“Mario Party” has seen its fair share of improvements over the past 26 years. The minigame giant has added tons of games, dozens of maps and characters, touch screen controls, motion controls and more, but the upcoming “Super Mario Party Jamboree” is finally going all-in on online modes. That means four-person games are no longer the max player count — try five times that.
Super Mario Party Jamboree – New Trailer (Minigame Bay)
Twenty players can now go head-to-head-to-head-to… well, you get the idea. The brand-new mode is one of several additions that “Jamboree” makes to the classic “Mario Party” format. Yes, four people can still roll dice, move around boards, play minigames, collect coins and earn stars to win. But now, new modes give players the ability to play online with eight or 20 people and participate in daily challenges to earn rewards. In a hands-on demo ahead of release, Variety got a chance to try out these new game modes.
Koopathlon is the new 20-player online format, and it’s every Mario brother for himself in this ultimate showdown. Players compete against each other in mini-games, and depending on their performance, they advance on a race track. After five laps around the track, a winner is crowned. The competitions are fast-paced, making it the fastest and most frantic game mode in “Jamboree.” The different games include whack-a-mole with Monty Moles; a knockout mode where parts of the floor fall out, forcing players to balance first; and a coin-a-thon where cannons shoot goodies to grab.
On the other end of the "Jamboree" spectrum, Bowser Kaboom Squad pits eight players on a team to stop a massive Bowser from rampaging across the stage. The octet must race around smashing open crates, carrying bombs back to their home base and launching them at Bowser before time runs out. Between rounds, they play a cooperative minigame to reap rewards that will help them defeat Bowser, like a speed boost or a hammer to break the bomb crates. Two of the Kaboom Squad minigames include a roulette wheel game that requires players to quickly stop in the correct form, plus one that requires everyone to do their best plumber impressions and plug leaks in a winding water pipe.
