It's hard to imagine a time when Mario RPGs weren't so prevalent.
Nowadays one comes out and it's to be expected.
By this point, we know what we're in for with these spin-offs, especially with the
Mario & Luigi games.
It's a matter of what new villain will appear and what new gimmick will be introduced to
help keep the base gameplay fresh.
So in many ways, it's a relief to return to the simplicity of the original Mario & Luigi,
Superstar Saga.
When this game originally released, it was only the third Mario RPG in existence.
Now we have eleven.
That's a heck of turnaround for a spin-off that threw Mario fans for a loop when it first
came out.
But does this remake of Superstar Saga on the 3DS plus it's new Bowser's Minions
campaign still stand out?
Or should Nintendo have left the classic alone?
The setup is the same as the original where an evil sorceress known as Cackletta disguised
herself as the Beanbean Kingdom's ambassador to the Mushroom Kingdom and used this opportunity
to steal Peach's voice, leaving the Princess with bombastic vocal chords.
Mario & Luigi, with the surprising help of Bowser, set out to the neighboring kingdom
in order the save her voice but are soon separated thanks to Cackletta's incredibly memorable
underling, Fawful.
Now the Mario Bros. must travel across the Beanbean Kingdom to set things right and put
a stop to Cackletta's plans.
Nintendo hasn't touched the story of Superstar Saga at all, which is absolutely a good thing.
The writing is still just as amusing as it ever was and the brothers' personalities,
despite their silence, really shine here.
This is what made the Mario & Luigi series so memorable back in the day.
They felt like characters and there's a great cast backing them up.
Things can absolutely still get a bit too wordy, but thankfully there's a fast forward
button if you ever get tired of the dialog.
Coming back to it after all these years though, I feel like the dialog isn't nearly as verbose
as later games.
Superstar Saga has pretty tight script and keeps things moving.
There is a new story to encounter though thanks to the Bowser's Minions Quest.
This is unlocked early on in the story and shows what Bowser's henchmen were up to
after the attack by Fawful.
And while events are kept simple, it does flesh out certain aspects of Superstar Saga's
story.
The characters, led by a Goomba who wants prove himself, are certainly charming, and
it makes for a good excuse to have more interactions with Fawful, give the Koopalings a bit more
personality, and even have a few cameos from later games in the series.
It isn't an amazing tale, but the vignettes are certainly entertaining for what they are.
And you can choose to experience the Minion Quest anytime you want or even ignore it completely.
The gameplay of Superstar Saga hasn't changed either, and it shows just how well the ideas
found in Mario & Luigi can stand on their own.
There's no gimmick or radical change of gameplay that pops in every few hours.
Instead it's solid RPG gameplay with that fun Mario twist.
Each brother is controlled using a single button.
Mario is mapped to A while Luigi has B. So while you control where both go with the circle
pad, jumping and other actions only need those buttons.
It's an elegant system that makes exploring the Beanbean Kingdom more interesting and
the battles way more involved.
Just as in the overworld, Mario and Luigi are controlled using their respective buttons.
As they obtain new abilities, new offensive options become available.
They can jump on enemies, whack them with a hammer, or even use elemental strikes.
Each enemy will take critical damage from one these so experimentation is encouraged.
But the biggest weapon in their arsenal are the Bros.
Attacks.
These special abilities have the brothers working in unison to do massive damage.
However, they must be performed correctly to take advantage of that damage increase.
Incorrect timing or missing an input completely will make for a wasted turn which encourages
greater skill.
Fortunately, these can be practiced at any time to help make sure you're ready when
you need them.
In addition, once you perform the base form of a Bros. Attack enough times, you'll unlock
a Super version of it.
This will do more damage or add different effects but are a bit more complicated to
pull off adding a sense of risk versus reward.
But the best part about Mario & Luigi's battle system is how every enemy attack can
be dodged or countered.
If you're good enough, you won't take damage at all and that's a great reward
for fine play.
It's all about figuring out the tells of each enemy and the correct timing to avoid
them.
This creates an engaging system that theoretically would never leave you bored.
Here's the thing though, I never had a hard time with Mario & Luigi.
Maybe it's because I'm used to the series much more than I was back in 2003, but I was
rarely ever in that much trouble.
The original game felt like it was more of a challenge as this one is a relatively simple
romp.
Many of the changes are welcome though, taking elements from later in the series to make
the game more approachable.
There's a better map to see where you're going and where you've been that also has
pins to mark points of interest like bean spots.
The progress you've made collecting both hidden beans and all the question blocks are
kept track of as well with a running tally for each area.
And finally it's possible to simply tap the ability rather than needing to scroll
through all the options.
It all helps bring Superstar Saga more in line with later entries.
Here's the thing though, I'm not sure if that necessarily makes for a better game.
There was a charm and newness to Superstar Saga that's made it a favorite despite the
improvements included in later games.
The sprite work really added personality to the original and while this new version does
its best to emulate that with Mario & Luigi's current style, it doesn't quite live up
to it.
The exaggerated reactions and faces had me laughing constantly on the Game Boy Advance.
But for the 3DS, it almost comes across as a lifeless imitation despite some moments
still making me crack a smile.
And to be clear, this only applies to the character sprites.
The way the different areas have been updated make them all look beautiful and really stand
out.
It's honestly a shame that there's no 3D option for the game.
Everything pops with color and the recreations are quite faithful.
The music is just as fantastic as well.
These songs are timeless and really convey the mood for each area, whether fun and peppy
or dour and tense.
But what about the Bowser's Minions portion of the game?
Well, it can be best described as an extremely simple tactical RPG.
You take the role of one the Captains, such as Goomba, Shy Guy, or Boo.
Each of them and all the minions in general are broken up into types: Melee, Ranged, and
Flying.
These types are effective against each other in a tried and true rock, paper, scissors
method.
Melee works best against Ranged, Ranged against Flying, and Flying against Melee.
Where the strategy comes in is the creation of your 8-man troop based on what you'll
be facing in the upcoming fight.
Are there lots Melee troops?
Add in some Flyers and you'll be good to go.
It's as simple as that especially since you have no direct control in the fights themselves.
All of the minions attack on their own.
The only way you can direct the fight's progress are with special moves that sometimes
activate and Captain Commands.
The specials are a lot like the main game where small bits of timing are needed to make
them more effective and potentially turn the tide in your favor.
More important though are the Captain Commands which need Command Points.
These can negate enemy specials, temporarily raise stats for your troops, or other possible
strategies.
Each one costs a certain amount of points and only so many are available during each
battle.
They must be managed efficiently in order to beat your opponent.
Both of these tactics are necessary to win.
You can't simply let the game play itself and get results but playing too many of these
battles in a row can get dull and repetitive.
The entertaining part of the Minion Quest is recruiting new Minions and seeing which
ones are effective against what you're facing.
Each unit earns experience which sometimes makes grinding old levels necessary as well.
It can be frustrating at times finding the right mix of units, and this is where a lot
of the difficulty in the game lies.
But I rarely felt satisfied overcoming these challenges.
It was more relief that I could simply move on.
While the story vignettes can be amusing, the mode itself failed to entertain me that
much.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is as great of a game as it ever was.
It was fantastic re-experiencing everything and going back to a time when things were
just simple and fun.
Unfortunately, outside of some quality of life improvements to the experience, it never
surpassed my original playthrough.
It is a good game but not necessarily a must-play.
However, I did like it a lot though the same can't be said for Bowser's Minions which
never beyond just ok.
Still, if you want to try Superstar Saga with a new coat of paint, give it a chance.
Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe to GameXplain for more on Mario and other
things gaming.
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