The newest entry in the long-running Mario Party series, Super Mario Party Jamboree, has released with some improvements over previous iterations. Alongside new maps, streamlined gameplay, and stunning graphics is the new Buddy mechanic. Similar to the Ally system in previous Mario Party games, the Buddy system lets players fight for a Buddy NPC to help them get ahead in the race to collect the most Stars.
✕ Remove Ads
This new Buddy system improves upon Super Mario Party's unique character dice, but earning a Buddy isn’t easy, as players must fight in a showdown minigame to claim their companion. Each Buddy has a unique minigame and a special ability to give players, but some are much better than others. Alongside their unique abilities, every buddy gives players the ability to double whatever action they take on the board. Players can purchase two Stars at once, but they can also land on a Bowser Space and face double the consequences.
10 Princess Rosalina
A Lackluster Ability And Minigame
✕ Remove Ads
Sadly, the princess of the galaxy has the worst Buddy ability and one of the most lackluster minigames. Princess Rosalina’s ability gives the player one random cheap item before they roll their dice. In most rounds of Mario Party, players usually have enough useful items throughout the game that gaining a cheap one will most likely result in it being trashed immediately. When compared to all the other Buddy abilities, especially those of the other princesses, Rosalina comes up short.
Rosalina’s minigame is also one of the less interesting ones, as players snowboard down a snowy mountain which eventually turns into a course similar to Rainbow Road. Her minigame is essentially a single race from Mario Kart, but on snowboards and without fun items to throw at friends. The minigame isn’t very colorful and isn’t exciting gameplay wise, which helps to rank Rosalina at the bottom of the Super Mario Party Jamboree Buddy list.
✕ Remove Ads
9 Waluigi
Stealing From Your Friends, Sometimes
One of the least exciting Buddy abilities in the game belongs to Waluigi. His ability lets the player steal three to eight coins from whoever they pass on the board. While this is fun to do when stealing from already poor friends, it’s less of a guarantee for coins compared to Wario’s ability, since players might not always pass each other in a round.
Alongside his mediocre Buddy ability is Waluigi’s minigame, which consists entirely of playing pinball on a special Waluigi board. One fun feature of this pinball minigame is hitting all the letters to spell out Waluigi’s name and hitting every other player with ink, but besides that, the game is very straightforward.
✕ Remove Ads
8 Wario
Free Coins, But Not A Lot
The counterpart to Mario, Wario, has a Buddy ability that gives the player three to eight coins every time they roll their dice. These additional coins are nice, especially earlier in the game, but getting an extra five coins is less exciting when compared to other Buddy abilities like Yoshi and Luigi.Wario and Waluigi both focus on gaining wealth through their abilities, but Wario’s ability slightly beats out Waluigi due to the fact that it’s a guarantee of three to eight coins on every dice roll.
On top of the coins, Wario’s wacky game show minigame is a lot of fun. Wario hosts the players through ten questions and puzzles in a fast-paced, chaotic manner that encourages answering fast. Other multipart minigames sometimes drag, but the Wario minigame is definitely one of the better ones.
✕ Remove Ads
7 Princess Daisy
A Significant Discount At All Stores
Similar to Princess Peach, Princess Daisy cuts costs in half. Unlike Peach, Daisy’s ability only allows players to purchase items at half price. While this is certainly useful, especially if obtained earlier in a game, it’s less impactful than Peach’s ability.
Daisy’s minigame is fun and chaotic, which raises her up in the ranking, especially when compared to Rosalina. The minigame is a series of obstacle courses out on a lake, tying back to Daisy’s outdoorsy personality in other games. Players have to collect the most medals while navigating through spinning floors and other stages similar to a match of Fall Guys.
✕ Remove Ads
6 Bowser Jr.
Chaos Across The Board
Like his father in other games, Bowser Jr. has an ability that focuses on messing with other players on the board. Junior leaves a trap on whatever space the player lands on that will steal half the coins from whoever has the misfortune to land on it later. Like Donkey Kong’s ability, this trap can either have a great outcome or give the player some pocket change.
What puts Bowser Jr. higher on the list is his completely chaotic minigame, which consists almost entirely of every player frantically trying to survive whatever Bowser Jr. chooses to throw at them for a few rounds. The player that best avoids the various fireballs, Bullet Bills, spikes, and Chain Chomps will win his challenge.
✕ Remove Ads
5 Donkey Kong
Random Results With Bongos
Sitting right in the middle of the rankings is Donkey Kong, simply because his ability gives completely random results, meaning it can either be incredibly useful or terrible depending on the outcome. Donkey Kong’s Buddy ability moves the player to a random space on the board before they hit the dice. Depending on the situation, going to a random spot can help a player teleport directly in front of a Star or on the opposite side of the board.
Donkey Kong’s minigame is entertaining for players who enjoy a good rhythm game, as each player must keep up with Donkey Kong’s bongo beat on their set of bongos. This game is a little slow, but definitely picks up during each player’s bongo solo and the beats get faster just after the solos, which makes it very chaotic and fun.
✕ Remove Ads
4 Mario
Extra Spaces Without Much Else To Offer
Like in other Mario Party games, Mario’s abilities are middle-of-the-road in their usefulness. For Super Mario Party Jamboree, Mario as a buddy adds three to eight to a player’s dice roll. This ability is definitely useful, but is also comparable to the type of roll players could get from using a Double Dice item. For once, Luigi has a better ability than his older brother in what may be the best Mario Party on the Nintendo Switch.
Mario’s minigame is middle-of-the-road as well, as it’s a combination of three classic minigames - Leaf Leap, Bumper Balls, and Shy Guy Says - for players to compete in a row. The multiple rounds do make it better for every player to have an equal chance to win, but unfortunately it doesn’t add much originality like the other Buddy minigames do.
✕ Remove Ads
3 Yoshi
A Complete Copycat
Yoshi has a very fun ability that copies an item from an opponent whenever a player passes them on the board. This ability isn’t a guarantee of a good item, but it does add some of that classic Mario Party spice to a match by allowing players to copy highly sought after items from each other for free. The randomness of this ability ranks it higher on the list because it is the perfect ability to frustrate other players and lead to entertaining situations.
✕ Remove Ads
Yoshi’s minigame is very simple, as players must race on Yoshi steeds to the top of a mountain while avoiding obstacles along the course. Players can grab fruit from the road for a momentary speed boost to dash for a second, but otherwise must rely on superior navigating to win. The simplicity of this minigame is a relief after the other Buddy’s multipart games, but it has more excitement than Rosalina's snowboard race.
2 Luigi
Higher Numbers For A Faster Path Across The Board
Luigi has a very simple ability that gives players an easier time rolling higher numbers on their dice. There’s not much else to this special ability, but it allows players to get around the board faster, which is incredibly useful when racing an opponent to a Star space.
✕ Remove Ads
The minigame for Luigi is very much tied to the character’s history, as players are brought to a mansion where Luigi is kidnapped. Everyone must solve puzzles through a series of rooms to get to Luigi and rescue him first. These rooms have puzzles like picking the odd one out in a row of statues, putting a painting together in the right order, and clearing a path of barrels to get to the other side. Having to go through multiple rooms while racing friends makes this minigame more tense, but winning Luigi is worth the stress.
1 Princess Peach
The Best Princess Earns The Most Stars
The best Buddy in Super Mario Party Jamboree is Princess Peach. Her ability lets players buy a Star at half the cost, which, joined with the Buddy advantage of doubling every action a player takes, means that Princess Peach allows players to buy two Stars for the price of one. Since the game objective for Mario Party is always to collect the most Stars, this deal makes her the most valuable buddy in the game.
✕ Remove Ads
Like a Russian doll of Mario Party minigames, Princess Peach’s minigame includes three smaller games. The first game has players carry a stack of packages down the street to deliver to the princess and her toad friends. Bumping into any obstacle, except other players, will knock packages off the stack. The second game has players choose a tray of donuts to give to Princess Peach, but if two players pick the same tray, then neither get it. The third game has players loading fireworks and following Peach’s instructions to grab the correct firework shape. These three games are fun and simple, without being too monotonous like other multipart Super Mario Party Jamboree minigames.

5 Images
5 Images





9/10
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Mario and friends head to a sprawling island resort, competing across seven vibrant game boards, including the fan-favorite Western Land. Packed with over 110 minigames, the action ranges from wild races to motion-controlled challenges. Players can team up or face off online, with up to 20 participants battling in Koopathlon mode.
Party Game
- Franchise
- Mario Party
- Platform(s)
- Switch
- Released
- October 17, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer , Online Multiplayer
- ESRB
- E For Everyone
✕ Remove Ads