Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Reviews)

Star Dingo, GamePro

17/12/2003 16:56:16

Do inside jokes make good video games? If Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is any indication, then the answer is yes. It’s an insane, joyous RPG ode to the Bros. history and future, lunacy with a knowing wink and a smile. Too bad there’s not just a wee bit more wisdom to go with the madness.

Mario and the Legumes

Mario & Luigi’s presentation is joyous, among the most ludicrous, vivid, and bizarrely hypnotic you’ll ever come across on the Game Boy Advance screen. Kudos go out to the artists for envisioning a Mario World that’s different from what you’ve seen before while remaining faithful to the characters’ roots in the Mushroom Kingdom. Playing through the game is almost like taking a tour through Mario history as all sorts of characters and moments make cameos in the scenery and dialogue, and Mario and Luigi’s meaningless audio exclamations make a good punch line to almost any joke.

The combat system is superb. Unlike that of many menu-driven RPGs, the combat is actually active rather than purely passive, and it’s fun and fast to boot. It’s made surprisingly un-tedious by the inclusion of timing-based counters, dodges, and character combos; and every weird enemy has a unique set of attacks and captivating dance-clues to study and learn.

A Hill of Beans

The only thing holding back Mario & Luigi is that there’s not much to the adventure itself. It’s big and superficially Zelda-like, but the dungeons’ puzzles and dual-brother mechanizations become repetitive too quickly, and the constant swapping of characters and buttoning through icons is confusing. Compared to other RPGs in the universe, there’s just not all that much interesting to uncover: a few side-quests, minimal equipment and upgrades, and a whole lot of beans. Quest shallowness aside, the quirky sense of humor and the weird-and-fun combat system set Mario & Luigi apart from other RPGs. A collection of mighty Mushroom moments, if not a big fungal picture.

Graphics: 4.5

An excellent, carefree presentation of color and clarity - this is how GBA graphics should look. The only hitch is the perspective, which makes it a little difficult to judge certain platform heights and jumps.

Sound: 4.5

A joyful noise with music to make the unhappy happy and sound effects (including lots of audio “oohs!” and “mama mias!”) that punctuate the comic timing of the excellent scripted dialogue nicely.

Control: 3.5

Swapping between the two characters is easy, yes, but wrangling all the Brothers’ different abilities with only the shoulder buttons gets confusing pretty quickly (they accumulate quite a lot!).

Fun Factor: 4.0

A wacky, wonderful meditation on the Mario phenomenon. As for the game itself: The combat system is clever, nicely varied, and wickedly fun, but a little more depth to the adventure would have sealed the deal.

Graphics: 4.5

Sound: 4.5

Control: 3.5

Fun Factor:

Scoring scale: 1-5

---

Release date: 28/11/2003 / Genre: RPG / OFLC Rating: G