At the end of our fifth game of Super Mario Party Jamboree, my partner and I sat there, hands tightly gripping our Joy-Cons waiting for the results. By now, we’d grown accustomed to the seemingly random ways the game decides to dole out bonus Stars to players who underperformed. Toad provided a single star to the CPU-controlled Rosalina for landing on the most event spaces in the matchup. Luigi, whom I was playing as, and Princess Daisy, controlled by my partner, got nothing. It was down to the both of us, and the tension was palpable.
Finally, the adorable Toad announced its decision: Daisy got the W, eking out a victory by having more coins than Luigi. As much as it hurt to resign to the clutches of defeat after 90 minutes of emotional highs and hilarious lows, it didn’t sway me from wanting to load up another one of Jamboree’s colorful, nuanced boards for another go.
