It had been sometime since I played a Mario & Luigi game. I had forgotten how fun these games can be, and their plot playfulness helps keep things upbeat, even if they are nonsensical. Each iteration always seem introduce some unique dynamic, such as Luigi's dream sequences in a previous iteration. This time around, the world of Paper Mario gets unleashed in Mario & Luigi world. The mashup is as zany as you would expect. I was a little surprised that the player never gets to venture into Paper Mario world though.
Gamplay
- The gameplay style hasn't changed much since the original for this series. Here, though, the battles add Paper Mario to the mix. It mixes things up a little bit with a third character, but I never quite felt comfortable pushing Y for counters. Having two characters to keep track of for counters was more natural. And counters are the focus of the gameplay. Otherwise it is a fairly straight-forward time-based RPG battle system. Unlike other RPGs, this series allows you to counter enemy attacks in realtime. This is done by pushing A for Mario and B for Luigi (and Y for Paper Mario). Depending on the context, they will either jump or use a hammer attack. It keeps the battle interesting and if successful you can damage enemies and end battles more quickly. It's fun, but it can also get frustrating at times as some attacks can be quite fast. Usually, there are visual cues to help you determine in advance what is about to come next. For example, shy guys may point their arms upward indicating they will jump during their attack (in this case you would not want to jump). Nonetheless, with a bit of practice you can usually figure things out.
- The gameplay includes exploration, dialogue, minigames, and papercraft battles. The minigames appear to be new and there seem to be quite a few. They usually consist of catching Toads (either by running them down or locating them hidden in and around objects). They are ok. Some require stealth, which I'm never a fan of. There are also what are known as Papercraft battles, which are similar to giant Luigi battles from the previous entry. These are hard to describe but generally fun and easy to manage. These side-games help break up the game a bit which is appreciated.
Graphics
- In many respects the two-dimensional Paper characters look better than the Mario & Luigi characters which appear to be quasi-three-dimensional. In effect, the resolution appears clearer for the Paper characters, with deeper outlines. The Mario & Luigi characters however look a bit washed out and grainy by comparison. I wish they'd kept the cartoony style of the original Mario & Luigi game. The environments all look vibrant and colorful and fit well in the Mario universe. That said, there were no particular standouts.
Sound
- Sound effects match the cartoon'sh world. The music is very upbeat and quite good. However, I didn't notice as much variety in the music tracks as in the past.
Story
- It's the same story as the original Mario game. Princess gets kidnapped. Only this time, there are paper doppelgangers. Honestly, not much else to it.
Length
- The game is about 25-30 hours. I was a bit disappointed in the final area of the game which had you essentially replay old boss battles. This has been done in Zelda quite a bit, it seems like unnecessary filler.
Fun Factor
- The first 20 hours are quite enjoyable. Once I got past about 20 hours it started to get a little old and repetitive. Also, the game starts throwing multi-part counters at you which become cumbersome. In addition, special moves can require rather lengthy inputs which adds to the fatigue. It would have been nice if once you completed so many "excellent" hits specials could be turned to a quick mode of sorts to speed things along. Similar to how summons could be shortened in some Final Fantasy games. Finally, I only found a couple of boss battles to be frustrating. If you enjoyed the others then yes you should play through this one too. If not, I recommend playing the re-release of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga first.