New Super Mario Bros./Minigames

Engage in a set of stylus driven mini-games with 1-4 people. When playing with other people, only one game card is needed (although each player must have a DS). The games you can play depend on the number of players. There are 5 categories of minigames, each representing a different style of play. The catagories are: Action (Games based on skill with the stylus), Puzzle (Games based on intelligent thought), Table (Games based mostly on luck), Variety (Games that do not fit in other genres, not a genre in 2-player) and 1-on-1 (Games where you actions affect the other player, and vice-versa. 2-player only).

Some of the 1-player games are exactly the same as those in Super Mario 64 DS.

The mini-games themselves, grouped by genre, are:

Snowball Slalom

 * Get Snowman's head through an icy course, avoiding rocks and giant penguins along the way.
 * Rub the touch screen to make Snowman's head move. Do not touch his head, as this will slow you down. As you move, the head will get bigger, making it harder to avoid obstacles and increasing your speed.
 * Moving is more efficient if you stroke the touch screen like you might do to a cat rather than rubbing it like you might do to a dog. Either way, do it quickly for best results.
 * Hitting a rock or penguin will make you smaller (good) and stop you in your tracks (bad). Avoid them!
 * You can rebound off the wall of the course with no ill effects, this can be handy in some situations.
 * You only have 20 seconds to finish this game.

Lakitu Launch

 * Shoot as many Spinies as you can into the baskets.
 * Once a certain number of Spinies have been shot in a basket, the basket will stop moving and fall a bit, doing this again will make it plummet to the ground.
 * This can be both good and bad.
 * There is no countdown to the start of this game.
 * You have 30 seconds to fling Spinies into the bucket.
 * In two player mode, each of the baskets is a different colour, fling the Spinies only in your basket, or they will give your opponent score.

Danger, Bob-omb! Danger!

 * Avoid fireballs and Bowser's breath for as long as possible.
 * Move your Bomb-omb using the stylus.
 * While it is possible to achieve a decent score simply by tapping where you want to go, it is much easier to simply hold your stylus on the
 * The statue of Bowser will periodically move and breath fire, beware, the flame itself is not hard to avoid but it can pin you to one side.
 * Fireballs move slowly, but can be hard to see and they are very numerous.
 * In multiplayer, bumping your foe will not affect him, but it will affect you.
 * Use this to your advantage by blocking your opponent.

Whack-a-Monty

 * Whack moles as they come out of their holes using the stylus. Don't hit Luigi though.
 * While hitting a mole gives 1 point, whacking Luigi will take 3 away. Be careful.
 * In multiplayer, there are 3 levels of difficulty. The higher the difficulty, the less moles there will be, and, as a result, more Luigis.

Balloon Racing

 * Blow into the microphone to make Yoshi rise. Get to the top before time runs out!
 * You have 20 seconds to finish this game.
 * Running into a Fly Guy will cause you lose a balloon.
 * You only have 2 balloons, so if you get hit twice you lose.

Snowball Fight

 * Hurl snowballs at each other! Highest scorer wins!
 * Tapping the top of the will throw a snowball, while tapping the bottom will cause you to move to that point.
 * Around the playing field are snowmen, ducking behind one of these will provide temporary cover.
 * You have 10 snowballs, fling these rapidly for best results.
 * If you run out of snowballs, tap a snowman (or the remains of one) to get a new batch.
 * Hitting your opponent will yield 5 points, while hitting a snowman gives 1.
 * Not available in single player.