Super Mario Party Jamboree: Classic Boards That Deserve To…

Summary

Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars missed the opportunity to include more maps from the past, including DK's Jungle Adventure.
The GameCube era of Mario Party games had many memorable maps, such as Snowflake Lake, Goomba's Greedy Gala, and Towering Treetop
King Boo's Haunted Hideaway from Mario Party 8 offers a unique challenge due to its randomized layout.

Nintendo has graced fans with Super Mario Party Jamboree, the latest entry in the Mario Party franchise. Not only does it feature the largest roster of characters seen yet in the spin-off franchise, but it also boasts seven boards. Five of them are new and original boards, while Mario's Rainbow Castle and Western Land are remastered maps from older Mario Party titles.

Split image of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Ninji, Pauline, Boo, and Baby Bowser in Super Mario Party Jamboree

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By Melody MacReady

Both Super Mario Party Jamboree and Mario Party Superstars showcase the potential of bringing back classic board maps with modern visuals and gameplay elements. With DLC, the game could delve even more into the past and bring back boards from across all eras of Mario Party, from the Nintendo 64 to the Wii.

10 King Boo's Haunted Hideaway

Players Easily Get Lost Due To Randomization

Original appearance: Mario Party 8
Number of spaces: 55

It's not often that Mario Party games have boards centered around the Boo characters and haunted mansions, so King Boo's Haunted Hideaway from Mario Party 8 stood out. The gimmick of this board was that the layout was randomized each time it was played, making the trek to find King Boo a challenge in itself, especially when King Boo changes the map again upon giving a player a star.

With Boo being a playable character in Super Mario Party Jamboree, they should be allowed to visit their home turf. King Boo's Haunted Hideaway is also eerie with tight corridors and paths, which adds to the frustration. With the better minigames and Buddy system of Super Mario Party Jamboree, the board could be an improvement from the original.

9 Snowflake Lake

Day And Night Allowed A Lot To Happen On This Serene Mountain

Original appearance: Mario Party 6
Number of spaces: 72

Pleasant is the best word for Snowflake Lake, which first appeared in Mario Party 6, giving the players a more serene adventure through the evergreen forests and mountains covered with snow. It's a nice contrast from other Mario games, where snow and ice-themed levels are typically the bane of gamers' existence.

With a day and night system similar to Woody Woods and Horror Land, Snowflake Lake stands out for not having any star spaces to purchase stars. Instead, players are given stars at the start and steal from each other to try to get that higher number or rely on bonus stars to win. Add in ski lifts, Chain Chomps, and far more Duel spaces, this map would likely be a fan-favorite again today.

8 Shy Guy's Perplex Express

Mario Characters Going On A Deceptively Simple Train Ride

Original appearance: Mario Party 8
Number of spaces: 44

A board that is one straight line is unlike any other board in the entire franchise, but Shy Guy's Perplex Express still managed to challenge players in Mario Party 8. The objective is to simply traverse a train from the caboose to the engine, where the conductor hands out a star, which gives the map a deceptively simple facade.

The board can change on the fly, with events causing cars to switch around, and someone who was about to see the conductor can be sent back to the beginning. Also, since Super Mario Party Jamboree has mechanics based around passing other players, the layout would make traversing the train even more challenging than before.

7 Towering Treetop

Branching Paths And Time Changes Added Layers

Original appearance: Mario Party 6
Number of spaces: 66

Very fittingly, there are many branching paths to explore in Towering Treetop from Mario Party 6 with different shortcuts to take up and down the giant tree and obstacles to contend with. It's all enhanced by the day and night cycle, which drastically changes things, much like Snowflake Lake, with the nighttime being more dangerous.

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By Jessica Bell

There is nothing overly complex in Towering Treetop, but that's part of its charm as a board that is not too hard or too easy but has enough extra layers to keep players on their toes. For example, the wrong move can cause the tree to sneeze and send every player back to the start,

6 DK's Jungle Adventure

The First Every Mario Party Board

Original appearance: Mario Party
Number of spaces: 86

Featuring an earworm of a theme song and warm jungle visuals, DK's Jungle Adventure was the first board ever seen in the original Mario Party, allowing gamers to explore a jungle. It has all the jungle setting tropes, from mysterious temple ruins to trees to being chased by a boulder straight out of an Indiana Jones adventure.

Fans were disappointed that this map did not return to Mario Party Superstars, which was meant to be the celebration of the golden era of Mario Party. Super Mario Party Jamboree could easily fix that by adding it as DLC, especially with the visuals today, to make the jungle feel like a level from one of the Donkey Kong games and update the mechanics to fit the current gameplay style.

5 Waluigi's Island

Players Are Always On Edge Because Of Traps And Changing Paths

Original appearance: Mario Party 3
Number of spaces: 99

Typically, when Mario Party games go to an island for a board, it's depicted as a paradise a la Yoshi's Tropical Island in the original Mario Party. However, Waluigi's Island from Mario Party 3 is anything but a paradise, with a lot of industrial elements mixed into the greenery and oceanic views.

Waluigi's Island has always been a more taxing board due to its traps and constantly changing paths. Its large size and complex pathways made it difficult, which could pair well with the new Buddy system and modern item system to make traversing through it even more fun in Super Mario Party Jamboree.

4 Koopa's Tycoon Town

Property Management And Mario Party Results In Ultimate Friendship Ender

Original appearance: Mario Party 8
Number of spaces: 75

Paying homage to Monopoly, Koopa's Tycoon Town from Mario Party 8 implements property management. Across a city, there are hotels in which players can invest money and the higher-ranked hotels give the investor more stars. It adds more strategy to playing the board, particularly when entire hotels, including their stars, can be stolen by other players.

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By Colin Tanner

Friendships are already tested a lot by Mario Party and Koopa's Tycoon Town has become known for being a prime example of that. Super Mario Party Jamboree could remaster the board with the Buddy system to create even more drama than in Mario Party 8.

3 Goomba's Greedy Gala

Traveling Through A Casino Is A Gamble In Itself

Original appearance: Mario Party 4
Number of spaces: 88

Neon lights and gambling are the theme of this Mario Party 4 board, with four sections that can be accessed via the roulette wheel in the middle. Chance is usually a problem with Mario Party games, but it is implemented well into Goomba's Greedy Gala with gambling on the chance that players will end up on the side of the board they want or the complete opposite.

There is a large focus on gathering large amounts of coins to progress, because the higher the amount spent, the better chances with the roulette wheel are. Risk and reward are the focus, which fits the casino theme of the board and, as a result, the flow of the game can change so drastically every single turn if played correctly.

2 Luigi's Engine Room

A Steampunk Maze Would Benefit From Modern Mechanics

Original appearance: Mario Party
Number of spaces: 77

If Mario's board from Mario Party can make a return, so can Luigi's board, which had a focus on red and blue doors opening after every turn or if an event space was hit. It helped turn Luigi's Engine Room into a maze for players to get stuck or lost in and is a prime example of a map that would benefit from the items featured in modern games like Super Mario Party Jamboree.

Similar to Goomba's Greedy Gala, there is a lot of luck at play which could have ruined the board, but there is enough skill involved in using manual switches and timing to maneuver through the confusing layout. Luigi's Engine Room is almost unlike most boards in the whole series, with steampunk-inspired industrial visuals and a soundtrack that is easy to dance to.

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