Rounds can be a little long, running up to around 90 minutes, but I stand by my opinion that they actually feel super quick when you’re playing, as Nintendo has done a good job of keeping the momentum going with clever boards, minigames, and random aspects that keep everyone in with a fighting chance to the end. The final rounds of a match up the ante just enough to ensure you end on a high for the most part as well.
With seven boards to play on, most of which have moving parts such as trains and race cars to take into account, and extras such as Bowser’s Kaboom squad (excellent), Kooplathon (messy, but still excellent) and a few other throwaway modes, you’ve got yourself a proper party to be getting on with.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
There are plenty of options for younger players to get involved, too, and you can even set handicaps to give kids – or anyone else who wants it – a boosted start in terms of points. The minigames in the base game are uniformly excellent, with a really nice mix of activities and game types that can be filtered, so you get to drop any you’re not keen on. With local and online co-op and multiplayer, and a bunch of other modes thrown in for good measure, my review verdict of “best Mario Party yet” holds true.
With this Jamboree TV addition for Switch 2, the changes to the vanilla game start as soon as you boot up, with a choice of the original or Jamboree TV to be made first of all. Jumping into the base game, nothing has changed, right down to — it seems — the crispness of the textures and resolution, as this older mode is slightly blurrier and not as slick as the newer addition. Which is a bit surprising, but does hammer home that this new content is a properly separate thing.
Digging into Jamboree TV itself, then, essentially it utilises the new features of the Switch 2 console (the camera, mic, and mouse, to be specific) to deliver a bunch of new game types housed in a flashy TV show format, which allows for new forms of silly fun.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
Honestly, some of the biggest laughs I’ve had so far have come from just pulling faces and watching my kid’s expressions as they appear out of green pipes in a studio full of Mushroom Kingdom folk. It’s highly amusing, even before the actual minigames get started, and it’s a superior way to present the party overall, to the extent I hope Nintendo stick with it going forward.
Of course, playing a minigame, especially if it’s decent, is enjoyable enough as it is, but seeing your face above your chosen Nintendo avatar, seeing the reactions of your fellow players as they win, lose, or come a cropper really does add to the fun. It’s not gonna be the same with randoms online, to be fair, but it’s an exquisite thing when playing with your nearest and dearest, and that’s what the Big N is really aiming at.
In terms of presentation, Jamboree TV gives a nice uplift to the resolution, clarity, and sharpness of image. The whole thing feels super-smooth and responsive in both docked and handheld modes, and I’m sure there are new volumetric lighting and reflection elements added across the boards here as it all looks much fancier than I remember, with reflective floors and all sorts of futuristic things like that.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
Getting started with your Switch 2 camera (which I wasn’t looking forward to because I’m lazy that way) is actually a breeze. Simply have it plugged in whilst the game is running and it’ll whizz you and any other players through a quick setup which shows off how clever the new tech is – well, at least to me. Sit all your players within the frame of your single console camera and each detected face gets a little coloured circle which can be used to zoom and set everyone’s face position individually. You don’t even have to be sitting close to one another, particularly.
It’s very quick and easy to get sorted, and the game then separates you out so that your faces can be used in interesting ways, such as recording and holding highlights and other things of this nature, all to give it a TV-show feel. I can imagine for people with long distances between family members, this could be a really great way to make things feel more involved when playing online. Which is nice!
Onto the new minigames, then, and there are a whole bunch of Mouse Mode and microphone-based activities to dig into. The mic stuff, which is made up of things like a rhythm game where you clap to the icons instead of the usual pushing of buttons, alongside some ‘shouting games’ (a new genre I just invented) — where you make loud noises to raise and lower a balloon, charge a car’s turn boost, and so on — are fun, and even more fun when you realise you can say anything and don’t have to stick to the words they use in-game.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
However, and I’m truly shocked to be saying this, it’s actually the Mouse Mode stuff that’s the real draw.
I totally didn’t expect to enjoy using the mouse for minigames. It seemed like something that was going to really bother me, but as it turns out the likes of air hockey, bomb throwing, a mail sorting game, dominos, one of those electric-current type maze deals…they are, by and large, really good – and exactly the sort of thing that gets you laughing, especially when all your silly big faces are on the screen at the same time.
Is it going to revolutionise gaming? No, it is not, but I am having a great time anyway. These new ways of playing are fun, and they give you around 20 new games to add to an already huge collection from the OG release.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
More interestingly in the long run, perhaps, are the new ways to play that are also included for Mario Party in Jamboree TV mode. Here you can choose from new Tag Team and Frenzy rulesets. Frenzy makes for shorter matches that get to the face-off and final run excitement quicker, whilst also adding lots more duels and ways to lose and gain coins quickly. Tag Team adds ‘Together Dice’ and ‘Rally Spaces’ alongside a few other wrinkles that see pairs collect and share coins, stars and items as they attempt to best another duo. It’s all good stuff that serves to add plenty more life to an already jam-packed experience.
Apart from this (yes there’s more!) you also get a Carnival Coaster mode which serves as a light-gun style shooter that’s decent, and even better with a pal so that you can shoot out either side of your coaster cabin. You also have Bowser Live, which gives you a balancing game, coin collecting, and some very silly bits where you have to shout compliments at Bowser since it’s his own evil version of the main Jamboree TV event. Again, it’s all very throwaway, but also very fun, thanks to that camera and Joy-Con tech that nails both sound and motion inputs really well.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
So, Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (I copy and pasted), overall, is a fantastic addition to an already cracking party game. The price may be a little steep for new players, but this really is a huge package of family good times with all of this new stuff added. Still not quite the measure of a perfect 10/10 (although it’s very, very close), this bumper package is easily the best Mario Party game Nintendo has given us thus far, and one of the most effortless ways to have a great time with family and friends on Switch 2.
Conclusion
Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV gives an already fantastic party game a huge shot in the arm, with a bunch of brilliant Mouse Mode and mic-based games that also allow you to see your big silly face as you play. It’s all very knockabout, very easy to use, and very easy to enjoy.
With a huge base game packing seven boards and a whole bunch of modes, and the Switch 2’s new tech adding to the fun in meaningful ways, this is a thoroughly delightful and totally family-friendly way to party Mushroom Kingdom-style.
- New mic and mouse-based games are excellent fun
- Camera stuff is easy to set up and brilliantly executed
- Huge package overall with lots of side modes and boards
- Jamboree TV mode looks super crisp and fancy
- The original mode apparently hasn’t had the same graphical refresh as TV mode
- No pro mode in expansion
Excellent 9/10
Review copy provided by Nintendo
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