Nintendo Party would be a multiplayer-oriented party game for the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS. As you can probably imagine, this would be the same idea as the games in the Mario Party series, but instead of just the Mario gang, you have characters like Link, Pit, Kirby, Samus, Pikachu, Captain Falcon, and many more.
Another change to this game would be that you will have varying minigames to incorporate the new universes in play. Some of them would take place in Dream Land, some in Hyrule, and some would be in places from the F-Zero universe.
I may also incorporate a class system into this game; some characters, like Mario and Link, would be medium, while others would be small, like Toad and Kirby. This would give you an advantage in certain minigames, while making it necessary to practice in others.
Playable Characters[]
Just like with my Super Smash Bros. Turbo page, I want to be careful not to go overboard with the amount of characters, but still get in the major figures of the universes. This game, however, will have more than the usual amount of characters. While the last game featured 12 characters, this one will likely have about 16 or 18. Still, not as many can be fit in because of the limits that the consoles have.
So, the character roster I have in mind is:
- Mario
- Link
- Kirby
- Pit
- Captain Falcon
- Ness
- Samus
- Pikachu
- Luigi
- Zelda
- Peach
- Marth
- Toad
- Yoshi
- Fox McCloud
- Donkey Kong
- Olimar
- Koopa Troopa
- Wario (unlockable)
- Isabelle (unlockable)
- Inkling (unlockable)
- Sonic (unlockable)
- Mii
There are a lot of other ideas I had, but I tried to pick the ones that were popular and defined Nintendo to a great degree. Some of the characters who I thought about putting in, however, will have their own minigames and/or boards along the way, because come on, it wouldn't be Nintendo without some of them! Included in this bunch will be the Ice Climbers, Mr. Game and Watch, and the Balloon Fighters, as well as some old enemies. There will also be stages and minigames for playable characters; they'll have stages in the same way SSB characters have stages.
Boards[]
As I said before, some of the characters will have their own stages, and still more will have their own boards, which is the idea of this section. Now, I'm forced to be selective about boards, because even Mario Party 9, latest installation in the series, has relatively few boards to speak of, topping off at 8. I suppose that's kind of a lot, but something as grandiose as Nintendo Party, which encompasses an entire gaming universe, has to have slightly more. Still, going overboard is the kind of thing that leads people to say, "What, are you stinking crazy? This could never be a game, look how much you have in it! It wouldn't fit on game consoles from a bajillion years from now!"
Relax, though, people. I'm going to try to limit the number to 10. I might go up to 12 if it's still not comprehensive enough, but I think it's workable.
Mushroom Kingdom[]
In case you were wondering, this is the stage representing the Mario universe; basically, it will be one to encompass the entirety of the locations of the series, similar to the overworld map of every game from Super Mario Bros. 3 to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Of course, there will be some special tricks in the Toad Houses, along with some wandering enemies who you have to fight if you land on a certain space. You may even be able to take a detour into space (Galaxy reference) under certain conditions, but you'll always finish back down on the main board.
The Kingdom of Hyrule[]
This would be the Legend of Zelda-themed stage, but as opposed to being limited to Castle Town and Hyrule Field, this board would start in Castle Town, then go through Hyrule Field, take a detour through Gerudo Desert, travel up Zora's River and then spiral through Zora's Domain, finally ending at the top of Death Mountain. This would be the most massive board in the game as well.
Dream Land[]
Dream Land, obviously Kirby's stage, would be somewhat similar in nature to The Kingdom of Hyrule in that the nature of the board would change slightly with all of the worlds traveled through. Sometimes you'll run into minigames involving certain enemies or themes that are best associated with the environment, as in, more underwater minigames in Orange (or Onion) Ocean. Regardless, this would be a fun an all-around whimsical stage, like the Mario one.
Skyworld[]
This would be the stage influenced by what Kid Icarus games there are, taking both the four worlds from the original Kid Icarus, as well as from the overworld of Pit's stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and some environments from Kid Icarus: Uprising. The board would begin in Skyworld, then dip into the Underworld, and come back out. However, that's just what I have in mind so far.
The F-Zero Tournament[]
This would definitely be the most interesting stage in the game. In case you can't already tell, it is the F-Zero theme stage, and what's so different about it is that periodically, this somewhat straightforward and short board can completely change up to a different track from one of the F-Zero games, with completely different spaces, among other things. This change would be completely random, so you can't have a definite idea of what the track would be like and what to expect. Because of this, this track would also be the most challenging to play on, and meant for a higher caliber of player.
Onett[]
Onett would be somewhat similar to Tycoon Town from Mario Party 8 in that it would involve traveling about a city though different means of transportation. However, the town would probably be slightly larger, and on occasion it would be attacked by enemies from the EarthBound games. Also, it would be possible to access secret routes on the board that lead into special caves, where the player(s) can travel across special miniature boards.
Planet Zebes[]
Planet Zebes would be similar in some respects to the Hyrule stage in that all the most well-known territories of the planet (such as Brinstar, Norfair, Maridia, etc.) would all be parts of the board. It would be possible for one or all of the players to use a teleportation pad on some part of each territory to get into one of the others, and if the players are playing as individuals, it would be possible for them to be in different areas simultaneously. Plus, because of the radical differences in conditions across these many areas, there would be appropriate hazards that add a greater element of chance to the game.
Unova[]
Unova will be the stage from the Pokemon universe, and will incorporate the most famous elements of the video games. It will be of a certain Tycoon Town nature in that various Unova gym leaders will affect the player's success in the game. Coming upon a gym will lead to a special minigame in which the player who triggered the gym must battle the leader of that particular gym. Defeat will cause some form of loss for the player, and Victory will provide an advantage. Also, wandering near certain areas on the board will sometimes cause specific Pokémon to affect the player; for example, a water Pokémon might wash the player onto another part of the board.
Corneria[]
Corneria would probably be the largest board in the game in terms of actual amount of spaces, because all of its representations in the games, it is a large city with many roads, bridges, and pyramids. As a series feature, the board would also feature flying Arwings and Landmasters doing battle on occasion, which could affect both the board and players in ways such as hitting the players or breaking/altering parts of the board.
DK Island[]
DK Island would be a board based partially on DK Island from the older Donkey Kong titles, but mostly on the newer ones. The structure of the island would be regions like the jungle, beach, ruins, cave, and most importantly the volcano from Donkey Kong Country Returns. The unique aspect of the stage, however, would be the fact that the board will go both around the island and up along the volcano. This would make room for a large amount of alternate paths.
Pikmin Planet[]
Pikmin Planet would be somewhat similar to Corneria, because the most important stage element will be the Pikmin themselves. Landing on certain special spaces will cause the Pikmin to alter the board in some way, either by changing the board itself, changing certain spaces to other types of spaces, etc. Also, due to the jungle-like nature of the planet, certain of the natural elements, such as water, will affect the gameplay as well. This board will also have many twists and turns in the shape of the board, to reflect the rather zany construct of the planet in the actual Pikmin games.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay would be much the same as the recent Mario Party titles, but it would also serve long-time fans in that it would incorporate unique board elements from games like Mario Party 2. The minigames would also be more complicated and would require more finesse than some of the recent games.
Gameplay Modes[]
The main game would be divided into Solo and Party modes, which are essentially just singleplayer and multiplayer, respectively. However, it would go to a deeper level in terms of gameplay in that it would feature two options for formats: it can be played Tour style, where all players progress straight across the board as a unit, or in Classic style, where all players are separate and move about an open board. As such, each board in the game will have two variations, depending on which style you decide to play in. This would only apply to the Wii and Wii U version, and the amount of boards might be limited in the Wii version to make room.
Minigames[]
The in-game minigames would reflect the concept of the game itself, because it would be a mix of minigames based on various Nintendo franchises. Now, it would be incredibly difficult and unnecessarily time-consuming to come up with a full list of minigames, so I'll list a few samples to show you what I mean.
- Crazy Climb - This minigame would be based on the Mario series, and would have the same appearance as the games in the New Super Mario Bros. series. The idea of this game is similar to "Platform Peril" from Mario Party 2, but it's also inspired by Bit Trip Runner. It consists of a series of platforms and obstacles that must be dodged in order to progress. The overall direction of the platforming would be upward, and players are eliminated if they run into an obstacle. The screen also scrolls faster and faster as time goes on, making it necessary ro have fast reflexes and precise timing to come in first.
- Duel from a Distance - This minigame would be based on the Zelda series, and all players are set on horseback, equipped with bows and arrows. The idea is to control your horse (with the left joysick in on a Wii U controller or Wii controller and gamepad on 3DS) and aim your bow (with the gyro camera on Wii U and 3DS and the pointer for a Wii controller) to ultimately knock your opponents off their horses by hitting them three times. CPU enemies and hazards will also intervene from time to time, to spice things up.
- Dropping like a Rock - This minigame is based on the Kirby series; all of the players use the Sonte power-up (from various games in the series) to fall quickly from an extremely high height. The players must avoid various obstacles in the sky along the way that can potentially interrupt the players path, slow them down, or even get them stuck, forcing them to take the time to free themselves. The first one to reach the ground wins the minigame.
- Gotta Catch One! - This minigame is based on the Pokemon series, and is a reference to the numerous random encounters with wild Pokémon from various games as a result of running through fields of tall grass. The object of the game is to run through a massive field of tall grass and track down one single Pokémon hiding in the field. The Pokémon will occasionally indicate its presence by jostling some of the grass, and the first player to get close and catch it is the winner!
So hopefully this should give you an idea of what the minigames in Nintendo Party would like; they're all based on one of the Nintendo universes in some way, but also take strong inspiration of the concise, fast-paced minigames that the Mario Party franchise is known for. Some minigames might also be based on retro Nintendo games like Balloon Fight or Dig Dug to add plenty of variety in the gameplay.