By all means; Bowser's Inside Story is the best Mario RPG yet
I could probably go on forever about it, comparing it to the first two Mario & Luigi games and such, but I'll just get straight to the point.
First off, the game really, really impresses visually. It almost looks like a cartoon. Any video you see online won't do it justice at all; seeing it actually on the DS screens will reveal that the animation is crisp, smooth, silky and polished.
Then of course; there's the game play. I think the only legitimate complaint people had against Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (the first in the series) was that there weren't very many attacks to perform in battle. You can't say that about Bowser's Inside Story. Mario and Luigi have a great set of moves to perform, a big chunk of the game is played as Bowser and he has his own set of attacks as well. Best of all, the enemies are all great. Each type of bad guy you encounter is cleverly designed, well thought-out, and fun to beat up. Before, you had to remain fairly awake during battle to time your attacks right, but here, you really have to buckle-up and focus %100 to do maximum damage. And the boss battles… oh man the boss battles.
Okay, moving onto another important factor of any RPG: the story.
I personally think Superstar Saga's story was excellent, everything about it felt unique and unpredictable.
Partners in Time (the second game in the series) didn't have quite as good of a story. It was about time travel and aliens believe it or not, and was a lot more predictable and less interesting. It was good nonetheless, but not as good.
Bowser's Inside Story on the other hand, it's fun, clever and original. It's definitely better than the last game, but I'm not sure if it tops Superstar Saga yet. I apologize, but things like this need to grow on me. Oh but I can tell you one thing I love: Fawful being the main villain. He deserved that since day one!
I think one thing I missed is that in the first game, it takes place in "The Beabean Kingdom" instead of The Mushroom Kingdom like most Mario games, which made the whole game just feel like a giant flaming ball of originality. But the second and third games have been in The Mushroom Kingdom like usual.
Now, last but not least, the audio. Well, I like the voice clips used for Mario, Luigi, Bowser and such, I like the sound effects, all of the audio is crisp as the visuals, but the music is the one thing about the entire game that really let me down. Superstar Saga's music was excellent, Partners in Time had some incredible moments, but I'm sad to say that none of the music in Bowser's Inside Story is really memorable at all. I understand it's difficult to score a game, and that great tunes can't just come out of nowhere, but still, we're left with a game that won't stick anything in your head. And that's a big let-down for me. But don't worry, it's not bad and I wouldn't even say it sounds forced, it does fit the setting and puts you in the right mood, it just lacks catchy melodies.
So, my conclusion? It's awesome. In terms of my own personal nostalgia, nothing could beat Superstar Saga, but by all means Bowser's Inside Story is the best Mario RPG yet. If you liked either of the first two games (like I do), and you're able to put the few flaws out of your mind (like I am) then you're guaranteed to like this.
Love the game, love Nintendo, love Alpha Dream, and I'd LOVE to see a better score and a new geographic location in Mario & Luigi 4!