Super Mario Party Jamboree is the biggest entry in the series yet | Hands-on preview

Super Mario Party Jamboree is the biggest entry in the series yet | Hands-on preview

As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming under my belt and countless hours spent navigating the vibrant world of Mario, I can confidently say that Super Mario Party Jamboree is a joyous return to form for the franchise. With its plethora of new and returning characters, boards, and minigames, this latest installment feels like a love letter to fans while still managing to entice newcomers with its charm and accessibility.


The lively gathering, Super Mario Party, intends to conclude a set of three games on the Nintendo Switch, as the eccentric, sometimes harsh (yet always amusing), series celebrates its 26th anniversary and offers its 13th installment in total.

I had a wonderful taste of the game’s offerings, being its largest installment in the series to date. Notably, it brings back all characters from Mario Party Superstars and most from Super Mario Party (with exceptions like Diddy Kong, Hammer Bro, Dry Bones, and Pom Pom). This is also the first time Toad and Toadette have been playable since Mario Party: Star Rush, while Spike makes a return since Mario Party 10. Additionally, two fresh faces join the series for the first time: Ninji and Pauline, who many recognize as the damsel-in-distress from the original Donkey Kong arcade game.

As a devoted fan, I’m thrilled to share that this new game boasts over 110 mini-games and a diverse mix of seven fresh and familiar playboards! What sets it apart is its unique blend of motion and standard controls, a feature that neither of its Switch predecessors offered. Interestingly, the motion-controlled mini-games aren’t compatible with online modes, but the compensation is that you can enjoy a nearly complete gaming experience on a Nintendo Switch Lite while playing online!

Super Mario Party Jamboree is the biggest entry in the series yet | Hands-on preview

In the traditional board game setting, there’s a greater variety of elements in play now than ever before. Innovations such as the Warp Box, which allows players to instantly teleport to an item store, and the golden Double Dice, which rewards you with a pile of coins equivalent to the number rolled, are among these new additions.

We had a turn on a fresh game board featuring adorable Wiggler, who’s integrated into the board and can be manually moved when players land on specific spots, altering the paths players must navigate. It’s always more engaging with real people playing together, offering the right mix of enjoyment, competitiveness, and unpredictability that makes it perfect for family playtime. The mini-games are assorted and a fusion of classic and modern elements, with motion controls proving effective for tasks like hammering nails into a plank.

As a gamer, I delved into various game modes next, such as the Daily Challenge mode. This mode featured themed 1vs3 and 2vs2 battles, along with minigames that required teamwork or, at times, made me feel like the lone player was either in an advantageous position (like maneuvering a massive Bullet Bill to obliterate my opponents) or at a disadvantage (playing a rhythm action game where I was a solitary cookie cutter, making it quite challenging on my own). One of these minigames had me leaping between moving platforms to gather tokens while competing against other players, and it felt surprisingly similar to Fall Guys, filled with intense competition and a hint of rivalry. The games chosen for each theme were consistently engaging, showcasing an array of beautifully designed food items.

Super Mario Party Jamboree is the biggest entry in the series yet | Hands-on preview

Koopathon is a highly anticipated new feature that promises excitement for many, as it’s an online game suitable for up to 20 participants. It features a massive race where players compete against each other, much like the map view in an old Mario Kart game. The objective is to amass the most coins by participating in mini-games, essentially becoming the most greedy gold collector. In this thrilling mode, we experienced various entertaining challenges such as a race reminiscent of F-Zero, where quick acceleration and agile maneuvers across lanes determine victory. Another game required us to navigate back and forth into the screen, dodging quicksand and spiked cabers while collecting coins, all while avoiding sinking in the quicksand or getting hit by the rolling logs.

The last event we participated in was the thrilling “Bowser Kaboom Squad”. This fast-paced multiplayer game centers around blasting Bowser, supposedly defeating him, by launching bombs from a massive cannon. Players scramble across a map, dodging and weaving around a rampaging Bowser, to break open crates containing the necessary bombs to bombard the lizard king. It’s an exhilarating experience filled with mayhem and laughter.

Super Mario Party Jamboree is undoubtedly the biggest and most diverse entry in the Mario Party universe yet, and it felt that we only dipped a toe into what it has to offer with what was experienced so far. The new courses and boards look brimming with life and surprises and I cannot wait to see what they contain. Everything is rendered with the same sense of Nintendo charm you would expect, full of colour and life. At one point I wanted to reach into the screen and scoop my hand into a delicious looking cream cake. If that isn’t a recommendation enough for you, then I don’t know what is.


 

Super Mario Party Jamboree is coming to Nintendo Switch on October 17th.

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2024-09-09 16:16