There's one big way in which Super Mario Party Jamboree proves itself to be better than Mario Party Superstars. There's no denying that the Mario Party series has found a resurgence on Nintendo Switch following an underwhelming period on Wii U and 3DS. Both Super Mario Party and Superstars found huge success as both entries sought to revitalize the typical Party Mode that the series was known for.

Mario Party Superstars itself was a true return to form, acting more as a celebration of the series' history by including loving recreations of iconic boards and minigames from across the series, serving as a reminder of what made Mario Party so special. However, this nostalgia trip overlooked one major aspect in of the level of content that Superstars was able to provide. This major flaw is what Jamboree has set out to improve upon, and in doing so, has laid the groundwork for future Mario Party titles to grow.

Superstars' Content Left A Lot To Be Desired

This Party Feels A Bit Stale As A Result

Superstars' cool retro style couldn't save the title from a lack of substance, with little content that failed to offer any sense of variety. While Party Mode is always the main event of Mario Party titles, Superstars never encourages the player to explore further. The other signature mode, titled Mt. Minigames, merely serves as an easy way to replay minigames with a small range of competitions to compete in. Coins that are gathered in either mode only offer small rewards, like stickers and encyclopedia pages that provide no incentive for the player to revisit Superstars.

Even the beloved Party Mode in Superstars lacks content, with only five boards to choose between. This small number of boards available to the player causes the main appeal of Mario Party to quickly grow stale. As fun as it can be to revisit elements from older titles, Superstars relies on this nostalgia to compensate for an experience that offers little in comparison to what came before. Not only does Superstars offer nothing to push the series forward, but the game does little to show these fan favorite boards and minigames in a new, creative light.

Jamboree Is The Biggest Mario Party Yet

New Modes Add A Lot Of Replay Value

It's clear that developer Nintendo Cube were aware of the lack of content available in Superstars. The approach to Jamboree feels like a stark contrast to its predecessor, quite comfortably claiming the title as the biggest Mario Party yet. Right off the bat, Party Mode now offers seven different boards to choose from. Five of them are brand new, while two are from earlier titles. Adding a balance of old and new shows a better understanding from Jamboree of what has worked for this mode previously, while crafting a path of its own.

Unlike Superstars, Jamboree is also committed to providing variety in its content with a slew of other modes to choose from. Modes like Minigame Bay, Paratroopa Flight School, and Koopathlon add a huge amount of replay value that Superstars just couldn't offer. Jamboree simply isn't content with spinning its wheels in the same way Superstars did. The game is very clear of its ambitions from the offset, made only more clear by how these new inclusions in Jamboree begin to carve a new path forward for Mario Party.

Mario Party Is At Its Best When It Experiments

Jamboree Allows Many Styles Of Play

Jamboree's new content isn't added for the sake of there being more to do. Each new mode is inventive and experimental on a scale not seen before in the Mario Party series. For example, many modes, like Paratroopa Flight School, rely heavily on motion controls, requiring constant input from the player to traverse Toads across various destinations. It makes for a new party experience that's much more active in comparison to the ittedly slower pace of turn-based Party Mode.

Jamboree doesn't stick to simply being a competitive experience either. Modes like Rhythm Kitchen and Bowser Kaboom Squad offer are a nice departure from Party Mode's more competitive spirit, requiring players to work together in order to succeed. At every possibility, Jamboree offers a new mode and playstyle that adapts to the different ways a player might want to party. This lack of restriction and focus on experimentation makes for Mario Party's biggest and most diverse entry to date.

Jamboree's sheer scale in comparison to Superstars comes with a sense of ambition its predecessor severely lacked. While Superstars takes a more straightforward approach, it's hard to feel that the game offers a way for the series to evolve. Super Mario Party Jamboree makes it clear that there's more than one way to party. And if the series is willing to maintain the same experimentation that Jamboree displays, then Mario Party will have a very exciting future.

Source: Nintendo of America/YouTube