Nintendo
Super Mario Party Jamboree from developer Nintendo Cube hopes to combine the best features of prior entries in the beloved series to give the players something special.
The Mario Party series, for those keeping track, is now in double-digit entries across its lifespan, and Jamboree is the third entry on the Nintendo Switch, the most recent being 2021’s Mario Party Superstars.
Jamboree is the biggest offering in the series to date and pushes the series forward in interesting ways. There’s a newfound versatility in the controls, some interesting blends of ideas from other Nintendo games for online and multiplayer offerings, and—of course—a mind-bogglingly huge number of minigames to enjoy.
Set up like that, it’s no wonder Jamboree might just be the most anticipated entry in the series to date.
Jamboree has that expected Nintendo and Mario flair that just makes it captivating to watch in motion.
Each of the seven different boards is varied and colorful and features some impressive depth to their detail, whether it’s the expressiveness of characters or depth to the backgrounds that make things just feel bigger and grander than a board-based minigame offering has any right to feel.
Goomba Lagoon is one of the new offerings, and, as expected, it loops in a ton of detail that fits the theme and makes it as memorable as any of the returning favorites from past entries.
The above applies to sound design too, with the tried-and-true voiceovers hitting home well and some detailed audio specific to certain minigames really fleshing out the experience in a fun way.
Veteran Mario Party players know the drill—and that the tried-and-true formula has withstood the test of time for a reason. Up to four players navigate those boards before partaking in minigames each turn, with dice rolls and all sorts of strategic decisions to be made and goofy fun to be had.
There are environmental objects to contend with on the boards, too, that often ask the player to make interesting strategic decisions. Go around or over an obstacle, or find an item that forces it to move?
So, so many minigames liven up the experience. Not to get cliche, but the something for everyone adage applies. There’s a co-op minigame where players try to cut a giant steak together. There’s jumping-based games, homages to iconic things like Indiana Jones and a game where sandwiches that squash characters fall from the sky. How about more? Cooking minigames, whack-a-mole, it goes on and on in the best way possible.
One new mechanic includes discovering a Dice Block, which can award a Jamboree Buddy. This is a fun mixup to the usual Mario Party affair, potentially giving players game-shifting powers such as super jumps or stealing from other players on the board.
Players must reach the Jamboree Buddy on the board itself, then play a minigame to see if said buddy will actually be an ally. It’s a fun little wrinkle for veteran players and fits seamlessly into the typical Mario Party experience.
Motion control minigames, as is the case with anything with motion controls since the Wii days, will be polarizing for players. The Rhythm Kitchen minigame is the best example. It’s great fun, but swinging, flipping, and other motions with a controller in a kitchen reality-show-styled situation just won’t be for everyone.
Even if players aren’t in love with certain minigames, there’s so many that the ones they dislike won’t necessarily pop up often. And the overarching marriage of presentation and fun gameplay is present across all of them that even the not-so-great ones are pretty easy to endure.
Proclaimed as the biggest Mario Party game yet, Jamboree boasts more than 100 minigames.
Beyond the general Mario party mode, there is Minigame Bay.
Minigame Bay is aptly named and offers bite-sized experiences such as two-on-two encounters. It also includes daily challenges, modernizing the Mario Party experience a bit and moving it just a hair closer to what live-service games offer these days in the name of replayability.
New online multiplayer modes push Nintendo further into the online realm and thankfully, the execution is stellar despite the company’s struggles with online functionality over the years.
Tops here are 20-player races dubbed a Koopathlon. This sort of swaps out a board for a Mario Kart-like “race” around a track where players make progress by competing against each other in minigames. One of the tricks, though, is that repeated minigames can go up in difficulty each attempt.
Online doesn’t have to be player vs. player all the time, though. Players can also head online for a fun co-op mode with up to eight total players called Kaboom Squad.
At surface level, the game simply has players racing around a board, avoiding a giant Bowser while loading ammo into a cannon that will damage him. But between those board romps are minigames that, if successful, offer buffs and bonuses to players on the board.
It’s impressive how both of these modes innovate and push Mario Party forward, while also giving two different experiences that fit so well within the format. It’s also encouraging to think that these are guaranteed successes and where Mario Party might go in the future as a result.
Jamboree launches with an extensive suite of options, including the ability to just turn motion controls off in favor of normal button prompts. Given how good the game looks, it’s nice to see that the performance is really good, too.
Jamboree is a smash hit, mostly because it takes the best of the prior two entries in the series and mashes them together in a way that blatantly listens to what players want from a Mario Party.
The seven boards, fresh gameplay wrinkles and the ability to tweak the controls are critical parts of the recipe. So, too, are the 100-plus minigames that are just plain fun.
Arguably most important, though, is how Jamboree’s foray into bringing Mario Party into the online realm is just fantastically well done, co-op or otherwise. As mentioned, it’s fun now, but even better to think about where Mario Party might go next.
A fun family-based romp with surprising depth, Jamboree is one of those rare games that belongs in every Switch library out there, as it’s the best Mario Party in more than a decade and, more important than anything, smile-inducing fun.
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