and the gang have created an entirely new land, but don't know what to call it. What starts as a friendly debate ends badly when Bowser chimes in and attempts to name the land after him, causing terror and tyranny as the means. Toad, who is neutral on the issue, proposes to everyone present that the name of the land should be determined by the one who manages to defeat Bowser in a party challenge. Everybody agrees, and the festivities begin.

Mario Party 2 retains many of the key features introduced in the first game, but with several changes and refinements to keep the formula fresh, and many such variations would end up being commonplace in subsequent games in the series. There are several new type of minigames: Battle minigames (in which characters contribute an equitable number of coins that is later rewarded to the winner and the runner-up), Item minigames (in which a solo player can win a board item), and Duel minigames (where two characters challenge each other, and whose winner takes all the money that is being dueled for). Characters no longer lose coins upon losing normal minigames, and it's now possible to practice a minigame before it's played officially. The biggest addition is items, which can be obtained via purchases at stores or won in the aforementioned Item minigames. Items can be used during the board segments to give the player some sort of advantage, such as granting an extra dice block or forcing a Duel minigame with the opponent of their choice.

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Mario Party 2 contains examples of:

• Accordion to Most Sailors: Pirate Land combines this trope with Hawaiian-inspired instrumentation.
• Abandon Ship: This is played straight in a mini-game of the same name. The characters have to climb to the top of a mast while the ship is sinking. Whoever reaches the top first wins, but if nobody manages to do so (i.e. they end up falling into the water) then the minigame ends in a draw.
• All Balloons Have Helium: The Balloon Burst mini-game from the first game returns, with the balloons once again floating due to them being filled up as players pull and push plugs rapidly. The only difference is the scenery: In the first game, it was set in a dungeon-like room, while in this game it's set at the top of metallic towers in the sky.
• The All-Seeing A.I.: Torpedo Targets has you looking for targets and shooting them. The computer always knows where they are, even though there is no map or radar.
• Alliterative Name: The minigames Shell Shocked, Mecha Marathon, Platform Peril, Bumper Balls, Tipsy Tourney, Honeycomb Havoc, Hexagon Heat, Skateboard Scamper, Dizzy Dancing, Bob-omb Barrage, Rainbow Run, Handcar Havoc, Balloon Burst, Looney Lumberjacks, Torpedo Target, Destruction Duet, Dungeon Dash, Crazy Cutters, Bowser's Big Blast, Coffin Congestion, and Saber Swipes.
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: For Pirate Land's ending, after the winner defeats Capt. Bowser in a sword duel, the Koopa Troopa who found the treasure begrudgingly gives up the treasure he found. The Japanese version, in contrast, has him wholeheartedly allow the winner to keep the treasure as gratitude for defeating Bowser.
  Koopa: (Japanese Ending, rough translation): You did it! The treasure is yours!
  Koopa: (International Ending): Fine then, bully! You can have the treasure. Uh... Arghh!
• Amusement Park of Doom: Bowser Land. It is available after all other boards are played at least once each, and until its completion Toad will remain captive by Baby Bowser, who then proceeds to replace him as the game's host (for this reason, the other boards will be unavailable until this one is cleared the first time). The board takes place in an amusement park built by Bowser and his minions in the midst of a volcanic region. Every five turns, a special event known as Bowser's Parade happens as follows: A row of pyramid-shaped floats based on Mario enemies move across a given route; any character who is in the way will run away from the parade in terror, losing coins along the way. If no character is in the parade's planned route, or the arrows that should guide the parade make up for a nonsensical route, then the event is cancelled. The characters are dressed with their normal outfits, as everybody here broke character due to Bowser's threat being serious. The banks work differently in this board, as they give coins to the characters instead of forcing them to deposit theirs; but if a character lands on the Bank space, they must pay the debt in full (if they have no coins, then they must pay with a Star if they have one).
• Anti-Frustration Features: Minigames have a practice mode, so now you can get a feel of them instead of being thrown into them blind.
• Assembly Line Fast-Forward: A minigame called "Cake Factory" involves two teams of two trying to make cakes in an assembly line. The game gradually becomes more challenging when the conveyor belts randomly increase and decrease speed.
• Athletic Arena Level: There's a special board made for the mode Mini-Game Trial that takes place in a multi-disciplinary sports stadium. Unlike in the standard boards, here players don't get Stars and the spaces don't grant or deduct coins. The objective is to gather as many coins as possible by winning minigames, and when all turns pass the player with the highest number of coins will win the mode. When a character completes a full lap across the marathon track, they receive 10 coins as a reward.
• Beam-O-War: During the Cutscene Boss fight between Bowser and the winner of Horror Land, both opponents duke it out by wrestling with the beams that cast from their respective owners' wands. At one point, Bowser appears to win the wager, but the board winner eventually strengthens their effort and their beam outpowers Bowser's and defeats him.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: A variation seen for this game's rendition of the Face Lift Minigame - unlike the first game, this version has the six playable characters that the player must distort the faces of instead. All of Peach's distortion options don't actually distort her face at all, only her hair. The same cannot be said for the other five (male) characters.
• Blackout Basement: The minigame Lights Out has three characters carrying huge light bulbs being menaced by the one carrying a huge mallet in a dark area.
• Big Boo's Haunt: Horror Land is a Halloween-themed board where characters roleplay as wizards. It takes place in a haunted village in the woods whose features are tied to the passage of time. Every two turns, night will become day and vice versa; some Boos are only present at a specific time, and the Whomps guarding the junctions are jinxed during night, being unable to move from their spots. There's a luxurious mansion in the northwest, where Kamek can make use of a "darkness lamp" that turns day into night instantly (if the mansion is passed by during night, there'll be an indoors Halloween party that keeps Kamek busy, meaning that they cannot go out to talk to the player). Among the Boos, there's a Big Boo who can steal coins and Stars from three players and give them to the one who hired him; however, he can only appear during night.
• Big, Bulky Bomb: The minigame Bowser's Big Blast. All characters have to press, turn by turn, plungers connected to a massive, enormous bomb with the shape of Bowser's head. One of the plungers detonates the bomb while the others don't, so each character has to choose a plunger and hope that the bomb doesn't explode after the plunger is pressed. If the bomb explodes, the character will be blasted away; the remaining characters have to continue playing until only one remains. The initial number of plungers is five and will decrease by one every time a character is eliminated. If, by any chance, all safe plungers are pressed, a new set will be brought to the scene to repeat the sequence.
• A Bloody Mess: In the Horror Land board, the natural path of the map has a car accident/sentient car monster on the far-left side. Traveling up the path reveals a red smear traveling up through the graveyard, with wolves licking at it at night. At the end of the path, just in time for you to veer away from it, you can see it was just a giant crumpled ketchup bottle that spilled open.
• Body Wipe: The Pirate Land stage ending movie does this with Bowser and the winning character.
• Book Ends: The first and last mini-games in the Mini-Game Coaster are respectively "Bumper Balls" and "Bombs Away", both of which 1) take place on a floating island, 2) start with the same letter, 3) use the same background music, 4) are last-man-standing games, 5) appeared in the original Mario Party, 6) also share the same background music in their Mario Party incarnations, and 7) are in the same world in Mario Party's Mini-Game Island.
• Boss-Only Level: The only minigame present in the final world of Mini-Game Coaster in Hard Mode is Shell Shocked, where the player's character has to defeat the three Koopa Kids that have been impersonating Toad during that mode in that difficulty setting.
• Bowdlerise: In the Japanese version of the game, Professor Fungi has a pipe in his mouth. It was removed in the international versions to avoid references to tobacco. Additionally, Western Land's ending cutscene in the Japanese version shows the characters wielding actual revolvers, whilst all other versions have them using toy cork shooters instead.
• Bowling for Ratings: The minigame Bowl Over returns from the first game, once again featuring one player sliding a Koopa shell down a lane trying to hit the other three, who are turned into bowling pins. This version is a bit different, as instead of getting one chance to hit as many of the pins as possible, this version gives the bowler two chances, and they must knock down all three of their opponents in order to win.
• Bullying a Dragon: An AI-controlled Donkey Kong will repeatedly go for the Bowser Bomb in item games, because he apparently believes he can take on Bowser himself. But unless he has the most stars at the end of the game, he cannot. Expect him to lose coins as a result (Bowser takes his own turn on the board at the end of the turn in which the Bowser Bomb is won, with a triple dice block; he bankrupts any player he runs into on his turn).
• Buy or Get Lost: Boo will shoo the player away as a bother if they don't have enough coins, or tell them they'll "regret it" if they decline his help. Most other times in the series, if characters will bring up that players don't have enough coins they'll just politely tell them to save up and to visit again when you do.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: While on all the other boards, the Koopa's nothing but thankful for the winner of the board for saving him, Pirate Land is peculiar, in that he begrudgingly gives up the treasure, outright calling the winner a bully.
• Cutscene Boss: Bowser, in all boards after a Super Star (the board's winner) is about to be declared:
  • In Pirate Land, the Super Star and Bowser duel with pirate blades. The Super Star eventually wins.
  • In Western Land, the Super Star and Bowser duel with pistols. Due to Bowser's size and the position of his hand while he shoots, his bullet flies above the Super Star's head and misses, while the Super Star's projectile does land on Bowser, defeating him.
  • In Space Land, Bowser (known here as Black Hole Bowser) is mounting a vehicle protected by a force field. The Super Star attempts to shoot at him, but the vehicle's force field protects him. They then try to attack him from behind, as the force field isn't protecting the back side, but Bowser always manages to cover it by keeping track of the Super Star's movements. The Super Star then spins around him rapidly, dizzying him; this gives them the chance to shoot at the vehicle from behind, defeating Bowser.
  • In Mystery Land, Bowser asks a Koopa Troopa to solve a riddle by guessing the identity of a character covered in a black silhouette. The Koopa Troopa fails by erroneously suggesting it's a cow, so Bowser casts a curse on him. The Super Star then appears, and is given the same riddle; upon close observation, they correctly guess that the silhouette is the face of Bowser himself, which undoes the Koopa King's curses (including that of the latest victim) and saves a Bob-omb Buddy who had been turned into a gold statue a long time ago.
  • In Horror Land, Bowser and the Super Star duel with wands. Their magic's beams begin clashing and, while it seems like Bowser is going to get the upper hand, the Super Star's beam makes a comeback and ultimately overcomes Bowser's, defeating him and turning him into a frog.
  • In Bowser Land, Bowser begins by using his fire breath, though the Super Star manages to dodge it by jumping whenever necessary. Next, Bowser tempts the Super Star to grab him from the tail and throw him away (like Mario did to him in Super Mario 64); the Super Star accepts the challenge and tries to grab him, but Bowser turns into metal and is too heavy to be moved. With the power of the Star Toad gives to them, the Super Star grabs Bowser's tail once again and manages to throw him away for good, defeating him.
• Cutting Off the Branches: Zig-Zagged.
  • In the intro, Wario claims the theme park should be named after him because he was the Superstar, which some interpret as referring to the last game, but that could just be referring to the ending where it declares everyone a Superstar.
  • Later on in Superstars, the intro of Horror Land would depict Mario, implying he was the original winner of Horror Land, and refers to him as the Superstar. Whether it just means for that board or that Mario is the canonical winner of 2 is unclear.
• Death Course: The minigame Dungeon Dash, unlocked after purchasing at least 35 minigames from Woody. Two teams of characters attempt to escape from a castle area full of obstacles, such as Lava Bubbles hopping from lava pits and Thwomps. They move by alternating between tilting the Control Stick left and right. The team that reaches the exit first will win.
• Debating Names: The game's prologue shows the characters founding a new land and then debating what name it should have (the default name is Mario Land, then Wario chimes in and claims it should be called Wario Land, and so on). Eventually, Bowser arrives and plans to invade the land against everybody else's wishes, so the good guys agree to put aside their differences and begin partying to choose the Super Star who will defeat Bowser and then call the land however they wish.
• Defeat Catchphrase: Whenever Bowser is defeated on most of the boards in this game, he'll always say "I'll remember this!". Birdo borrows this in the GBA Updated Re-release of Super Mario Bros. 2.
• Distressed Dude: The game's host Toad, when the first five boards are cleared. To rescue him, it'll be necessary to complete the final board (Bowser Land), and doing so will also unlock the game's ending and credits.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: This is the first game to utilize the item system, but you can only hold one item at a time, and cannot discard it. Beginning with the next game, multiple items can be held at a time, and one has to be discarded if you exceed the item cap.
• Easy-Mode Mockery: Playing Mini-Game Coaster on Easy or Normal results in the player only being able to progress up to a certain point: World 3 on Easy, and World 6 on Normal. In order to face the Baby Bowsers at World 9, you have to play on Hard. It's still necessary to clear the mode in all difficulty levels for 100% Completion, however.
• Egopolis: The Mario characters create a new world that is initially named Mario Land, but each one wants to name the world after themselves, so they have a contest to determine who gets to name it.
• Excuse Plot: Spoofed in this game, as the premise is that the cast is putting on a stage production. Even Bowser's just acting.
• Foreign Cuss Word: In the western versions of this game and Mario Party, Wario exclaims "SO EIN MIST!" (roughly "Oh, Crap!") when something bad happens to him. The Japanese versions simply had him (and Luigi) say "Oh my god!" in the same situations.
• Franchise Codifier: While the heart of the series' formula and conventions were already present in Mario Party, it was the sequel which shaped the series as it was known prior to the overhauls seen in the ninth installment (even then, the series would return to its roots with the Nintendo Switch games Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars, once again with a stronger influence from the second game than from the first). Several new types of minigames (namely Battle minigames, Duel minigames and Item minigames) were introduced, and thanks to the former two it was no longer necessary that standard minigames made losing players lose coins. The latter type was added because the game also introduced collectible items for later use in the boards, and by extension Item Shops to purchase them. The game was also the first to allow one to practice the next minigame before playing it officially. Lastly, despite not having a dedicated Story Mode (that would have to wait until Mario Party 3), the game became the first to employ an overarching theme and plot that justifies the players' adventures besides partying (indeed, the last playable board is unlocked as part of the development of this story, as it requires clearing the other boards at least once each). To the relief of many players, the game also removed the first game's controversial mechanic of spinning the Control Stick in certain minigames.
• Game of Nim: In the minigame Honeycomb Havoc, you have a tree with fruits, coins, and beehives set up in a row, and each of the four players can take one or two items from the tree — if you get the beehive, you're out.
• Gangplank Galleon: Pirate Land, which takes place on a trio of islands connected by bridges. Landing on the Happening Spaces causes pirate ships to fire at the bridges, sending anyone on them back to the start. The characters dress up in pirate garb for this board, and the duel minigame is a fencing match.
• Gimmick Level:
  • Horror Land is unique among the other boards in the game (and those of the rest of the series excluding the sixth game) for having a day-and-night system, which will affect what things can be done in the board during the current turn (for example, the hidden Big Boo will only lend his stealing services when it's night). The transition between day and night occurs once every two turns, though certain board events can make it happen immediately. This board returns in Mario Party Superstars, retaining this gimmick.
  • Bowser Land has some unique mechanics that make it stand out: It's the only board whose Event Spaces can trigger two different actions (the other boards in the game trigger only one), the Bank has a different owner (Koopa Kid) who gives money to anyone who passes by but will charge the debt to whoever lands exactly on the Bank space (the opposite happens in all the other boards, where the Bank's owner is a friendly Koopa). But most importantly, every five turns a Bowser-related event will happen, namely the Bowser Parade (which has mooks marching across the board and making character flee and gradually lose coins if they're on the parade's way); this idea isn't seen again the series until the seventh game, which adds a bigger variety of possible Bowser events for the same period of turns.
• The Ground Is Lava: The 4-player minigame "Hexagon Heat" plays identically to "Mushroom Mix-Up" from the first game. Toad raises a colored flag telling the players to head over to the same colored platform while the others sink into the lava below. If any of the players touch the lava, they're automatically out, and the last one standing wins the minigame. Also applies to "Lava Tile Isle".
• Ground Pound: In the minigame Totem Pole Pound, the players are place at the top of multi-colored totem poles. The objective is to ground-pound the poles to lower their height and reach the floor. The first player to return to land wins.
• Hailfire Peaks: Mystery Land is divided into four distinctly-themed quadrants: a rocky Death Mountain field in the southeast (also the board's starter area), an Egyptian-themed Shifting Sand Land in the southwest, a dense Lost Woods area in the northwest, and a Green Hill Zone with prehistoric and Easter island motifs in the northeast. The Event Spaces allow players to warp from one quadrant to the next in the clockwise order (indicated by rock-shaped arrows placed between the quadrants), as the quadrants themselves are disconnected except for a central junction that is paywalled by Thwomps. All four areas do have one thematic element in common: mysteries, hence why the characters are dressed like (and roleplay as) explorers.
• Harder Than Hard: The game introduces Super Hard mode (AI can only be set to this difficulty during minigame modes, though).
• Hot Potato: Hot Bob-omb returns from the first game, and is now a Battle mini-game. Just like before, the goal is to toss the Bob-omb to your opponents while avoiding being the one holding it when it explodes. Unlike the first game, where the mini-game ends after the Bob-omb explodes once, with the player holding it being declared the loser, this version of the game lasts for three rounds with one player being eliminated each time until only one remains.
• Interface Screw: The minigame Dizzy Dancing starts when all four characters are pushed away from a giant vinyl disc that spins rapidly, making them clash against the room's corners; in their stunned form, the movement with the Control Stick will be impaired, yet they have to return to the vinyl's center and grab the musical note located above, and whoever does so first wins.
• In-Universe Game Clock: The fifth board, Horror Land, uses a turn-based progression for the flow of time, making it so daytime and nighttime last two turns each; however, it has a strong preference for nighttime, owing to it being the board for Boos. Stepping on a Happening Space also turns day to night, or vice versa.
• "Jar of Jellybeans" Contest: There is a minigame called "Roll Call" where the player has to count out the correct amount of species present in a forest area. Each variant of the minigame features a caveat to keep in mind: If it's Bob-ombs, the characters have to deduct the current number when one explodes; if it's Boos, they have to account for the ones that vanish and reappear; if it's Toads, they have to avoid mistaking the similar-looking static mushrooms for Toads. The original version has to have the exact amount guessed to win, coming short or going over results in a draw; remakes of the minigame (which appear in Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars) alter the rule slightly to guess close to the exact amount to win.
• Last-Second Ending Choice: The climax of Mini-Game Coaster subverts the trope. After the player's character and their partner arrive the final world during Hard Mode, they meet the cyan Toad host, telling them that a condition related to their performance failed (the default reason being not having gotten there quickly enough, but other pretexts can arise like not having arrived with at least three lives left), and then proposes a Sadistic Choice: Whether to restart the whole ordeal from World 1, or refuse and thus end the challenge with a Downer Ending. However, regardless of what the player chooses, the real Toad host appears into scene and accuses the other one of being a fake; when his cover is blown up, the fake Toad shows his true identity as a trio of Koopa Kids who then challenge the player's character in a minigame. Defeating them makes them go away in defeat and leads to the real, triumphant ending.
• Lethal Lava Land: Lava Tile Isle takes place atop a series of seven moving Grindels floating atop a lake of burning hot lava. The Grindels are arranged in a 3x3 grid, and slide around. Players can punch, ground pound, and jump on their rivals to try and make them fall off the Grindels and into the lava bath below.
• Level in the Clouds:
  • Rules Land is a board set in the clouds, but it cannot be played as it's only used a cinematic tutorial on how to play the game.
  • The minigame Platform Peril returns from the first game, with four players jumping across platforms floating in the sky to avoid falling off. This version of the minigame is more difficult than the original, as this one includes more obstacles, such as moving platforms and conveyor belts.
• Letting the Air out of the Band:
  • During the board set-up with Toad in the pipe tunnel, if it's decided to reselect the settings, the pipe suddenly turns vertically as the music slows to a crawl as Toad and the others fall down.
  • It happens when you get the Bowser Bomb from the Item Minigames. And it's not just the music, either; it also happens to the words "Got item!" ("Got- iiiiiteeeeeem...??").
• Loan Shark: In the final board called Bowser Land, there are the Bowser Banks. On every other board, if you pass by a bank, you must deposit 5 coins, but if you land on the bank, you get all the money everyone has deposited. The Bowser ones? Give away money to everyone passing by, then force whoever lands on the bank to pay back the total amount, and if you don't have enough, they will happily take a Star off you instead.
• Locked Door: The game's boards feature shortcuts and alternate paths that can only be accessed by opening locked doors. This is the utility of the Skeleton Keys that can be purchased in Item Shops.
• Mad Bomber: In the minigame Bob-omb Barrage, three players have to throw bombs at the fourth player, who is riding a wooden boat in a wide moat. If the team of three manages to sink the solo player's ship in under 30 seconds, then they'll win. But if time runs out, then the solo player wins.
• Minecart Madness: The minigame Handcar Havoc returns from the first game, and the modus operandi is the same (two teams of two characters have to drive their handcars across the rails to reach the end, and whichever team gets there first will win). The main difference is the setting, as the rails now take place in a brown cavern.
• Minsky Pickup: The Minsky Pickup appears at the start of "Western Land's" music, befitting the cowboy theme.
• Mission-Pack Sequel: The game doesn’t stray very far from the first in terms of gameplay and presentation, so much so that’s its often called less of a sequel and more of a second chance at the first game. It reuses many of the mini-games, has the exact same roster of playable characters, and has largely the same board gameplay, just more refined and polished. This works out very well in its favor and the game is still considered by many to be the best game in the series.
• Mobile Shrubbery: In the minigame Sneak 'n' Snore, the players sneak towards the button to open the escape door by a sleeping Chain Chomp while wearing barrels. When the chomp wakes up, the players must quickly duck into the barrels or else they will be captured and taken away. If they don't stop fast enough, the players will be unable to duck their entire heads in to the barrel and still be caught.
• Musical Spoiler: Each board ends with Bowser showing up to cause trouble, accompanied by his ominous theme song, followed by the Super Star (the winning player) showing up to do a Big Damn Heroes moment with a triumphant and heroic theme song. In the last board, Bowser's theme continues when the Super Star makes an appearance, and the Super Star is unable to defeat Bowser alone. When Toad, the other players and the Koopa Troopa, who give the Super Star a star, the aforementioned heroic theme plays, and the Super Star manages to turn the tide and win.
• Mythology Gag: Bowser runs around causing trouble under various alter egos like Cap'n Bowser or the Bowser Sphinx, just like in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
• Namedworld and Namedland: Per the game's story, the reward for the winner of the game is to rename the land after themselves, so it could be Mario Land, Luigi Land, etc. Every single board has this sort of theme name as well: Space Land, Horror Land, Pirate Land, Western Land, Mystery Land and the invading Bowser Land.
• Narcissist: The game's Excuse Plot is that every character wants a land they found to be named after themselves.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Bowser, who is already a horned dragon turtle demon, further reinforces this trope here. The boards give him loads of personas, including pirate, cowboy and wizard.
• Nostalgia Level: Many minigames from the first game return here, and some of them now come in extra variations to keep them fresh.
• Palmtree Panic: Pirate Land is a board that goes through three islands: Two sandy and one rocky (with some grass). Players roleplay as ship captains (and are accordingly dressed as such); they can get a ride from a Sushi (shark) if they land next to a pier, being taken to another. If they land on an Event Space, they'll be forcefully launched back from a nearby pirate ship's cannon to the board's starter spot.
• Point of No Return: After the first five boards are played in full for the first time, Toad will be kidnapped by Bowser and his minions, and subsequently replaced by a Koopa Kid. The latter won't let the player return to any of the boards, and will persuade them to go to Bowser Land. It is still possible to go to Mini-Game Land and the settings lab, though. After Bowser Land is played in full (which ends with the Superstar defeating Bowser for good) and the game's credits roll, it'll be possible to choose any board in the next party session again.
• Poison Mushroom: The game has the Bowser Bomb, which is obtained only in item minigames and the northeast item shop in Bowser Land. It is used automatically after every player makes their move; upon activation, Baby Bowser transforms into Bowser, rolls three dice blocks, and traverses the board, stealing every coin from any player he runs into. A clever player might acquire this item on purpose depending on board placement, letting Bowser ruin the days of their rivals while remaining out of his range.
• Proscenium Reveal: After clearing Bowser Land for the first time, Toad states that the reason Mario and Bowser seem to be getting along now is that the whole story was just an attraction at Mario Land.
• Psychic Powers: In the minigame Psychic Safari, two dueling characters have to use their mind to empower their respective mushroom-shaped statues (this can be done by rapidly alternating between pressing A and B). After five seconds, the statue that received the most mental power will push away the other, and its master will win.
• Quick Draw: The duel minigame for Western Land involves a quick draw with cork guns. The player who presses A first after "Go" will fire first, win and get the coins that both players bet. If you fire too soon, you'll get a warning the first time, and lose the second time. Bowser has a gun duel with the winning player, resulting in both firing their shots at the same time- Bowser misses but the winning player hits.
• Quicksand Sucks: The minigame Quicksand Cache revolves around three characters grabbing coins in a large bowl where sand is converging downward to the center (where the fourth player, wearing the Bowser Suit, awaits while manipulating the quicksand's motion at will to grab the remaining coins).
• Racing Minigame:
  • Slot Car Derby makes a return from the first game, and is played the same way (the players drive slot cars in a toy-made racetrack). The minigame now comes in three variations, each being longer than the last: The first has a bean-shaped layout, the second has a C-shaped form, and the third has a cloverleaf-styled shape.
  • Skateboard Scamper also returns, and the rules are essentially the same as they were in the first game (four characters race to the finish line on a skateboard). The only difference is that the players are outrunning a Giant Boo in a haunted house as opposed to fleeing falling platforms descending into a lava pit.
  • Bobsled Run is another returning minigame, with two teams of two players racing to the end of an icy slide in their bobsleds. This time around, the bobsleds are modeled to resemble large penguins, and the track has fewer guardrails than its Mario Party counterpart.
  • Dungeon Dash, in terms of its rules and mechanics, behaves exactly like Desert Dash in the first game, where two teams of players must alternate as they tilt the control stick left or right to move forward. The difference this time is that there are more obstacles to dodge, and you're in a dungeon, not stuck in a desert.
  • The minigame Sky Pilots has two teams of players race against each other in the skies by driving planes. In each team, one player moves the stick up and down to flap the wings, while the other moves it left and right to steer the plane. They must avoid the cannonballs shot from certain spots, as they can stun them (which makes them lose a lot of precious time). Passing through the rainbow-colored rings will boost their speed. The duo that makes it into the goal first wins.
  • Played with in the minigame Day at the Races. Each player has to choose a mook and root for it, as the race is performed by mooks and not by the main characters. Each mook has a strength and a weakness, but ultimately the race is a gamble.
  • In Filet Relay, the four players wear penguin suits and race to the end of a course to deliver a fish to some other penguins. One player must complete the race by themselves, while the other three each get one leg of the race, passing the fish to the next player upon reaching them. Players mash the A button to waddle forward, but if they waddle too fast, they will slip and fall on their backs, stopping them in their tracks for a moment.
  • After purchasing all minigames from Woody (which is only possible after clearing Mini-Game Coaster), he will offer you a secret single-player minigame called Driver's Ed. In it, the player has to drive in a training road delimited by transit cones, and burst the bubbles in the order signaled by the numbers written in them; they must complete the lap in under 1 minute. The minigame has five courses in total.
• Rhyming Names: The minigames Crane Game, Filet Relay, and Hammer Slammer.
• Riddling Sphinx: In the Mystery Land board, Bowser is cast as the Bowser Sphinx (though he merely wears an Egyptian headdress and isn't winged or lionlike at all) who challenges all comers to identify a silhouette. The Superstar of the board identifies it easily.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Bowser Land has a duel minigame where two players play "Rock, Paper, Mario". Each player has to choose one of the character cards and hope for the best. Mario beats Bowser (because he has experience defeating him in battle), Bowser beats Peach (because he has experience kidnapping her), and Peach beats Mario (because the latter cannot resist the former's beauty).
• Scary Stinging Swarm: In the minigame Honeycomb Havoc, the four players try to get fruit and coins from a three; during a turn, a character can choose whether to grab one or two objects by hitting a dice block, and do so to let the next player play their turn. Problem is, there are three beehives within the row and, if a player catches one, then the bees will chase them and thus force them to retreat. The key to avoid the beehives is to choose strategically whether to pick one or two items in the current turn, as doing so will make more likely that a different player picks the next beehive in line. The last player remaining wins.
• Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: Cowboy Mario is about to shoot you with his invisible gun!
• Shell Game: The item minigame for Pirate Land is called Roll Out the Barrels. Five different items are hidden inside of a series of barrels, which are then shuffled around, then the participating player will get a chance to punch open whichever barrel they want and take the item inside. However, there is also a sixth barrel containing Baby Bowser, and if the player picks that one, they lose the minigame and get nothing.
• Shifting Sand Land: Western Land. Uniquely among the majority of worlds and levels in the Mario franchise, this board isn't designed with Egyptian or Middle East motifs in mind, but instead those based on the stereotypical Wild West. Players are dressed like, and thematically roleplay as, cowboys in favor of the law. The board takes place in a desert next to a plateau, and features many saloons where the inhabitants live. Some of the walkable parts of the board have rails built within, so when a character lands on an Event Space a train will ride that part; if a character is in the middle of the train's route, they'll have to run to the board's starter area.
• Shout-Out: When you pass by the milk bar in Western Land, you have the option of inviting the other players to a hootenanny (with the potential of setting them back from getting a star before you can). If you refuse, the Wiggler running the bar will say "Y'all come back now, y'hear?"
• "Simon Says" Mini-Game:
  • The minigame Shy Guy Says returns from the first game, and once again the characters have to raise the same color of flag as the leading Shy Guy. The difference is the setting, as the characters are now floating in the skies with balloons instead of sailing the seas.
  • In Move To The Music, one player stands atop a pedestal and performs a selection of dance moves in time with the notes on the timeline. They can perform different moves using the A, B, and Z buttons, as well as the four cardinal directions on the Control Stick. The other three players must then copy the dance moves that the solo player did, with each player being given different notes to hit. The solo player gets two chances to confuse their rivals, and if any of the three make it to the end, the team of three wins the minigame.
• Skeleton Key: Unlike in the first game, the boards have passageways whose doors are locked. One of the items you can purchase in the item shop is a gold-colored Skeleton Key to unlock a door and thus cross its passageway to take a shortcut. Notably, Luigi is particularly fond of this item - even if he isn't interested in actually using the keys properly.
• The Smurfette Principle: Once again Peach is the only female character in the playable roster.
• Snot Bubble: In the minigame Sneak 'n Snore, the Chain Chomp has this while he is asleep and it pops just before he wakes up.
• Space Zone: Space Land, where players are dressed as astronauts and roleplay as members of the Space Patrol. It's a very advanced spacestation whose paths are arranged in an octopus-like pattern, and either converge into or diverge from a central junction with a LED countdown shown in the floor's screen. Every time a character steps onto it, the counter goes down by 1. When a fifth character gets there, the countdown reaches zero and a satellite created by Bowser will fire a powerful beam capable of taking away all coins from any player who is caught in the line of fire.
• Sphere Factor: The minigame Bumper Balls returns from the first game, and now comes in three variations: An area set in a snowy summit, an area placed at the top of a pillar erected from a lava pit, and a round island similar to the minigame's version found in the first game.
• Stock Beehive: The minigame Honeycomb Havoc has the chatracters hit a dice to grab fruits and coins from a slope installed in front of a tree. However, some stock beehives slipped in among the items, and whoever is unlucky enough to have one fall above them will need to flee away from the scene to dodge the bees, losing the minigame; the minigame continues as the remaining characters hit the dice while strategically trying to avoid getting the next beehive. The minigame ends when only one player remains. It makes a return in Mario Party: The Top 100 and Mario Party Superstars.
• Symbolic Blood: Done in the Horror Land board, where there's a red bloodstain type puddle, which is just about shown coming from a huge overturned ketchup bottle that's been held by a gravestone.
• Tank Goodness: The minigame Shell Shocked puts the four players inside tanks resembling Koopa shells attached to a pair of treads. The tanks have cannons that can fire cannonballs forward in both a straight line, or in an overhead arc. Each tank has two hit points, and the objective is to be the last player standing while firing cannonballs at your rivals. The tanks can move around the stage, which features Warp Pipes as obstacles that can be used as cover from straight shots.
• Taunt Button: Every Mario Party game since this one includes taunts. However, starting with Mario Party 6, you have to actually buy them first.
• "Test Your Strength" Game: The board-specific mini-game in Space Land is "Hammer Slammer". This involves one of these games, with different prizes rewarded depending on how high your character sends the weight up the pole. If your character hits the target too hard, the weight will be bounced back by a spring at the top and land on the Baby Bowser (Bowser Jr. in Superstars) item at the bottom, resulting in your character getting nothing.
• Tightrope Walking: The minigame Rainbow Run, unlocked after purchasing all other minigames from Woody. One character is walking scross a bridge made of solid rainbow in a cloudy sky, while the other three players are driving Solid Clouds armed with cannons to shoot at them and make them fall down.
• Time Bomb: The Space Land duel minigame, which is even named after this trope. The dueling characters are each placed next to a bomb, and are tasked to stop their countdown by pressing the plungers as close as possible to the exact designated moment. Whoever manages to do so in the instant that is closest to the announced time limit will win, while the other player will have their bomb explode and lose the duel.
• Trick Bomb: The Bowser Bomb explodes... and turns the tiny Baby Bowser into a full-sized Bowser.
• Unintentionally Unwinnable: Should you have 99 Stars, the option to have Boo steal one will be greyed out. Computer players will still attempt to steal a Star even if they have 99 of them, which causes a softlock.
• Unstable Equilibrium: In Mini-Game Coaster, the more minigames you win in a row, the more coins you earn for each win, and 100 coins equals one life. Thus, skilled players can easily rack up plenty of lives, but players who continually lose lives will also have a hard time getting more without the big payouts earned through the combos.
• Video-Game Lives: Lives are used in Mini-Game Coaster. If a player loses all lives before reaching the end of a world, they'll have to restart from the first minigame of the current world. They can earn an extra life by collecting 100 coins (if the player wins multiple minigames in a row, then the number of coins gathered will increase).
• Violation of Common Sense: The game always treats the acquisition of a Bowser Bomb as terrible, and the receiving character acts appropriately. However, the Bowser Bomb is a great way to screw over your competitors by robbing them of all their coins, especially if you're nowhere near Baby Bowser. There are situations where acquiring the Bowser Bomb is a good idea, even though the game will never treat it as such.
• "Wanted!" Poster: Bowser is on one of these in Western Land, complete with cowboy hat and pistol, under the name 'Bowser the Brash'.
• The Wild West: Western Land, appropriately, embraces this setting in terms of scenery and story. The board represents a thriving town that is being terrorized by Bowser, who is roleplaying as a criminal cowboy.
• Wind-Up Key: The minigame Mecha Marathon features toy Fly Guys with a key on their back. Each player has ten seconds to mash the A and B buttons simultaneously to turn the key as fast as possible and build up power, then the four Fly Guys will fly down a track, with the distance determined by how much power they had. Whichever player has their Fly Guy fly the farthest is the winner.
• Wing Ding Eyes: There is a 1-vs-3 minigame called "Look Away". When the characters lose this minigame, their heads will shrink, spin and disappear in the background. Also, their eyes will change to show their defeat. Mario for example will get the X-eyes, Donkey Kong will get spiral-eyes and Princess Peach will have black stars instead of pupils in her eyes.
• Wolfpack Boss: The final minigame played in Mini-Game Coaster in Hard Mode is Shell Shocked in its biggest variant. Instead of facing three standard characters, the player has to defeat the three Koopa Kids who were disguising as the host, Toad in order to win the mode.

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