It has been a long while since my family have had a Mario Party title that we have wanted to come back to over and over again. Almost every game since Mario Party 8 has come with some sort of forced gimmick, whether it be motion controls in every minigame, or all players occupy the same space at all times. Most of these gimmicks felt forced, and as a result we found ourselves going back to Super Mario Party, which brought back a collection of minigames and boards from yesteryear.

I am happy to report that Super Mario Party Jamboree is a return to form in terms of what made these games great in the first place. Throw four players onto a board, compete in minigames, and try and collect the most stars to win the game. It is a simple formula, and I am so glad that Nintendo Cube have taken the series back in this direction.

First impressions upon starting up my first game were solid, as the game offered some impressive rule setting options. You can set the number of turns and choose what difficulty any CPU controlled characters are, as is usually the case. Some new rules that have popped up include setting the style of minigames available, choosing between motion-controlled ones, button-controlled ones, or both. Another new rule in the series is ‘Pro Mode,’ which removes a lot of the randomness from each game.

Pro mode is interesting as it tells you what bonus star will appear at the end of the round, meaning that everyone knows what they are competing for from the very beginning. This added a layer of strategy which I actually found compelling, as rather than going for every star, we found ourselves playing Mario Party differently to what we are used to. Pro mode also changes how lucky and unlucky spaces work, and completely removes hidden blocks from the board, removes minigames with chance, and everyone votes for each minigame. It is definitely an interesting mode.

Once you get into a round of classic Mario Party, you will find that the selection of boards is quite unique and interesting. There is one that has a changing tide that determines where players can navigate, and also involves an active volcano that shoots golden goombas worth five coins each. Another one is a Mario Kart inspired board where all players drive go-karts around the board, and multi-dice items offer a way to complete as many laps as possible.

There are more boards instantly available, with more to unlock. This is the first game in a while that has offered such a unique variety of boards with their own spin on Mario Party gameplay. Each board has a number of NPCs that can be the difference between a good and a bad turn, and a small but nice touch shows each NPC offering an amusing conversation that changes depending on the character being played.

Making a semi-return are friends that you can have join you for a small number of turns. Called Jamboree Buddies, every now and then a random character will drop into the board, usually just in front of a player character. Once passed, this character offers a competitive minigame where the winner scores their services for the next three turns. The player that passes them will get an advantage in this minigame that gives them a slight edge over the competition. These Jamboree Buddies offer a diverse range of abilities, such as Daisy giving you half price at each store on the board, and Donkey Kong using a barrel to blast you to a random spot on the board.

Another layer to Jamboree Buddies is that if someone passes you while you have an ally, they automatically steal that ally from you. This adds an unpredictable element to it all, as classic Mario Party frustration sets in after you worked hard to get the Jamboree Buddy, only to have them wander off and betray you on the very next turn.

The minigames are all an incredibly good range of skill and luck-based strategies. Like with most games, not all of them are winners. A notable minigame that comes across as lacklustre is the 3-on-1 snowball game, as one well placed snowball from the team of three can end the game in less than 3 seconds.

However, bad minigames are rare, as there are a lot of cracking minigames to be found. My personal favourite is the tag team minigame where the aim is to cut three pieces of steak perfectly in half. Another is when trying to win the services of Waluigi, and you get to play a surprisingly deep game of pinball that goes for quite a while!

As mentioned earlier, there are options to play mini games with motion controls as well. For the most part, the Joy-Cons work really well when completing activities like hammering nails, however there are others like trying to paddle in a boat that seems to miss the mark. Of course, you can switch them off entirely if you get sick of them.

If I ended the review here, it would be a perfectly serviceable review for a Mario Party game. However, Jamboree offers a lot more on top of the traditional Mario Party experience, including multiplayer cooperative rhythm games, some online modes, and even an explorable single-player experience.

For the single-player mode, you pick a character, and then explore the boards at your own leisure, unbound by any dice related movements. As you explore, you meet NPCs who offer missions in order to collect mini-stars and earn decorations for the main plaza, and even unlockable boards. For a single-player mode in a party focused game, it is surprisingly robust and offers something to do when all your family and friends are too busy to play.

Koopathlon has you competing against twenty other characters through curated minigame performances. The more coins you earn in the minigames, the further your character goes around the board. Minigames come with Mario Kart style items that disrupt the game for other players. The winner is the first to complete three laps of the Koopathlon.

Other modes include Bowser Kaboom Squad, which has eight players running around a town collecting bombs to throw at a Bowser imposter. Toad’s Item Factory providing a puzzle game for up to 4 players, Paratroopa Flight School offering a Pilotwings style motion-controlled game, and Rhythm Kitchen offering a cooperative rhythm game where the idea is to cook a 5-star meal, purely based on how well you can keep with the rhythm.

There is just so much packed into this game, it takes a long time before you find yourself having to repeat anything. After the last two Switch games in the series not quite offering fans a complete package worth sticking around for, it is clear that Nintendo Cube have wanted to release all their ideas at once, and it is a successful game as a result.

Some people say that third time’s the charm, and with Super Mario Party Jamboree being the third Mario Party on the Switch, Nintendo Cube really hit a home run with the best Mario Party since Mario Party 7 on the GameCube. Plenty of satisfying minigames, incredible boards, and more modes than you can roll a die at make for the ultimate Mario Party experience.