Super Mario Party Jamboree review: the party don't start till I wahhh in

Super Mario Party Jamboree is possibly the biggest Mario Party game we’ve ever gotten, and it simply doesn’t stop until everyone has gone home.

As someone who’s regularly attended Mario’s little shindigs, I was excited to see what Jamboree was bringing to the table. As far as the Nintendo Switch games are concerned, Super Mario Party wasn’t my cup of tea as it felt watered down and too simple compared to what came before, but I could appreciate it being a beginner-friendly title. Mario Party Superstars was more up my street, offering the cutthroat gameplay I knew and loved from the classic games.

Take a look at the trailer for Super Mario Party Jamboree below.

To my surprise, Super Mario Party Jamboree has achieved the best of both worlds. Whether you’ve been on the invitation list since 1998 or have just stumbled in as someone’s plus one, this entry has more than enough content for you.

The main event is obviously the Mario Party. After selecting your favourite character, now including Pauline and Ninji once you’ve “found” them, you’ll be able to pick from five boards, and unlock another two later. The rules are the same as they’ve always been, roll the dice, move around the board, collect stars and coins, and do a minigame when everyone’s had a turn.

Super Mario Party Jamboree improves upon its predecessor by delivering a more traditional Mario Party experience, whilst also throwing in a few “new” gimmicks here and there for good measure. Stars cost 20 coins, a Boo is on every board to steal coins/stars for you, Chance Time is back etc. Partners make a return from Super Mario Party, with a random character descending onto a board who needs to be won with a minigame to add to your team. Each character has their own dedicated minigame to play that’s indicative of them as a person, like Donkey Kong challenging you to a bongo sesh, Mario taking you through a gauntlet of three classic minigames, and Yoshi organising a Yoshi race for players to compete in. Winning the character allows you to perform an extra action on the board, like buying an extra star on a star space, and every character has an ability, like Wario rolling an extra dice to give you coins, and Bowser Jr placing a coin trap on every space you land on, so they’re worth competing for.

It’s a fantastic blend of the old and new formula, and that sentiment carries through to the boards themselves as well as the minigames on selection.

Nintendo

As I mentioned, five boards are available from the get-go, with two more being unlockable as you complete challenges in the game. Two are returning maps from the Nintendo 64 era, and the other five are brand-new and unique to Super Mario Party Jamboree. As any seasoned veteran of Mario Party will know, each board has a gimmick or obstacle to spice things up, like Rainbow Galleria being a shopping mall with flash sales on items, and Western Land having a train to get you round the board quicker, whilst also knocking anyone caught in its path back to the beginning. I loved the selection here, and while each board is given a star rating for difficulty, this more so applies to how complex the gimmick is, making every map perfectly fine to start with.

Super Mario Party Jamboree also delivers over 150 minigames, offering a mixture of button and motion controls, though you can turn motion controls off if you’d prefer. Again, we see some returning classics from previous games, but the new minigames are all fun in their own right. This is where the game could fall flat though, as despite there being over 150 to choose from, I seemed to be getting the same ones each time I played. During one game, I could have sworn I’d played the same basketball minigame about three times. I want to give the game the benefit of the doubt and blame it on bad luck, though it was noticeable, and a bit annoying since I wanted to see more variety.

During my time with the game, I played with three friends - which is the ideal way to play - but also with my partner, and by myself. If only two people are playing, God help the player stuck with the AI on the one vs three minigames, as they do next to nothing unless you dial their difficulty up to the higher levels. I found putting them on hard mode was the best all-around choice, as they actually put some thought into their moves and provided an actual challenge during minigames.

For the players who really want to test their mettle though, I’d recommend the Pro Rules mode, which gives every player an item at the start of the game, as well as changes other aspects to make things really competitive.

Nintendo

Super Mario Party Jamboree is also one of the few Mario Party games I’d consider fun to play by yourself, as there’s a wealth of content outside the parties themselves to get stuck into. From a rhythmic kitchen, to Toad’s factory, to a Paratrooper flight school that’s remarkably similar to Pilotwings 64, there’s a little something for all party sizes.

For solo players, Party-Planner Trek takes you behind-the-scenes to the set-up required for one of Mario’s raves. This sees the player traverse every board before it’s open for business, helping the shopkeepers get their inventory in order, helping a goomba find the key for his minigame, and challenging other party goers just for fun.

The game also leans heavily into online multiplayer modes, like Bowser Battle, where a group of players take on Imposter Bowser in a cannon battle, completing minigames for power-ups and abilities. My personal favourite was the Koopathlon, a high-speed race to complete laps of a track, where how you perform in the minigames determines how many spaces you move forward. This mode can be played with up to 20 players, so I’m looking forward to seeing what chaos unfolds when other players get their hands on the game.

All in all, I was blown away by the sheer amount of content crammed into Super Mario Party Jamboree. As someone who was a bit underwhelmed by Super Mario Party and desired more from Mario Party Superstars, this title feels like the best of both worlds and I’d be more than happy to see this become the formula used for future entries.

Nintendo

Super Mario Party Jamboree is an excellent party game for the Nintendo Switch, fit for any number of players even when you’re by yourself. The new modes, boards, minigames and mechanics all work together beautifully, with the cherry on top being you can play the majority of them online as well as locally. While it can often feel like you’re being dealt a bad hand with minigames or NPC helpers, one could argue that’s part of the chaos Mario Party games are best-known for, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide for yourself if it’s your vibe.

Pros: Classic Mario Party fun, new boards and minigames are welcome additions, a wealth of modes for all party sizes, balanced difficulty options for all skill levels

Cons: Minigames didn’t seem to be shuffled well at times

For fans of: Super Mario, party games

9/10: Exceptional

Super Mario Party Jamboree is due to be released on Nintendo Switch on 17 October. Review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.