Game review: Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Switch)

Even though I have been playing video games at five years old since 1994, surprisingly, I have never played a Super Mario Party game before. The main reason for this is that my brother bought video game consoles for the whole family, but he only purchased PlayStations and Xboxes. 

The only game I played that was similar to Super Mario Party was Crash Bash, released in 2000 for the original PSOne. I remember Crash Bash being a fun game for everyone because even my mum and sister enjoyed playing it!

2024 sees the release of Super Mario Party for the Nintendo Switch, and I finally get the chance to play a Mario Party video game for the first time. This game promises to be the biggest one yet, as it offers over 110 different minigames for you to play, and it also includes both offline and online multiplayer modes. 

What I like most about Super Mario Party Jamboree is that it has many islands that separate the game into different modes. Before you begin playing, though, you can choose to play as many of the famous characters from the Mario franchise.

All the usual names are here, such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser, just to name a few. The two characters I liked the most, though, were Donkey Kong and Monty Mole. The characters don't have strengths or weaknesses, so the game is entirely balanced. You just choose the character you like best, and it's an even playing field. 

Back to the islands, the first place most players will pick is the classic Mario Party mode. This is the main game mode where up to four players can play a board game, with the winner being the person who can earn the most stars.

All players will have to roll a dice to move around the board game, and you can also sabotage others by giving them bad items. After everyone gets a turn to roll the dice, each round is ended by a minigame. Winning minigames is essential because you earn lots of coins to buy better items from the shop. Buying items to prevent other players from earning stars is the best way to play the game. 

Mario Party is quite lengthy, too, because each match will last approximately 90 minutes for everyone to finish. I remember playing this mode with my mum and two brothers, and we had a huge blast trying to one-up each other in the many minigames.

If you don't care about the board game aspect, you can opt to visit the Minigame Bay game mode to just play minigames by themselves. In Minigame Bay, you can play through lots of minigames with friends both in your house and others you meet online. 

As for the minigames themselves, there are too many to discuss in this review, but I will discuss some of the ones I enjoyed. Firstly, there's a game where all players have to jump on leaves from a tall stalk. You need to land on the right leaves, or else you will fall to the bottom!

Another classic minigame fans will recognise is Bumper Balls. All characters have to balance on top of beach balls, and the goal is to knock off everyone from the platform. All you need to do is use the left stick and bump as hard as you can until there is one winner!

One minigame I thought was really funny was when the gang had to cook bread and croissants for Princess Peach. She has a fire oven, and the players have to take them out before they get burnt. If you take them out too early, the dough is raw, and you get zero points. The bakery gets busy, so you have to be careful in picking the right bread or croissant for Princess Peach. 

Another unique mode you can play is the Koopathlon. This mode is made up of 20 players, and it's a race to get the most coins. You will also have to go up against an Imposter Bowser in survival rounds. Koopathlon can be played online, or you can just play against the AI. This mode is much shorter than Mario Party because the average time to complete five rounds is just 12 minutes. 

One other major mode in Super Mario Party Jamboree is something called 'Bowser Kaboom Squad'. This mode is for up to eight players, and your goal is to take down a giant Imposter Bowser. Teamwork is required here because you need to cooperate properly to take down Imposter Bowser for good. Much like the other modes, you can play the game with the AI or team up with players online. 

There are also several islands in Super Mario Party Jamboree that are dedicated to motion-control gaming if that's your cup of tea. The major motion-control mode is 'Paratroopa Flight School', where you can use the joy-cons to try and fly with wings. I actually didn't like this mode very much, but I can see kids liking it instead.

I preferred 'Toad's Item Factory' where you need to position the joy-cons to go up or down to guide a ball to its end destination. This mode is easy at the start but progressively gets harder as you advance. I enjoyed this way more than the flying minigame. 

The last motion-control game mode is called 'Rhythm Kitchen,' and this is where you have to work together as a team to prepare food using the joy-con controller. There's a game where you use the controller like a baseball bat to put fruit on a dessert. After that, you have to push bread to make a Subway sandwich. Lastly, you have to throw ingredients to make a burger. This mode is by far my favourite out of the motion-control minigames. 

If you are a person who likes to play games by yourself, Super Mario Party Jamboree also includes a single-player mode called 'Party Planner Trek'. You still have to do a bunch of minigames, but you have to complete missions for NPCs in order to progress further.

There's nothing else I can say about Super Mario Party Jamboree other than that it's a fun game for people of all ages. I don't recommend playing this by yourself, so it's best to buy it if you want to play online or with friends and family members. You will have lots of fun trying to beat your opponents!

Verdict: 8.5/10