I didn’t get invited to a lot of Mario Parties growing up, so my experience with dominating the boards and gobbling up all of the stars is, in a word, lacking. As a father now, with two young kids, Super Mario Party Jamboree might be my gateway back into the plumber’s good graces and having gone hands-on with the game for a couple of hours, it’s fair to say there’s a lot going on in this follow-up to Super Mario Party.
Anyone familiar with how a Mario Party works would know the gist, up to four players round one of the game’s boards, sabotaging and competing against one another in mini-games in the pursuit of precious, precious stars. There are seven boards in all, including two returning boards from classic titles, though for the purpose of our time with the game we played Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party—a new board that has a fun, live element at the centre of it, being the enormous Wiggler itself, which rotates like a turntable at the sound of a bell, altering the route through the board. It was pretty standard Mario Party fare, from rolling a die that hated me to competing in any of the game’s one hundred plus mini-games, that is until we were introduced to the ally system which reared its head at the midway point of the ten-turn game.
If you arrive at an ally on the board, you’re thrust into a competitive four-player mini-game to see who gets to have said ally riding shotgun alongside them. In our instance it was Yoshi, and the player who happened upon him first got a rather helpful edge in the race to determine the venerable dinosaur’s captor. Although we didn’t get to really see the system bear any fruit in our game, each ally has perks including things like collecting double stars—which in Mario Party is the name of the game. So as a point of difference when compared to other Mario Party games, I do think the ally system provides that extra element that long-time players would be wanting.
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The game we played was using the regular rules, though the game’s pro rules were described to us and it seems as though players will enjoy plenty of freedom in customising the rule sets to suit whoever is playing. Whether you’re someone with younger kids, or even older grandparents who mightn’t be as quick as they once were, I think this is a great move that’ll help families get more people involved than before.
Separate from the regular multiplayer boards, we were able to sample the game’s other online modes—albeit against CPU opponents, due to the servers not being live yet. With a pang of “live service” to it, there was a sampling of shorter, rotating mini-game playlists on offer for players after something punchier than a full board. The reward for doing well here are points which can be turned in for things like reactions, a necessity in trashing opponents and revelling in their misfortune mid-game.
We also got to spend a bit of time with Koopathon, the game’s 20-player, online battle royale that sees players race around a course to determine the last man standing. Of course, position is determined by performance in a series of mini-games. I particularly loved the games that allowed my reaction time to propel me up the leaderboard, the whack-a-mole and bread baking games were among my favourites. I love that the team is branching out beyond the standard boards to give the game a life to live online, I expect this’ll be a lot of fun in large groups.
For those after a more cooperative flavour, Bowser’s Kaboom Squad pairs you with up to seven other players to take down an Impostor Bowser, who stands out ominously with his purple aura. No, it’s not an Among Us rip-off, it’s a strategic, action-based mode set within a small arena where the aim, at least in the stage we played, is to smash crates in an effort to load a cannon with enough bombs to whittle down Bowser’s hefty health pool. Supported by a band of Chargin’ Chucks, who are more than capable of knocking you about, part of the challenge is keeping clear of Bowser’s stomping feet while calling out crates, or carrying bombs back to home base.
It’s a multi-round mode where your performance in the big, cooperative mini-games in between determine the perks, or power ups, you’ll take into the next round with you. You’re able to place things like dash pads to create lanes for swift movement, though I couldn’t resist opting for the banana peels which cause Bowser to hit pavement spectacularly, buying you valuable time to deliver the payload. Although I didn’t get to finish the game I’d started, I got the sense each match is well-paced, I’d made it through four of the five rounds and the last of Bowser’s health blocks was in reach, so I expect this mode to be the source of more than a few tight finishes.
All in all, this is shaping up to be the single biggest party of the year, and quite clearly the biggest Mario Party game ever. Super Mario Party Jamboree boasts seven boards, over 110 mini-games and the biggest roster yet, including the recently confirmed Pauline and Ninji in their first playable appearance since Mario Golf: Super Rush.
This enormous content offering is one thing, however Nintendo is clearly focused on achieving a certain longevity for the game, and I expect that modes like Koopathlon and Bowser’s Boom Squad, in tandem with the aforementioned playlists, will ensure this game puts its best foot forward.
Super Mario Party Jamboree releases on October 17th. The cheapest price is currently $68 with free shipping from Amazon.
