‘Super Mario Party Jamboree’ means it in all the best ways

One of the reasons why Nintendo has such a strong presence in the world of video games is that it is really good at making games. That’s reductive, but it’s true. First party Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom they are usually extremely beautiful, refined to be white, and affordable to just about anyone. The last thing any of them do, usually, is make the player feel bad for them.

Mario Party he never really followed those rules. Sure, it’s easy enough to pick up and play; just roll the dice and play mini games! What could go wrong there? But because Mario PartyThroughout its 25-plus years of existence, the series has existed little by little to provide simple fun and remind players that no matter how much control they think they have, they don’t.

Super Mario Party Jamboreethe latest in the acclaimed series, is coming to Nintendo Switch this week. After playing some of it, I can confirm that part of the Mario Partyif nothing else, it was left surprisingly intact. It might not be a “good video game” by conventional standards, but who cares?

Super Mario Party Jamboree: A party that leaves no one happy

Like its predecessors, The Jamboree is a multiplayer board game (both local and online) usually intended for up to four players, excluding modes where not available. More on that in a bit. Games are divided into 10 (or 30) rounds, and each time, every player rolls dice to move around the board with the ultimate goal of collecting enough coins to buy a star, which is usually randomly placed on the board. At the end of each turn, everyone participates in a randomly selected mini-game, after which the winners receive a bunch of coins. Whoever has the most stars at the end wins the game.

Most importantly, a bunch of bonus stars are awarded at the end of the game, often leading to unexpected wins. In other words, everything is impossible and nothing is important.

The Jamboree brings a handful of new maps (and some old ones from the original N64 games) along with some fixes. The biggest addition to the formula is probably the Jamboree Buddies. These are supporting characters who appear and stay on board a few times. Anyone who passes by a Jamboree Buddy triggers a surprisingly time-consuming mini-game for everyone on board, where the winner hires a Jamboree Buddy to roll next to them and give out unique bonuses based on who they are.

You can turn off the animated mini-games if you want, but why would you?
Credit: Nintendo

During the review, I was able to convince my roommate to play a full 10 chance game with me, which lasted over an hour. I’m constantly blown away by how long it takes to finish even a short game Mario Party. Despite the length, however, we both had a really good time because Mario Party schtick still works if you have the right mindset. This series has always been about dice rolls and luck more than anything else, and that shows here.

For example, at one point in the game, my roommate went through an area that allowed him to use most of his coins to steal a star from me. This put him ahead briefly. About 30 seconds later, due to conditions he didn’t foresee or could have avoided, he had lost a star, no money, and I had more stars than I had before he stole one from me. None of us were in control of any of this.

That’s the spirit of Mario Party. You’re not kidding Mario Party as much as Mario Party it just happens to you. You can go into every turn with a vague plan of what you want to do when the roll of the dice goes your way, but there’s always some kind of silly BS waiting for you. Mario Party a fake tunnel painted on the side of a brick wall, and I run into it every now and then.

Vroom.
Credit: Nintendo

But for what it’s worth, Nintendo has made some pretty cool additions to it The Jamboree. Jamboree Buddies changes the game enough to explain how hard it is to get, and the new maps I’ve played seem to add merit to the Mario Party the pantheon. My favorite so far is the fast track map where every character drives an open wheeled racing car, collecting coins for each completed lap and taking advantage of unique slots and items to win the day.

There’s also a 20-player online multiplayer mode that I unfortunately haven’t tried yet, along with other side modes (like a basic single-player mode that introduces the player to various mini-games) that should at least keep the kids at bay. you are busy.

Super Mario Party Jamboree and it has many of the same problems as every other game in the series. Minigames often don’t control exactly how you’d like them to, especially those that involve field controls or movement. As I mentioned earlier, it can take a very long time to finish the game, too.

But what I can’t do is criticize Mario Party for being Mario Party. When Nintendo has made these games this way for almost three decades, all you can do is accept that it was done on purpose. If you are very competitive and actually care about winning with skill and strategy, go play a real board game. Mario Party it’s for real people who want to see their friends suffer more than they want to succeed themselves, too The Jamboree it’s a great car for that.

Super Mario Party Jamboree launches on Nintendo Switch on Oct. 17.