Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV Review – A Frankenstein Remaster

With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, early adopters are still holding their breath for the first major wave of exclusive games coming to their console. With releases like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, as well as a slew of remasters, including both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players have had plenty to keep them occupied during the long summer draught. Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV (Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition for short) is yet another remaster of a beloved Switch 1 title, although it’s quite unique in its structure. 

Instead of remastering the original game and providing new content for the players, Nintendo decided to separate the two halves of the game, quite literally. Let’s take a closer look at Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition and explore whether this release is worth your time and money, especially if you already played the original.

TL;DR

Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV is a bizarre remaster that will prove confusing for casual players. It essentially contains two separate games, both of which are missing features from one another. Combined, they provide a full Super Mario Party Jamboree experience, but that experience is disjointed and lacks the finesse of a modern remaster we’ve come to expect.

Gameplay – The Proven Super Mario Party Formula

The Super Mario Party series is no stranger to experimentation. As a long-running series with over a dozen titles, Nintendo has successfully kept the formula fresh with brand-new minigames and ways to play with your friends. In this aspect, Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition is a resounding success. 

With practically two games’ worth of content, you’re sure to find a mode that suits your group of friends. You’ll find cooperative and competitive games, as well as local and online modes to keep you occupied. The moment-to-moment gameplay here is unmatched, as very few party games have managed to come close to how organic this series feels. 

You can easily hand a Joy-Con to your friend, parent, or nephew who has never played a video game and have them come out on top. Just like with Mario Kart World, Nintendo has found the formula that ‘clicks’ with the widest audience, and it’s the reason why they’re now on top of the console gaming world.

Where Jamboree Gets Jumbled Up

Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition is difficult to describe as a traditional video game, so we’ll go back in time a bit. The original Super Mario Party Jamboree was released on the Switch 1 in 2024, but with the brand-new console now on the market, Nintendo wanted a new Super Mario Party game out around its launch. 

What Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition represents is the content from the original game, plus an additional ‘Jamboree TV’ mode that represents brand-new content exclusive to the Switch 2. The catch is that these two halves of content don’t communicate with each other in any way. They are effectively two separate games that you get when you purchase Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition. 

If you already own the original game, you’ll simply ‘unlock’ the additional ‘Jamboree TV’ mode on your console. There are a few reasons why Nintendo might have decided to go this direction, but it’s all speculation on our part. The main reason is the fact that Switch 1 and Switch 2 function differently in terms of Joy-Cons and accessories. 

Meaning that combining the content from the two versions might have been an even more confusing choice because a lot of people still use their Switch 1 Joy-Cons with the Switch 2. However, apart from the long and confusing title of the game, this information is poorly communicated to someone buying Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition from a physical store shelf. Casual players might think this is a completely new game, only to discover they already own 50% of it. 

The ‘Jamboree TV’ title doesn’t communicate what the new content is either, implying that it has something to do with playing the game docked and connected to your TV…but then what? Overall, Nintendo could have done a much better job explaining the release, as the ‘two games in one’ fact wasn’t known to the public until the first wave of reviews came out.

Visuals – A Day and Night Difference Between the Editions

Unfortunately, everything we’ve described about Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition applies to its visuals. The two ‘halves’ don’t match one another even when it comes to visual fidelity. The original Jamboree, coming from the Switch 1, runs at 1080p docked and 720p in handheld mode. Jamboree 2 runs at 1440p docked and 1080p handheld instead. 

It can be quite bizarre switching from one ‘game’ to the other in the same session, especially on a bigger TV where the resolution difference will be more noticeable. As this is a dedicated Switch 2 game, there’s no reason why Nintendo would not upgrade the resolution of the original Jamboree to match the new content. 

Again, we can only speculate that the logic behind it was to have casual players in mind who don’t necessarily care about the resolution difference. All they would care about is playing games with their friends. The fact remains that the two game modes are a night and day difference when switching between them, making them stand apart from one another even more.

Putting the Nintendo Switch 2 to the Test

The main hook of Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition lies in its functionality with the new console. Specifically, most of the new minigames are designed to make good use of the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls, as well as the Switch 2 camera accessories. 

These are fun and engaging minigames that anyone can pick up and intuitively participate in. Minigames like rollercoaster rides, where you shoot targets to gain time, or climbing games where you work together with your friends, are exciting and work perfectly well. 

You’ll rarely, if ever, come across a glitch or a technical problem that could lead you to fail at the minigame, lending credence to Nintendo’s commitment to polishing its games. The mouse minigames are the most prominent ones, with 14 of them focusing on this specific functionality. The Switch 2 microphone and camera accessories also received several minigames, but they’re few and far between. 

Overall, there are not as many minigames here compared to the original Jamboree’s release, which came with over 100 of them. Nintendo is banking on the fact that Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition is designed for their new console and that it will be enough for players to pick up and play. That, however, will be a very subjective decision based on your previous experience with Jamboree and your expectations for a next-gen Nintendo title in 2025.

Conclusion – Should you Buy Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV?

Should you buy this game? Yes and no. If you already own the original Super Mario Party Jamboree, you can upgrade your copy to the Switch 2 edition at a discount. If you owned the original game and want to buy the full Switch 2 edition, however, this answer becomes complicated. 

Apart from the gimmick of using your new Switch 2 accessories in a Super Mario Party game, there’s not much substance here. There are precious few new minigames, and the original content has received zero improvements, even in terms of resolution. This makes repurchasing the whole Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition a tougher sell. 

But, if you’ve never owned the original game and want a party game to play with your friends, this is a great investment. You’ll get over a hundred minigames spread across a dozen game modes, cooperative and competitive. There are hundreds of hours of entertainment to be found here, and it’s a shame that Nintendo took shortcuts in releasing it. Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV is now available exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Huge thanks to CD Media for providing us with the review copy!