The Incomplete Guide to Not-Pre-Ordering-Super-Mario-Party and The Outrun
In which Vanessa doesn't rush to buy the new Mario Party and Elliot urges you to see The Outrun while you still can!
Super Mario Party Jamboree: Why I'm waiting for post-release reviews before joining this party
As Nintendo launches Super Mario Party Jamboree, my Switch sits idle. At £49.99 (Nintendo's standard pricing, which rarely sees significant discounts), this isn't a decision to make lightly. I’ve logged hundreds of hours across the Mario games (my hands still operate on muscle memory with the M-shaped N64 joystick), I've learned that patience often pays off when it comes to new Mario Party entries.
The value proposition
Nintendo's unique position with their IPs means they can maintain premium pricing long after release. While PlayStation and Xbox games often see 20-40% discounts within months, Mario Party Superstars currently commands the same price as its successor is touted at. This pricing structure makes it especially important to make informed purchase decisions.
The promised expanded Buddy system could be the breath of fresh air the series needs. While Super Mario Party's companion mechanics felt like a testing ground, a fully realised version could transform how we approach board strategy. And while it might be gutting to reach a buddy first, and then fail to win them in the subsequent mini-game (even when they give you a headstart), it feels very in the spirit of the series in recent years, throwing in a potential curveball and adding more games.
Online play remains one of the series' biggest question marks. While recent Nintendo titles have shown progress in their netcode, Mario Party's mixture of board game turns and quick-reaction minigames presents unique challenges (hello, lag that ruins my lead). I'm particularly keen to see someone like Digital Foundry analyse the online implementation before considering this as a potential online multiplayer purchase (well, and waiting to see how many of my friends buy in).
[Insert skeptical Waluigi GIF]
The promised minigame roster is impressive - more than 100 games at launch. As someone who had melting nightmares since the Face Lift minigame, I'm especially interested in the balance between classics and new content. Could DLC even be on the table, to bring back reimaginings of old favourites? But then I'm wary about the complete cost of ownership. Will the base game feel complete, or will essential content be paywalled?
The waiting game
While there's always excitement around a new Mario Party release, years of gaming experience have taught me the value of patient purchasing. The series has been a constant in my gaming life since childhood, but not every entry has justified its premium price tag. That could at least mean I have a potential Christmas list item if I wait for the festive sales period.
Sometimes the hardest part of being a responsible consumer is resisting day-one purchase temptation, especially with beloved franchises. While I'm genuinely intrigued by Jamboree's potential, my wallet appreciates a more measured approach. After all, the best parties are worth waiting for if it means you can fully enjoy them without buyer's remorse.
I'll be eagerly watching my trusted gaming critics' feeds from today onward, ready to make an informed decision once the post-release dust settles. And hey, maybe by the time I do pick it up, I'll have a clearer picture of the total cost. In the meantime, Mario Party Superstars isn't getting any less fun!
For those not sharing my cautious approach, Super Mario Party Jamboree launched this week on October 17th, 2024, exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The base game will be £49.99. Online play will require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription on top of the base game price.
Do you get games on the first day because of FOMO, or are you content to wait till the reviews roll in?
The Outrun
Saoirse Ronan doesn’t make bad films. She picks belter of a script after belter of a script, and a triumphant collection of relationships with directors from Greta Gerwig to Wes Anderson.
The Outrun sees Ronan as Rona, an alcoholic biologist. After alcohol-induced incidents lead to her boyfriend, Daynin (I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu), leaving her, she must go on a journey of recovery, which takes her to the Orkney Islands - back to her childhood home, where more triggers await.
This is a striking film, landing emotional blows with thunder and taking us on a journey akin to Heart of Darkness. Based on Amy Liprot’s 2016 memoir of the same name, The Outrun is a moving and deeply affecting journey away from the abyss of addiction to the freedom that nature invites into our souls.
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt and full of stunning cinematography by Yunus Roy Imer, The Outrun is an emotional experience. London is full of colour and lighting in the nightclub scenes, edited to tightly turn from parties to distorted hellscapes. The barren greens and greys of the Orkney Island’s chaotic landscapes and weather could be unappetising to watch for two hours if it weren’t for some savvy editing and sound direction choices.
The soundtrack is lush and pure escapism, but Rona’s headphones are constantly taking us to her mental state: with bass-heavy house and drum and bass and garage music. Rona literally crushes herself with her music, but as she goes all the way on her quest of self-improvement, the score by John Gürtler and Jan Miserre is unyieldingly wild and evocatively powerful.
It goes without saying that Saoirse Ronan is absolutely stunning and exhilarating in this film. She is in almost every frame and dominates every scene. The Outrun wraps itself in a cosy narration by Rona, describing the mythology of the Selkies that live around the islands, and their significance as a sign of life.
To the end of the Earth
In some films, narration can ruin things, taking us out of the picture by literally admitting we’re watching a picture, but in this, Rona’s inner thoughts are made essential for us to understand her. She lies to everyone, including herself, but not to us, animating the mythology that’s fuelled her childhood.
Ronan portrays an alcoholic not as some damaged person begging for sympathy, but as a real person, someone who just loves the way it makes her feel. From the opening scene where she stumbles around a pub, refusing its closure to keep drinking leftovers, to the triumphant climax, this is a film about a real person, not a caricature.
Rona eventually realises that going home hasn’t helped her escape the triggers of her addiction, so she goes further away; several islands further away to Papa Westray. She undertakes work for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Her search for an extinct bird becomes a passion, becoming a mirror of her search for her real self. She’s alone and has nothing to do but look for hope in nature and herself.
It is pure ecstasy when we finally make it to her self-improvement in her self-imposed exile. This is a triumph of the will of the self over forces of nature. It might be a tough watch, maybe a bit long, but The Outrun has earned a place in my top five of the year. If Saoirse Ronan hasn’t earned herself another Best Actress Nomination for this, then something has gone wrong. This is cinema.
The Outrun is in cinemas now; you will have to seek it out, but I assure you, it’s worth it!