The DS Must-have!
I loved Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. In fact, it still resides as my all-time favorite game. Partners In Time was good, but not as fantastic as the ground-breaking original. I had high hopes for this one. And the final product doesn't dissapoint one bit. Heck, this game may be even better than the original.
The story involves Bowser eating the Vacuum Shroom, which he then uses it to suck up Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Toads. The parts inside Bowser are pure nostalgia, because you control Mario and Luigi on a 2-D plane like the games of old. After a bit of tinkering, you start to control Bowser, which makes the game very unique. You control Bowser with X and Y, and the Bros. with the A and B buttons. The controls are extremelly responsive as you move around the play field. Then you enter battle. Instead of simply choosing an attack and watching it go like in other RPGs, you are forced to hit a button at the right time. The better the time, the better the damage. These get extremelly addicting and never feel like a chore.
There are multiple reasons this game is better than its other DS counterpart, Partners In Time. First, you use the stylus about 100 times more often. Whether its stretching Bowser's back to slingshot him in the air or to make him sneeze by hitting pollen into his nazal passages, the use of it is extremelly innovative. At one point in the game Bowser turns huge and fights a castle, a train, etc. But what makes these battles so darn good is that you hold the DS on its side and fight with only the stylus and the mic. Purely one of the highlights of this game.
Another major highlight is the plot. Fawful, the greatest villian ever is back, and is even wackier than ever. The developers took no risks with the plot, replacing usual RPG plots of heroism and lesson-learning for flat-out comedic action. And the game's humor is perfectly syncronized with the plot. It feels like an anime in which the characters and their reactions are so outlandish you can't resist just laughing out loud. I won't ruin any of the funny moments to you. You just have to see it for yourself.
Another thing this game excels at is the sound and graphics. The music in this game is just so good, especially the Final Boss music. The sound is hilarious, like Mario and Luigi's fake Italian and Fawful's dialoge. And this is probably one of the best sprite work in any game ever.
If there's any problem with game, its that's a little easy and on the short side. But complaining about simple things like its just nagging, because the bonus challenges they added more than make up for this.
If you don't have this game yet, do yourself a favor. Pick up a DS, buy this game, and enjoy the greatest game of the decade. If this game doesn't win any awards at the Spike Awards this year, that would be a discrace onto all of mankind.
I could go on and on about this game, but i'll just tone it down to this: if you consider yourself a gamer at all, you simply must play this game. And the fact that its portable only makes it more amazing.Read full review
