Super Mario Party Jamboree Trailer Creates An Imposter Bowser To Fight Playable Bowser

Nintendo has shared a new trailer for Super Mario Party Jamboree that drops some really strange lore.

So, if you are not familiar with the Mario Party games, Bowser has been the antagonist for nearly all of the games. Mario Party 10 on the Wii U offered a unique opportunity to let you play as Bowser in some games, but in this role.

In Super Mario Party for the Switch, Nintendo created a plot contrivance to allow Bowser to become a fully playable character for the first time. Since he also wanted to become a Super Star, they agree to have him compete. Toad, Toadette, and Kamek then step up to become this game’s judges.

But in Mario Party Superstars, the next Mario Party for the Switch, Nintendo chose to roll the clock back by returning to older rulesets, and therefore, cutting back on the playable characters. It is almost a remake of the Nintendo 64 Mario Party games, and as a result, Bowser is back to being an antagonist.

 In the trailer for the third Mario Party game on the Switch, Nintendo seems to have settled on an explanation. The real Bowser continues to compete with Mario and company in these board games. This time, the gigantic antagonist giving everyone grief is Imposter Bowser.

There’s no real explanation yet why there’s even an Imposter Bowser, at least in terms of the inconsistent and unevenly applied lore that the Mario Party games even have. Is he Bowser’s long lost brother? Is Kamek making these fake Bowsers on the fly so that Bowser can play too? Is this King Wart under a mask? Is it Tatanga? Foreman Spike? Bowsette?

Whatever the case may be, playable Bowser can join Mario, Peach, and company in fighting Imposter Bowser in a new co-op mode called Bowser Kaboom Squad. Basically, Bowser stands in the middle of a small stage, where the playable characters launch cannons at the big fella. In between rounds, you can play mini-games t earn additional items in this epic fight.

Bowser Kaboom Squad is the odd cooperative party game mode where everything has been designed so that everyone playing is actually working together instead of fighting and backstabbing each other. And because of this new unexplained plot contrivance, you can have Bowser in your team too.

It’s almost as strange a plot twist as Cody Rhodes teaming up with Roman Reigns, but we guess Nintendo will explain this in the game. Super Mario Party Jamboree releases exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on October 17, 2024. You can learn about the game’s many other modes and features in the official overview trailer below.