Super Mario Party Jamboree: the perfect game for everyone

Mario Party is one of Nintendo’s key series that consistently brings the company money and positive feedback from players and critics. It is the most successful in the “competitive mini-game collection” subgenre and in some ways unique, as the days when other companies tried to create something similar are over. Rayman Raving Rabbids, Sonic Shuffle, and Crash Bash are a thing of the past, but Mario Party is still with us.

At the same time, Nintendo takes its time with releases and adheres to high quality standards. That is why Super Mario Party Jamboree is the first game in the series in three years. And considering that the previous installment, Mario Party Superstars, is in a sense a remake of old games, Super Mario Party Jamboree is the first full-fledged new game in six years, since Super Mario Party was released in 2018. Naturally, expectations were high. But don’t worry, because Super Mario Party Jamboree is the perfect game to give you almost endless fun.

The core of Mario Party has been unchanged for many years, so the authors of Super Mario Party Jamboree did not invent something new for the main game mode. It can still be divided into two parts.

The first is a board game in which four people compete. There are cells with various properties scattered across the field. Usually, blue cells give something good, red cells give something bad, and green cells activate special properties of the selected map or some other conditions. There are a total of seven different maps in Super Mario Party Jamboree, but only four are available at the beginning. The rest need to be unlocked in the local equivalent of a battle pass from game services. However, don’t worry, everything is completely free and comfortable for players.

The second part is a variety of mini-games in which players compete with each other. However, to make it more fun, sometimes the game makes you work in teams of two, sometimes it pits one player against three others. There are more than a hundred mini-games in Super Mario Party Jamboree, all relatively simple but multifaceted. For example, in one, you just need to quickly press one button to knock over as many stone slabs as possible. And in another, you will take on the role of photographers and have to capture shots that are as close as possible to the task from the game. Even the simplest mini-games have room for creativity and tactics, so there is almost zero chance that we will get bored with them.

In each mini-game, players compete for coins. And each map has special places where you can buy a star. One star costs twenty coins. Whoever has the most stars in the final will be the winner. If there are the same number of stars, coins are also taken into account. If the number of coins is the same, the final roll of the dice decides everything.

The rules of Super Mario Party Jambore are simple, and it will take about two minutes to explain them live. And even if you decide to plunge into the game without unnecessary details, everything is still done in such a way that players will never get confused. Before each mini-game, there is a training session, and until everyone confirms that they understand the rules, the actual competition will not begin.

You can always see the description of each cell and the schedule of events on the field as a whole. And the game automatically suggests the closest path to the star. Nintendo does everything to make even people who have never played video games before feel comfortable.

However, do not think that Super Mario Party Jambore is a friendly and almost childish game. After all, the devil is in the details. Therefore, at first glance, a good competition between Mario and his friends can quickly turn into hell and test your relationship with your loved ones in real life.

The maps have cells that allow you to steal coins or even stars from other players. Characters can use items that will swap their places with another player or steal someone else’s items. Separate map rules are designed to constantly mess with opponents. And if that’s not enough, at the end of the game, characters will receive two or more bonus stars depending on their actions during the game – but you won’t know which ones until the very end.

As a result, any game turns into a flurry of emotions. Players form alliances that are destroyed and transformed from turn to turn. If you have at least one bot playing with you, get ready for unexpected and unpleasant surprises. After all, bots, even at the medium difficulty level, are not limited by social and moral norms, so they will do everything to destroy your game achievements. And players will remember certain situations for weeks, even in places. Or even carry them with them throughout their lives.

Super Mario Party Jamboree generates emotions so lively and strong that other games will definitely seem dull and bland for a while. Of course, it also depends on the company. But personal experience has proven that Super Mario Party Jamboree can be played by people of different gaming experience and life views. It unites so perfectly that it seems to have come out of some fantastic story about the future in which humanity has overcome all conflicts.

However, the previous installments have also always been about the same thing. However, not all of them received as good reviews as Super Mario Party Jamboree. What is the secret?

Speaking in general, this part has as many small improvements as possible in terms of gameplay, visuals, sounds, interface, and other details that seem to be worthless individually, but together give an almost perfect gaming experience. For example, each character has its own unique animations for any game situation and even its own jingle that starts its turn. And the dice can be not only rolled, but also “charged” by holding down the corresponding button instead of quickly pressing it. This is of zero practical use, but it has a significant effect on emotions, because in reality we also sometimes shake the dice in our hand longer to “cause” the desired result.

There are hundreds of such moments in Super Mario Party Jambore. They are interesting to notice personally and help to create additional nuances in an already complex game. However, some of the innovations of Super Mario Party Jambore are more obvious, and the developers focused on them.

One of the main features is the partner system. From time to time, one of the Super Mario Party Jambore characters will appear on the playing field. If you pass by them, a unique mini-game will be activated. The winner will get a partner for three moves. With a partner, all cells are activated twice, which means you can pick up two stars in one move and get two negative penalties. And each partner has unique properties. For example, Mario adds three to eight steps to your dice roll, and with Peach you can buy stars for half the price.

Partners seem to be too much of a bonus, but even with it, the developers have not forgotten about balance. Therefore, if someone passes by your activated partner, they will take it for themselves. We leave jokes about loyalty and the value of relationships to your discretion. However, partners add a special dynamic and unexpected conditions to any game.

It’s also great that NDcube mentioned Nintendo Switch motion controls. Mario Party Superstars lacked mini-games in which you have to control the movements of the joysticks. In the new installment, they are back in place and bring great pleasure. Even the somewhat crooked fixation of movements does not prevent you from getting adrenaline, on the contrary, it creates additional interesting conditions. For example, you will need to pedal a bicycle, hammer nails, and fish. But be careful not to hurt anyone close to you by moving too suddenly and quickly.

Even if Super Mario Party Jamboree were limited to only one mode, it would still receive the most positive reviews. That’s how well and thoughtfully everything is done in it, how positive emotions and memories it leaves. The game could have remained relevant even in such a situation. However, this time NDcube decided not to waste time on trifles and added several more modes, each of which could become a separate game.

As many as three modes in Super Mario Party Jamboree are dedicated to motion control.

In Rhythm Kitchen, you have to cook food using Joycons as kitchen utensils. In addition, everything must be done to the precise rhythm of the music, so it’s also a rhythm game like Taiko no Tatsujin or Rhythm Heaven.

In Toad’s Item Factory, you have to assemble items in a special factory. Joycons control a variety of mechanisms, such as lifts, fans, or aiming guns. Using all the mechanisms correctly, you need to guide the ball to the finish line, not forgetting the laws of physics.

You need to play Paratroopa Flight School with two joysticks at once, as they simulate the wings of the characters. This mode has several other sub-modes. In one, you need to work in pairs on a kind of taxi and deliver customers to their destinations, in another, you need to compete with each other by collecting characters on the map, and in the last, you can just fly freely around the map. Get ready for your hands to get tired.

Each of these modes is a small treasure. It’s a shame that there is not much variety in them anymore. For example, Toad’s Item Factory has only thirty levels that can be completed in about an hour of real time. Perhaps the situation will improve with Super Mario Party Jamboree updates. However, at the moment, we have the most interesting modes, the potential of which has not been fully realized.

Don’t like motion control, but always in favor of a fun multiplayer jamboree? The creators of Super Mario Party Jambore have not forgotten about you. In Bowser Kaboom Squad, you have to defeat the Bowser Imposter together with seven other players. To do this, you need to collect bombs scattered on the map and dodge Bowser’s attacks. Special mini-games have been prepared for this mode, and the overall performance in them determines what bonuses the characters will receive to make fighting the boss easier.

Isn’t eight players enough for you? Then check out Koopathlon, where twenty players compete at once. The mini-games in this mode are relatively simple: you need to collect or earn coins in different conditions, because coins determine how many squares you move forward. There are also levels with Bowser, who can throw you back a few dozen squares. The first to complete a certain number of laps wins. It turned out to be a kind of race, but the fact that twenty live people are involved adds adrenaline to the competition.

Frankly speaking, online modes lack additional settings. Nintendo hides all technical information “under the hood” of the game, and you do not have access to it. That is why sometimes it is impossible to understand whether there are people in any of the modes. However, the game search is relatively fast. Even the main mode can also be played online if you don’t have friends at hand and don’t want to tolerate bots. However, it is a pity that it is not possible to fill the empty seats with players from the network. That is, two people next to each other will not be able to play with online friends. It’s either live people with bots, or everything is online.

Even for fans of single-player modes, they made their own fun, although Super Mario Party Jamboree is definitely not aimed at loners. In Party Planner Trek, you have to learn the maps from the main game in a free-form manner, i.e. without rolling a dice. At the same time, you need to help non-player characters to collect mini-stars. And at the end of each level, you’ll find a unique boss that’s only available in this mode. Nintendo’s signature quality is present even here, so the mode is interesting in its own way.

All the additional modes have their own meaning and are a lot of fun. That is, an already great game with them becomes almost limitless. And while you play the additional modes, your interest in the main mode will return. This is probably exactly what NDcube was aiming for.

Super Mario Party Jamboree lives up to all expectations. This is a rare example of a game for everyone, without exception. Even small children will be able to play it, of course, if you spend a little time explaining it. It justifies every hour you spend in it. And some of the rough edges and inconveniences of Super Mario Party Jamboree only emphasize its overall scale. This game can become your main entertainment in 2024, even for years to come.

And its main limitation is the presence of three other people who want to share this pleasure with you. However, if you try it at least once, you won’t need to beg anyone else, because everyone will want to spend time in Super Mario Party Jamboree anyway.

But be careful. Because some of the situations and actions in Super Mario Party Jamboree your loved ones will never forgive or forget.