The 'Shroom:Issue XXXI/Review Corner

Review Corner By

Ahem. A moment of silence. *Dims Lights* We have reached a special moment in review history. For the first time in my career, I will be writing a review about a game that has been released in the past year. Yes, that’s right kids… *turns on Disco Ball* I WILL BE REVIEWING MARIO AND LUIGI: BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY!!!!!! So, yeah, a review that is worth your time. Shall you get it? READ ON!!!!

Story
The Toads get really fat. So, Princess Peach holds a meeting to find out what is happening. The only thing they find out is that the fat Toads bought a Blorb Mushroom from a hooded salesman. So, of course, Bowser shows up. And of course, Mario destroys him. But what’s this? Bowser wakes up in a strange forest. He then meets a hooded salesman. The hooded salesman gives him a Lucky Mushroom. Bowser eats it and blacks out. The hooded salesman takes off his cloak. The hooded salesman is…. FAWFUL!!?!?! Bowser then goes to the meeting room, inhales all the people there, and blacks out. From there, it’s pretty straightforward. And if you’re wondering, the humor IS present. From Fawful's witty dialogue, to Luigi’s comic relief, you won’t be disappointed.

Gameplay
Remember Superstar Saga? Well, the gameplay is like that. Some of it. Half the time you play as Mario and Luigi. It’s basically half 2-D platforming, half RPG. You move left or right with Mario and Luigi on the overworld. You can jump, use hammers, and use other moves on the overworld. You must solve semi-tricky puzzles: you might have to hit a switch, fill a cube with water, freeze the area you’re in, hit a switch to get the new ice cube out of the mold, slide it over, then un-freeze the area to turn the ice into water and douse a fire. You also interact with things in Bowser’s body to affect things Bowser does. Speaking of Bowser, you can switch to him at any time by pressing the X or Y button. With him, you can breathe fire or punch. His controls are really the same as Superstar Saga, so that’s more familiar. You won’t be doing as much puzzle-related stuff with him, but it’s still fun. Oh, and if you’re concerned about constantly switching between the two, don’t. You play for an hour or so before you switch. The battles are similar to the other two games, you press A or B while controlling the bros to successfully jump or hammer the enemy. One major difference is that at a point in the game, they can equip badges. Basically, when you get a Good! Great! Or Excellent!! Attack your Hp, Sp, power, or coins go up by a bit, depending on your badge. For Bowser, you attack with flames or punches. Bowser is REALLY powerful, but can only attack once. He also gets stronger enemies. And if you didn’t know, the Bros. can counterattack enemies’ attacks by pressing A or B at the right time. Bowser can either duck into his shell or punch incoming attacks. However, Bowser may have to punch an attack then duck another, so it’s a lot more interesting with him. Of course, you get special attacks. If Mario gets ten attack pieces, he gets a special attack. One of my favorites is the super bouncer. Luigi hops on a ball. Mario must jump and hit the ball to send Luigi flying. You must center Luigi on the ball with the control pad and press B to slam the enemies. As Luigi flies back, Mario must jump again to send Luigi back, and it repeats several times. For Bowser, his are controlled with the touch screen. One of his attacks, called Goomba Storm, has you tapping the Goombas rushing towards the enemies to set them afire, they then rain down on the enemies for MASSIVE DAMAGE! You also have giant Bowser battles, where you fight giant enemies. You slide your stylus to punch, breath in the Mic to breathe fire, tap the screen to defend.. It’s a lot of fun. These battles can be pretty epic, but one is infuriating. I know this was a long section, but the gameplay is AMAZING. So I really need to cover it.

Graphics
It’s the same old sprites, not bad, not bad at all. Some sprites are too pixelated, though…

Music and Sound
It’s basically the same quality from the other games. You have your Italian gibberish, all that goodness. The music is well composed. If you haven’t already, HEAR THE FINAL BOSS MUSIC.

Replay
You have quite a few sidequests here. You can find beans, collect blitties, acquire gear, a lot of stuff. You will get a good 5-10 hours of pay time after you beat the game. I guess I will stick in here that the game itself takes a good 20-30 hours to beat. The difficulty is just right. Yeah…

Overall
Overall: 10 This is a great game, best out of all the Mario and Luigi games. Sorry if this review seems a little rushed, because it was. Hey, I have a life!!! Well, see you next time on… REVIEW CORNER!!!!
 * Story: 9/10
 * Gameplay: 10/10
 * Graphics: 9/10
 * Music and Sound: 10/10
 * Replay: 10/10