The Ten Best Mario Party Mini-Games

So hey, Mario Party 9 for the Wii was released yesterday and I find that crazy. There are nine Mario Party games! No, there are 11 because of DS and Advance. ELEVEN! That is some insane stuff right there. Too bad the quality seemed to be on a constant downhill slide ever since 4. Regardless of how the quality in later games have been, there are very few multiplayer experiences out there quite like Mario Party. I remember plenty of great memories spent playing with friends and family, even some of the lesser ones like Mario Party 6. Mario Party is a lot of fun when you have a group to play with.

Go die, Domination.

But what makes Mario Party Mario Party? Well, the mini-games of course! Each game packs what seems like 60+ and they always make for a good time. That is unless they’re luck based or require you to tap A furiously for 10 seconds like Domination, those games are awful. But hey, we’re not here to talk about the bad, we’re talking about the good. The ten best, in fact. Yes, in honor of Mario Party 9’s release I’m looking at what I consider to be the ten best Mario Party mini-games. But before I begin, keep in mind that I don’t own Mario Party 7 or Advace, so none of those will be on here. Technically I don’t own 1 or 5 either but I’ve played those plenty with friends so I know of them. Anyway, let’s get started.

Nintendo Reveals Release Dates for First Quarter Line-Up

Following Don's post of the new Kid Icarus: Uprising trailer below, Nintendo has actually just announced the release dates/windows for some of their upcoming Wii and 3DS games for the first quarter. Many of these games were announced last E3 but Nintendo has been strangely silent about many of them. Well, now we know when some of them will be released. The release dates are as followed;

 Wii

Rhythm Heaven Fever - Feb. 13
Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond - Feb. 27
Mario Party 9 - March 11

3DS

Mario & Sonic At the London 2012 Olympic Games - Feb. 14
Kid Icarus: Uprising - March 23

They also confirmed that Dillon's Rolling Western will be hitting the 3DS eShop in Quarter 1, as will the Gameboy game Kirby's Block Ball. Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater was once again confirmed as coming out in Quarter 1 and Resident Evil: Revelations is being released on Feb. 7th. No release date has been set in stone for Xenoblade Chronicles as of yet but it is still confirmed as being released in April and they have revealed the final American Boxart.

You can check that out, as well as a new trailer for Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond after the break.

The Top Six Nintendo Games That Should Get 3DS Remakes

If there’s one company in the gaming world that has always been in favor of remakes, it’s Nintendo. It feels like Nintendo is always remaking or porting it’s classic games onto newer consoles and handhelds. The Super Mario Advance games, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, The Metroid Prime Trilogy and of course the most recent efforts, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Star Fox 64 3D. For better or worse, Nintendo has a way with getting away with remakes. Maybe it’s because their games are just that timeless. Or maybe it’s the fact that they seem to go the extra mile when remaking their games, including better graphics, new features and just all around upgrading what is likely already a great game.

Also, they made the Water Temple suck less, so there's that.

Just like the DS before it, the 3DS is looking to be a great home for remakes of older Nintendo games, specifically from the Nintendo 64 era. Just look at Ocarina of Time. It’s one of the most beloved and important games in gaming history and Nintendo went back and updated it for a new market and guess what? It may actually be even better now. Only Nintendo could take what many consider to be the best game ever made and actually improve it.

So what am I counting down today? Well, I’m taking a look at six Nintendo games I want remade for the 3DS. I was originally going to make it ten but after going over the list, I felt many of them were either a bit of a stretch or I just didn’t really see a purpose for them to remade, so I changed it to six. Without any more delay, let’s get started.

The Ten Worst Mario Characters to Ever be Playable

Over the course of his 30 years in video gaming, Mario has made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. So like any normal human being, he enjoys spending time with these people. Sometimes he likes to golf with them, maybe shoot some hoops or even throw a pretty crazy house party. Whatever he’s doing that day, Mario always has a colorful gang of characters to join him.

It's better than doing math.

But sometimes he makes some pretty dumb decisions when making up the guest list for these events. Doesn’t he ever stop to think that maybe those of us at home don’t want to go kart-racing as Baby Peach? Or lobby some tennis balls as Donkey Kong Jr.? Yes, the Mario universe has a great and varied bundle of characters but not all of them deserve to be playable. So I’m taking a quick look at the ten worst offenders. This is my list of the Worst Playable Mario Characters. 

But before we begin, I do want to get this out of the way now; no third party characters are on this list. Yes, I know Mario played basketball with Cactuar. I also know he once raced against some Tamagotchi thing. And yes, he has snowboard and jumped hurdles with Silver the Hedgehog. I know. But none of them are on this list. I’m looking specifically at Mario universe characters. Just because Bomberman once fought against Wario does not make him a Mario character. So without further delay, let’s start the list.

And you thought I was making the Tamagotchi thing up.