Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV Review, Not Quite A Jamboree

So far, the Switch 2 has built up its reputation slowly but steadily since launch. After debuting withMario Kart World, we gotDonkey Kong Bananza, and now we’re smack dab in the middle of an expansion of sorts forSuper Mario Party Jamboree. It’s calledSuper Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV, which is a mouthful, but what it actually entails involves more minigames and modes.

It may seem confusing at first, butJamboree TVis a $19.99 USD ($29.99 CAN) Switch 2 exclusive add-on for the base edition ofMario Party Jamboree, which launched in late 2024 on the original Switch.There are two brand-new modes and a handful of variantson the core “board-based” version ofMario Party, all of which vary wildly in quality.

Mario Party Has A Few New Rules

Jamboree TV Adds Frenzy And Tag-Team Modes

The core Mario Party additions to Jamboree TV are going to be exciting or overwhelming, depending on how much mileage you plan to get out of them. The biggest andmost-talked-about game type is easily “Frenzy Rules.“Think of this as a quick “sudden death” game type for the core boards, in which there are only five turns left at the start.

Frenzy is a stark contrast to the coreMario Partyexperience, which lasts 10 rounds at a minimum.It’s a way to get a quick set of games in with a front-loaded match, as you’re given coins and a star at the start to kick things off. I’m sure a lot of folks are wondering why Nintendo didn’t patch this into the base game at any point since launch: but it’s here if you want, albeit with an extra fee attached.

Tag-Team Rules are the other gametype, which adds a fun wrinkle to repeat plays, provided you can get four people together to really take advantage of it.Teams work together to take down another duo, sharing everything, including a new tag-team-exclusive dice item. It’s a cute mode that also could have been included in the base game: and one hardcoreMario Partyplayers may want to work into a permanent rotation.

The Switch 2’s camera functionalitycan be considered a small extra feature, showing your face and reactions to everyone you’re playing with, whether you’re offline or online. GameShare is in too (where you may beam the game to other players, similar to Nintendo’s “Download Play” initiative on portable devices), but is limited to just the Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party board.Jamboree TVadds 20 additional minigames in all.

Carnival Coaster: A Delightful Surprise

I’ll Be Playing This One For A While

Carnival Coaster, on the other hand, immediately added a breath of fresh air toJamboree TV, as it’s brand new and exclusive to the Switch 2. It utilizes the console’s enhanced Joy-Con 2 functionality,which subsequently sold me on using the controller as a mouse. Think of Carnival Coaster like an IR pointer/light-gun game, where you throw light-hearted projectiles at “pests” to clear roller coaster tracks. Clearing groups of pests grants extra time, with the goal of reaching the end before the clock runs out.

After select intervals,you’ll head into a warp pipe and take on a mouse minigame(that is also exclusive toJamboree TV), which can grant you extra time on the track based on how well you do (with rankings, from high to low, of S, A, B, and C). What I love about this mode is that it’s completely accessible for youngsters, but you can also treat it like a score-attack mode if you’re aMario Partyveteran.

As for the mouse functionality, I was surprised at how well it worked.

Withfive tracks to choose from(including a Bowser challenge track that forces you to achieve high minigame rankings to survive) and four-player support, I’m going to be playing Carnival Coaster for some time. In fact, I like it so much that I hope Nintendo (or anyone, really) develops an IR/light-gun type game for Switch 2 as soon as possible.

As for the mouse functionality,I was surprised at how well it worked, even on a couch arm. I was worried at first that my family wouldn’t have room to navigate the mouse strokes, but we managed, and pretty much any surface still allowed for a degree of cursor precision. This feels like a console feature that’s fully baked from the start.

Bowser Live Is The Biggest Letdown

There Just Aren’t Enough Minigames For It

The other big exclusive mode, Bowser Live, is sadly a letdown. Here, a team of twowill square off against another duo in three short rounds, all of which are centered around microphone and camera minigames. While microphone support is included with your Joy-Con or other controller of choice, you need a camera accessory for around half of this mode, and only three microphone-based games are unlocked inJamboree TV.

Beyond those brief minigames, in the final round, you’re asked to “move your body and shout” to get the highest praise from Bowser. And…that’s it! Once that round is over, everyone is graded, and the loser gets burned by Bowser himself. Kids will love it, especially if they can see themselves waving at the screen and screaming on camera,but they’ll likely lose interest quickly.

Bowser Live is essentially over before you start.

Even if there were more variety on offer, Bowser Live is essentially over before you start. It’s very cute to see your actual body pop out of aMariowarp pipe if you opt to use a camera, butthe novelty quickly wears offonce you’ve seen everything Bowser Live has to offer. You may as well just go into the minigame selection mode and try out the Bowser Live games at your own pace.

Think Of Jamboree TV Like A Light Expansion

The Main Draws Are New Camera And Mouse Minigames

After playing a ton ofJamboree TV, I came back mostly satisfied because of the injection of extra minigames it adds to the base game.Carnival Coaster is a highlight, but I’ll be playing Frenzy Mode and trying to perfect scores for the new games for quite a while. When people come over and want to playMario Party, there’s a “definitive edition” of sorts to trot out.

With all that said, you should research everything thatSuper Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TVhas to offer to see if it’s worth the upgrade cost. If there’s still a lot of juice left in the core board-basedMario Partymodes for you, you will likely enjoy how the expansion modifies everything for years to come.