Mario Party is one of those game franchises that you either love or hate. What makes it so polarising is the reliance on occasionally uneven mini-games, and board games that take a really long time to complete.
For many, many years I hated Mario Party games with a fiery passion, and I always dreaded reviewing them. That is, until Mario Party Superstars came out in 2021 and became an instant classic in our household. “Ready? Yeah!” became our motivating phrase. It came out during lockdown, and we got to the point of playing through a full game each day. It addressed almost all the issues I had with previous games, and being in lockdown meant that I had fewer time constraints.
So, I went into Super Mario Party Jamboree with high hopes. It doesn’t capture the magic of Superstars, but that would have been an impossible ask since that was the right game at the right time. I think some design choices put Jamboree a step down from Superstars, but it’s still a solid game for Mario Party fans and newcomers alike.
My first impression of Mario Party Jamboree was that it was very similar to Mario Party Superstars, but bigger, and more refined. Other than its bigger scale, Jamboree also feels more laid-back than Superstars. Even the characters and voiceovers seem less enthusiastic, reflecting this more relaxed vibe. The intention here is clearly to have fun, but in a Sunday afternoon on the couch way, which strikes a nice tone.
Game boards
There are seven boards in total in Mario Party Jamboree, making it the biggest Mario Party game since the original. Five boards are brand new, and two are remakes.
My favourites were the chaotic Roll ‘Em Raceway and the three-level mall, Rainbow Galleria, because there were so many extra things going on that kept it fresh. Collecting stamps and navigating the mall’s multiple levels meant that things were interesting throughout the whole game. The Wiggler board is the best place to start for newbies, but it doesn’t have a lot to offer more seasoned fans.
One thing I really liked about the new game boards this year is that instead of just showing the player going first, second, etc. and then mini-games, there is a little progress bar down the bottom showing the next few actions. It means you always know what’s coming next, which is nice.
Thankfully, there are now two different rules versions, Party Rules and Pro Rules. The regular Party Rules keep to the old style of randomly giving out stars at the end of the game for arbitrary secret reasons, evening the playing field and occasionally making for a surprise winner. I hate Party Rules because it can feel unfair for someone else to win at the end for achieving something that wasn’t set out at the beginning.
Meanwhile, the Pro rules state the goals from the beginning, making the game seem a bit fairer. The default rules are better if you’re playing with little kids, but Pro is better for everyone else.
Mini-games
Of course, as well as slowly rolling a die from 1-10 to move around a board, mini-games are at the heart of Mario Party. Many of them showcase the features of the Joy-Con and take advantage of all their sensors. Some of the mini-games were created with the assistance of what I can only assume were powerful hallucinogenics.
You, of course, get a mini-game in the Mario Party board games every round, but if you just want mini-games, there are multiple modes that will allow you to just go ham.
With over 110 mini-games, this is the most mini-games of any Mario Party game, though many of them are just variations on a theme.
There really is something for everyone, though, and allowing players to each vote for their preferred mini-game when the opportunity comes up at least makes it feel like you have control of your destiny.
Making some Jamboree buddies
Superstars had allies and Jamboree has Jamboree Buddies; here it’s all about getting a little buddy to boost your numbers for three turns.
Once or twice during a game, you can claim a Jamboree Buddy by landing on a certain space on the board. Once you land on the space, all four players duke it out in a series of mini-games to see who gets to claim the buddy for themselves. The person who landed on the space gets a meaningful advantage, but it’s still anyone’s game.
Each buddy gives a different form of aid, like boosting your dice roll or pickpocketing other players you pass.
The only problem is that if another player passes you, they take your buddy, which means that buddies aren’t really all that much fun if you’re all bunched together. It would be better if you had to do a duel or something to claim ownership of the buddy, because otherwise it all just feels a bit unsatisfying.
Hurry up and take your turn
Aside from disappointment with how the Jamboree Buddy system works, there were a couple of other things that I didn’t love.
For starters, there needs to be a way to replace a player character with a computer character if someone has to leave the party early. These games go on for a long time, after all. Games can last over two hours, and so if the game goes on a bit long and someone has to leave, for whatever reason, you either have to abandon the whole game, or have one person playing two characters. This would be such an easy fix, and I’m surprised it’s not a thing.
Computer characters should also have a setting where their turn moves even faster to save time. There is currently a speed-up setting for them, but it needs to be faster. I understand that the game has to have four players to work, but it gets boring when two human players have to sit through two computer players dawdling through their turns, for example.
Having a couple of half-hour boards would be another really nice touch. Yes, you can just play the mini-games if you want something quicker, but surely it’s possible to make a quick board. People have been asking for this for years.
Who is Super Mario Party Jamboree for?
Super Mario Party Jamboree is aimed pretty squarely at Mario Party fans. There are more than enough new features and tweaks that seem to be based on player feedback to satisfy longtime fans. Jamboree might not be the best Mario Party game of all time, but it is damn good and is certainly the biggest. Sometimes, that’s enough.
For everyone else, it really depends on how much patience you have, and whether you like digital board games that take a long time. It’s the perfect activity for some families and friendship groups. For others, it will lead to divorce. Choose wisely.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is out now on the Nintendo Switch. Read more gaming reviews on GadgetGuy.
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