Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story Review by Super Slash
Nintendo DS Reviews
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Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story Review

"The saving grace of the Mario and Luigi series."

On September 14th, 2009, this game was finally released in the United States. Many who had played the Japanese version several months before swore that the game would not disappoint, and those people were right. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the third installment to the M&L series, is one of the greatest games to ever meet the DS. Don't pay any attention to the US commercial which makes this game look childish.

Story: 8/10
The story is decent at best, but it's definitely not a strong point in the game. One day, every Toad in the Mushroom Kingdom grows to an enormous size, taking the shape of a balloon. This is a disease known as the blorbs, and the cause of it is Fawful. That's right, everyone's favorite Engrish-speaking villain makes a return in this game, and plays an integral role in the plot. He serves as the game's main antagonist in this installment. He tricks everyone in the kingdom into eating a Mushroom which looks normal, but gives you the blorbs when eaten. He gives Bowser a different kind of Mushroom, telling him that eating it will give him power, enough to defeat even Mario. He eats it and begins inhaling everything around him involuntarily, including the Mario Bros. and Peach, although he isn't aware of it. Mario and Luigi must now find a way out of Bowser's body while finding Peach in the process. It may sound like it won't be a great game, but you'll just have to try it to make a decision for yourself.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are crisp and clear, and the various areas in the game (in and outside of Bowser) look nice. If you've played a Metroid game, you'll probably get a Metroid-ish vibe while exploring Bowser's body, since some of the areas look very similar to something you'd expect to see in a Metroid game. The character models are also very well-done, and the brothers and Bowser look better than they ever have in the M&L series thus far. Not much to complain about in the graphics category.

Gameplay: 9/10
This game retains the classic Mario & Luigi gameplay. That is, you press A for Mario's actions and B for Luigi's; the same applies in a battle. You can still dodge enemy attacks with A and B, and in Bowser's case, X and Y. Bros. Items (from Partners in Time) have been replaced with Special Attacks (I know, original, isn't it?) which cost SP (Special Points) to use. They're very similar to Bros. Items, but cannot be bought. Instead, you learn them by collecting 10 Attack Pieces spread throughout a given area in Bowser's body. Once you collect them all, a Special Attack is revealed, and you are then offered to view a demo that shows you how to use it. You can also practice the attack yourself after watching the demo; the top screen will tell you what to do, along with which buttons to press and when. I really liked this addition to the series.

You can practice as long as you need to. You also get to control Bowser this time around; for nearly half of the game, he navigates the overworld and the areas in it while the brothers explore different areas inside his body. For the most part, the brothers have to go to a specific area that opens up in his body (or even a previous one) to stimulate something inside of him to give him more energy for certain cases, make him push/lift various things, and more. The concept itself is actually cool, but one major flaw I found in this game is that practically *all* of these stimulations are done in the form of mini-games. What's worse, most of these mini-games aren't even fun; they're more tedious than anything. A great example is a mini-game where you must move awkwardly with the stylus and have the brothers hit pollen into Bowser's nasal passages to make him sneeze. The controls are horrible, and if you get hit by red pollen three times, you have to try it all over again. But it doesn't end there; you must successfully complete this mini-game *three times*, and all of them take place within five minutes of each other. Each one gets slightly harder than the last, too. Earlier in the game, you also have to play a carrot mini-game where you must touch pieces swallowed by Bowser and clear out his digestive system.

Mario and Luigi armed with hammers

It's not as easy as it sounds, however. You're given about a minute or so to clear it out until he eats the entire carrot; the fastest and easiest way to do it (which is how it's intended to be done) is to find an enzyme hidden in one of the pieces. Touching it will break apart pieces of the carrot, depending on the color of the enzyme when you find it. There's a way to tell which piece will have the enzyme in it, but it can take a long time to figure out how to predict. There are a few mini-games that have to be repeated at several points throughout the game, and it gets really repetitive at times. As for Bowser's gameplay, on the field, he can punch with X and breathe fire with Y. Later in the game, he can do a dashing punch which allows him to break certain objects and dash across gaps he normally cannot cross. He will also get two other abilities in addition to his punching and fire-breathing. The fire-breathing is used to burn down certain trees and can also be used to get the first strike in a battle; punches can be used for this as well. He can also do these in a battle. Early in the game, he is given a Vacuum Block, which allows him to suck up enemies or certain things they are holding to restore his HP. If he sucks up an enemy, the brothers have to fight and defeat them on the bottom screen, and then all three characters get shared EXP for the battle. Bowser has Special Attacks as well, but only a few; he can get them by freeing his minions from cages set by Fawful. Just like with Mario and Luigi, you can watch a demo and practice the attack before using it in a real fight if you wish. All of Bowser's special attacks are used via the touch screen, and it's used very well. Finally, there's a new kind of fight new to the series, known as Giant Bowser battles.

At a few points in the game, the brothers will have to stimulate Bowser's body to spike his energy, which causes his entire body to become huge. He then must battle against an unusual opponent, like a Fawful Train. There are only four battles like this, but they're quite fun. In them, you have to turn your DS vertically to have a vertical view of the fight. You can select a command like usual: punch, fire-breath, or a Mushroom which can be gotten from enemies the boss itself sends out. When used, it restores 50% of his health bar; obviously, if his health bar becomes empty, you lose the fight and have to try again. If you choose to punch, an arrow appears on the screen. Once Bowser has held his arm back for a few seconds, you are to quickly slide the stylus to the right to deal a certain amount of damage, but if you're too quick about it or wait too long, you'll get a mere "OK" for it, which is the lowest possible rank for an attack. To breathe fire in these battles, you have to blow into the mic, and continue to blow until Bowser stops shooting fire. The boss itself will send out minions to attack or attack using an attack of its own, and you have to take advantage of the touch screen to try and avoid it (such as sliding the stylus to the right several times quickly, or tapping a certain spot on the screen to shoot a fireball). Mario and Luigi get their chance to shine as well; they get a few abilities to use in the field, but not quite as many as the previous games. This time, their level rank gets upgraded as they level up. This allows you to equip more pieces of equipment (up to three) and also opens up better shops in a certain town. Bowser gets level ranks as well. The 'Stache stat "levels up" in shops depending on how much you upgrade it when you gain a level (Bowser has the stat as well, but it's called Horn). After buying items, you're given the option to scratch a scratch card, and depending on what is revealed when you scratch, you may or may not get a slight refund on the items you bought.

Mushroom is Rank 3, Fire Flower is Rank 2, and Star is Rank 1. Obviously, the Star is the best. If you get Fawful, though, you get no refund. Badges have taken a step back, but they still exist. Eventually they'll be introduced as two seperate halves; Mario equips one half while Luigi equips the other, which attaches to Mario's half. In a battle, you have to get a certain rank when attacking (OK, Good, Great, or Excellent) to fill up a bar at the bottom-right corner of the brothers' screen. When the bar is filled up enough (it fills up from the left and right sides at the same time), the two badges will connect and you can then touch the badge to use it. The bar will then become empty again. The effect the badge will have depends on the set of badges you have equipped, though honestly, there wasn't enough variety in the badges; there should have been way more. I also found myself almost never using them, and you can easily go through the whole game without using them even once. Bowser cannot equip badges. Just like in the previous M&L games, you can dig underground later in the game and pop back up under spots with an "X" over them to get a bean. You can use the beans upon getting them to increase your stats, including Bowser's if you wish. While maintaining the classic feel of the previous games, this installment brings some new and fresh gameplay elements to the table, making this one even more fun and unique than before. If you're wondering, enemies and bosses still have crazy amounts of HP when compared to Superstar Saga, but while the game is slightly difficult, it's got nothing on Partners in Time's difficulty.
 

A group of Burokyatto


Sound/Music: 9/10
This time around, Mario and Luigi say several different things when they "speak". Although it's just random gibberish for the most part, it's a nice touch. The other sounds are spot-on as well, just like before. When certain characters speak (in the form of dialogue, of course), a certain sound is made while the text scrolls to relate to that character. For example, when Bowser talks, a rough-like tone is heard. Bowser himself also has some sound effects, his laugh being one that is used very frequently throughout the game. As far as music goes, it's not on Superstar Saga or PiT's level, but it is decent enough. The battle themes could've been slightly better, but even so, all of the music still has that M&L feel to it. There are some pretty good themes that will likely bring music to your ears when you hear them.

Replay Value: 7/10
After finishing the game, there's not much else to do. You can level up the brothers and Bowser to 99 if you wish, although it's unnecessary. There's also an area inside Bowser known as the Challenge Node, where you can partake in a couple challenges: the Gauntlet (where you fight stronger versions of certain bosses you've already beaten) and the Cholestroad, an area where you can play various mini-games for prizes. Obviously, you can also fight the final boss again if you want, but that will likely get old after the first time. There's also an optional boss fight that you can do by solving a simple puzzle in a certain area, and you may recognize the reference in it. Overall, the replay value in the game is okay, but as I said, there's not much to do after finishing.

Overall: 9/10
Overall, I give this game a nine out of ten. It's a fantastic game that is certainly worthy of its title, and lives up to its reputation as being one of (if not) the best installment(s) in the series. Any Mario fan who has a DS should pick up this title as soon as possible; you won't regret it. If you found PiT to be a disappointment like many fans did, know that this game has saved the series from what would've been an inevitable death.

Pros and Cons:
+ Playing as Bowser is fun, and gives something brand new to the series
+ The overworld is huge
+ The game is moderately difficult, while still not being too hard to beat without excessive grinding
+ Special Attacks are cool, and a great replacement to Bros. Items seen in PiT
+ Utilizes the touch screen perfectly
+ Just plain fun overall
Crazy Paratroopa
- Too many mini-games that are repeated too often and are mostly too tedious
- Badges weren't used to their fullest potential

Reviewer's Score: 9/10

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