Mario Party Superstars was released three years ago, and since then not a month has passed that some good friends and I haven’t played at least one round of finding coins and embarrassing them each other in fun mini-games. The Mario Party series is a perfect compromise for fans of board games, Nintendo, and video games, but to be honest, this game is a little lacking in content and I’ve been eagerly waiting for it. to more.
Now that the Super Mario Party Jamboree is just around the corner, I’ve had a chance to play it for a few days and can now share some first impressions. This time, the game is bigger than ever, with around 20 playable characters (including relatively obscure options like Spike, Ninji, and Monty Mole) and seven boards , as well as several game modes, including a light battle Royale style online Killer mode (which I haven’t had a chance to try yet).
The Mario Party series is back and bigger than ever.
One new feature is that this time you can choose whether you want to play with Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller, although the latter means the removal of motion-sensitive mini-games. I don’t know what percentage is motion sensitive, but based on my time with Super Mario Party Jamboree, I’d guess around 20%. Anyway, after a short introduction about the game, my fellow players and I stood in the square which this time was the game table. Here, I could buy stuff with the money I earned (zero microtransactions), watch mini game charts, and travel in a hot air balloon to areas representing different game modes.
Here’s a hint:
Basically, it is a very slow table, but it adds a lot of charm and is very typical for Nintendo. For my first round, I chose to play the new Rainbow Galleria board, which is a large shopping mall with a difficulty rating of 4 out of 5. The difficulty rating only reflects the complexity of the course, aimed mainly at younger players, and nothing else strange about it.
Two classic tables and five new tables are available.
This time, in addition to the regular Mario Party, you can also choose Pro mode, which means that random events and bonus items are much less important. There isn’t an infinite number of items to buy either, everyone starts with a chosen item to make things more fair. By default, the number of rounds is 10, which is lower than previous installments in the series (it used to be 20), and according to Nintendo, this should take about 90 minutes – it can for me to confirm that it is very accurate.
Rainbow Galleria offers several different routes on several different floors, with a ton of special rules. From collecting stamps that offer extra bonus points as you complete laps, to low-budget shops and more luxurious shops, with big sales every five rounds. Of course, there is also an abandoned store for when you see a ghost, and a paid elevator to quickly take you to the floor you want. Despite himself, the board felt really good and even out of 10 rounds, everyone I played with found time to play at least one round and sometimes twice.
Here’s a hint:
There are over 110 mini-games, and you can choose whether to play with Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller.
As it should be, each round ends with a mini-game, most of which include new ones and some favourites. There are 110 in total and so far we’ve only found one that doesn’t meet the criteria, you have to escapeating. to get rid of those you don’t like) and everyone in the group manages to survive every second level. Otherwise, there are a lot of great mini-games, some of which are quite deep and challenge you and test the limits of your friendship. I jumped over falling sandwiches, boxed in a giant robot, threw spike traps at my opponents, pushed through a sea of balls, ran flat on platforms, and more .
The other table I tried was the Mega Wiggler Tree Party, where a giant, increasingly angry Wiggler lay in a hole and occasionally moved around, which completely changed the conditions to get around. A very standard Mario Party board that is a great entry point to the series. We have Goomba Lagoon which has a large volcano and tides, the parts of the board closest to the dangerous peaks are full of traps or perks, and the movement of the tide means you can get lost on the island easily. Naturally, it’s really a shame to be stuck on an island like this, because it probably means spending two or three turns walking around a small pointless area, but other than that , it’s a good board.
Rainbow Galleria and Roll ’em Raceway are the best I’ve played so far.
However, the table that stands out the most is Roll ’em Raceway, where all players sit in an F1 car and drive around the track, and the stars are sold in the same place all the time. So here, it’s important to drive quickly so that you have time to buy as many stars as possible, and 4x mushrooms allow you to roll four dice at once – the caveat is that you drive so fast that you don’t have time to stop. and do nothing, don’t even buy a star. Do you want to use it when you are still 20 degrees from the star …? Especially on Roll ’em Raceway, I recommend increasing the number of laps to at least 15 because it plays faster and really benefits from the fact that you at least have time for a few laps to drive
However, the most impressive thing about Super Mario Party Jamboree is the companions introduced as part of the game. They appear several times per round and are made up of playable characters. They all offer different advantages (to you) or disadvantages (to your opponent). Those who reach the explainer first gain the advantage in subsequent mini-games to earn the “winner”. I won’t spoil your fun, but trust me when I say that these mini games (which aren’t even miniscule) are one of the best and funnest parts of the game.
When fighting for a partner, long and continuous mini-games often become a kind of game within the game.
Another thing I want to point out is that you can now see more information on the screen, which is great, but you can feel a little cluttered. There are more diagrams, signs with the order of things happening, and text. Unfortunately, these are very small, which is not an issue on TV more particularly clear.
All in all, this bodes well for the finished game, which will be released on October 17th. Super Mario Party Jamboree is a classic Mario Party in many ways, but more than anything, it also features some interesting gameplay innovations as well as a real online mode. We’ll be back closer to launch for a final and comprehensive review.
