Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores, but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, all whilst including some lengthy gameplay, to give you, the reader, the chance to form your own impressions and views while reading and watching. In this explanatory review, we’re covering Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV by developer, Nintendo Cube:
Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (Nintendo Switch 2)
Super Mario Party Jamboree previously released on Nintendo Switch in October 2024. The new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV update adds additional modes and functionality to the game, albeit only for the Nintendo Switch 2 version, meaning that you can not download or play it on the Nintendo Switch. If you own a copy of the Nintendo Switch version, you can upgrade it to the Nintendo Switch 2 version by purchasing the upgrade pack. If you don’t have Switch 1 game, you can purchase Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV either digitally or physically for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Now, for this review, I won’t be discussing the modes and content of the base game as we have gone into them at length in our review when the game first released, which you can find on our website here. Instead, I will be focusing solely on the new content and features in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV portion of the game. When booting up the game, you will be taken to one of three screens. The first screen that takes center is Jamboree TV. If you push left on the controller, you will find the Super Mario Party Jamboree base game, and if you go over to the right, you will find GameShare.
GameShare allows you to play a board of Super Mario Jamboree on other consoles with players who do not have a copy of the game. You are confined to a single board being Mega Wriggler’s Forest at 10 rounds and 30 catered minigames. This is basically a Local Wireless scenario but with only one copy of Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV shared between 4 players. It is a nice option to have if you don’t have a dock and TV to hand but you and a group of friends have their consoles to hand. It is quite restrictive though having only one board available, but I imagine this would be reserved for as and when occasions and not something that you would do very often.
Jamboree TV is where you can find new minigames and modes that make use of the new features for the Nintendo Switch 2. These being the Nintendo Switch Camera, Mouse Controls, and the incorporated microphone. Once you have selected Jamboree TV, you will be asked if you want to play locally, with friends or worldwide (online) and how many players are joining the session. Then, if a camera is connected, you will be taken to another screen where you will need set your face position by moving a circular frame over your face and resizing it to fit. After that, you will then be able to choose your characters and then pick between four different game modes. The modes are Bowser Live, Carnival Coaster, Mario Party, and Free Play.
In Free Play, you can you can play most of the minigames from the base game and from Jamboree TV. Now, I say most games because there are three minigames that I know of that are not featured for some reason and these are the camera minigames from Bowser Live. You can play the Microphone and Mouse Minigames and can even select your favourites to appear on a separate screen to make it easier to find them.
Bowser Live is a game show mode that pits two teams of two against one another through three rounds. The minigames are either camera or microphone based, but what minigames you will play are randomized. That said, there are only three of each minigame, so there isn’t a lot of variety and the final round is always a cheer fest to see which team can cheer and move more enthusiastically. This mode is always going to be more entertaining playing with friends than on your own as it has that Everybody 1-2 Switch energy. Fun in groups but will get real old when played alone. I practicularly like the Talking Flowers Says and the Hitting It Rich minigames but the final minigame seems incredible one sided to the CPU if playing one player.
Carnival Coaster is an interesting game mode that has up to four players work together to clear out pests whilst riding a roller coaster and partaking in minigames. This mode has a countdown that players can add time to by scoring well in minigames and by clearing the waves of pests. All of the minigames and shooting the enemies use the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls so if there are four players engaging in a session, you will need two pairs of Joy-Con 2 in order to play it. I do quite enjoy this mode and I particularly like the use of the camera that makes it look like you are riding the coaster with your friends and you can throw your arms in the air like an idiot as the coaster barrels down on a descent and is in fact, encouraged as it can earn you some extra time to the countdown.
The final game mode is Mario Party. I saved this one last because I wanted to highlight the other game modes first. On the surface, the Mario Party mode is very much the same as the base game with the same boards, and characters. The key differences here are that you can play with the camera feature so you and your friends can appear in-game, and there are a couple of new rulesets to play with. One ruleset is Frenzy Mode, which is a 5-round session with all players starting with a star, 50 coins, and a double dice. It is great for short and intense sessions that can go either way as players scramble to get the stars in fewer turns than a normal game.
Tag Team rules puts players into teams of two so they can work together to beat the other team. Jamboree buddies are removed but a new double dice is introduced that allows players to temporarily move on the same spaces to double their chances of perhaps claiming stars, useful items or advantageous event spaces. There is also a new buddy space that when a player lands on it, their buddy will automatically be transported next to them. Items are shared between team members, as are coins and stars. I really do like this game mode and can see myself playing it quite a lot. Skill has more of a presence here rather than relying on blind luck. You can work with your teammate to coordinate who goes for the star and who concentrates on collecting coins or reaching a certain space depending on their location on the board.
As I wrap up this review, I should touch upon some things that may not have been very clear in Nintendo’s promotional materials for Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV. From what I have seen, the base game does not have any visual or performance boosts like other games that have had the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition treatment. It is very much just the additional content that I have covered above in this review. That means that for the extra $20 USD or so that you would spend to upgrade the game, you are getting a few new modes and about 20 new minigames.
I have seen a number of outlets who have also reviewed Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV critique it for not being worth the price and I will never reaffirm or deny that is the case. At the end of the day, the only person who can say whether the price is justified or not is you. If you are a big Mario Party fan who plays the game often, you will probably enjoy the content a lot more than a more casual player. I will say that the Bowser Live mode was a bit lackluster for me in the end. It started off well but the very limited selection of minigames will make it become very repetitive very quickly. The Carnival Coaster is pretty fun though and the Tag Team mode is definitely a highlight for me.
So, to conclude this review, there is plenty of fun to be had with Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV on Nintendo Switch 2. The party never has to end but you do have to cough up the admission if you want to join in the fun.
Game Specifications:
Developers: Nintendo Cube
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2 (Physical)
Genre: Party
No. of Players: 1-4 (Single System) 2-20 (Online)
Release Date: July 24, 2025
Price: $79.99 (NS2 Full Game) / $19.99 (Upgrade Pack)
File Size: 12.6 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
