You’re gonna go to the Bowser store. You're gonna give him all your money.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/72291/super-mario-party-jamboree-nintendo-switch-2-edition--jamboree-tv-switch-2-review
I initially skipped Super Mario Party Jamboree when it came out on Nintendo Switch in 2024. The announcement of the Switch 2 version combined with my two kids becoming more interested in the concept of a Mario Party made me interested in diving in. Since getting Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (the full official title), I’ve primarily only played the new Switch 2-only Jamboree TV modes. While a lot of the new content is gimmicky and frivolous (even more so than usual for Mario Party side modes), the additions and options for the basic Mario Party mode are awesome and a big reason why I haven’t played the Switch 1 content much at all is because I don’t want to go back to playing without a camera or the neat fast-paced or tag-team rule sets.
The new content is all saddled inside the Jamboree TV option from the main menu and split into four core modes. Bowser Live is meant to be a showcase for the new microphone and camera mini-games but mostly just sucks. It has six different mini-game options and the microphone ones basically just involve shouting at different intervals. The camera ones are also not great but at least they’re funny sometimes. Bowser Live is disappointing, especially because this seemed to be such a focus of what is new in Jamboree TV.
The Carnival Coaster mode is at least charming, as it tosses two or four players into a roller coaster to use Joy-Con 2 mouse controls to shoot at enemies and complete new mouse-centric mini-games together. Five different coasters are available to ride with different enemies and layouts. When you go down hills, you get bonus points for lifting up your Joy-Con like you’re lifting up your hands during a real roller coaster. It’s cute.
The other two core modes are more familiar Mario Party fare, mini-game free play and the titular board game mode. All of the boards from the base Jamboree are available (already unlocked no matter what). Some of the boards are great (Rainbow Galleria, Roll’em Raceway) and others are maybe the worst nonsense I’ve ever seen in a Mario Party game (Mario’s Rainbow Castle). Rainbow Galleria is a cool three-story mall with so much to see and do. Mario’s Rainbow Castle is essentially just a straight line building to one place to get a star that can be flipped to be Bowser if you land on a space or get a star. I have had entire 10-turn games go by without anyone having a star by the end. This is also (maybe because of the simplicity?) my 4-year-old’s favorite board in the entire game, so I’ve played it far too much. I hate this board. All the others are at least baseline fine.
The alternative rule sets, exclusive to the Switch 2 content, provide two welcome changes. One is “Frenzy Mode” that trims the length to five turns and ups the bonuses and short-term boons. Five turns is in my eyes too short to actually have a deep game of Mario Party but for those who don’t want to spend more than an hour to see the end of a game, it’s a welcome option. It’s even better for younger kids. Part of my barrier for never really playing Mario Party with them before is that it’s a commitment to get through a whole game. This makes it more manageable.
The other alt ruleset is Tag Team, which splits the four players into two teams who share resources and still each get their own turn. This is fundamentally the same game aside from a few tweaks focusing on team collaboration, but it adds a new layer of strategy of what you do each turn. Since the bulk of my experience with this was younger kids, it was also great to have a board game mode where I could be on the same team as my kid. My kids also routinely played this mode together against the computer.
While it requires a peripheral (be it the official Nintendo camera or a compatible USB-C one), the addition of setting up the camera for each player during a game makes the whole thing hilarious. Whenever a player gets a star, the game records a snippet of the player’s celebration. Initially, it just candidly captured my son being really stoked about getting a star. On later plays, we would come up with increasingly arcane things to do when we knew the game might replay it later. Is it necessary for gameplay? Not at all, but the camera made it so my household has no interest in playing the base Jamboree mode because it doesn’t offer camera support.
A baffling part of the entire package is that while the Switch 2-only content features improved visuals (1440p docked, 1080p handheld), none of these additions are carried over to the original game. Maybe that’s an intentional choice given the Switch 1 game can be played online and maybe better performance could lead to some competitive advantage in the random-number-generator board game, but it’s unbecoming regardless. The original game looks fine, but it’s a notable downgrade switching between them.
My experience with Super Mario Party Jamboree is likely an uncommon one for some reviewers, but especially as the Switch 2 ages, it probably won’t be completely unique. Unless you expect to get a lot of mileage out of the specific Mario Party additions to the game, including the goofy camera support, faster Frenzy mode, and novel Tag Team mode, you’re likely better off just playing the original Switch 1 version. The barrier for entry for the Switch 2 Jamboree TV content is very high and while I’ve been digging most of what’s added to it, the new additions are on the whole middling. This might be the most fun I’ve had with Mario Party since the Wii, but I also would much rather have a brand new Mario Party game on Switch 2 than this weird frankenstein.
Topic: Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (Switch 2) Review (Read 41 times)
