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5. Chain Chomp Romp – Mario Party 9
Type: Boss minigame
If you haven’t noticed by now, I really like Mario Party 9. A lot of people absolutely hate this game for shaking up the formula, but I absolutely adore everything about it. One of the best things to come out of this entry is the inclusion of boss fights that lie within every board, which helped add variety to the standard minigame fare. It is an awesome mix of cooperative and competitive gameplay, as it is exhilarating to try to inflict more damage on a boss than your opponents.
My favorite boss minigame in Mario Party 9 is Chain Chomp Romp. In this game, players watch as the camera pans across multiple railroad tracks until it reaches the players standing by mine carts. Because the path of the mine carts is determined by where the railroad tracks end up, it’s important to memorize which tracks are connected to each mine cart. Some mine carts lead to cannons, which attack the giant Chain Chomp, and others lead straight to the boss, which causes the player to lose a point. Gold cannons appear once in a while as well and do more damage than standard cannons.
This game truly shines when players’ reflexes are tested. People tend to focus on a single path in this minigame, especially when a golden cannon is in play. When someone else beats them to a cannon they were going to pick, they’ll usually have to pick another mine cart at random and pray it doesn’t lead to the Chain Chomp. Once half of the Chain Chomp’s health is depleted, the number of cannons decreases, further amplifying the intensity of the minigame.
As with reverse minigames, I really hope that boss minigames are revisited in the future!
I remember when the first Mario Party came out, Nintendo offered everyone the chance to get a glove to keep from burning holes into the palms of their hands. This series is always fun. Great picks!
I remember that all too well! The N64 control sticks were often huge victims of the original Mario Party minigames as well. I went through a couple of controllers just for Mario Party, and I have no regrets.
The blisters I got from the first Mario Party were kind of unbelievable in retrospect. I pretty much tore my hand apart playing some of those games.
Like Anthony, I regret nothing. :)
Also, no Bumper Balls??
I know that feeling all too well, Marc!
Haha I love Bumper Balls, but I opted to take it out because I often got into stalemates when two players were left on the field. But, it’s definitely an awesome minigame :)