Finch from the dawn, the house of
wonders of Kyoto, namely Nintendo,
has focused its entire line up of products on the concept of fun,
building marketing campaigns and widespread dissemination of its distinctive
vision of the world of video game entertainment. Playing together, in complete carefree spirit and sharing
common spaces together, has always been the key to
fully understanding titles such as the historic Mario
Golf, Samba de Amigo and the Mario Party series.
Per quanto regarding this last one,
Nintendo is ready to throw into the fray the latest incarnation of the collection
of the most famous party game ever, with the inevitable mustached plumber as mascot:
Super Mario Party Jamboree
will come out on 11 October 2024, playable
exclusively on its little big hybrid Switch.
I don’t have the power to read minds, but I know exactly what you’re thinking: yes, okay, perfect, but what does that final Jamboree mean? It’s easy to say, even though Nintendo hasn’t made any firm statements about it, but traditionally a jamboree is a gathering moment and an activity-sharing event among scouts, so it’s easy to conclude that Mario and his friends, having arrived in a place that is nothing short of paradise, will face a series of minigames while having fun all together passionately!
And there’s plenty of meat on the fire, with which
we can have fun and party too, joycons in hand, because there really is
quite a lot: a full 110
minigames are planned in total, to indulge in among climbing challenges, shooters
with a light and competitive feel, tight little minigolf matches (Nintendo has always loved
referencing itself, it’s almost a tradition) and collecting stars scattered across
levels designed to emphasize the feeling of living through a kind of It’s a Knockout
right from the comfort of your living room, with friends and family.
Pure Nintendo philosophy at its nth
power
As I mentioned earlier, Mario Party makes self-referential allusions an unwritten rule, and the choice of game levels shouts it at the top of its lungs: Rainbow Gallery and Mario’s Castle, to name just two, appear in many other games, including non-platform ones and those belonging to the main series. Mario Kart players, in particular, will find very familiar settings in which to tackle the challenges designed for them. The level of fun and competitiveness rises exponentially the moment we decide to take the challenge online: with a name that says it all, namely Bowserathlon, there will be a mode designed to pit as many as twenty users against one another, whose goal will be to score the best results on shareable, constantly updated leaderboards.
L’ingegno and the logical abilities
of players will be put to the test with a learning curve designed,
thanks to the developers’ decade of experience, to encourage rapid
acquisition of the mechanics of each minigame. In this way, the danger
of frustration is banished even before setting foot in the varied
world of Mario Party, thus averting another even more insidious threat,
namely the undermining of replayability
with the consequent abandonment of the game on the dusty shelf.
In short, rather than a spiritual sequel to the Super Mario Party released on Switch six years ago, you get the distinct feeling of being faced with a new title in the series that wants to far surpass everything that has been done so far, focusing on massive longevity and the variety of minigames that, according to Nintendo, will be able to make all types of gamers happy, from casual players who can barely hold a Joy-Con, to competitive professionals for whom every Mario Party holds no more secrets.
Until today. Or rather, until October when Nintendo’s
multicolored summer resort opens its doors to a new generation of
party games.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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