Mario Party 8

Mario Party 8 was the Star Battle at the Star Carnival held by MC Ballyhoo and Big Top.

History
The Star Carnival has rolled into the Mushroom Kingdom, and with it the main event: the Star Battle. The person that's able to collect the most Power Stars is crowned the Superstar and wins a year's worth of candy. MC Ballyhoo, the Master of Catastrophe, is one of the guides of this carnival, the other one being Big Top.

The Star Battle took place over five boards; DK's Treetop Temple, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, King Boo's Ghost Hideaway, Shy Guy's Perplex Express, and Koopa's Tycoon Town. One partygoer won five consecutive times and was crowned the Star Carnival's Superstar, along with winning the real prize: the Star Rod.

The ceremony is then interrupted by Bowser, deeming himself as the one and only Superstar, and thus deserving of the Star Rod. He retreats with the Star Rod into his evil space lair: Bowser's Warped Orbit. After winning against Bowser's henchman, a Hammer Bro. or Blooper, Bowser relinquishes the Star Rod but then wants to duke it out against the Superstar in a final showdown in the depths of space.

Safely returning back to the Star Battle Arena as the victor, the Superstar both wins the Star Rod and a year's worth of candy.

Timeline

 * Donkey Kong Island appears, with no sign of the Tiki Tak Tribe, likely placing this game before Donkey Kong Country Returns.
 * Vincent Van Gore’s painted ghosts appear in the Minigame “Spectre Inspector”, placing this game after Luigi’s Mansion.
 * Candy from this game seems to have similar properties to paint in Super Mario Sunshine, likely placing this game after the events of Super Mario Sunshine.
 * The face of the Bowser’s Bad-Breath Express is identical to the face of Bowser’s Koopa King kart, and Donkey Kong’s Barrel Train highly resembles Donkey Kong’s Barrel Train kart, possibly placing this game after the events of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.
 * King Boo appears, placing this title before he is recaptured in Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon.
 * There is no sign of the Koopa Kids, likely placing this title after previous Mario Parties which the Koopa Kids appeared in.
 * The Minigame “Swing Kings” is based on baseball, possibly placing Mario Party 8 close to Mario Super Sluggers.
 * On Bowser’s Warped Orbit, Bowser enforces a game in which every player starts 5 Stars and must try to steal stars from one-another. He may have been inspired by a very similar rule from Mario Party 6’s Snowflake Lake and Mario Party 7’s Pyramid Park, likely placing this game after those titles.
 * This game features Peach’s Castle in its design from Super Mario 64, likely placing it prior to games featuring newer designs.