Brighton & Twila

The Mario Party series saw continued success on the Game Boy, releasing multiple titles under its banner. The sixth entry set up a framing story about the sun and the moon getting into an argument, and coming down to Mario and his friends to help settle the dispute.

Brighton and Twila are the names of the sun and moon in question here. They are anthropomorphized spirits of the two celestial bodies who act as referees in the game, both with their own versions of the different boards with different hazards and features. They would never appear again, but they left just enough of an impression to join Tumble and the Koopa Kid.

 As a fighter, they will take turns with the color swaps. They will be about moderate in their stats, though with strong power indicative of their heavenly nature. Their moves will likewise pull heavily from the Mario Party games, but especially from their own and especially anything having to do with space.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen

Koopa Kid

Firmly established in 3D, the Mario brand continued to grow even larger, this time branching out into party games where friends could come together and compete in a series of lighthearted mini-games using familiar Mario characters. While Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Wario took up the role of players, Bowser acted as a hazard in the game, frequently dropping in to challenge characters to his own brand of minigames with higher stakes. In this role, he needed a henchman to do some of his dirty work.

In the minds of the developers, the role should have fit the Koopalings all too well. The trouble was, there were seven of them, and they likely didn’t want to just single one out. So, instead, a generic version of their design was created, simply entitled the Koopa Kid. The Koopa Kid would go on to be an integral part of the Mario Party series, acting as Bowser’s faithful henchman for the first four games, before finally getting to be playable in the fifth and sixth. After that the character all but disappeared, his role swallowed up either by Bowser Jr. or overhauls in game design.

As a character, he will mostly function as an echo to the Koopalings, nodding to his origins. Unlike them, however, he will have one base stat count, being on the lighter and speedier side but with solid defense. His moves will mirror the Koopalings, but will use Mario Party versions of said moves.

Likelihood rating: Probably not

Character Sheet: Brighton & Twila

 BRIGHTON & TWILA

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

Going into this, these two were the ones I was going to leave out in the end. Koopa Kid worked as a more Party-centric echo of Koopa Kid, Tumble being a living dice worked as the best representative of the series as a whole, and MC Ballyhoo just happens to feature in a game where most of the mechanics were changed up and overhauled to be significantly different from the rest of the series, leaving just Brighton and Twila to be the ones lost and forgotten by this series. That said, there's always some slight adjustments made between my initial walkthrough viewings and the making of the blog posts, and this time, they just managed to find their way in.

Now, Brighton and Twila are literal manifestations of the sun and moon respectively. Although they spend Party 6 at odds with each other, they have similar body types and generally similar noted powers, so it's not too much of a stretch that they be color swaps. If you want them to be echoes, that's fine, but I feel we're just getting extraneous at that point. In the writing of the blog, I noticed that there was a whole section of space-themed mini-games, and considering they were literal celestial bodies, I had myself a bit of an epiphany. So, most of their moves will be based on those specifically. These include: piloting spaceships, blasting meteors with lasers, using a rocketpack, launching a rocket, ground pounding spaces that might electrocute you, swimming through space and away from a black hole, and . . . herding Boos, I guess. Maybe the Gaddlight can come in handy too. Either way, I think we've got plenty.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Asteroad Rage

Brighton or Twila will pull out a space-age laser gun and shoot at a meteor that will appear some distance away, destroying the meteor and sending debris flying around it. (I figured that would make it a bit more than just a laser blast).

Side B: Sumo of Doom-o

They will get into one of the cars from this game and push across the stage, trying to push anyone that happens to be in front of them off the stage.

Up B: Lunar-tics

The jetpack from this game will appear on their backs and carry them a little ways into the sky. Possibly tapping A a lot might help you go higher with this.

Down B: T Minus Five OR O-Zone

I like the premise of both. T Minus Five would have the character set down a rocket and it would launch after a countdown of five, targeting the nearest opponent. O-Zone would have the character throw down one of the panels from said game. When an opponent walks across it, an X or an O would pop up. The O will do nothing and they'll walk away scot-free. The X however will electrify and stun them.

Final Smash: Celestial Rivalry

While the Black Hole was an option, I prefer more of a move based on the opening cutscene. Brighton and Twila would get into an argument over who is better. They'd start pushing against each other, switching the stage from day to night and back again, and the characters on the stage would get flung around with the movement of the sky, ultimately ending in them all getting launched.

Entrance: They'd descend from above.

Taunts: Up, they'd wave their respective wand and either slightly brighten or darken the stage for a second. Side, the other one not on stage would peek out from behind the player's back and the two would glare at each other for a second. Down, they'd lay down and take a nap.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's update the roster!

Mario Party 6

MARIO PARTY 6

Alright, it's time for Mario Party 6, the last game before we take a break to gather our thoughts and tackle the second half of the main console games. The game stars our ten playable characters from before, but with Toadette as a secret characters. Hmm, is anyone else noticing a pattern here? We go two games with the same roster, then we get a couple added, then that stays for two games, rinse and repeat. Welp, I hope we at least stay consistent to that if that's the pattern we've established.

The game's plot involves Brighton and Twila, two divine beings representing the sun and moon respectively, getting into a, well, joystick-measuring contest, resulting in life becoming very difficult for everyone else. So, Mario and his friends decide to help out by competing in games to prove which one is better once and for all.

The game boards have both day and night modes, the stars won during each adding to Brighton or Twila's scores respectively. We have blue, red, chance, duel, Donkey Kong, Bowser, orb, and star spaces, alongside miracle spaces, acting like the miracle capsules in the last game, and character spaces. Capsules, or rather orbs this time, return, with their contents including Mushrooms, Super Mushrooms, Cursed Mushrooms, Bullet Bills, Warp Pipes, Wiggler (or rather Flutter now), Lava Bubbles, Tweesters, Bob-Ombs, Paratroopas, Spinies, Goombas, Piranha Plants, Klepto, Toadies, Kamek, Mr. Blizzard, Chain Chomp's bone, and the Gaddlight all returning. New ones include the Sluggish Mushroom, which will slow the dice roll; Metal Mushroom, which will turn opponents into metal; and Thwomps, which will stomp on an opponent.

We have a number of stages here, both for party mode, and some for solo mode if you're playing by yourself. The party boards include: Towering Treetop set on a tree; E. Gadd's Garage, which is awesome; Faire Square, a carnival board; Snowflake Lake, a snow level; Castaway Bay, a pirate-themed world; and Clockwork Castle, which I'm pretty sure is basically Brighton and Twila's home. The solo boards include: Thirsty Gulch, a desert stage; Astro Avenue, a space board; and Infernal Tower, because Bowser had to get a castle in there somewhere.

Our eighty-two minigames this time see our characters butt bashing, playing cards, finding differences, springing upward, running from a rock, running a race, catching letters, snowboarding, avoiding Whomps, retrieving sunken treasure, mowing grass, shooting cannons, catching notes, platforming, avoiding a giant Blooper, trapping Goombas, punching Pokeys, collecting money, golfing, riding a Chain Chomp, going down a water slide, throwing fruit, swimming, having a snowball fight, rolling a ball, avoiding electricity, popping a balloon, running on a conveyor belt, shaking a box around, blasting a light beam, dusting, launching fireballs, grabbing fruit, pulling a giant carrot, playing a slot machine, flying in a gondola, blowing a fan, building a robot, shooting targets, breaking rocks, cleaning, avoiding a bar, shooting a gun, driving a bug, stamping, rowing down a river, uncovering cakes, lighting torches, running on cogs, sumo wrestling, swinging on ropes, flying through space, using a jetpack, launching a rocket, shooting asteroids, herding Boos, navigating mist, collecting bananas, avoiding barrels, avoiding rocks, getting dizzy, avoiding fire, pulling a rope, playing Tetris, running a maze, and playing basketball.

Alright, let's see what we've got!

Characters: 

Gimmick Rep (Koopa Kid/Tumble/Brighton and Twila?): 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, fortune space, mushroom space, warp space, Warp Pipe, MiniMegaHammer, Chomp Call, Boo's Crystal Ball, Gaddlight, Sparky Sticker, pull against a slime, ski, play dominoes, float with a balloon, ice skate, grabber, race in karts, giant tree stompers, soccer, run a maze, parasail, deliver food, catch butterflies, darts, puzzle, capsules, catch ice cream, chase Ukikis, guide a Chomp, avoid penguins, speedboat, will a plant back to life, triple jump, look under buckets, roll on a ball, drive mechs, pilot flying saucers, quilt, sled, fight with cards, defuse a bomb, open a can, clean a bus, submarine, pull a rope, blow a Tweester, miracle space, character space, springing upward, running from a rock, catching letters, snowboarding, mowing grass, trapping Goombas, punching Pokeys, riding a Chain Chomp, going down a water slide, shaking a box around, blasting a light beam, dusting, pulling a giant carrot, gondola, blowing a fan, building a robot, stamping, sumo wrestling, using a jetpack, launching a rocket, shooting asteroids, herding Boos, navigating mist.

Mario

Luigi

Princess Peach

Yoshi

Donkey Kong

Wario

Daisy

Waluigi

Toad

Boo: steal coins

Koopa Kid

Toadette

Bowser

Koopa Troopa: give coins

Thwomp

Whomp

Bob-Omb

Goomba

Shy Guy

Snifit

Piranha Plant

Chain Chomp

Mr. Blizzard

Game Guy

Millenium Star

Star Spirits

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

Toad's Midway Madness

Koopa's Seaside Soiree

Goomba's Greedy Gala

Boo's Haunted Bash

Shy Guy's Jungle Jam

Bowser's Gnarly Party

Toy Dream

Rainbow Dream

Pirate Dream

Undersea Dream

Future Dream

Sweet Dream

Bowser Nightmare

Various Mini-Games

Items:

All listed above

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's go over our characters really quick and then figure out what exactly to do with all these potential reps (and another one I know is coming)!