Super Mario Party Jamboree Finally Gives Daisy The Respect She Deserves

As a little girl falling in love with gaming in the late 1990s, I was elated at the inclusion of the princesses in the rosters of Nintendo 64 Mario spin-off titles. I played as Peach back then since she was the girl character, until Daisy came along with 2000’s Mario Tennis. Suddenly there was a brunette tomboy that I, also a brunette tomboy, could easily see myself in, and I left Peachy behind without a second glance back.

But who is Daisy? Googling “Princess Daisy” to double-check that I had some of my Mario lore right, one of the results on the first page was a Reddit thread asking, “Where did Princess Daisy even come from?” Added into Mario Tennis as another humanoid character to balance the non-human characters, to the Smash series as an alternate colorway for Peach until becoming her Shadow Fighter in 2018’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and to Super Mario Bros. Wonder in 2023 just to stop the producer’s daughters from arguing over who got to play as a princess, Daisy has always been an afterthought.

“Okay!” I’ll Admit It: Daisy Yells Too Much Sometimes

Super Mario Party Jamboree Finally Gives Daisy The Respect She Deserves

Introduced in 1989’s Super Mario Land and going mostly unused outside auxiliary games, Daisy is easily the least developed of the Mario princesses. We’ve seen Peach as Mario’s damsel in distress throughout the decades, and she’s more recently become the hero of her own story in Princess Peach: Showtime! Rosalina is the newest in the canon, entering the fold in stellar fashion in 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy. Pauline was the original queen from 1981’s Donkey Kong arcade cabinet game who returned to both to the stage and to the spotlight in 2017’s Super Mario Odyssey.

Good luck not getting that game’s banger of a theme song stuck in your head – Pauline’s got pipes.

Nintendo doesn’t always seem to know exactly what to do with Daisy, though, as a character whose most recent lore is 35 years old now. Because of this, if you know her for nothing else in 2024, you know Daisy for her characteristic loudness. My partner and I have been playing Mario Party Superstars almost weekly since we started dating two and a half years ago, and though we often randomize our characters and CPUs, he’s almost never failed to groan audibly if Daisy winds up in our mix. Both of us are just as likely to absolutely spam Daisy’s boisterous stickers throughout the game, also poking fun at her constant, “Woo! Okay! Let’s go!” by echoing her in real life ourselves.

Super Mario Party Jamboree Finally Gives Daisy The Respect She Deserves

I think he was hopeful when Super Mario Party Jamboree came out that I would jump ship to Toadette. I played as her when we played Super Mario Bros. Wonder because of how viscerally I hated Elephant Daisy, and I always squeal with glee visiting her as she peddled stars in Mario Party Superstars, but though I was eager to be my pink little pal occasionally, I hopped into Daisy’s orange high heels before we loaded onto Roll ‘Em Raceway and the game began – much quieter than we expected it to.

Sure, there are still options for getting her to pipe up, especially with all the Reactions (I personally love her dramatic “u-What!?’), but Daisy seems to have mellowed out a little bit this time around. She still gets some flair, though – each character gets their own little musical sting when it’s their turn, and hers is a jaunty accordion tune.

Daisy’s Personality Gets To Shine In Her Showdown Minigame

Daisy might not have her own game board (yet), but of the 22 characters on the Super Mario Party Jamboree roster, she’s one of the ten who might drop into your game as a Jamboree Buddy. These are the newest iteration of Allies, pals who shadow you for three turns and offer a unique perk when they’re your plus-one. Daisy’s perk, which halves the price of any item on the board, is easily one of the most useful.

Not only does her Jamboree Buddy ability rule, but since each Buddy is earned by winning a unique minigame tailored to their character, we get to indulge in some top-notch tomboy flavor with Daisy’s Field Day. Tasking your characters with a series of physical challenges, Daisy gives you four chances to collect cute medallions with her signature flower on them as she tosses them across the boards. Beat your opponents in a series of athletic events like hopping between poles emerging from the water, dashing across moving platforms, hopping over fence-like hurdles on a treadmill, and keeping balanced on a turning cylindrical platform that may launch you into the water below.

Between toning down the shouting and dashing in some signature sporty flair, Daisy feels more like a real character in Jamboree than just a roster-filler like she has in the past. She’s still one of the peppier characters, but at least her zest for the game is only at a seven or eight this time instead of cranked all the way up to 11 like normal. With Super Mario Party Jamboree making Daisy more than just a vocal player-two character this time around, I’m hopeful that this mellow upgrade lays the groundwork for my girl to get her own title on the next Switch.

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