Is it really time for another Mario Party game already? With Jamboree marking the third get-together on Switch for NintendoCube’s long-running minigame marathon, it barely seems long enough to have got the last one out of our system, let alone had time to start craving yet another merry-go-round of Mario-based board game antics. In its defence, one of Jamboree’s main attractions is how it’s tried to fix a lot of the flaws partygoers had with its various predecessors. It finally introduces online party modes, for example, has the highest number of minigames ever included in the series (over 110, if you’re keeping count), as well as a handful of special motion-control modes, and a full-blown single-player campaign for those unfortunate souls who don’t have the benefit of three other nearby friends to play local co-op with them.
Super Mario Party Jamboree reviewDeveloper: Nintendo CubePublisher: NintendoPlatform: Played on Nintendo Switch Availability: Out 17th October on Nintendo Switch
On paper, it’s a veritable feast of bite-sized party food to enjoy, and as with previous Mario Party games, it’s often handsomely presented. But just because this is the biggest Mario Party game there’s ever been doesn’t also mean it’s the most fun, as once you start looking more closely at that so-called banquet in front of you, you realise that, oh no, these aren’t delicious sugary treats you want to stuff your face with; they’re actually all fruit sticks and bland celery batons that taste like the dying gasp of waterlogged cardboard, and there’s nothing but the weakest orange squash imaginable to wash it all down with. Apologies if you do, in fact, like diluted squash and celery sticks as your go-to nibble spreads, but from where I’m sitting at least, Super Mario Party Jamboree is one of the least nutritiously satisfying games I’ve played in some time.
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I’ll begin with the disclaimer that if you’re already of the view that Mario Party is good and fun and not at all a worse-than-Monopoly-at-Christmas affair, Jamboree is exactly that and more of it. As a result, you’ll likely have as much fun with this latest iteration as you have with all previous Mario Party games, so job done, you can probably stop reading now. For those wondering if this might be the one Mario Party game to finally dip your toes into, though, I’d advise caution. Partly because, due to the idiosyncrasies of Nintendo’s review process, I’ve been limited to just playing in local co-op ahead of its full release, meaning I’ve been unable to sample its 20- and 8-player online multiplayer modes at time of writing.