Super Mario Party Jamboree Review — Get The Party Started

The string of Mario Party games in recent years has divided fans, with many wanting a more authentic experience over an experimental one, as seen with the reception of the WiiU’s Mario Party 10. The newest title in the series, Super Mario Party Jamboree, will no doubt unite fans and bring in new ones as it is unafraid to deviate from the Mario Party formula while still retaining the excessive amount of fun the beloved titles can deliver.

Mario Party Jamboree’s roster includes the franchise’s staple cast, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Toad, and more. There are two additional characters to unlock through simple exploration on the hot air balloon. Who they are? I’ll leave that to you to discover. The roster feels safe, and I’d like to see them explore and branch out to other Nintendo franchises in future iterations.

The main mode players will be searching for is the Mario Party mode, which pits four players against each other in the race to gain the most Stars and Coins in a predetermined amount of turns. Super Mario Party Jamboree has seven boards to play, four available from the beginning of the game and three to unlock as you progress through the game. These boards are succinctly different from each other, allowing players to experience Mario Party in more ways than one. Each board feels like it can be played in succession without losing its enjoyability. 

There are over 110 minigames in Jamboree, offering a smorgasbord of entertainment. In Mario Party mode, minigames occur at the end of every round and range between Free-For-All, 1 vs. 3, and 2 vs. 2. Even more minigames can be played by duelling other players with the use of items, and Ally-based minigames called Showdowns.

Allies appear on the map randomly during a game of Mario Party, and once a player reaches their space, a series of character-based minigames will initiate where the winner will receive that character as an Ally. The player who first initiated the minigames gets a handicap to put them further ahead in the minigame. For instance, Luigi can appear on the map as an ally, and his Showdown minigames includes a Luigi’s Mansion-inspired series of minigames. Allies, who remain with the player for three turns, grant players double coins and advantages specific to the ally, such as higher dice rolls. The most game-changing aspect of Allies is the fact that players can trade for two stars instead of one once they land on a Star space. Players who pass other players with allies can steal that ally, too, so it just brings the tension level of Mario Party to a brand new peak.

The family and friendship destroying fun and chaos doesn’t stop there, though, with several other modes outside of Mario Party mode. Bowser Kaboom Squad is a cooperative mode that pits eight players against Impostor Bowser. Koopathlon is a 20-player mode where you race around a giant board, moving more spaces the better you do in minigames. Rhythm Kitchen provides players with motion-controlled, rhythm-based cooking minigames. Toad’s Item Factory is a puzzle-based mode, and Paratroopa Flight School takes players to new heights as they fly around and complete objectives around the map.

The most interesting mode in the game is the single-player mode, Party-Planner Trek. This mode enables players to roam and explore areas and help characters around the maps by completing small fetch quests. Boss battles lie at the end of each area, with characters you have helped along the way joining you in the final fight. It is as close to a Story Mode as you will get in Jamboree, and while I appreciate the effort into making a more engaging single-player experience, the quests do get repetitive quite quickly. 

Super Mario Party Jamboree achieves what fans have wanted from a Mario Party game for so long – extensive replayability with genuinely fun minigames that will keep the game in your family game night rotation for many years to come.