The best Mario Party in years, Jamboree is perfect for friend-&-family game nights and surprisingly (thanks to a variety of modes, a signficant single-player campaign and online options) loads to enjoy solo too!

I feel like I keep saying this, but given the Switch’s extended lifecycle, I think you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nintendo would be scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to new titles in 2024. The Switch is close to a million years old now, and with the new console just around the corner, I guess a new Mario Party is probably exactly the kind of series you might expect to pop up. However, given the focus that development teams must be devoting to software for the new generation, I definitely didn’t expect a new game that bursts at the seams with a simply ridiculous amount of game modes and options, and quite simply the best Mario Party that I can remember playing.

Un/Lucky Thirteen/Seven

Jamboree is the thirteenth game in the series and this time around, the main Mario Party mode features seven boards to look forward to and a huge character roster. Each of the boards bursts with bright colours, great music and personality. Of course, if you’ve played Superstars, you’ll know what to expect visually. While Western Land and Goomba Lagoon were my family’s personal favourites, each board has its own little gimmick and we found all of them quite enjoyable. However, you know the drill here; four players go around the board collecting coins, duelling in minigames, and purchasing as many of the wandering superstars as they can. And while that all sounds quite promising, your opinion about Mario Party’s randomness vs skill mechanic is likely going to be the main reason you enjoy this mode or not (at least not under the original party rules setting). Mini-games, while varied, definitely favour the more experienced video game players amongst us. This generally means more coins and therefore more opportunities to buy stars. However, the random appearance of hidden blocks, a new buddy system that allows you to occasionally purchase double items/stars (which was an awesome little twist) and the awarding of bonus stars after the final round for the most obscure reasons – means players that favour skills will still be tearing their hair out when they’re pipped to the post, after crossing the finish line ahead (Although my wife maintains that Jamboree favours better players whereas recent titles tended to favour the weaker ones when awarding Bonus stars).

…your opinion about Mario Party’s randomness vs skill mechanic is likely still going to be the main reason you enjoy the classic mode or not.

The crazy randomness is always something that drove me insane. However, I’ve got to admit that I’ve come around to actually favouring it when playing in groups. In our most recent playthrough, two friends came over and one of our Joy-Cons failed. So only three players could participate. I offered to sit out, and after watching everyone have a lot of fun – I realised a few things. that adding a huge helping of luck, allows less experienced players to feel more involved. This is great with players of different ages and abilities. Sure, some mini-games are great and even newbies can pull off an unlikely win. However, on the whole, without the occasional randomness, a game night could quickly become one person destroying everyone else in the room. Nobody wants that – especially when you’re playing a game with Party in the title. Plus, if you are keen for a more strategic playthrough this time around you’ll be able to turn on the Pro Rules which eliminates a lot of the randomness and you’ll know the bonus Star requirement before the game even starts. Love this addition! On the flip side, when you don’t have a complement of 4 real players – CPU AI (even at Normal levels) is ridiculously poor. I saw a bot-controlled Luigi do the most inexplicable things, and while that might be a little funny – often it just means someone will benefit from CPU stupidity and the players get frustrated. Also, the shortest games last 10 rounds (about 90 minutes). And 1 hour and a half might just be too long to hold the attention of the group – when only 4 people can join in at a time.

Multi-mode Mardi Gras

Despite Mario Party mode being the main attraction with an excellent collection of boards and enough new tweaks to freshen up the formula, Jamboree actually stands out because of its extra modes. Now, whenever you have a huge range of modes in a game, it’s unlikely that they will all be of the same quality or equally enjoyable – and this is no different. There’s Paratrooper Flight School for example – a Pilot Wings-like landing game that has you using the Joy-Cons’ motion controls, to flap around collecting and dropping off characters in different locations. Sure, it’s not super intuitive or easy to play for too long. However, watching my loving wife giggle uncontrollably while flapping her arms wildly in our lounge was a heck of a lot of fun. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, you can try Toad’s Item Factory – a two-player puzzle game where you work together with your partner using your Joy-Cons’ motion controls to get a marble-like ball through a maze but tilting and swaying at just the right moment. It’s simple but creative and a nice change of pace from the frantic mini-games.

Jamboree actually stands out because of its extra modes.

Talking about frantic… in the Rhythm Kitchen you have another local co-op mode that, as you’ve probably guessed from that title, includes some culinary-themed rhythm-themed minigames that will have you up and about. There is a limited selection of games here, but my household is a big fan of these and after just a few rounds we were sweating and chopping to the beat like Jamie Oliver bopping to C+C Music Factory’s Everybody Dance Now and loving it. Of course, if you’re in a group that is looking for a variety of fun activities or you only have a few minutes to spare, Mini Game Bay provides a selection of pretty much all 110 minigames. You can make your way through all of these in Free Play, take on the world online in survival mode, a boss rush collection or even a two-vs-two mode – in short, this is likely where my friends and I will be spending most of our time when they come over.

Solo Soiree

Now, if you’ve heard all this and realised you have no friends to invite – the good news is Jamboree surprisingly (at least to me) has a pretty impressive selection of stuff to do and game modes to explore as a single-player. The Party Planner Trek has you selecting a character and then visiting each board (mentioned above) and helping get it ready for play. It’s a straightforward concept and really is just a way for you to try a bunch of the mini-games and explore boards on your own, but I enjoyed it. Barring my issues with a simply terrible CPU AI (always pick Expert difficulty would be my suggestion to minimise the frustration)  – some of the Boss Fights were quite tough and going around collecting mini-stars, tackling bosses and helping different characters with their problems was a unique way of looking at the Mario Party world. Plus, for those of you who enjoy the decorating side of things – doing tasks unlocks unique doodads you can embellish the Party Plaza with when you’re tired of waving about your Joy-Cons.

Suprisingly, Jamboree has a pretty impressive selection of stuff to do and game modes to explore as a single-player.

The final two fully-fledged modes Koopathon and Bowser Kaboom Squad are interesting but can feel a little incomplete. Koopathon has you taking on 20 other players (CPU or Online) in a series of mini-games the results of which place in on a big race track – with the goal of (as you probably predicted) finishing first. CPU intelligence and a variety of mini-games mean this one is only good for one or two tries. Thereafter, you’ll quickly feel a little bored. Kaboom Squad on the other hand is probably the most innovative mode. Here you team up with 7 other players (again CPU or online) to take down a Giant Purple Imposter Bowser. It doesn’t make too much sense if you think too hard about it (considering you, yourself could be Bowser) but this mode is broken up into a series of rounds. Results achieved in special 8-player minigames rounds allow you to purchase power-ups which can then be used between rounds in a tiny-sandbox-type area – where the Koopa King stomps around like Godzilla and you try to cannonball him into oblivion. Again it sounds a little more complicated than it is – but it is really enjoyable despite the bad CPU – so if you can jump online with 7 other players – this is where I suspect I will be spending most of my time if I do play solo. Why I can’t play locally with friends is a bit of a miss.

I (Shin)dig it!

Jamboree is an excellent party game. From a huge amount of content to little extras (like a secret photo mode and unique interactions and dialogue for each character in its huge roster), Nintendo has put way more love and attention into another title in the Switch’s seemingly neverending library than I would think a game being released at this time would get. It’s another testament to their devotion to good quality and most importantly fun video games. Sure some familiar Mario Party niggles remain, a tough relationship between skill and luck, a returning and rather irritating in-game announcer, mini-games of varying quality and ridiculously stupid CPUs, however, as a way for families and friends to gather around a TV and enjoy an evening of entertainment and laughter – you’d be hard pressed to find anything better.

REVIEW CODE PROVIDED BY: NINTENDO

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