Mario & Luigi is the second branch of Mario RPGs stemming from the plumber's first RPG adventure on the SNES. Seeing the success of that first game, Nintendo got Fire Emblem developers Intelligent Systems to create the sequel that became Paper Mario.

In that time, former Square president Tetsuo Mizuno had left the company and founded a new development studio that would come to be known as AlphaDream. He took many former Square employees with him into this new studio, including none other than Super Mario RPG director Yoshihiko Maekawa. The studio would end up successfully pitching a new idea for a Mario RPG to Nintendo, and the rest is history.

It's no surprise then that Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga really captures the zany spirit of Super Mario RPG. This is truly one of the most hilarious titles in the Mario franchise, with some of the most over-the-top situations the hero has ever been in. A new lovely visual style with really expressive spritework makes it feel even more like a Saturday morning cartoon. Yoko Shimomura also returns to handle the soundtrack, and it shows.

But the true twist here is that this time around, Mario is sharing the spotlight with that other Mario brother... Ummmm who was it, Louie? Geegee? Anyway, you control both brothers simultaneously at all times, both in the overworld and in battle. Much like with Paper Mario, AlphaDream has added adventure game elements while retaining its core turn-based JRPG mechanics. It's slightly less successful at this, because controlling two characters simultaneously can be as clunky and annoying as it sounds. At its lowest, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga can frustrate with needless platforming challenges that don't compliment the game's strengths at all.

That said, the vast majority of Superstar Saga is simply lovely. The Beanbean Kingdom is a pretty compact game world that feels almost Zelda-like with how far you can dig into it to find secrets with each new ability you get. This element makes backtracking sections in the latter portions of the game feel pretty fun, and exploration in general is one of the game's strongest points. Exploring can net you everything from items and coins to new abilities and shortcuts that can be locked behind mini-games and platforming challenges.

Combat is where this game truly shines. Much like its predecessors, this is a turn-based JRPG that emphasises timed inputs to dodge enemies and empower your attacks. Superstar Saga features some truly incredible enemy encounter design, and you are rewarded at every turn by learning the timing and visual cues of the kaleidoscopic array of unique enemy attacks. This variety also makes Mario & Luigi a much more pleasantly challenging experience than the comparatively easy Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario. You are really forced to utilize and master all of the mechanics that are offered.

I loved Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga when it first released, and it holds up extremely well today. I purchased an Anbernic RG35XXSP specifically to replay this, and playing it this way was a lovely and nostalgic experience. I know some people have had mixed experiences with the device, but I have nothing but positives for it after switching out the clunky default OS.

AlphaDream filed for bankruptcy and subsequently shut down in 2019. This has put a bit of a question mark on the upcoming Mario & Luigi: Brothership. We don't know what studio is developing the game, and so far Nintendo has only stated that some of the original developers are involved, but who that could be is not clear (Plenty of ex-AlphaDream developers ended up joining several other Nintendo-related studios, so this isn't a lot of information to go on!). Superstar Saga showed that some of the developers who created Super Mario RPG at Square could reorganize outside of that company to cook up a wonderful new title. Time will tell if that is a trick that can be pulled off a second time.

Been a minute... I figured I would continue my Super Mario retrospective. The game I left off on was Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Now I am aware of how beloved this game is. It was many people's childhood and I understand that. So I was actually looking forward to this game and just... I'm sorry... But I was extremely disappointed.

I'll keep it brief but my main issue lies with the overall presentation. The game looks amazing in my opinion. However, it is a perfect example of style over substance for me. The game looks great but BeanBean Kingdom is so lifeless and dull that I just can't get invested. Mario and Luigi speak complete gibberish which would be fine but they don't get anyone with them that speaks. What made Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario games fun for me were the characters. Mario being silent was fine because he had supporting characters do all the talking for him. But with this game, neither of them speaks so I can't get attached to the story very well. The supporting cast isn't very interesting either. Prince Peasley and Fawful were fine but you hardly interact with them... Cackletta is a unique antagonist I'll give them that as well. But this game's world just didn't work for me.

The gameplay is another issue for me. It took me a bit to adjust to how the Brothers controlled but once I got that, it was pretty easy. However, the bosses... Oh my god... They take so goddamn long. I don't know if I was just not leveling the brothers up but some bosses would take 30+ minutes and the bosses (Except Cacketta) would never change their moveset so you would just do the same thing over and over again and it drove me crazy. The game's pacing in general is extremely messy

The music is good and the story picks up toward the end but I found myself relieved that it was over when the credits were rolling.

I'm not saying that liking this game is wrong. People love this game and I would never take that from them... but it wasn't for me I'm sorry

(I KNOW I PROMISED TO NOT DISAPPEAR BUT THIS GAME MAN)

2/5

Wouldn't Recommend