Mario Party 9

Mario Party 9 is a 2012 party video game developed by NDcube and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The ninth main installment in the Mario Party series, it was announced at E3 2011 and released in Europe, North America, and Australia in March 2012, followed by Japan a month later. It was the first game in the series not to be developed by Hudson Soft, which was acquired and dissolved by Konami on March 1, 2012, the day before the game's European release. It was also the final Mario game to be released on the Wii and one of the last official first-party Wii games released in North America, followed by Project Zero 2: Wii Edition and Kirby's Dream Collection. Mario Party 9 includes seven game boards, twelve playable characters, and more than eighty minigames. The game received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its gameplay, graphics, multiplayer, minigames, and content, considering it an improvement on its predecessor. However, its overhaul of mechanics received a mixed reception for its linear boards and emphasis on luck. It was followed by the handheld game title Mario Party: Island Tour for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013, with the next home console game, Mario Party 10, being released for the Wii U in 2015.