Mario and his friends have been around ruining friendships with Mario Party for some time now, just as they have been with Mario Kart. But as an addition to an already culturally resonant franchise of party games, Super Mario Party Jamboree has the chance to stand out. Developed by Nintendo Cube and published by Nintendo, Super Mario Party Jamboree is the largest addition to the franchise yet.
With 110 minigames, seven boards (with a couple of returning favorites like Western Land and Mario’s Rainbow Castle), players get to choose their character from a 22-deep roster that now includes Pauline and Ninji, pick a board, roll the die, and try their best to beat their friends and have a great time giving way to the kinetic chaos that Super Mario Party Jamboree can offer. The game’s diversity of play is what keeps it feeling fresh with each consecutive round that’s played.
At PAX West, we went hands-on with Super Mario Party Jamboree. For a little over an hour, we played through a board competing against each other but also explored the game’s new additions: Koopathlon and Bowser Kaboom Squad. While the local multiplayer gave us the traditional mayhem of trying to get the most coins, buying items to help you or sabotage your friend, it did offer some new mini-games that highlighted the diversity of the types of minigames that Super Mario Party Jamboree offers.
Outside the traditional competition, Super Mario Party Jamboree brings in a new first-of-its-kind cooperative mode with Bowser Kaboom Squad, which up to eight people can play. Players must work together in this mode to launch bombs at Imposter Bowser as he stomps across the arena, breathing fire and knocking you out. Structured as timed rounds, each one has a specified number of bombs that must be launched in order to do the most damage to Imposter Bowser’s health.
However, special abilities can only be bought during the minigames between each bombing round. During the minigames, the players work with each other to achieve a ranked score, allowing them to buy several items. S-rank offers up the highest number of items and the most crucial items. Some items, like the speed pads, can be laid down on the map and remain until Bower’s fire destroys them. Other items, like the gloves that allow you to carry more bombs at once, are lost after that round.
That said, Koopathlon is the mode that truly stands out as a great time and a first for the series. Koopathlon is a 20-person online competition multiplayer mode that kicks traditional Mario Party board play to the next level. Ranked against each other, each player has a spot on the race track that is dictated by the scores they get in the minigames. The higher your score is each round, the faster you get to the finish line and secure the win. With entirely new mini-games, Koopathlon can be a real challenge.
As a new mode, Koopathlon diversifies the ways that you can play Mario Party. You can play shorter sessions at a smaller number of rounds if you don’t have time to dedicate to a board game. One of my barriers with this series is that when my friends cycle off the game, playing against computers isn’t nearly as fun. This online mode offers a new way for gamers to keep playing solo.
While you can play alone with NPCs, these games have a specific joy when you know someone is on the other end. Koopathalon allows you to play as a single player while still finding the joy of the competitive chaos that the series is known for. But you don’t have to queue for this mode alone, either. You can also gather your friends and play together in the 20-person competition.
Super Mario Party Jamboree is a true evolution of the franchise. It expands the joy and chaos of playing Mario Party, but it never loses the reason that fans have loved the series over time. Super Mario Party Jamboree aims to give the party game depth for playing together and alone without letting the large number of minigames and elements overwhelm the experience. Not to mention, with so many different minigames and ways to play, the replayability already seems to be the highest of any in the series.
Super Mario Party Jamboree releases October 17, 2024 and comes with a 3-month Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership.
