The Super Mario Party Jamboree finally gives Daisy the respect she deserves

As a girl who fell in love with gaming in the late 1990s, I was delighted to see the inclusion of princesses in the rosters of Nintendo 64 Mario spin-off titles. I used to play as a pitch when he was there The A girl character, until Daisy came along with 2000's Mario Tennis. Suddenly there was a brunette tomboy that even I, a brunette tomboy, could easily see myself in, and I didn't look back at Peachy.

But who? Daisy? Google “princess daisy” to double check that I had my Mario lore correct, one of the results on the first page was a reddit thread, “Where did princess daisy even come from?” In the Smash series as an alternate colorway for Peach until his Shadow Fighter in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and in 2023's Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mario was added to Tennis as another humanoid character to balance out the non-human characters. Barring the producer's daughters arguing over who would play the princess, Daisy has always been an afterthought.

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Princess Daisy's playable debut in Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been a long time coming

When Super Mario Bros. Wonder arrives on October 10, it will be Princess Daisy's long-awaited mainline playable debut.

“Alright!” I'll admit it: Daisy screams a lot sometimes

Introduced in 1989's Super Mario Land and rarely used outside of the ancillary games, Daisy is easily the least developed of the Mario princesses. We've seen Peach as Mario's damsel in distress for decades, and she recently became the hero of her own story in Princess Peach: Showtime! Rosalina is the latest in the canon, entering 2007's Super Mario Galaxy in stellar fashion. Pauline was the original queen from the 1981 Donkey Kong arcade cabinet game who returned to the stage and spotlight in 2017's Super Mario Odyssey.

Nintendo doesn't always seem to know what to do with Daisy, though, as a character whose most recent lore is now 35 years old. Because of this, if you know her in 2024 for anything else, you know Daisy for her characteristic high-pitched voice. My partner and I have been playing Mario Party Superstars almost weekly since we started dating two and a half years ago, and although we often randomize our characters and CPUs, he's almost never unheard of if Daisy is thrown into our mix. We're both likely to absolutely spam Daisy's bragging stickers throughout the game, while also enjoying her constant, “Whoa! ok! Let's go!” echoing him in real life.

I think he was hoping when Super Mario Party Jamboree came out that I would jump ship to Toadette. I played as him when we played Super Mario Bros. Because I hated Daisy the Elephant, and I always squealed with joy when I saw her when she peed the stars in Mario Party Superstars, but I sometimes looked forward to being my pink little friend. , I hopped on Daisy's orange high heels before we loaded up the Roll 'Em Raceway and the game began – much quieter than we expected.

Of course, there are still options for him to pipe up, especially with all the reactions (I personally love his dramatic “Uh—What!?'), but Daisy seems to have mellowed a bit this time around. She still gets some flavor, though – each character gets their own little musical sting when it's their turn, and hers is a jaunty accordion tune.

Daisy's personality shines through in her Showdown minigame

Daisy may not have her own game board (still)But out of the 22 characters on the Super Mario Party Jamboree roster, he's one of ten that can come into your game as a Jamboree Buddy. These are the newest iteration of allies, friends who shadow you in three modes and provide a unique perk when they're your plus-one. Daisy's perk, which halves the cost 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 unique minigames that suit their character, we can indulge in some great tomboy flavor with Daisy's Field Day. Tasking your characters with a series of physical challenges, Daisy gives you four opportunities to collect cute medals with her signature flowers as she throws them across the boards. Defeat your opponents in a series of athletic events, including hopping between poles that emerge from water, dashing across moving platforms, hopping over fence-like obstacles on a treadmill, and balancing on a rotating cylindrical platform that can launch you into the water below.

Between yelling and dashing in some signature sporty flair, Daisy feels like a real character at the jamboree rather than the roster-filler she has been in the past. She's still one of the peppier characters, but at least her passion for the game is only at seven or eight this time instead of cranking it up to 11 as usual. With Super Mario Party Jamboree making Daisy more than just a vocal player-two character this time around, I'm hopeful that this sweet upgrade will form the basis for my girl getting her own title on the next Switch.

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Every Mario game where you can play as Princess Daisy

These games allow you to step into the shoes of Princess Daisy.