Video Game Series Review - Mario & Luigi

Now this series is the portable counterpart of the Mario RPGs out there. Unlike Paper Mario however, here we have the 2 brothers working together with a few allies along the way and using the power of 2 as it were, to solve puzzles, defeat their enemies and of course, save Princess Peach. It does sound like something we've seen and heard before, but when you actually get around to playing these games, you will then know that they are more than that, so without further ado, let's see what makes these games great:

Superstar Saga

Being the first in the series, there is a lot of pressure to be had for this game, but let's see if it has pulled off. The story begins in the Mushroom Kingdom where all is well until an evil witch called Cackletta and her assistant Fawful (a reoccurring character in the series) storm the castle and steal Peach's voice which is apparently said to be known as the Beanstar, a powerful star that can grant all of ones wishes. The voice of the princess is replaced by explosives which as a result, cannot allow Bowser to kidnap her and put her in his castle as it would wreak havoc. For possibly the first time in the history of Mario, the Mario Brothers and Bowser team up and head for the Beanbean Kingdom in the hopes that they can find Peach's voice and restore the Beanstar to it's normal self, while also entering combat with all of Cackletta's forces. However, in the end, it's up to the Mario Brothers to do that, rather than Bowser who gets captured, brainwashed and later on, possessed by a force unknown. The game has everything you should expect from a RPG. Turn based battles, side quests (however, these aren't explored a lot), puzzles, shops to buy things and so on. In addition to the game's own characters, some reoccurring characters like Toadsworth and Professor E Gadd make an appearance as well and the majority of Mario elements are here so no problem there. Overall, for Mario's first portable RPG outing, it's actually pretty good. Gets straight to the point, Peach only gets kidnapped once throughout the entire game (and no, the whole game does not have you trying to get to the princess) and it's very time consuming. But it lacks innovation, which isn't a bad thing, it just makes the game not stand out, but for the most part, it's action packed so that's fine. 9/10

Partners in Time

As the title suggests, the game involves time travel. In the past, an alien species known as the Shroobs have abducted the present Princess Peach who entered Gadd's new time machine, but never returned. The machine was powered by a star known as the Cobalt Star. In the princess's place is a Shroob which the Mario Brothers successfully defeat. Knowing that the past is in danger and could affect the present, the Mario Brothers, travel in time using time holes that have appeared in the present to find the pieces of the Cobalt Star and to put it together before the Shroobs, you guessed it, take over the world (yeah, yeah, you know the drill). They meet their past selves and the four of them decide to work together to stop their enemies and save the Mushroom Kingdom from an unpredictable future. The game more or less is like the first one, but you have a hub world this time and it's more level based than before. The game makes good use of the brothers abilities, the dual screen, and a number of other things. You also get a guide called Stuffwell, who stores all your stuff and helps you along the way (and he's a suitcase which explains the name). Overall, it's another good game in the series, but the only criticism that I have is that, it doesn't make much use of the touch screen and the tilting which kinda sucks, but its understandable considering how the game is set on a dark and epic scale. 8/10

Bowser's Inside Story

In what I call the most impressive and more unique of the series so far, the Mushroom Kingdom is suffering from a disease called "The Blorbs", this can cause a Toad to inflate many times and roll around uncontrollably. A council is formed who discus the matter and it is then revealed that all of the infected Toads were offered a Blorb Mushroom by a salesman, later known as Fawful who after encountering a defeated Bowser, gives him a Vacuum Shroom which allows him to suck everything in sight, into his belly. This as a result, gets him to suck all the council members including, Peach, the Mario Bros, the Toads and the Mario Bros's assistant Starlow into his belly, before passing out. With Peach gone and most of the inhabitants in Bowser's belly, Fawful and his assistant Midbus, proceed and take over Peach and Bowser's castles respectively. Now Bowser, Mario and Luigi must work together to stop this menace and save the castles. The game has you play as 3 characters, Mario, Luigi and Bowser. Mario and Luigi can come and go out of Bowser's body at anytime, following a 2D side scrolling style in his belly, while Bowser follows the usual gameplay that the series is known for. Each of them have their own abilities which all work well in and out of battles and the game makes full use of the DS. Overall, this is by far, the best game in the series so far. It's a massive improvement over the last game and makes full use of the DS's touch screen, tilting feature, the mic and of course, the dual screen. I enjoyed every minute of it and I'm sure any fan of the series, would enjoy it as well. 9/10

Dream Team

So serving as the only game in the series to have characters from previous games return (apart from the usual suspects and Fawful), we get a game where Luigi plays a big role (this is one of many games that is taking part in the Year of Luigi). So Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toadsworth and some of the Toads are invited to an island called Pi'llo Island where dreams become the attractions as it were. As you'll no doubt expect, Peach is kidnapped by an unknown force in the Dream World and its up to the Mario Bros to once again (for possibly the billionth time) rescue the princess before anything happens to her. Now I think by now, a lot of us are just getting annoyed and bored with the idea of Peach getting kidnapped all the time. It's an overused scenario that really needs to change (and I think it might, when the 3D Land sequel comes about). Despite that, we get all the things that the series is known for with a few things added. In addition to the save blocks, you can now save your game at any point in the game (apart from the battles of course) just by touching the save button on the touch screen. Like with the last game, there is a 2D platforming element to the game which is triggered when Luigi falls asleep on a bed, which allows Mario to enter his dreams in the hopes of finding Peach, and is joined by a Luigi counterpart known as Dreamy Luigi. This dream element is used throughout the game for the most part. Its another great game that despite using the same scenario as with other Mario games, has great 3D visuals that is similar to Paper Mario: Sticker Star in that its pixel art for the characters and 3D art for the background. Its got the same gameplay as before, only better as it always is and I enjoyed playing it (and I'm still playing it even as I speak). 9/10

So as another RPG series starring the Mario Bros, this is a great series of portable platformers that I'm sure everyone will love for a very long time and does well to continue the legacy that Super Mario RPG had back in the SNES days. 9/10