Toy Box

The Mario Party series has seen numerous different incarnations throughout the series, but it follows the same general concept of characters moving around a board game layout and competing in quick minigames for points. Perhaps the most fitting “Mario Party” setting seen was in Mario Party 3, when they were all transported into a toy box.

The stage will take place inside of a giant toy box, with different levels and platforms being made up by the toys lying here and there. Every stretch of terrain will have Mario Party spaces across it, and some will cause various effects. Much like the Wario Ware stage currently existing, the game will often enter a minigame that the characters will have to compete in.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDquKkm0YTw

Tumble

With the Mario series branching out in so many different directions, those that saw success carried on, putting out more and more sequels. The Mario Party series saw two sequels on the Nintendo 64, and even more were to come later. In Mario Party 3, it included a story mode about a magical star that fell from the sky, shrinking the Mario characters down to fit inside a toy box and challenging them to compete in mini-games to determine who was worthy to receive its power.

To help referee the competition, the star created Tumble, a living dice block who carried the true star’s power inside him. He would only appear once more, as a referee in Mario Party Advance, but his design and role in the game make him a key option to represent the whole of the Mario Party series.

As a playable fighter, Tumble is small and quick. His moves pull from all over the Mario Party series, but most especially the early games. As would be expected from a Party game character, his moves rely heavily on luck and randomly selected options that will heavily affect how the character plays.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen

Character Sheet: Tumble

TUMBLE

Today, we have three brand new characters to add to our roster, all featured exclusively in the Mario Party franchise. One will be an echo, while the other two will be slightly more original and based on the various concepts and mechanics of the franchise as a whole. They are:

1. Koopa Kid

2. Tumble

3. Brighton & Twila

Today, let's cover Tumble. Tumble is a living Dice Block seemingly created by the Millenium Star to host its games, but in the end turns out to contain the true Millenium Star the whole time. He later shows up in Mario Party advance as well. All things considered, I think he is probably the best possible option to represent board-specific elements, like dice, capsules, spaces, and so on. Our other hosts have other things they can best represent, so our living dice can have the game board you'd roll him on.

So first up, we have our dice block to be tossed. I feel like that should be a prominent thing. Also, if there were to ever be a character to reply on randomly generated options, it would be this one, despite some players' possible aversion to it. Then we'd have our spaces, but I don't imagine they'd offer up all that much really. We have a number of items pulled from capsules, blocks or just on their own. Some of the most prominent include Mushrooms, Lucky Lamps that summon a genie to transport you places, some form of warp space to do the same, items that both summon Boos and scare them away (although as Boo is a character, its hard to say the utility of that one), bags to hold items, and a MiniMegaHammer to shrink or enlarge an opponent.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Dice Roll

Tumble will throw a large die. It will act as a mild projectile, but depending on how it lands, one of Tumble's stats will be augmented. Sixes will be great for him.

Side B: MiniMegaHammer

Tumble will swing his hammer and smack an opponent. This will either shrink or enlarge the opponent at random. Item Bag was also a possibility, but I like this one better.

Up B: Warp Space OR Lucky Lamp

Really it would work similarly. It would just change how the move looks. Basically, Tumble would activate this move and it would teleport or simply carry him to a new location. I think I'm going to pass on making this a randomizer move, since I think we'd prefer to be able to rely on this one. If I did though, it would probably just randomize the distance you would travel with it, sometimes only a little ways, sometimes really far.

Down B: Capsule

Basically what I was thinking for Item Bag. Tumble would produce a capsule, and it would pop open, giving him a random item: sometimes healing, sometimes offensive, sometimes defensive, so on. It could be random Smash items, or it could be a selection of items appearing in Mario Party.

Final Smash: The Millenium Star

The Millenium Star will appear, cast its aura over the stage, shrinking all players besides Tumble down into lifeless dolls. They'd remain that way for a short period before turning back. I like this better than having it be random effects or anything.

Entrance: He could simply get rolled onto the stage

Taunts: Up, he'll hold up a "Welcome to Smash" banner. Side, he'll sort through some cards. Down, he'll open an item bag and pull out a capsule, looking it over.

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's see what we can do with Brighton and Twila!

Mario Party 3

MARIO PARTY 3

Today, let's cover Mario Party 3, the third game in the Mario Party franchise. Our six main characters all return, once again carrying on their joystick-measuring contest, but this time vying for possession of the Millenium Star, a powerful magical item that fell from the sky. Upon hearing their argument, the Millenium Star shrank them all down and transported them inside of a toy box, having them all compete in games to determine who is enough of a superstar to own it.

Besides Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Wario, Daisy and Waluigi have been added as playable, though not in the Story Mode. The Millenium Star oversees most of the games, while a strange dice creature named Tumble (the true Millenium Star *spoilers*) takes over Toad's role as the host. Bowser and Koopa Kid both show up frequently, challenging you for each star stamp you collect.

All of the major spaces return: Blue, Red, Item, Happening, Chance Time, Bank, Battle, Bowser, and Star Spaces, with a new space, the Game Guy space added. Game Guy's space will challenge you to a double-or-nothing minigame for your full coin count. The Mushroom, Warp Block, Dueling Glove, Golden Mushroom, Magic Lamp, Bowser Suit, Plunder Chest, Boo Bell, and Skeleton Key all return, alongside: the Cellular Shopper, letting you visit Toad's shop from anywhere; Boo Repellent, to keep Boos away; the Reverse Mushroom, which will force a player to go backwards on the board; Bowser Phone, basically a portable Bowser space you can force on other players; the Poison Mushroom, which will reduce the amount a player can roll; the Lucky Lamp, which can move a Star Space; an Item Bag to carry items; the Wacky Watch, which will reset the game to five moves left; the Barter Box, which lets you trade items; the Koopa Kard, which lets you access the bank; and the Lucky Charm to summon Game Guy.

The game features six boards this time around, including: Chilly Waters, an ice world; Deep Bloober Sea, an underwater world; Spiny Desert, a desert world; Woody Woods, a forest world; Creepy Cavern, a haunted underground world; and Waluigi's Island, a tropical world. There are also six smaller Duel Boards to face off against a single opponent. These include: Gate Guy, with gates requiring money to pass; Arrowhead, featuring multiple shortcuts to the start space; Pipesqueak, with multiple warp pipes; Blowhard, with a Blowhard in the middle that blows players up and randomizes where they land; Mr. Mover, featuring a conveyor belt taking players right or left depending on its color; and Backtrack with reverse spaces.

The Duel Boards have some unique mechanics, including Power-Up Spaces that boost your stats and Reverse Spaces. You also have a number of partners who you can use to attack opponents. These include Koopa, Goomba, Toad, Bob-Omb, Boo, Whomp, Snifit, Piranha Plant, Chain Chomp, Thwomp, Mr. Blizzard, and Koopa Kid.

Let's get on with our minigames, shall we? We have seventy-one this time, all original, though they follow many of the basic premises. These include: Aces High, a flying game; Awful Tower, a climbing game; Bounce n' Trounce, a last-man-standing game; Cheep Cheep Chase, swimming away from a giant fish; Chip Shot Challenge, a golfing game; Curtain Call, a memory game; Frigid Bridges, a slippery obstacle course; Ice Rink Risk, an ice-skating game; Mario's Puzzle Party, a Tetris game; Messy Memory, a memory game; MPIQ, a quiz; Parasol Plummet, drifting down on a parasol; Picture Imperfect, messing with a portrait; Pipe Cleaners, smacking Koopa Kid with a hammer; Rockin' Raceway, a racing game with rocking horses; Snowball Summit, pushing around a snowball; The Beat Goes On, mimicking a specific beat; Toadstool Titan, using a mushroom to become gigantic and stomp your opponents; Treadmill Grill, a treadmill game; Water Whirled, a survival game in a swirling vortex of water; Boulder Ball, running up a hill while avoiding boulders; Coconut Cork, trying to trap an opponent in a cannon with a coconut; Crazy Corks, avoiding Bullet Bills while on spinning platforms; Hand, Line, and Sinker, a fishing game with an extendable hand; Hide and Sneak, basically hide-and-seek; Ridiculous Relay, a relay race; River Raiders, a rowing game; Spotlight Swim, swimming to avoid spotlights; Thwomp Pull, think a dogsled race but with Thwomps (awesome); Tidal Toss, causing waves to knock the others out; Baby Bowser Broadside, shooting cannons at a Koopa Kid balloon; Cosmic Coaster, basically the handcart game again; Eatsa Pizza, I think you get it; Etch and Catch, a drawing game; Hyper Hydrants, putting out fire; Log Jam, a wood-cutting game; Picking Panic, picking fruit; Puddle Paddle, collecting coins; Pump, Pump and Away, launching a rocket; Slot Synch, basically a slot machine; All Fired Up, avoiding fireballs; Eyesore, taking out a Mr. I; Locked Out, matching keys to doors; Merry Go Chomp, trying not to get eaten by a Chain Chomp; Slapdown, using giant hands to slap items; Stacked Deck, a card game; Storm Chasers, following a storm cloud; Three Door Monty, a memory game; Baby Bowser Bonkers, basically Whack-a-Mole with Koopa Kid; Bowser Toss, throwing Bowser at a bomb; Crowd Cover, uncovering an image; End of the Line, a train track choosing game; Fowl Play, chasing a chicken; Motor Rooter, an obstacle course through a pipe; Popgun Pick-Off, shooting popguns; Silly Screws, running on screws; Tick Tock Hop, avoiding moving clock hands; Vine with Me, swinging on vines; Bobbing Bow-Loons, shooting balloons with arrows; Dorrie Dip, pounding on Dorrie; Hey Batter Batter, a batting game; Swinging with Sharks, swinging over shark-infested water; Swing n' Swipe, smacking Koopa Kid with a hammer again to steal a chest; Winner's Wheel, think Wheel of Fortune; Dizzy Dinghies, a rowing game; Mario's Puzzle Party Pro; and Stardust Battle, avoiding stars.

I think that's it! Here's what we've got so far:

Characters: 

Gimmick Rep (Koopa Kid/Tumble?): Happening Space, Chance Space, Mushroom Space, star space, plus block, minus block, speed block, slow block, warp block,  event block, parrot, No Koopa or No Boo sign, gameballs, digging, deep-sea diving, bomb, musical chairs, carving, messing with Bowser's face, inflating a balloon, hitting blocks, skateboarding, collecting coins, platforming, grab bag, bumper balls, tipping, instruments, Simon Says, fishing, key, lightbulb, jump rope, slot cars, hammers, bowling, tightrope, Crane Game, Tug of War, rowing, bobsledding, handcar, Slot Machine, biking, ground pound, limbo, Bank space, Mushrooms, Skeleton Keys, Plunder Chests, Dueling Gloves, Golden Mushrooms, Magic Lamp, Boo Bells, Bowser Suit, Bowser Bomb, pole-climbing, Dizzy Dancing, fruit-catching, windup Fly Guys, shell tank, sneaking, box-hitting, cake assembly, destroy a statue, sawing logs, magnet, Sky Pilots, Speed Hockey, Torpedoes, archery, Bob-omb cannon, fish relay, lightbulbs, Look Away, log-roll, blow up balloon, Bumper Balloon Cars, giant rake, Cellular Shopper,  Boo Repellent, Reverse Mushroom, Bowser Phone, Poison Mushroom, Lucky Lamp, Item Bag, Wacky Watch, Barter Box, Koopa Kard, Lucky Charm, golfing, ice-skating, parasol, rocking horses, snowball, drumming, become gigantic, cannon, hide, spotlights, causing waves, eat pizza, drawing, hydrant, chop wood, rocket, throwing Bowser, chasing chicken, popguns, swinging on vines, batting game, swinging.

Mario

Luigi

Princess Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Daisy

Waluigi

Toad

Bowser

Koopa Kid

Koopa Troopa: give coins

Boo: steal coins

Thwomp

Whomp

Bob-Omb

Goomba

Snifit

Piranha Plant

Chain Chomp

Mr. Blizzard

Game Guy

Millenium Star

Stages:

DK's Jungle Adventure

Peach's Birthday Cake

Yoshi's Tropical Island

Wario's Battle Canyon

Luigi's Engine Room

Mario's Rainbow Castle

Bowser's Magma Mountain

Eternal Star

Pirate Land

Western Land

Space Land

Mystery Land

Horror Land

Bowser Land

Chilly Waters

Deep Bloober Sea

Spiny Desert

Woody Woods

Creepy Cavern

Waluigi's Island

Gate Guy

Arrowhead

Pipesqueak

Blowhard

Mr. Mover

Backtrack

Various Mini-Games

Items:

All listed above

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover Mario Party 4!