''ITS MY PARTY AND I CAN CRY IF I WANT TO''
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Developed: Nintendo Cube
Published: Nintendo
Genre: Party and Mini Games
Release Date: Oct 17th, 2024
Platforms: Switch
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*GAME PROVIDED TO ME BY NINTENDO*
Super Mario Party Jamboree is the latest entry into the Mario Party franchise and it is developed by Nintendo Cube and published by Nintendo. With the Mario Party series having a ton of mixed reactions due to no one being able to agree on which entries are failures and which are successes, Nintendo just decided, you know what, just take a mash up of it all and deal with it. But was taking the best of old entries and mixing it with new ideas worth the risk? or do we have another underwhelming entry on our hands? Only one way to find out, lets party!
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GAMEPLAY:
Another console generation and another Mario Party game joins the ranks. Like seriously, there's what? like 18 of these dang games already? I've literally lost count in the same ways as I've lost count at the amount of sequels The Land Before Time received. But where those movies floundered off after the first couple, Mario Party on the other hand has seen a back and forth tug of war between '' this is good'' and ''this is bad'', with people not really being landing in between. The franchise has basically become a ''you either love it or hate it'' list of games and its honestly due to a lot of things. Some people like myself got a little tired of the whole riding in a car gimmick that took the fun out of the main purpose in the board games in the first place, others feel the series became too reliant on motion controls in a day and age where the motion control fad has been long dead.. and then others just feel like recent titles have been a copy and paste or a lackluster attempt at bringing the series back to its heights - with a 2 steps forward, 10 steps backwards approach. Thankfully we do not have this issue with this newest entry of Jamboree, otherwise I would've had to taken over Plaza Island alongside Bowser and enslaved everyone... so you all got lucky.. well everyone but you, Yoshi...you and your dang Triple and Double Dice rolls, I'll never forgive you. Moving on from my trigger moment at the hands of that little jerk dinosaur, you are probably asking yourself ''hold up... didn't we get Mario Party titles on Switch already?'', well the answer to that is yes, two to be precise, but this is the first full fledged sequel and brand NEW game in 6 years and it takes what worked in games like Super Mario Party and blended in the frantic pace of Mario Superstars, and have now created a hybrid between two styles of games that separately are a mixed bag, but combined together, offer a very unique and familiar feeling for this franchise that we haven't really seen since the classics of old on the good ol Nintendo 64 itself - minus the blistered up hands. The rage stays though, OH does the rage stay.... trust me. But we'll get to the horrors that await you in a bit, because there's quite a lot to cover, especially considering this game has so many modes to choose from outside of your normal board games that now include a Hub world plaza that lets you check rankings, buy new reactions to use during mini games, unlock new stickers to use for your Player Card to show off your creativity to everyone else online, Help Kamek and buddies fix their problems as you gather mini stars for rewards, take a hot air balloon to oversee the world and get a glimpse of all modes you will be able to partake in this go around such as your main board game area, island just for mini games, toad item, rhythm kitchen, Kaiju Bowser battles with friends, Koopathlon, Paratroopa training, etc. Oh yeah, this game has a TON of content. I didnt even talk about how you get rewards and decorate your own plaza as well, giving you a bit of an animal crossing gameplay. Welp, if I disappear and end up on a back of a milk carton, then you know where I'll be.
Jamboree for being a hybrid between two different styles of games surprisingly manages to do something that we have asked for this series for a vey long time... just keep it simple. Don't go over board with gimmicks and ''new'' forms of gameplay that completely change the foundation of WHY we loved the series to begin with just to ''subvert expectations''. Nope, just keep it sweet, simple and to the point and were all happy. Well, I'm not happy, not until this. DING DONG YOU LITTLE GREEN FREAK. Hope you enjoy your ride on that Wiggler. Mwhaha. Keeping true to the nature of the series we love, we as players move along the board as per usual with the main goal of course being to collect as many stars as you can before all turns are finished with a mini game taking place after everyone has rolled their dice once per turn. Unless you're YOSHI OR PEACH WHO HOARDS ALL THE DANG TRIPLE AND DOUBLE DICE. Honestly that sounds pretty straight forward right and none too drastic of change than what we've been used to for going on like two decades now - yes thats true, however, what you may be missing in that statement is that by going this route and sticking to ''what works'', you keep things more simplistic and create a game thats more inviting to players of all ages, which in turn makes it accessible to anyone, old and young. However depending HOW OLD you are will definitely determine if I should recommend this to you or not. If you're a happily married person in a relationship right now of like 40 years, the perfect couple, traveled the world together, saw the sights, been through thick an thin, then... prepare to kiss that dang marriage goodbye because this is Super Mario Party: Divorce Jamboree. After playing just one 90 minute round with your significant other, you will be convinced that you no longer knew them and they have betrayed you on every ever level possible by stealing your star at the last minute, resulting in your loss. There's no coming back. However if you prefer to watch the world burn at the hands of this array of characters and their silly party games, then come take a seat right here, we've saved you a spot. First off, lets start at what people are here for in the first place, the Mario Party Mode. In Mario Party mode you go against 4 players and compete against them on seven different boards of your choosing and a choice to pick whether you want 10 turns, 20 turns etc and that will determine how long each match will get played. For example if you prefer a short hour to hour and a half match, pick ten turns or if you're a masochist who loves torture and torment, sure, pick 20 turns, see how long your sanity lasts playing for 3 hours straight against friends or even the cheating face NPC's. STOP STEALING MY COINS YOU JERKS. Like Jamboree mixes play styles of old and new, so too does the board selection in this game with five of the boards at your ready being brand new, such as King Bowsers Keep, which basically acts like the ultimate troll map with traps everywhere to steal everything you have. Guys, hide your credit card details before entering that board, because I think I figured out just how Bowser was able to afford all that high dollar stuff he has. Mario got thrown in Jail for graffiti, Yoshi evading tax fraud, now its YOUR turn Bowser, its time to pay for your crimes. WHAT!? OK IM SORRY, I WAS JOKING. I WAS JOKING!.
Other boards include Goomba Lagoon, which is pretty dang gorgeous and has rising water that changes a players routes, Mega Wiggler's board that has you move across his home taking multiple routes and even sometimes riding on his back until his route is changed by ringing a bell that changes his direction, making any player whos standing on him completely bypass the top area of the map, making them completely miss an opportunity to gain a star. Suckers. I mean, thats too bad, I definitely wouldn't do that, that's just not who I am guys. If that were true, then as Rosalina, goddess of the cosmos as my witness, strike me down and take my stars now. See? nothing. Told you. In addition to your normal gameplay of rolling dice, moving spaces, engaging in mini games, dueling by slapping someone with a challenge glove to go one on one with them, like ''HEY PEACH, I CHALLENGE YOU'', and other crazy antics, you then have the newest gimmick of these games, Jamboree allies. During the last few turns of every board play, a Jamboree buddy will show up on the map for you to recruit, but its first come first serve, so whoever gets to them first, gets to initiate a mini game and whoever does the best in that mini game, gets the ally on their side with the buff power up to get the double of the rewards, like double coins, double item buys at the shops and even the chance to buy double stars that can give you the edge if you're down late or want to increase your lead further. In my case, the first Jamboree buddy ended up being Donkey Kong and the mini game chosen for him was a rhythm based Bongo game.. which I did absolutely horrible in. I got as much rhythm as the goth kids from South Park, but somehow still managed to win. While it was cool to have DK by my side, in short matches like ones I like to partake in, its not really necessary or warranted and instead feels like its definitely more suited to 20 turn games where stakes are even higher. Regardless of the additions of the buddy ally, I can say with confidence, these dang board games have stayed as frustrating as ever. For example, in the previous two Mario Party entries, I've found myself playing with a blank stare most of the time, disassociated really and not paying attention - basically going with the flow. However here in Jamboree playing against some NPCs, I found myself getting MAD, I started getting frustrated at characters getting better rolls than me, stealing my coins and making me mash buttons to stop a Boo from stealing them all, stealing my stars, hitting me with blocks that only make me roll a 1 or a 3, buying up all the double dice blocks, if my mood was a band, then just call it Smashing Pumpkins because despite all my rage, I still felt like a rat in a cage. But that's when it hit me. Holy crap, I'm... invested? I'm strategizing on who to steal coins from so they cant buy a star and catch up, who to change the routes on, focusing on who I need to beat in mini games over others... oh my god, I'm actually engaged with the game play and that's when I knew, this game is finally doing the right things, especially for me as a long time player of this franchise and that is a great feeling to feel once again-.
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''ITS A MARIO PARTY WORLD''
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EXTRA STUFF:
Outside of the party mode that proved to be a blast, you still have HOURS of time sink to partake in with all the extra modes to choose from with some being great additions and others... well.. not so great and very meh worthy. To start off we have Mini game island which is uh... self explanatory, its mini games bro, it aint that deep. Next up you have Koopathlon which puts you head to head against dozens of other players worldwide as you complete mini games and collect coins and for every coin you collect, equals a step in the foot race you're doing against other players in real time and whoever passes the finish line first, wins the race. Its very fun and mini game variety like climbing a sand hill while dodging obstacles is pretty good too. Just wish there were more opportunities to sabotage other players. In theory of course... yes.... in theory. Next up we have Bowser Kaboom Squad which has you team up with a larger amount of people to take on the gigantic Kaiju Bowser by working together with other players to break crates to grab bombs and dodge charging chucks, and load the bombs into a canon as Bowser stomps around the area, breathes fire and other fire hazards and attempt to drain his health in 5 rounds or less. I love this mode because you frantically run around as fast as you can, getting power ups like Hammers to break boxes faster, speed ramps to get a boost of speed to run like the fart ramps from 3D World, collect 100 coins to get golden bombs to fire, etc. Its very creative and gets very intense. Moving over to an alternative version of Party mode, you have the single player mode of Party-Trek where you must help Kamek and other inhabitants in their planning and problems and when you do so, will gain stars and once you collect 30, you will not only gain a new award, but unlock a new area as well to help out in. But I mean, what if I don't want to help this little guy? This little wizard of waverly place buttface constantly tries to make me fall in pits in games by removing blocks, trying to destroy me with castle sized Bowsers, helps UFO's kidnap people, and tires to help Bowser get a date with the woman he constantly tries to kidnap? If you think for one minute that I'm EVER going to... oh wow! shiny reward. You son of a gun, IM IN. Lastly the final three modes of the game are Rhythm Kitchen, Paratroopa Flight School and Toad's Item Factory, with Toads factory being the worst offender of them. Its just a typical run of the mil motion control game that has you use the Joy-Cons to lift and lower platforms to move a ball from one area to another. Its not bad... its just... un-imaginative and mundane. If I wanted to use two controllers to move from objective to objective, I'll just go dust off my ROB The Robot and play some Gyromite. After being underwhelmed by Toads item Factory, you then get to get roasted by none other than Gordan Ramsey himself as you partake in Rhythm Kitchen where you must team up with others to do time based mini games to cook up a feast for judges to taste, which include slicing carrots, potatoes, making soup, making a cake by getting your Lazy Town on and remember you gotta do the cooking by the book, you know you can't be lazy. But of course, I'm hurt, I'm old, I'm tired and I work with freaking children, so I of course miss half my cues. I'm sorry guys!. IM AN IDIOT SANDWICH.
Finally we arrive at Paratroopa Flight School and its one of my favorite modes in the game. In this mode you use the motion controls to hold out your arms like wings, ala Mario's cap power from Mario 64 and flap your arms to climb into the sky, lean forward with the joy cons to dive fast, tilt to make hard turns, etc. This mode is so much fun. It feels like a totally different game than every other mode in here and now I want something similar in concept in the mainline series. Being able to freely fly around the open area feels great and for the most part the controls are responsive in most things except tilting. It also gave me strong vibes of Pilotwings 64, only without the death screams of pain when crashing. To top it off, not only is there a battle mode for this flying mode as well, aside from the awesome free flight where you can pick up rewards for landing in various sections, it also has Mario's version of Crazy Taxi. WHAT?. That's right, in this mode you can also team up with another NPC's to carry a transport from area to area as you pick up inhabitants to take them to a destination they want and fly them there - whether it be Goomba's, other Paratroopa, characters like Yoshi, etc, you must carry them as fast as possible within the time limit to succeed. So I figured this would be a piece of cake right? Yeah... no. Guess who wanted a ride this time? BOWSER. Oh come on. Bro you're going to break the dang transport, dont you got your own clown car you can use?. Oh well, I'm a professional. Ugh... Bowser. I dont mean to be rude or fat shame you or anything... but can you lay off the treats for 10 min bro? WHY ARE YOU SO DANG HEAVY!?.
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''ITS GODZILLA! BUT DUE TO COPYRIGHT LAWS, ITS NOT GODZILLA!''
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OVERALL:
At the end of the day Super Mario Party Jamboree is a triumphet return to form and is exactly the game we have been waiting for. Obviously its not without its issues with Jamboree buddies being pretty useless in short turn board game plays, Toads Factory feeling tacked on rather than being substantial compared to other modes, online play with LARGER crowds tending to get a bit laggy at times and a tiny bit of grinding needed to unlock every board in the game which can ruin a party night if there's something you have to wait on. Other than those negatives, with a fun and frustrating board gameplay with the boards themselves having their own mechanics and great design, super fun mini games that give you intense moments of competitiveness, the option finally to TURN OFF motion control mini games so if you do not like motion, you don't have to play with them, amazing extra modes like paratroopa and bowsers kaboom that offer many more hours of creativity and could've been their own downloadable game itself - there's just so much fun here that its hard to grasp my head around. So if you're looking for a viable way to end your marriage or just want to have a good time with friends and family, then I highly recommend picking this one up because ''ITS GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE''. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW.
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