In a world where most gamers will never get to experience the pure joy that was Super Mario RPG, we must all suffice for this spiritual successor. Will it be full of the great JRPG action, fantastic support characters, and amazing story we’ve come to expect from the original title? Well, not really. I find the dialogue to be a bit childish. No, sorry, it’s really childish. Is this a big problem? Not really. I just find it a bit off and really just shows the new kind of Nintendo we’re dealing with. Or maybe I’ve just matured over it all, don’t know. Well what does it do right?
Gameplay.
Like the previous Mario & Luigi titles, this DS title uses what it’s given in spades. The X, Y, A, B interface control different elements and all focus on whichever character they have been assigned to. The brothers are controlled using the lower two buttons, A + B, while the now playable character Bowser uses the top two buttons, Y + X. This allows for more input from the player when both attacking and defending. Each enemy and boss has it’s pattern of attacks and it’s up to the player to find each tell and plan around them. Maybe the enemy lifts his leg toward a certain character, expect that attack and jump, punch, or maybe don’t do anything respectively. It’s a great addition to the tired old turn base system that I love so dearly. (The Pokemon series could learn a thing or two from it.) New specials for your characters are found by the traditional Mario styled platforming outside of the game. Since, throughout most of the game, you’ll be inside of Bowser, the plumber duo will have to accomplish certain tasks to help their villain turned home through his obstacles. These small mini-games throw in a little change that is needed after so many battles. Leveling up allows for the player to choose a certain quality and add a few more points through a slot machine style number generator. With a keen eye and some good timing, the player can often land the highest points each time (also helps to check each one to see which has the highest gain.)
As I had already said, the story is a bit childish (as well as the main villain) but with the familiar cast of characters and the amazing gameplay quality, there is no reason you shouldn’t own this title for your NDS.
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Must Play!
As close as you’ll get to Super Mario RPG in handheld form.
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