Play Mario Party DS (v01) (EU)(BAHAMUT) Online

Mario Party DS came out in 2007 for the Nintendo DS, developed and published by Nintendo. It was one of those games that felt perfectly suited for the handheld, a pocket-sized version of the console party experience you could take anywhere. It arrived during the DS's peak, a time when local multiplayer felt fresh and inventive, especially with the system's unique hardware features.

You control one of several Mario series characters, moving around themed game boards by rolling virtual dice. The main goal is to collect more stars than your opponents, which you buy from a roaming character named Toad. Key mechanics include using special items to block paths or steal coins, and competing in a wide variety of mini-games that make full use of the hardware; you might be blowing into the microphone to inflate a balloon or quickly scribbling on the touchscreen to solve a puzzle. The pacing is brisk, with turns moving quickly and mini-games breaking up the board action, though the CPU opponents can be surprisingly sharp on higher difficulties. It feels like a compact, frantic party that thrives on unpredictable moments and quick thinking.