Jamboree Deep Dive: Island-Hopping Into Modes and Menus

Half the fun of a Mario Party announcement happens during the ensuing months of speculation and detailed breakdowns. With Super Mario Party Jamboree, that’s no different. Follow our Jamboree Deep Dive series as we analyze specific topics in way too much detail and particularity that only a Mario Party website could manage.

Nintendo wasn’t lying when they said Super Mario Party Jamboree has a ton of different modes. The announcement trailer focused on two of them, and you wouldn’t be remiss if you didn’t realize there were more sprinkled all throughout the footage. Sneaky!

But how do you access these modes and where do they live in the new hub? For this inaugural entry of our Jamboree Deep Dive series, we’re focusing on the many islands of the new hub area and what we can expect when navigating these interactive menus.

Taking place on an “enormous island resort,” the Mario gang presumably travels from one island to the next to access these different modes. Each island and section features distinctive landmarks that give away their purpose, but not everything is as clear as we’d like. Time to inspect them all!

A look at a majority of the islands. There are more to the left!

Let’s start with the star-shaped island slapped in the center of all the action. At first we thought this peculiar island would serve as the central hub that connects you to the surrounding islands, but it’s… a little small. And a closer look at what’s actually on the island doesn’t really mesh well with the modes we know are in the game.

An area worthy of Mario Party introduction.

We have to imagine the objects on this island can be interacted with. So what are they for? A screen adorned with a large crown could be a way to check out records for minigames and board play. There’s a house with a green roof with no clear purpose. Perhaps a shop for unlockables? Two purple subwoofers with a music note in the middle might be a place to listen to the soundtrack. Then a giant fan? No clue. Can’t tell what the yellow and green objects are, and the light blue circle may be a mushroom of some kind. Not particularly helpful.

I wonder if hidden characters will join the group as you unlock them. Thinking about you, Ninji.

Interestingly, we think this island is where the game kicks off, or at least where the opening cinematic takes place. Think back to all the characters gathering in the announcement trailer. This island is where they’re at, specifically on that platform with the steps. The checkered floor and the golden railing match the platform from the overview shot, and the islands seen in the background line up correctly too.

If this island isn’t used to access the other modes, then what is? There isn’t any strong evidence to suggest this, but we’re imagining a view from the sky where all islands are visible and selectable via an interactive menu. Now if only there was an in-game reason to explain why you’d be floating up in the sky…

The announcement trailer sees Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, and Peach travel to the biggest island in the game. Let’s start here!

Right, the hot air balloon. Use it to land in areas where you can control a character or fly directly to specific islands that immediately start a new mode. With that idea in mind, let’s start picking apart the rest of the islands!

The racecar at Roll em’ Raceway moves!

The bread and butter of Super Mario Party Jamboree, the island containing all the boards. Five boards appear to have their own dedicated spaces through easily identifiable landmarks. They include Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party, Rainbow Galleria, Roll ’em Raceway, Goomba Lagoon, and Mario’s Rainbow Castle.

We’re still holding out hope for you, Dry Bones.

What about the two other confirmed boards? They’re here! Kind of. If you look to the right, you’ll notice two empty spots. One is that top of a mountain where two Dry Bones are picking away at some stone. The other is amid a desert landscape where two Shy Guys are seen chopping logs and smashing rocks. Sounds like the perfect place to plop King Bowser’s Keep and Western Land respectively.

Interestingly, both of these unfinished sections indicate that not only are there are unlockable boards, but that other parts of this island will develop as you play through and progress.

A possible path layout? Purple is the existing path, red is the possible path. It looks dumb because it is dumb.

This is where the head-scratching begins. See those paths? What’s up with that? At first it seems like you’ll be able to move your character along the paths like it’s a world map from a Super Mario Bros. game. As you unlock new sections, routes would update. That makes sense, but the way it’s set up is a bit confusing. Especially since there is already an established path to Western Land despite it not being ready.

A ladder that leads to… nothing? Seemingly no path to Roll ’em Raceway? And how do you get to Goomba Lagoon? At least with Mario’s Rainbow Castle, we can imagine a path of clouds forming or perhaps a cannon. It’s probably best to assume the landscape will change as paths are unlocked. Or we can assume the path is just decorative and we’ll be selecting each board through an on-screen cursor.

What secrets do these areas hold?

Five mysteries remain. They include:

  • The cave at the base of the stone mountain. Likely the entrance to King Bowser’s Keep.
  • A patch of dirt at the top of the leftmost hill. Seems odd to make this hill different from the hill next to it.
  • A random ladder. Maybe the future path to Roll ’em Raceway?
  • An extra spot in the desert zone. Note the split path just before it that will serve as the Western Land entrance. Maybe you have to complete some kind of side challenge to unlock the hidden boards?
  • A dent in the side of the cliff at the beach.

This last one has us the most excited. Having what seems to be a hidden section so front and center makes us think of, dare I say it, a hidden board. But what kind of board would fit inside a hole in the side of the cliff? Kind of like a cave. Maybe it has colorful crystals and areas covered in stalactites and stalagmites. Maybe…

Thinking about it now, this board would look gorgeous with a modern remake.

Creepy Cavern from Mario Party 3?? Not our first pick, but we are more than happy to get an eighth board, especially if it fills that Mario Party 3-shaped hole Jamboree is currently ailed with. But only if our admittedly weak theory plays out. Doesn’t help that there seem to be more than just boards hidden in this island, so this cave area really could be anything. Let us dream!

Frankly, that’s enough about the boards. There are other islands to cover.

What’s the cannon pointing at?

Moving on to the left of the board islands are two neatly placed buildings, each on their own island. The first is a mushroom-themed building with a giant cog and cannon sticking out from its roof. Initially we thought this might be some kind of options mode, but the cannon makes us think otherwise.

The three chimneys and three pedestals got us thinking of the three-player mode that was briefly spotted in the trailer. In it, Mario and Luigi are seen using wings to fly and carry Peach via a basket. It just so happens the floating islands for this mode are directly to the left of the cannon! The lighthouse and volcano can be spotted in both the hub and the new mode, so the connection is very clear.

Cooking up some tunes?

The second building is shaped like a cooking pot with neon signs depicting a chef’s hat and utensils adorning the front wall. That, coupled with the two stereos out front, make us think this is the new and improved Sound Stage mode from Super Mario Party. We’ve already seen one rhythm-based minigame where players chop and slice vegetables as they fall from above, so we’re going to guess the rest of the minigames are based in the world of cutlery.

They really leaned into Bowser as an NPC despite also being playable!

What do we see if we keep going to the left? Giant Bowser statue! And a town? If that’s sound familiar, then you’re probably thinking about yet another mode we got a quick glimpse of in the trailer.

We’ve also seen a version of this mode in the daytime.

Speculating how this 8-player mode functions could fill another article, so all we need to know is that this where you’ll find it. Moving on!

Another island??

Really though, how big is this resort supposed to be? The announcement trailer gives us a very tiny glimpse of the top of one more island. It’s got a single wind turbine and what looks like stacks of coins. Or maybe honeycombs?

Looks like this island is touching the water — so not a floating island!

Turns out that if you look hard enough, you’ll find what you need. This quick look at the Koopathlon map shows some of the surrounding scenery, including a few wind turbines. And Koopathlon is all about the coins, so it makes sense to see them represented!

Surely that’s all that’s left to dissect. This article has gone long enough. One can dream, at least. There’s one more island left, and it’s a big one.

Modes within a mode. Modeception?

Minigame mode! We think. Despite not appearing in the hot air balloon scene, the announcement trailer dedicates a clip to showcasing a brand new island. Based on the size of the beach and the various docks with colored arches, we’re thinking this is an area where you can control a character, similar to Super Mario Party’s hub.

Why is this area for minigames? For starters, the minigame mode is usually one of the more robust in a Mario Party game. This island fits the bill. Plus, we have an 8-player minigame we spotted in the trailer that hasn’t been connected to an island yet. It would have a nice home here.

New characters alert!

There are five docks, each likely leading to its own mode. The center dock may be for general minigame play where you can select and play any minigame you’ve unlocked. That, or this is where the hot air balloon lands. The green dock, which Boom Boom is apparently in charge of, leads to a possible 2 vs. 2 minigame mode. The two floating devices are colored differently and each have two handles. The orange dock, hosted by Lakitu, doesn’t have anything special about it. Same for the yellow dock, and we don’t get to see who is guiding this one thanks to a rude palm tree blocking the character. The white dock has four submarines, so it might be for some kind of free-for-all battle.

This statue is depicting which character?

There’s also this statue in the cliff of the island? No clue what it’s for or who it’s of. But it’s worth noting!


And that’s it? That’s all we have on the islands and the hub, at least from the trailer. Thankfully. It’ll be interesting to see how much of this is actually accurate. Before that happens, let us know what you think! Join the conversation and tell us your own theories and the things you’re speculating about. Less than four months until release!

2 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments