In the first year of a console’s launch, every new game is a test. Turn the clock back to the PlayStation 5’s early months and you’ll unearth countless conversations about how well Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart realize the shiny new box’s potential. The Nintendo Switch 2 is only at the start of that long cycle, with fresh releases like Donkey Kong Bananza bound to come bundled with conversations about the system’s horsepower. But the system’s first true test isn’t DK’s big adventure or Mario Kart’s first open-world foray or Breath of the Wild’s impressive refresh: It’s Mario Party.
The latest in Nintendo’s line of Switch 2 Editions, Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV adds even more content to an already supersized party staple. The paid upgrade adds more minigames, new modes, and even some exclusive rulesets for the traditional board game. Those are all welcome additions, but the real focus here will inevitably be on how well the package takes advantage of new Switch 2 tricks, like its mouse controls and camera support. After all, Mario Party ranks right up there with WarioWare as Nintendo’s tech gimmick guinea pig. As an all-important early experiment, Jamboree TV gets the job done as a gleeful taste of what’s to come, even if the thin offering doesn’t feel much more substantial than a good tech demo.
If you’ve yet to add Super Mario Party Jamboree to your Switch collection, the new upgrade is a good excuse to rectify that. The 2024 party game is one of the series’ strongest entries since its Nintendo 64 days, even with some notable missteps. The core board game is more strategic than ever, the few boards it includes are series highlights, and new modes like Koopathlon offer creative new twists that signal a series reinvention in-progress.
Jamboree TV only builds on that success, laterally. Rather than integrating the new content into the base game, all of it is siloed off in its own world. When booting the upgraded edition, I can choose to hop into the unchanged base game or launch into Jamboree TV. Picking the latter brings me to a TV studio where I can select from four options: two new modes, a standard round of Mario Party with two new rule variations, and standard minigame freeplay. It’s a little odd that none of this meshes into the base game, especially as the new rule options aren’t selectable there, but it’s a quick concession to keep minigames that can only work on Switch 2 in their own world.
Both new rulesets are welcome additions to Jamboree’s already refined board game. Frenzy Rules brings a much-needed quick option to a game that tends to drag on. Here, players only get five turns to work with, but each starts with 50 coins, a star, and a set of double dice. That twist feels like cutting straight to a baseball game’s ninth inning, as a savvy player can nab a star right from turn one and set themselves up to get another immediately. It’s more cutthroat, with star-stealing Boos and traps becoming just as imperative as the race around the board.
Also welcome is Tag Team Rules, a new duos option in which teams of two pool their coins and items together. That brings a new layer of strategy to the mix, as it encourages friends to consider their shared resources and work out the best moment to spend them. A few cooperative twists freshen up the traditional game. Landing on the same space as a friend grants some extra coins, and the new Together Dice allow duos to travel with one another on the turn and double every action — including star purchases. Wrinkles like that change the flow of a game enough that the rulesets feel like substantial additions.
Image: Nintendo
There’s only one downside to Tag Team Rules and it speaks to a broader problem that’s been with Jamboree since day one. If you choose those rules, your minigame pool will shrink to the available two-on-two options. The base game originally only featured 12 duo games, so you’ll be revisiting those a lot. Despite featuring the most minigames of any Mario Party before it, Jamboree always felt like it stretched those games too thin. Some were only available in modes like Rhythm Kitchen, while others were saved for duels and Jamboree Buddy challenges. Tag Team Rules underlines that problem, as there just aren’t enough minigames in that specific bucket to keep games varied.
To rectify that, Jamboree TV doubles the pot with an influx of duo-focused mouse minigames (hence why those who don’t buy the Switch 2 Edition can’t access Tag Team Rules). Outside of the board game, they largely live in one of the upgrade’s two new modes: Carnival Coaster. The short but sweet addition is basically a mouse-controlled on-rails shooter with minigame interludes. Players pick one of five tracks and then try to race to the end as a timer ticks down. Shooting down enemies extends the timer, as does successfully taking down a “boss” on some maps. It’s a light gimmick — one that feels more about demoing HD Rumble and mouse controls than creating a repeatable multiplayer mode.
Even if that is the case, Carnival Coaster does introduce a handful of inventive minigames that show promise for Mario Party’s future on Switch 2. One has me playing air hockey with koopa shells. Another has me sorting emails on a PC desktop by dragging them into the appropriate folder. Perhaps my personal favorite has me spray painting Bomb-ombs and lifting my Joy-Con off the table to shake the can up when I run out of paint. None of them are groundbreaking (and they support my working theory that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour would have gone over better if it had Mario characters slapped onto it), but they successfully left me hungry for a brand-new Mario Party game built with mouse controls in mind first.
The full package is one of the Switch 2’s smartest value propositions at present.
I hope that moment happens soon, because Jamboree TV can be a real tease. Its other new mode, Bowser TV, suffers most from being a quick add-on that only gestures at future potential. The competitive showdown drops teams into another kind of minigame battle, though this one is built entirely around camera and microphone support. It’s a great idea in theory, especially because it’s an absurd riot to see my friends’ bodies emerge from warp pipes on screen. The catch is that there are barely any minigames to support it all. If you don’t have a camera, you’ll only cycle between three microphone minigames. They’re perfectly fine ideas meant to rile up kids; one has teams playing shuffle board with a toy car by screaming “Go!” at it to make it move. But the trio barely even feels like the tip of the iceberg.
The same goes for the small handful of Kinect-core camera minigames. One asks players to punch a floating coin box as fast as possible, while a Simon Says game forces players to squat. (Why does Nintendo keep asking me to squat so much these days?) These would be great additions mixed into a traditional rotation of Mario Party minigames, but it’s not quite enough to turn Bowser Live into a must-play party experience. The same was true for Jamboree’s similarly slim Rhythm Kitchen, a fun idea that would have benefited from additional updates over time. Even with its updates, Jamboree remains a game of pioneering experiments that the next proper Mario Party can learn from.
The upgrade winds up falling on the inessential side – especially since it misses a chance to add some new maps or characters – but the full package is one of the Switch 2’s smartest value propositions at present. Super Mario Party Jamboree now stands as a robust party game that makes up for its shortcomings in sheer variety. Sure, Carnival Coaster isn’t something I’ll want to play for an hour at a time, but it works as one small attraction in a larger amusement park. I hope that its successor puts a bit more work into the best rides of the bunch, because there’s a whole playground of potential here.
Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV will be released July 24 on Nintendo Switch 2. The game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 using a prerelease download code provided by Nintendo. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.
