Super Mario Party Jamboree may very well be one of the best games you can buy on Nintendo Switch. The seven included boards were all a blast to play, and Nintendo finally locked in a great way to experience Mario Party online with friends across the world. In our 4.5/5 review of the game on Nintendo Switch, Saras Rajpal wrote, “Super Mario Party Jamboree is the ultimate return to form for the Mario Party franchise. While there’s some stuttering while playing online and the process of unlocking boards may seem a bit tedious, the game is incredibly fun to play, especially with friends and family.” I completely agree with that sentiment, as I found Jamboree to be one of the best games in the entire series.
Almost a year later, enter Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (yes, that’s the full name). Jamboree is back for more with new minigames, modes, and capabilities that look to transform the way you can play Mario Party. A sure-fire recommendation, right? Unfortunately, if you’re already an owner of the game and are interested in the Jamboree TV, the recently released Jamboree TV upgrade pack does little to justify its asking price of $20. I found the offerings to be quite bare, and I continued to wonder why Nintendo put this package together the way it did, despite clearly focusing on the new Switch 2 technology.
You’re My Superstar
If you’re new to the world of Super Mario Party Jamboree, the Nintendo Switch release had a ton to offer. As aforementioned, there are a total of seven different boards to experience with your friends and family, and you can check out a variety of modes. While the minigame selection is better in areas in Super Mario Party Superstars, the new additions here are quite good and offer a variety of team combinations. Out of every Mario Party game, this, to me, is the best package. Sure, I hold a soft spot for Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, and Mario Party 6, among others, but it’s hard to argue against the huge innovations and improvements to the core experience and online components.
Jamboree is truly an excellent time, and I highly recommend picking up the game on Switch. If you’re curious about our thoughts on the base game’s content, I encourage you to check out our review from last year. I could spend quite a while discussing the ins and outs of Jamboree, but the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition brings what is basically treated as an entirely new game—Jamboree TV. As we’ve seen across the last month, Nintendo Switch 2 Editions tend to bring major upgrades and enhancements to resolution and frame rate, or significant new content—look at Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild running at 60fps and up to 1440p docked. So, you can imagine my surprise when absolutely zero upgrades were made to the base game of Jamboree.
The way that Nintendo approached this release is endlessly confusing for absolutely zero reason. Upon booting up the game, you’ll have the choice of three separate options from the menu: Super Mario Party Jamboree, Jamboree TV, and GameShare. Despite being a “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition”, resolution bumps are only present in Jamboree TV, with the original content stuck running at 720p on Nintendo Switch 2. This wouldn’t be an issue if all the content and modes from the original game were in Jamboree TV, but they aren’t. Now, I do not think for a second that a visual upgrade is what was needed here the most, as this was a very pretty game on Switch, but it’s almost baffling to consider that this $20 paid “Nintendo Switch 2” upgrade elected to increase resolution only for new content. With that out of the way, let’s break down Jamboree TV.
Out of Signal
Jamboree TV aims to feature many of the Nintendo Switch 2’s new capabilities, including support for a USB-C camera, a built-in microphone, and the Joy-Con 2’s mouse functionality. To reiterate, this is an entirely separate mode and menu from the standard base game that released last year. All of the achievements and progression that occur during the base Jamboree game are removed entirely here, as you are given everything from the get-go. Set in a game show-like environment hosted by a Super Mario Bros. Wonder talking flower, you’ll find yourself in a wildly different style of Mario Party upon entering Jamboree TV for the first time. I much appreciated the new and fun take on the genre, as being pulled down from the audience was quite charming, and seeing the toads filming was really great.
The three major modes available to play in Jamboree TV: Bowser Live, Carnival Coaster, and Mario Party. First, Bowser Live puts Bowser at the head of a show, and you’re tasked with completing three minigames using the camera or microphone. That’s really it! It’s fun to see yourself be transported into the world of Mario Party with the camera, but this gimmick doesn’t really do much in the grand scheme of things. The same goes for the microphone-based games, as, while impressive, they don’t elevate game nights. After just a few plays, you have already experienced every single minigame Bowser Live has to offer, and if you’re like me, you probably are left wondering why this mode is so half-baked. Bowser Live feels like a tech demo, almost, acting as a showcase of what the Nintendo Switch 2 can do. That’s great for new players, but it does not justify spending $20 on this upgrade whatsoever.
Next, Carnival Coaster sets you and up to three other players on a rollercoaster with everyone’s favorite talking flower to complete some mouse minigames. You can actually turn off the flower’s voice in the settings, which is quite funny. Carnival Coaster is essentially a dedicated mouse mode, as you can only play those minigames here. You can ride across five different coasters, and the main goal of the mode is to get to the end of the ride by racking up points in the minigames. I had some fun in this mode, but like Bowser Live, it feels half-baked. This isn’t anywhere near a legitimate side mode you’d expect from a Mario Party game, feeling more like a gimmick at times. The minigames in Carnival Coaster are very fun, but that novelty isn’t enough to justify an upgrade.
Finally, Mario Party mode, the one we all know and love, has seen enhancements in a few areas. For one, the resolution is increased, making for a sharper and prettier picture in both handheld and docked modes. The big additions here are the two new rulesets: Tag-Team and Frenzy. These are both fun and bring new ways to play, which I appreciated as someone who has played Jamboree to death and back. Tag-Team puts you with another player in a 2v2 battle, sharing everything—even stars—with your teammate. A nice dice called the Together Dice is featured here (replacing Jamboree Buddies), which brings your teammate over to you and lets you move together. There’s also Frenzy, a mode that is perfect if you are short on time and want to get a quick game in. This mode throws you into a game that just has five turns, giving you a star and quite a few coins to start out with. Both of these, while not groundbreaking, are solid additions that play well to the content already available in Super Mario Party Jamboree.
Alongside new modes, a handful of new minigames have been added to support the camera, mouse, and microphone functionality. While I did find enjoyment with the various mouse mode offerings, the camera and microphone minigames eerily reminded me of the Kinect games on Xbox 360—and not in a good way. Mouse minigames, though, are a lot of fun and creative. Here’s hoping Nintendo will take the good ideas from these presented in Jamboree TV and incorporate them more aptly into a legitimate release.
GameShare is the third and final selection on the main menu, and it’s one that also feels like a huge missed opportunity. Sure, you can play locally with Nintendo Switch 2 or Nintendo Switch players, but you are limited to only Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party, with just a handful of minigames available. It works quite well and is very convenient, but this was yet another area that left me puzzled about a decision to hold back more options from players. Additionally, online functionality is also confusing, a key takeaway of this release. Carnival Coaster & Bowser Live cannot be played online or through Game Chat, as these are local co-op only. Super Mario Party Jamboree is a game about playing with others, and this is a very puzzling omission to me. If you regularly play Jamboree in person, maybe this won’t be an issue for you, but it still seems like a missing feature in a package that doesn’t do a whole lot to justify the asking price.
A Filler Episode
Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV combines the excellent Super Mario Party Jamboree with a mediocre and puzzling collection of new offerings for Nintendo Switch 2. The result is a game that I am quite mixed on, as on one hand, this is one of the most fun experiences on Nintendo Switch 2, I feel even the $20 upgrade for existing players is a bit much considering the content. Even for players new to the Nintendo Switch ecosystem, I almost recommend grabbing the standard Nintendo Switch version, as it pops up on sale quite a bit at Amazon or Woot.
I think there are bright spots here with the mouse minigames, and even the camera or microphone minigames could be expanded upon in the future. An entire game built around these could be really exciting, but in Jamboree TV, most of it comes across as a half-baked tech demo. The lack of online functionality for some of the new modes and the strange segmentation of Jamboree TV content only contribute to the mixed nature of this release. Some players might really fall in love with the brief new modes, especially younger audiences. However, I feel that many experienced Mario Party players will question why they spent $20 to upgrade the game for Jamboree TV.
The base game of Super Mario Party Jamboree has everything you need for a grand old Mario Party night with friends and family, and while the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition can enhance that, it doesn’t do so enough to warrant an additional purchase either way. As someone who pulls out Mario Party for a game night once a month or so, I don’t really see myself pulling out the new modes with friends more than once or twice. Considering this release exists, it’s likely that it will be a few years until the first true Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Party game is released. Yes, there’s fun to be had with the new content, but for $80 as a package or an additional $20 for the upgrade? You’re better off putting that toward another one of Nintendo Switch 2’s games.
Disclaimer: Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 and purchased by the reviewer.
