Blair Loveday
There are too many Nintendo series that don’t have enough entries on Switch… I am looking at you Mario Kart.
Well, Mario Party isn’t one of them. With Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars already making their way to the Switch the question is, is there space for a third one?
Nintendo seem to think so and has just released Super Mario Party Jamboree, and yea, there is justification for a third.
If you haven’t played a Mario Party game before, the main way to play is via a board game.
Each player rolls a dice and moves a bunch of spaces around the board. Your goal is to collect the stars that scatter the board. But it can’t be that simple right? Of course not, you don’t just have to be first to the star, you also have to have enough stars to claim it. So how do you get stars I hear you ask? Well there are a few ways, but the main way is to win mini-games.
And this is the main point of the whole game. The mini-games are all kinds of silliness, but are consistently fun. You may be slicing up pieces of meat to get the closest to a 50/50 split or you may have to deal with sandwiches that are falling and have to platform on the landed sandwiches before you get squashed. But they aren’t all food based. Maybe you have to navigate along a winding path without being pushed off the edge by a bunch of moving logs.
Now I am not going to go through every mini-game, because there are over 100 of them, but these simple albeit fun mini-games are what makes Super Mario Party Jamboree worth playing. They utilize the joycons to make it an essential Switch experience.
There are heaps of ways to play if you aren’t feeling the board game.
You can visit themed islands or there are modes which have you smashing a handful of games to beat 20 players to get the most coins. Here you also go up against an imposter Bowser, because why not. There is even an 8 player mode where you have to take down this giant imposter Bowser. You can play single player, including a single player mode which is a glorified tutorial, or any modes against bots. If other people are your jam there is a very competent online mode as well.
But the best way to play any Mario Party is on the couch with your friends or family. Super Mario Jamboree is no exception here. Whether it’s you and a few friends with some beers, or soda if you’re under 18, or with your family, it’s so much fun to play. Watching your family navigate the challenges of motion controls while you try to do the same to claim that important star is just pure fun.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is an excellent Mario Party game. Heaps of mini-games new and old, heaps of boards to play on, and heaps of fun. Whether you’re a long time fan, or new to the series, there is heaps of awesome to enjoy here.
Released: October 2024
Rating: G
Platforms reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Mini-games
Developer: Nintendo Cube
Publisher: Nintendo