Super Mario Party Jamboree

Released on October 17, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch by Nintendo, and Developed by Nintendo Cube, Super Mario Party Jamboree is the 13th installment in the venerable party game series

After a late-night party in early 1999 that led to much screaming and many bloody thumbs and broken controllers, I grew an affinity for The Mario Party franchise. However, outside of some hot-tempered, Nintendo 64-fueled nights, I never really played many other games in the series. Then my son came along. Nearing 16 now, he generally started picking up the games on whatever console he had. Late last year, though, when he picked up Super Mario Party Jamboree, he ended up quickly shelving the game for something else. I didn't think he'd given it a fair shot, and since we both have Switches, I took the game and found...it was quite fun! I told him, and during his time at my place, we starting playing matches every night. It didn't take long for him to concur...and also to start beating the stuffing out of me because...and I hate to admit this...he is better at modern video games than I am. Together we (and me, sometimes on my own) unlocked all the boards for the game, as well as 50 of Super Mario Party Jamboree's achievements, unlocking the main credits. Eventually, we put 40 hours into this 13th entry in the series...but did it stay fun? Was that 40 hours well worth it?

Did we say "You're Welcome?!"

Mario Party games live or die by their boards and minigames. Thankfully, there are many standout minigames here, with only one out of 100+ really registering as a dud. Likewise, almost all of the boards are great fun, with arguably only one out of the available seven being lousy, and even that one will have its fans. Four players (up to four of them real or up to three of them CPUs) battle it out for a pre-selected amount of turns, resulting in a game that can wrap up in around an hour, or if many turns are selected, go on for most of the night. 

You've got to take a hot-air balloon to the boards, which is nice and whimsical, but which can be skipped if you're a Wonka-hating Grinch

The goal here is to finish the game with the most stars. A star will be placed on a random spot on the board, and the dice-rolling players will try to reach that spot first, with enough coins to purchase the star. Once a star is bought, a new star will pop up at a totally random spot on the board. Coins are primarily won through mini-games, which are played at the end of each round, a round meaning all four players have taken their turn (and at other random times, if players land on other certain spaces scattered around the board).

Some of the boards, like Western Land, are updated from previous games

Minigame diversity is vast. From all-against-all matchups like basketball, to 3-against-1 matchups like a snowball fights where the solo player is aided by CPU monkeys, to 2-versus-2 games like one where players have to try to perfectly cut a giant steak in half together, there is a ton of variation here, and as previously stated, most of it works. There's even choice in how to play, as using solo joy-cons with motion controls opens up additional mini games, but the player can decline this option at the start of each match and still play a large catalogue of minigames with a plain old regular controller.

And still have a hootenanny! 

Really, variation and freedom are the standout factors that make Jamboree one of the best Mario Party games to date. There are seven boards to play here, but only a few are available at the start. The player (or players!) will have to unlock the rest by garnering achievements. Collect enough achievements and new boards are unlocked. The thing is, the game features many, many, many achievements, far more than what are needed to unlock all maps or to hit the magic 50 number that unlocks the end credits to effectively "beat" the game (once they roll, the player can keep playing, indefinitely).

It's not like getting stars becomes any less satisfying

Many of these achievements can be won by trying out Jamboree's other modes. There's an extremely fun, single-player Party-Planner Trek mode, which allows the player to visit each board and essentially open world it, talk to NPCs, complete tasks, compete against CPUs in mini-games, grab mini-stars, and collect allies to take on that board's boss. This mode is extremely relaxing and fun, a great way to revisit and explore the maps, and also to earn decorations for the game's main plaza...and achievements. 

The boss battles for each board in the Party-Planner Trek mode show just how much care went into this game. They're fully realized in a mode that could have just been frivolous.

Other modes include the rhythm-based, Rhythm Kitchen, which plays out like a reality TV cooking competition in the Mario world, the puzzle-based Toad's Item Factory, the race-based Koopathlon, Minigame Bay--which allows free play for many of the game's minigames, Bowser's Kaboom Squad, which is quite fun but would be even more fun if it allowed local multiplayer instead of just online, and the one stinker of the bunch, Paratroopa's Flight School, which is one of the only undercooked elements in the entire game, suffering from poor motion controls, even if the idea of soaring high above the island, Wii Sports Resort style, is a good one. The player gets achievements for just trying these modes and even more for accomplishing things in them. Of course, the player can also earn achievements in the regular old Party mode...particularly when they have one of the game's namesake "Jamboree" buddies.

Never thought I'd be one of..."Bowser's Groupies..." Or that it would be considered an achievement. What has my life come to?

From old favorites like Mario, Luigi, and Peach to more recent and bizarre characters like Bowser, Jr., Wario, and Waluigi (I guess they're not recent anymore...sigh...I am old), a large assortment of Super Mario Party Jamboree's huge corral of player characters are also available as Jamboree buddies. This means that, randomly, throughout a game, for three turns, a character will show up on a random square of a board. If any player passes that square, that character's unique, extended mini-game is triggered, with the player who passed the square receiving a distinct advantage in the mini-game. Whoever wins gets to have that character as a Jamboree buddy for three turns...unless another player passes them on the board and steals the buddy. Each Jamboree buddy has a different bonus, from the ability to add to dice rolls, to adding extra coins to turns. The biggest bonus, though, is that any player who has a Jamboree buddy when they reach a star is given the option to buy TWO stars instead of just one.

Though I somehow lose to my son every single time, I particularly enjoy Waluigi's pinball minigame

As in any competitive Nintendo game, luck and chance certainly come into play. Rolling dice is always luck-based, and there are other luck-based factors, like the bonus stars given out at the end, sometimes for something as trivial as who landed on the most event spaces. In a longer game, skill will generally win out on average, but to ensure that happens, there is an included option of a PRO mode here, which takes out a lot of the luck based bonuses and games, and rewards skill over everything. Once again, Jamboree offers a freedom in how to play that's missing from some other entries in this series. Couple that with the high quality of play and the many modes here, and Nintendo has a huge winner on its hands.

Speaking of winner, my son told me to mention in this review that he won almost every time we played. Not EVERYTIME, though! I won a few. But he won most and took a million pictures every single time he got a star to troll me, meaning my switch camera roll is now 90% Spike holding up a star.

But now that Switch 2 has hit the market, there's an add-on coming for Super Mario Party Jamboree. Do you have to have that? Do you have to have a Switch 2?! Well, my son has bought a Switch 2, and I'll buy one at some point. However, he and I played many, many hours of Super Mario Party Jamboree on the regular old Switch, rarely using the online features, and we could possibly play for many more. Super Mario Party Jamboree, a far cheaper proposition on its own for someone who already owns an original Switch, is well worth playing on the old hardware. Here's hoping when Nintendo rolls out the next entry in the series for Switch 2, it's as good as this one.

There's even a fun bonus where you carry a camera and can take pictures of odd events you see on the island for points. And points can be used to buy music, postcards, etc.  You also win points during the main game when you get stars, win minigames, etc. This game is full of value!

SCORE: 8.2/10