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Mario Party Superstars graced us with its presence on the Nintendo Switch in 2021 and while I still have some very fond memories of playing it, it felt like a greatest hits collection of boards from previous Mario Party games. It was an excellent game to play with friends or family and I expected more of the same from Super Mario Party Jamboree.
Needless to say that my expectations were met and exceeded this time around with Nintendo once again delivering an incredible Mario Party title. Super Mario Party Jamboree is quite literally bursting at the seams with the sheer amount of content it has. If you haven’t played a Mario Party game before, this is a title that will hook you and reel you in with its fun mini-games and competitive gameplay.
Super Mario Party Jamboree features 5 game boards with each board featuring a new “Gimmick” that spices things up. As an example, Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party board features a mega Wiggler which moves around as you progress through the gameboard. This changes things up somewhat and the other boards have similar mechanics which will affect you and your opponents.
The core premise of Mario Party is quite straightforward. It’s a board game where you roll a dice, get a number and move along the game board titles. Landing on a specific tile might have a specific effect such as being able to purchase something from a shop or obtain coins or grab a star and more. On top of this, you will then trigger mini-games to play either with your opponents or against them depending on which mini-game gets triggered.
The core premise of Mario Party is quite straightforward. It’s a board game where you roll a dice, get a number and move along the game board titles.
Super Mario Party Jamboree excels at its mini-games. There’s 110 mini-games in total and discovering them as you play is one of the best parts about the game. There’s no telling what mini-game you’re gonna get and when you do get one, it can sometimes be a frantic rush to quickly get to grips with the controls and defeat your opponents. Couple this with friends or family and it’s a recipe for success (Or disaster if your opponents are hyper competitive!). It’s all fun and games though and Super Mario Party Jamboree’s light-hearted whimsical nature really shines through. This is a game about having as much fun as possible with your opponents and you can’t help but smile at some of the mini-games and the character interactions throughout.
Super Mario Party Jamboree features a couple of islands and an overarching world map that’s easily accessible. The main Mario party game is supplemented with other modes where you can play mini-games in Minigame Bay or take on some tough challenges against a gigantic imposter Bowser which might be a tad much for more casual gamers. The “Party Plaza” is quite customisable and the game features a progression system where you’ll continuously unlock new content as you play it and rack up points.
New to Jamboree is the introduction of a “Jamboree buddy”. These are characters that you will encounter that will help you on the gameboard by having a special effect. Recruiting them to help you can net you a victory because of their abilities so it’s quite worthwhile getting to them and getting them on board for your team.
Graphically, Super Mario Party Jamboree is fantastic and truly something I was not expecting. The attention to detail that Nintendo has paid to this game rivals some of their triple-A big name Mario games too and the animations are top notch throughout. The game looks great and so do the character models and flashy effects.
Graphically, Super Mario Party Jamboree is fantastic and truly something I was not expecting.
The soundtrack of Super Mario Party Jamboree is also a joy to listen to and in typical Nintendo fashion has some great themes. While there isn’t a lot of voice acting as expected of a Mario game, the tiny tidbits that characters do speak is done very well and will net you a few laughs in a party game setting with friends or family for sure.
Super Mario Party Jamboree also features a single-player campaign story mode of sorts which serves its purpose but the core gameplay is specifically designed around playing with friends or family. The solo mode is more for practice against CPU opponents so that you can crush your real-life opponents with your experience gained from playing the mini-games. If you’re the type that’s gotta win at any cost, play the solo mode first!
While the game is featured around multiplayer, a minor gripe that I do have with it lies with the fact that an entire game board will take you around 90 minutes to get through. This is quite a time commitment and given how not everyone has that kind of free time available for playing games with friends, if you do set up a Mario Party event, be cognisant of this fact otherwise you’re going to have to abandon your game halfway if people get tired. The same goes for playing this title online against others.
And speaking of getting tired. Given the fact that players will be using the detached Nintendo Switch JoyCons quite extensively for the mini-games, some of them can be quite a workout for your arms. The chopping mini-game for example will have you slicing away at vegetables in a rhythmic fashion and this can be quite tiring.
While the game is featured around multiplayer, a minor gripe that I do have with it lies with the fact that an entire game board will take you around 90 minutes to get through.
Another minor gripe that I have also lies with the fact that you can’t really play the game with the JoyCon controllers attached to the Nintendo Switch. So this isn’t really a title that can be played on the go or while travelling unless you detach the controllers and prop up your Nintendo Switch screen against something and have enough space to move around.
Overall, Super Mario Party Jamboree is an extremely fun title that is best played with friends or family. It’s Mario Party at its finest and the sheer amount of fun, enjoyable mini-games makes this a title that will be a hit with its subset of Mario fans. There’s a tonne of things to unlock and so much content here that you’ll be spending a lot of time getting through everything. Super Mario Party Jamboree comes highly recommended from me if you want a solid, fun-filled, wholesome party game to play with friends and family.
*Nintendo Switch Review code provided by Nintendo
8.5
Tonnes of content!
Super fun mini-games
Great visuals
Single player story mode
Jamboree Buddies
Game boards can take you 90 minutes or longer to complete
Can’t really play the game with the JoyCons attached
Very niche party game audience
Some challenges can be quite difficult for more casual gamers