Super Mario Party Jamboree – Review
The last Mario Party entry already dates back from 2021, and it was actually not really a brand-new title in the series. Mario Party Superstars offered a collection of older mini-games and boards, and thanks to this, it was a fun blast from the past. Even so, rough edges were clearly visible, and we even noticed somewhat dated elements under the game’s shiny new hood. Now, a completely new installment in the series has been released, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever. Super Mario Party Jamboree adds new boards and mechanics to the mix, but also a plethora of new modes to ensure more replay value. We managed to keep most of our friendships intact when we found ourselves stealing coins and stars from one another while reviewing this title. It’s already quite easy to say we had a blast with this one.
Story
While there is an extremely basic story in Super Mario Party Jamboree, you won’t really be playing this title for its narrative value. You’ll basically play through all the mini-games in this mode while exploring some of the game’s different boards. It’s a fun mode if you’re playing solo, as it also rewards you with new decorations for the game’s hub area.
Graphics
The Mario Party games have always looked good on their respective platforms, and Super Mario Party Jamboree is no exception here. The game is extremely colorful, the (new) characters look amazing, and the different boards all have fun and attractive themes. We loved exploring every nook and cranny of each board, and we were always curious to see what event we would trigger when ending up on specific tiles. The mini-games all follow the same layout as in other titles, where some take place in a top-down perspective, others in third-person-like view, and others even in first-person. We were rather impressed with the backdrops in many of the mini-games, as the developers clearly did more than just make the game itself look attractive, they also built a pretty set for each of these bite-sized events. This is certainly the prettiest Mario Party title to date. This sentiment also spread to all the other available modes in Super Mario Party Jamboree.
Sound
All in all, the sound design is great. The background music is upbeat, and fitting for the different events, mini-games, boards, and so on. While most tunes won’t exactly get stuck in your head like other more iconic Mario Bros tunes, the music still got us in the mood to play some party games (or destroy some friendships). The SFX are also quite decent, and many recognizable sound effects from the franchise were once again present. There is no real voice acting, which we found a missed opportunity for the small introduction to the game and its short story-like explanations for the single-player mode.
Gameplay
In essence, Super Mario Party Jamboree follows the same format as other games in the series, where the meat of the experience can be found when playing the traditional boards with other players. Here you’ll once again roll each turn to see how many spaces you can move, you may find yourself triggering events, or perhaps you can buy items and eventually play a mini-game against each other at the end of each turn. It’s straightforward stuff, and Super Mario Party Jamboree doesn’t fail to entertain here. The new boards are fun to play through, and there is enough variation to make sure all of the boards have their own charm and unique mechanics. When playing against AI opponents, things feel a bit off as usual, but that’s just basically part of the Mario Party experience. The new addition here is of course the Jamboree buddy, who will accompany a player who manages to win in a series of mini-games this character unlocks. Upon doing so, the player will receive Jamboree-buddy-specific advantages, such as purchasing multiple items or a second star.
Outside of the regular party game mode, you’ll also find Minigame Bay, Koopathlon, Bowser Kaboom Squad, Paratroopa Flight School, Toad’s Item Factory, Rhythm Kitchen, and the Party-Planner Trek. Most of these modes involve playing regular mini-games, albeit with a twist. In Koopathlon, you’ll play through mini-games where you collect coins, moving you spaces on a board until you have done three laps. Bowser Kaboom Squad revolves around taking down Impostor Bowser with other players, by shooting cannonballs at him. The Paratroopa Flight School is a motion-control-dedicated mode where you’ll fly around bringing other characters to their destination. Toad’s Item Factory is another mode that relies on motion controls in order to guide a ball to the end of a track by moving platforms up and down, or activating other items. Rhythm Kitchen is another mode where motion controls are key, as you’ll have to slice, dice, and prepare food with your Joy-Con to the rhythm of the beat. Last but not least, the Party-Planner Trek is a single-player mode in which you’ll play mini-games against AI opponents while exploring different boards. When winning, you’ll get rewards and new cosmetics to decorate the Party Plaza, the game’s hub. These explanations are perhaps the bare minimum of what you can expect, but otherwise, we’d be filling pages upon pages with these modes’ finer mechanics.
While most players will probably stick to playing the traditional boards when playing with friends, the online features and the additional modes do add a bit of much-needed variety to the mix. In the past, many of the Mario Party games were fun to boot up on occasion, but the addition of the competitive online modes creates a bigger incentive to play a few daily rounds of some of the shorter modes. Some of the aforementioned modes only take about ten to fifteen minutes to beat, making it great to make some progress, even during a busy day. Everything you do in the game also awards you points and medals, which in turn will unlock more content and stock in the stores on the Party Plaza.
Now, the actual mini-games are more of what we’ve come to love (or hate) from the Mario Party series. There is enough variety here as well to make sure it takes a while before you’ve seen all the mini-games has to offer. There are also options to turn off motion-controlled mini-games if you’d prefer that, or if you are playing in handheld mode or via a Pro Controller. There are more than enough options to cater the game to your preferences.
Conclusion
Super Mario Party Jamboree might just be one of the best games in the entire series. While many older Mario Party games do have that nostalgia factor, what Super Mario Party Jamboree offers is a lot more content, more variety, and as a whole, a very polished experience. While the AI opponents are still dodgy and feel like they tend to cheat outright at times, this is a title that will offer you hours upon hours of fun content. The online modes are the icing on the cake, and as a whole, the asking price feels extremely fair for this new Mario Party adventure.
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