Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Nintendo has been putting together Mario Party games for over 25 years. At this point, the publisher has the formula nailed down. Each iteration can take a few steps forward, but as long as nothing messes with the core idea, Mario Party is what it is. Super Mario Party Jamboree doesn't completely rock the boat, but it does feel like one of the most polished entries in the series yet. It's the kind of party that one goes to expecting a certain level of comfort and going home happy thanks to a few extra party guests and unexpected memories.
If anyone has played a Mario Party game, they likely know how this works by now. There's a massive game board set to a certain theme filled with different spaces and gimmicks. The idea is to roll enough spaces to get to a Star and collect the most Stars before the end of the game. Minigames are set between each turn, giving players a chance to earn enough coins to buy Stars or spend across various shops. The whole formula's a little more complicated, but that's the general gist.
While Jamboree is based on a long-lasting formula, the overall presentation feels like it's received a noticeable jumpstart from previous titles. The game features dozens of characters, each representing Mario's stable of friends and Bowser's minions. Even some previous party hosts like Toad and Bowser have joined the playable roster. What that means is that the Koopa king who's running around trying to ruin everybody's fun this time around is an Impostor Bowser. The reason for such a massive roster becomes clear with Jamboree's new game modes.
One of the big highlights of Jamboree is the selection of game boards, which are large enough to fit multiple shops, events, and other sources of random fun. Goomba Lagoon, for example, has players bouncing around between islands, but mixes things up by changing the ocean tide every few turns. King Bowser's Keep has Impostor Bowser flipping a switch on a conveyor belt to repeatedly send players in different directions. Mega Wiggler's Tree Party has a giant Wiggler in the center of the board that shifts positions when hitting event spaces.
What I truly love about these boards is that they feel more alive and active than past Mario Party efforts. The small details are what lift this game above its predecessors, whether it's Toads, Koopa Troopas, and penguins all going shopping on the Rainbow Galleria board, a small gathering of Bowser's minions having a picnic lunch on the Mega Wiggler's Tree Party board, or the Goombas (or Bloopers, depending on the ride) playing volleyball in Goomba Lagoon. It feels like a game board has been placed on an active world, as opposed to a static space being designated for a game board, if that makes sense.
There's a lot that happens in every board to ensure that everybody has a chance to win. In fact, that's one of the defining characteristics of Mario Party, for better or worse, fortunes can flip drastically at any time. To help push that idea forward is one of the franchise's most interesting additions in some time and that's the Jamboree Buddy. A character who isn't actively participating in a session will occasionally pop up on the board as a Jamboree Buddy. Certain Buddies will have specific functions, like Waluigi stealing coins from any players and Peach discounting Stars by half.
What's most interesting is that players with Buddies will perform every function twice. That means double coin spaces, double purchases from shops, and even double Stars, which can create insurmountable leads in some cases. This also goes the other way in that Bowser Spaces will also trigger twice when stopping on them with an ally. All of this leads to a more fun kind of chaos and a more controllable kind, as well, since it's possible to steal Buddies by simply walking past the player on the board.
Of course, those seeking outright anarchy and busted friendships can always hit the old reliable Chance Time space, though the number of these spaces is severely reduced. Those who want to dump them entirely can check out the new Pro Rules set, which make games about as streamlined and "fair" as a Mario Party session can possibly get.
The downside of all of this is that there's so much to do on every board that it takes time to experience everything. That's fine and all, but Mario Party sessions aren't short. The smallest session is 10 turns, which is estimated to take 90 minutes. Almost needless to say, it's not possible to see and experience everything on any of the boards in such a short playtime. However, upping the turn count to 15, 20, or 30 can make single sessions last hours. That's fine for roommates and families, but not everybody has that kind of time. At least progress can be saved, but long sessions can be a big ask sometimes.
With that said, there are more ways to experience Mario Party that don't take up so much time and still offer plenty of fun.
With seven boards and plenty to do on each one, Nintendo could have taken its foot off the gas and called it a day. Surprisingly, there's much more to do in Super Mario Party Jamboree, whether someone wants to play solo, play with three friends, or call in a larger gathering.
For smaller get-togethers, there are local co-op motion-controlled games that take the action away from the traditional Mario Party board. Paratroopa Flight School, Toad's Item Factory, and Rhythm Kitchen test teams' waggling skills in different ways. These are all quick and entertaining motion-controlled efforts that don't take longer than ten minutes each. They won't be anybody's go-to modes when booting this title, but their inclusion is a nice diversion from the typical Mario Party fiesta.
Minigame Bay is a good place to practice Jamboree's myriad of minigames. There are more than 110 to try out and these outings can be structured as quick competitive sessions against local friends, the online space, or versus the CPU. If that's not enough, Nintendo is opening the door to daily challenges and other competitive matches. The variety of ways to engage in this mode is appreciated, if nothing else, but this is where it's worth noting that not every minigame requiring motion control is particularly enjoyable. Some games feel outright unresponsive and more like a chore than anything else. Fortunately, motion control games can be disabled in both this mode and the traditional Mario Party mode as a whole.
Party-Planner Trek is the game's big single-player mode and it's honestly not very fun. Players run around each board without rolling dice, talking to characters, and going on multiple fetch quests. The idea is to collect Mini Stars for Kamek by helping the various denizens of every board. While it does feed into the concept of each board as a living world, the final result isn't very interesting.
Bowser Kaboom Squad is a fascinating inclusion in that it pits eight players (locally, online, or with CPU bots) in a cooperative clash against Impostor Bowser. The idea is to collect bombs from crates to blast at the giant phony before time runs out. Minigames in-between rounds help pick up the pace by giving each player different items, but while there's a thrill to this at first, it starts to wane by the final rounds. Something about Bowser's Kaboom Squad feels mundane, especially as time passes.
Koopathlon is Jamboree's boldest addition, pitting a player against 19 other characters in a race around a vast race course. As players collect coins in a specific set of minigames, they'll make greater progress around the course. Bowser games keep things slightly even by having Impostor Bowser send anyone who loses flying backward. As an online session against 19 other random players, this is one of the more enjoyable of the nontraditional Mario Party modes. It only suffers because only eight friends can enter a session at once. This would have been an ideal mode to introduce player lobbies or something that would allow for more friends to jump in.
One last thing to note is that Nintendo appears to be taking more steps to embrace online play. The only downside here is that 20-player lobbies aren't available for Koopathlon, but compared to what is available, that's a nitpick. The ability to connect with players for most of Jamboree's game modes is appreciated and makes this an easier party to attend than ever before.
Super Mario Party Jamboree disproves the idea that if you've seen one Mario Party game, you've seen them all. Nintendo went out of its way to create something heads-and-tails above what came before. It doesn't always work, but there are far more winners than participation trophies in this package. The Jamboree Buddies, in particular, make this the ideal way to play Mario Party. It'll still wreck friendships. At the end of the day, it is still Mario Party. But, now those friendships will be wrecked in a more interesting way.
This review is based on a Nintendo Switch code provided by the publisher. Super Mario Party Jamboree will release on Nintendo Switch on Thursday, October 17 for $59.99 USD. The game is rated E.