Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

A couple of things I have to get off my chest before we get started;
Firstly, for all my fans out there (Both of you), I'm sorry there was nothing new last week, and although the reason for this can mostly be attributed to C3 going gaga, it was a little of my own laziness mixed in there too.
Secondly, in my last review, which was for Pokemon Trading Card Game, I promised the biggest, bestest, most jam-packed review I had ever done. As you can probably guess, this isn't it. Superstar Saga is a brilliant little title, and I wouldn't want to take anything away from this review before I even get started, but there is one special title I am saving for my biggest effort. To do it though, I need jb to give the Reader Review section more flexibility, and given C3's recent state of Bonkers-ness, it isn't the best time to ask. So it'll be a while before this almighty review pops up, but it will eventually, that much I assure you.
In the meantime though, check this one out;
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In the legendary days of the all-conquering Super Nintendo, Nintendo placed Mario in quite a few unique games, from Kart Racing to Painting. But none quite as unique as what Squaresoft (Square-Enix before the merger) tried; Mario in an RPG. And to gamers' disbelief, it worked superbly. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released to critical acclaim in 1996, and PAL gamers still wait for a version of the game to this very day.
Due to Square and Nintendo arguing over the cartridge format choice for the N64, and then-Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi publicly insulting Squaresoft (fecking idiot you are Yamauchi), the two companies parted ways, and Square kick-started the Era of Playstation domination with their planned-for-N64 masterpiece, FF7. Anyway, Nintendo decided that Mario in an RPG was still a great concept, and teamed up with Intelligent Systems for Paper Mario. Square's absence didn't hurt the game one bit, as it was another great title.
Therefore, it wasn't too difficult to see why Nintendo created another Role-Playing-Game for their Mascot not long after, for the Game Boy Advance, although this one was created by Alphadream, which had quite a morale boost in that it feature ex-Square Staff members. The end result? Brilliance.

Firstly then, perhaps what is the most important feature of any RPG; the gameplay.
As the title would suggest, your party consists of Mario and Luigi only, and takes place in a turned based condition. On both your turn and the opponents, you can jump, to attack and avoid respectively, and use a Hammer too. Alongside traditional Hit Point meters, there is the Bros. Points system, that determines when you can use special tag-team moves with both Mario and Luigi. And of course, there is the items option.
You might be thinking, 'But all this sounds incredibly limited, how can I possibly enjoy playing it?'. Well, one thing I've always touted about Downmarket games like Wii Sports, is that it is not dumbed-down simplicity that is the draw, but accessibility. Superstar Saga, looking back on it now, was like an early glimpse at Nintendo's new market; A breeze to pick up and play, and plenty there for a gamer to master. And trust me, there is, despite how limited it sounds.

The game's story goes as follows; Evil Witch Cackletta steals Princess Peach's voice and tries to use it to awaken a great power for her own evil ends. Guess which two Plumbers have to deal with her? And of whom have to team up with Bowser too (a nice throwback to the SNES title).

Only the first ten minutes or so consist of the Mushroom Kingdom, the rest is based in the Beanbean Kingdom, where you can freely explore such places as Woohoo Hooniversity, or Teehee Valley. Each of these locations houses lots of puzzles for the brothers to conquer, whether they consist of simple jumping, or hitting each other with Hammers.
And that is one thing I wanted to get onto about this game; the Humour. Quite frankly, Superstar Saga has it in spades. Whether it's Cackletta's assistant Fawful spouting nonsense about mustard, or everybody forgetting who Luigi is, or Toad catching Mario in the Shower, this game will make you laugh.

Graphics-wise, it all looks crisp and clean. None of the spectacular explosions or effects like, say, Golden Sun, but Battles are animated well enough, and you always know what to do and where to go.

Superstar Saga doesn't disappoint with the music either. The main battle theme is very catchy, and there are many variations on classic Mario Tunes in the game.

Superstar Saga's main mode is single player only, but vast in the number of hours you'll need yo put into it, and there is the original Mario Bros game for Multi-player endeavors. This game should last you a while.

Overall then, I'd definitely recommend Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to any DS owner, and price-wise it isn't very much nowadays.


(The trailer below is for the opening of the game, so Spoiler Alert! The sound seems a bit off, by not by much.)

I didn't actually buy this game, rather i borrowed it off a friend. It has really cool cartoon graphics and the battle system lets you interact with your characters rather than a normal RPG like pokemon, so you can dodge moves by jumping out of the way, rather than having a 10% chance of dodging or whatever.

THe game is really long and is a lot of fun. Uses level up systems, where you choose which attributes to strengthen up.

I stopped playing this game after i spent 2 hours to kill a boss. The bosses are VERY long. After that boss, i decided i didn't want to spend so much time on a game that wasn't mine, and gave up. But overall its a good game

Simply brilliant one fo the greatest titles mario's ever had the luck to be involved in. This is funny, enjoyable and a magnificent RPG that beats most console and PC RPGs for entertainment that has depth.

Its good to see mario and luigi back together in a game and this game is truly a masterpiece intentionally I liked everything about the colourful graphic the classical music the addictive gameplay and you will enjoy it for a long time.
The only I found was that it was a bit basic and easy....overalll great stuff

Mario is found in many genres. Sports games, kart games, platformers and adventures. Among these genres is RPGs, which Mario seems to fit very well with. Mario RPGs have been going on since Mario RPG: Legend of the seven stars on the SNES, and the mario rpgs still have golden gameplay. Superstar saga carries on this tradition. The gameplay is addictive and will hook you from when you turn on. So the main story? Well, as in most mario games (or i think it's all...), the story is based around Princess Peach (sigh). An evil witch named Cackletta has stolen peaches voice and replaced it with explosive vocablary! (It sounds stupid I know...). Cackletta has taken Peache's voice to awaken the Beanstar, a star that can grant any wish. So Mario and Luigi must get the beanstar, before Cackletta does, and recover Peach's voice! That is the main story, not exactly interesting, but teaming up with Bowser certainly is! Bowser wants to get rid of Cackletta so he can take Princess Peach and kidnap her, but Peach's new voice will destroy his castle! So he sets out with Mario to recover Peach's voice. The main game is like most other rpgs. You attack, defend etc. But there are many different features. First of all, there are "Bros" attacks, which are Mario and Luigi attacking together, where you have to press the buttons are certain times to take more damage. Secondly, the ways you can attack, are jumping on enemies (for flying creatures), using your hammer (for spiked creatures) and elemental attacks, like thunder and fire beams (good on different creature types). Also defending is different. You can defend with either your hammer or by jumping and dodging the enemy. However you always have to be concentrating! So enemies are harder to defend from and others cannot be dodged! You must dodge yourself, so this rpg means your always moving and don't have the time to be distracted! The game is fast paced. And there are of course levels, atk, def etc, like most rpgs and of course stats. But there is not all rpg element. There is adventure and platform genre fitted in which makes Superstar Saga even more unique to other rpgs. You go through levels, climb mountains, go inside secret labs and castles. Much more on top of that. You have to use Mario and Luigis abilities to pass through levels. Some times they have to work together to pass levels as well. The game is also very strategy based. Just by attacking over and over, won't get you anywhere. You must attack different parts of bosses, or use different attacks each turn to beat certain bosses and creatures. The game can be very hard, some bosses are very hard to beat and you could be facing the "Game Over" screen a couple of times. Don't let this annoy you though, second time, once you know the Boss's strategy, is when you can put a strategy together to beat that boss.

Graphics: The graphics suit the game perfectly. Very colorful and bright. Fantastic. (9)

Sound: It's hard to have a good GBA game with great sound. The sound fits the levels perfectly and adds to the feel. (9)

Fun: It'll hook you from the start. It's enjoyable throughout and the tasks you have to complete are fun. (10)

Lifespan: This game is over 30 hours worth at the very least. (10)

Overall: 9.5

Final Comment: The game is a hook and won't let you go until you complete the game, even with it's hard parts. The gameplay is gold, and cannot be found in many other games.