Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (known in Japan as Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!) is the third title in the Mario & Luigi series, for the Nintendo DS. Unlike Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS, this game makes greater use of the DS's touch controls and microphone. This is the second Mario & Luigi installment for the Nintendo DS.

Story
After the Mushroom Kingdom's citizens begin to fall victim to the mysterious "blorbs," Princess Peach calls a meeting, which is attended by Mario, Luigi some Toads, and new character, Starlow, have discovered the cause of the disease. As Peach is giving a meeting on its effects, Bowser breaks into the meeting. He is quickly defeated by Mario. Peach and Starlow use their powers to send him to Dimble Wood, and the meeting continues. Meanwhile, Bowser gets an item called a "Lucky Mushroom". In realty though, it is actually a "Vacuum Mushroom", which is a trap set by Fawful, who is also behind the blorb epidemic. It allows him to control Bowser's actions, and gives Bowser the ability to inhale everything. Bowser goes to Peach's meeting and inhales everyone there. While gloating about his victory, he mysteriously falls unconscious, and Fawful appears to take him away.

Mario reawakens alone inside Bowser's body. Now, he is microscopic along with the others,he also finds protective cells trying to clean Bowser's body of anything alien or inpure. Nearby, he finds Luigi and Starlow. The three of them set out to reawaken Bowser. They come across an exposed nerve, and attack it, which rouses Bowser. He discovers that he has somehow come to Cavi Cape Cave. He sets out north, towards his castle. As he is leaving Cavi Cape Cave for Plack Beach, he is confronted by a mysterious voice explaining the concept of Chakroads to him. A Chakroad is a portal that allows him to quickly traverse the Mushroom Kingdom.

At Plack Beach, Bowser hears a voice calling to him from a small island. He sees the famous block collector, Broque. Initially reluctant to help, Bowser is convinced when Broque offers him the Vacuum Block, an object that gives its user the capacity to use a powerful suction attack. The bros can help! In their microscopic state, Mario and Luigi can use their hammers to hit balls of light back at Bowser's main arm muscle. After succesfully completing this task, Bowser somehow gains the stength to move the island. After rescuing Broque, Bowser must fight his missing pet, Broggy. At the north end of the Beach, Bowser comes across the Sea Pipe Statue. Because it is dedicated to an ancient hero, Bowser begins to vandalize it. Unbeknown to to Bowser, Fawful's cronies have imbued it with the power of self defense, and it attacks him. After Bowser deactivates it, a stream of water flows from the statue. Drinking from it, Bowser inadvertently opens a path allowing the Mario Brothers to reactivate his fire breath, which is being blocked by the parasite Scutlet. He uses this rediscovered skill to continue northward, back to Dimble Wood.

In the forest, Bowser runs across some of his old troops. Fawful has trapped an army of still loyal Goombas in a cage. When Bowser frees them, they accompany him for the remainder of his time as a leader-in-exile, allowing him to use the attack Goomba Storm. He also meets up with Sergeant Guy, Corporal Paraplonk, and Private Goomp, three former troops from his army. They are attempting to retake the castle using a Banzai Bill cannon, but they don't have any ammunition. Bowser heads to a garden maintained by a Wiggler clan. Bowser finds a huge carrot, which he thinks may make a suitable replacement, but a local Wiggler is infuriated when he removes it. The Wiggler demands that he eat the carrot and battle him. Afterwards, it turns out that the Wiggler happened to have a Banzai Bill at home. Bowser takes this and returns to the clearing where his troops are setting up the cannon. On the way, he is stricken with a horrible pain. The Mario Bros. discover that the source of this pain is the hornworm-like Durmite, who is running rampant inside Bowser. After Durmite is defeated, she shrinks down to the size of Mario's foot and scuttles off. Exploring their current location, the Marios find Toadbert and unlock the Sliding Punch.

Bowser returns to the Banzai Bill cannon and fires his newly acquired ammo at his castle. Midbus, a minion of Fawful who has been put in charge of the castle, is none too pleased with this. He lifts the entire castle up on rockets and flies it to Dimble Wood. He sets it down directly on top of Bowser, who is thoroughly unprepared for having a castle land on his head. The Marios travel to his Adrenal glands, and there cause a spike in Bowser's hormones. This causes Bowser to grow to almost the size of the castle itself. He engages it in battle, and is able to damage it significantly enough to force Midbus into retreat. Bowser then returns to his normal size, and discovers that a path has been cleared through the forest during the fight. He continues north to the castle.

At the castle, he discovers that his subjects have been brainwashed by Fawful, who is hosting some kind of theater event in the castle later that day. When he arrives at the theater, he's informed that there is a special reserved seat for him. As the event goes on Fawful announces that they have a very special guest. Bowser's chair suddenly goes flying towards the stage, where he lands in a heap. Fawful tells the crowd that there's going to be a fight to the death between Bowser and Midbus. A cage lowers, and they begin battling. After Bowser wins, a group of Boos escorts him to the winner's feast. Here, at the insistence of the boos, Bowser eats so much that he breaks through the floor with his weight.

While attempting to find a solution, the Mario Bros. discover Princess Peach. However, she is kidnapped almost immediately by Alpha Kretin. The Marios chase it to a dead end and rescue Peach. Peach informs them of Fawful's plan to steal the Dark Star, an ancient artifact held beneath Toad Town. However, Fawful uses an unknown machine to kidnap Peach. After using a treadmill and (literally) burning off some calories, Bowser sees a Bob-omb. He attacks it with his fire, but it quickly walks over to a much larger group of Bob-ombs and explodes, setting off a chain reaction that catapults Bowser to an Underground Tunnel beneath Cavi Cape Cave.

Here, Bowser meets a clan of Monty Moles, who are digging a connecting tunnel to the Toad Town underground. When Bowser arrives there, however, he activates a trap and is knocked unconscious. The shock of the trap has knocked something loose inside Bowser, and the Mario Bros. discover the Pipe Yard, a network of warp pipes out of their ally. They end up somewhere in the Toad Town underground, and begin looking for the Dark Star in hopes of securing it against Fawful. However, they are too late. Fawful takes it and heads for Peach's castle. Chasing after him, they are stopped at the castle gates by the Dark Star's power. They go to the local clinic to see how Doctor Toadley's research on the blorbs is going. However, while talking in Doctor Toadley's office, Bowser barges in and engages the Mario Bros. in battle. After Bowser is defeated, Doctor Toadley tells the Marios that the three Star Cures are the cure for the blorbs. He explains that the first is held by Durmite, of Dimble Wood. However, Mario remembers that Durmite is no longer at Dimble Wood, so the heroes set off in search of Durmite.

As soon as the Marios re-enter Bowser, they spot Durmite and begin to chase her. However, they are stopped when she runs behind a mysterious wall of green Boo Blocks. Meanwhile, Bowser is headed to Durmite's last known location, Dimble Wood. On the way, however, a large mechanized tower attacks Bowser. As earlier, Bowser grows to the size of the tower to fight it. After defeating it, Bowser enters the now-docile tower and climbs to its summit. Here he meets the ghost of Yikk, the deceased owner of the tower. Yikk explains the Boo-ray Machine, a device he designed that can have various effects on Boos. By shining this light at Bowser's body, the Mario Bros. are able to resume their chase of Durmite. When they catch up to her, she engages them in battle, revealing her true form as Wisdurm. After her defeat, she gives the first Star Cure to the Marios.

Bowser meets up with Private Goomp, who reminds him that there's something like a Star Cure in the Bowser's Castle vaults. Heading there, Bowser is shocked to find that a railroad has been installed in the vault, and is used by the Fawful Express. The Monty Moles from earlier explain to Bowser how he requested for the tunnel to be built, however Bowser has no remembering of this. The Fawful Express prepares to leave Bowser's Castle, whilst Bowser is on the tracks, and in an attempt to stop the train, Bowser is crushed by it instead. Thinking quickly, the Marios once again journey to Bowser's adrenal glands. The now-giant Koopa King quickly takes revenge on the train. Returning to the vaults, he discovers the safe that the Star Cure is stored in. However, he can't remember the combination for the safe. The Marios journey to his memory to search for the missing information. There, a strange creature scans the Mario Bros. and creates doubles to battle them. After the Marios defeat their counterparts, the blue creature reveals that it is the guardian of the second Star Cure. It shows the Marios that the memory of the safe's combination has been damaged. After the Marios repair it, Bowser abruptly remembers the combination as a short poem. When he opens the safe, however, Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk shove him inside and lock the safe, stating that Bowser's reign is over, and that Fawful promised them extra rations for their work. Bowser, angry that this cure got him into this mess, eats the second star cure. The Marios take it from his stomach and escape through the pipe to Toad Town.

Doctor Toadley tells the Marios that the third Star Cure is hidden somewhere at Plack Beach. Journeying there, they discover a new area of the beach that they had never visited before. There they meet Chakron, the owner of the Chakroads that Bowser uses to travel. He tells them that he is the third Star Cure's guardian, and that he would give the bros the last star cure, but he been in that position for so long, that he needs help knocking him over. They engage him in battle, but they can't do anything to knock him over. After Chakron hints that there is a special attack that can help, they go to Dimble Wood, where they search for the Attack Parts for Sweet Basket. After they find six of them, Mario is kidnapped by a Sockop. Luigi gives chase, and in a scene reminiscent of Super Mario Bros. 3, Luigi is trapped inside a Sockop and must use it to traverse a field of thorns to rescue Mario. In the process, Luigi collects the remaining Attack Parts and completes Sweet Basket. Heading back to Chakron, the Marios use this new move to knock him over, and receive the third Star Cure for freeing him and for giving him a new pose.

Mario and Luigi return to Doctor Toadley at the clinic. Taking the three Star Cures in hand, the doctor creates the Miracle Cure, the cure for the blorbs. Toadley yells at it to cure all the toads,and instantly goes flying around the city and curing all those who are ill. Once it is finished, Mario and Luigi take it to the gates of Peach's Castle, where it destroys the barriers put up by the Dark Star.

After wandering the castle gardens for a while, the heroes come upon a huge mound of garbage. As Starlow wonders why it was left there, Midbus comes in and activates a switch, causing the garbage to come to life and form the robotic Junker. After being dealt enough damage by the Mario Bros., it begins to malfunction, running around wildly and freeing Bowser in the process. However, Bowser's long stay in the safe has caused him to have a horrible back pain, so the Marios set about to heal him. Heading through a nearby pipe, the Marios find themselves once more within the Koopa King. After a bit of searching, they come across Toadsworth inside Bowser's shell. He explains that from the shell, another latent ability of Bowser's can be activated. The shock of this is enough to loosen Bowser from his back pain, and he sets off in search of Fawful and the Dark Star.

Bowser finds Fawful and Midbus watching a machine in which Peach and the Dark Star have been restrained. Fawful quickly grants Midbus an ice-based powerup, sending him to attack Bowser. Midbus' defeat causes his entire body to freeze, with cold air slowly being exhaled through his nose. Fawful absorbs the power of the Dark Star and escapes, while the Dark Star itself invades Bowser's Body. Mario and Luigi head to the only remaining unexplored sector of the body to find Dark Star. They catch up to it several times to find it absorbing Bowser's DNA. When it finally reaches a dead end, it confronts the Marios in battle. Although they win, the Dark Star reveals that the DNA it absorbed has allowed it to recreate most of Bowser's body and power for itself. It escapes from Bowser and from the room he's trapped in, which also gives the real Bowser the opportunity to escape.

Bowser finds Fawful in the conference room where he fought Mario earlier. The shadow power absorbed from Dark Star has caused Fawful to transform into Dark Fawful. Bowser fights Dark Fawful and destroys his body, but he survives as a ball of shadow energy. Dark Fawful escapes, but is absorbed by Dark Star. With Fawful's power that he stole, Dark Star completes its transformation into Dark Bowser and escapes through a hidden door.

Bowser finds Dark Bowser on a platform high above Peach's Castle, a knocked out princess at his side. Dark Bowser states his intent to rule the Mushroom Kingdom with an age of darkness, but Bowser replies that the Mushroom Kingdom is his country, and that Dark Bowser can't have it. They begin battling, and Bowser defeats Dark Bowser with ease. However, Dark Fawful revives Dark Bowser, fully healing him and powering him up. Bowser attacks Dark Bowser's Stomach, causing Dark Fawful to be ejected. Bowser quickly inhales Dark Fawful, and a battle begins in his stomach. In a battle somewhat reminiscent of that that they had with his old mistress, the Marios are forced to defeat the individual parts of Fawful's body before attacking his weak point, the Dark Star Core. After a difficult battle, Fawful is defeated, causing Dark Bowser to become unstable. Mocking him all the while, Bowser punches Dark Bowser until he can't take it any more and explodes, freeing the Mushroom Kingdom from the Dark Star's influence forever.

Within Bowser's belly, Fawful speaks to the Mario Bros. and Starlow. The Marios are shocked that he has somehow survived, but without a body or the power of Dark Star to sustain him, Fawful soon is no more, exploding in a cloud of black smoke. The force of the explosion causes Mario, Luigi, and the Toads to be ejected from Bowser's body. The now-conscious Peach, along with various toads, move to congratulate the Marios on a job well done. Bowser is angered, finding out that the Mario Bros. were inside his guts. When Starlow tries to tell Bowser to forget about the past, Bowser recognizes Starlow's voice as Chippy's. Starlow comfirms this, and from this fact, Bowser begins raging at the trio. As they begin what promises to be another epic battle, the credits roll.

Afterwards, Bowser is seen lying in bed at his castle, nursing injuries apparently given to him by Mario and Luigi. Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, and Corporal Paraplonk are there, apologizing for their treason and asking to rejoin the Koopa Troop. Before Bowser can answer, a messenger from Peach's Castle comes in, delivering a wrapped gift. Out pops Starlow, who was afraid Bowser would attack Peach's Castle again. Bowser says that he wants to finish fixing his castle before doing more evil. Bowser then yells at Starlow, still angry from the truth, making Starlow fly off back to Peach's Castle. Seeing that the three former members of his army are still there, Bowser angrily asks why they aren't helping as well. The three are almost speechless, as this means they're back in the Koopa Troop. They run off, shouting their thanks back to their king. Looking inside Peach's present, Bowser finds it to be a cake with himself, Mario, Luigi, and Peach on it.

Overworld
While Mario and Luigi adventure through Bowser's Body, Bowser is walking around the overworld. Mario and Luigi can influence Bowser. They can pinch nerves to make Bowser panic. They can also touch Bowser's muscles to give him a power-up. Equally, Bowser can change the course of the Marios' adventure. For example, he can flood them by drinking from a fountain. After a certain point in the game, Mario and Luigi can go to the Pipe Yard and use Warp Pipes to exit Bowser's body and explore the overworld, and then use the pipes to enter Bowser's body again.

Overworld icons have slightly changed. They now display the health of the character. Bowser uses two buttons in the overworld, X to punch, and Y for firebreath. Later in the game, Bowser will learn new moves such as a dashing punch, ground-pounding, and curling up into a spikeball (much like the way he attacked Mario in Super Mario Galaxy). Mario and Luigi use A and B respectively to jump. At one point they will gain hammers. Mario can destroy rocks and crates, while Luigi can hit Mario to make him mini so to reach previously inaccessible areas. Later in the game, the Marios will learn new moves such as the Spin Jump and the Bros. Drill. They will also encounter items in the overworld that will help them perform moves to reach a goal or an item or etc. The items include a gas pump that seems to be shooting out helium. Mario will fill up with gas, Luigi will grab his legs, and they are then able to perform a floating high jump, somewhat similar to the move found in the first installmet of the series. They will also find a Blue Koopa shell that Mario will put on, Luigi will whack him with his hammer, and Mario will hit nearby objects previously inaccessible similar to the move the Koopa companions perform in the Paper Mario series. While Bowser explores a 3-D overworld, Mario and Luigi explore a 2-D world inside Bowser's body, much like a traditional platformer, though they can go into the overworld at any time once the Pipe Yard is available.

The actual overworld is connected just as it was in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, unlike Partners in Time's linear levels. The overworld is up to 4-5 times larger than Superstar Saga's overworld. The map in this game consists of a beach, a forest, a cape, the road to Bowser's Castle, Toad Town, Bowser's Castle, Peach's Castle, Grasslands, a railroad, underground, and a lake. In the Nintendo Power review, it was stated that there are tons of sidequests, much to explore, and plenty to do in the free roam overworld.

In the first two games in the series, Mario and Luigi use a suitcase to store anything they collect in their journey. Here, they use the Star Menu, managed by Starlow, in order to access their items.

Mario and Luigi's Battle System
The battle system with Mario & Luigi is similar to the battles from previous titles. There are now six categories of attack during battle, as opposed to Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time ' s five, or Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga ' s four. These are Jump, Hammer, Attack Pieces (Bros. Items), Bros. Badges and Escape. The Bros. can defend with their jump and their hammers. The Jump makes Mario and/or Luigi jump to dodge an attack or to counter-attack. The Hammer is used to counter-attack. The music played while battling is the same as the music played during the debut trailer, as seen in the Japanese site.

A new element has been added to battles, a gauge at the bottom of the screen with Mario and Luigi's heads on either end. When Mario or Luigi pulls off an action command, that brother's end of the bar fills slightly. When they meet in the middle, it's possible to use a Bros. Badge move. The effect varies with the equipped badge. The normal effect is to restore 20% of both brothers' HP. Badges can be bought in one of the shops in Toad Town. Some of the badges require that the action commands be pulled off perfectly (EXCELLENT is displayed), and some only need GOOD!. An extra block that appears in the battles can be used to swap the badges that brothers use.

Bowser's Battle System
Bowser has almost the same battle system as Mario and Luigi's, but with a few differences. He has different options: Punch replaces Jump, Fire Breath replaces Hammer and Enemy Attacks replaces Attacks Parts. He doesn't have Bros. Badges. Instead, Bowser has the vacuum ability only after the player advances further through the game. He can then swallow enemies to make Mario and Luigi fight them in his belly, or sometimes he can swallow parts of enemies that can restore his HP, raise defense or attack power, or rescue a Blitty. Bowser's defenses are the Punch and the Shell. Bowser's Punch can counter-attack an enemy. His spiky Shell can hit enemies that try to jump on his head.

Enemy Attacks are special attacks that use members of Bowser' army, which are Goombas, Koopas, Shy Guys, Bob-ombs, or Magikoopas. These use the stylus. These characters need to be liberated to unlock these attacks.

Bowser also has his very own battle system, used when he turns giant. He fights alone against equally-sized enemies during these segments. During these battles, the player holds the DS sideways like a book, and can perform moves with the touch screen and microphone. Sweeping the touch pen across the touch screen will make Bowser execute a Mega Punch against his enemy, while breathing into the microphone will make him breath fire. These battles are turn-based battles.

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Bowser

Friends

 * Princess Peach
 * Toadsworth
 * Toadbert
 * Starlow
 * Kamek
 * Toads
 * Broque Monsieur, a bipedal creature who seems to be made from ? Blocks.
 * Broggy, Broque's pet.
 * Broque Madame, another bipedal creature made out of ? Blocks.
 * Blitties
 * Three members of Bowser's army:
 * Sergeant Guy, a green Shy Guy with a bag on his back containing a gray pipe and a Magikoopa's wand.
 * Corporal Paraplonk, a red Paratroopa wearing a red bucket on its head and green shoes.
 * Private Goomp, a Goomba that wears blue clothes and seems to look sad.
 * Emoglobin, a species of block-like creatures inside Bowser that give hints and help with minigames.
 * Princess Lipid, who explains Bros. Badges.
 * Yikk, the creator of Tower of Yikk and the Boo-ray Machine.
 * Kuzzle, the guardian of the second Star Cure.
 * Blue Paratroopas, friendly blue shelled Paratroopas.

Giant Bosses

 * Bowser's Castle - Bowser's Castle that Fawful made animate.
 * Tower of Yikk - A clockwork tower that resembles Yikk.
 * Fawful Express - A giant train with Fawful's face.
 * Super Peach Castle - Princess Peach's castle that Fawful made animate.

X Bosses
The game also contains a Battle Colosseum that gives the player an option to fight 7 optional bosses. They're tougher versions of bosses that Mario and Luigi already fought. This mode also requires brothers to finish the enemy in less than set number of turns. These bosses are:


 * Durmite X
 * Alpha Kretin/Beta Kretin X
 * Wisdurm X
 * Magic Rod
 * Bowser Memory MX & LX
 * Junker X
 * Junker Can X
 * Dark Star X
 * Dark Satellmite X
 * All other bosses from Challenge Hall in a row + Bowser X

Locations

 * Bowser's Body
 * Trash Pit
 * Funny Bone
 * Flame Pipe
 * Nerve Cluster
 * Joint Tower
 * Pipe Yard
 * Lumbar Nook
 * Memory Banks
 * Toad Square
 * Pump Works
 * Flab Zone
 * Energy Hold
 * Airway
 * Arm Center
 * Gut Check
 * Rump Command
 * Leg Outpost
 * Nose Deck
 * Chest Station
 * Challenge Node
 * Mushroom Kingdom
 * Peach's Castle
 * Dimble Wood
 * Cavi Cape
 * Plack Beach
 * Bowser Path
 * Bowser Castle
 * Tunnel
 * Toad Town
 * Tower of Yikk
 * Blubble Lake
 * Bumpsy Plains
 * Railroad

Enemy Attacks
Bowser has 6 Enemy Attacks, 5 of which are obtained via cages.


 * Goomba Storm
 * Shy Guy Squad
 * Koopa Corps
 * Bob-omb Blitz
 * Magikoopa Mob
 * Broggy Bonker

Attack Pieces
Mario and Luigi obtain these attacks via Attack Pieces found by hitting special blocks and other numerous ways.
 * Green Shell
 * Fire Flower
 * Jump Helmet
 * Yoo Who Cannon
 * Super Bouncer
 * Mighty Meteor
 * Spin Pipe
 * Snack Basket
 * Magic Window
 * Falling Star

Differences
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story has some difference with the first two Mario & Luigi games.

Gameplay Differences

 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game to have optional bosses.
 * Unlike Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS, this game makes greater use of the DS's touch controls and microphone.
 * This is the first game in the Mario & Luigi series to have a playable character that is not Mario, Luigi, or their baby forms, other than Toad very briefly during the opening of Superstar Saga.
 * The player can equip Mario and Luigi with pants, gloves, shoes, socks, and accessories instead of just pants as in the first two Mario & Luigi games.
 * Badges have a different function. Bro. Badge moves can be performed with them. This game contains eight badges, which is notably less then the previous Mario & Luigi games.
 * Some enemies (or variations) who appeared in the other two Mario & Luigi games are gone.
 * This is the first of the series to have power-ups or other items in the overworld such as the blue koopa shell.
 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game to have a rank system. This means, if the player gets at a certain level, he/she will go to a higher rank. Ranks for Mario and Luigi are the mushroom rank, shell rank, flower rank, shine rank, star rank and the rainbow rank. Bowser’s ranks are the bronze boss rank, silver boss rank, gold boss rank and the final boss rank.
 * Mario and Luigi get the hammers earlier in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story than other Mario & Luigi games.
 * The Scratch Card is introduced, allowing the main characters to earn back coins after spending them.
 * This is also the first game where the hammerheads don't fall off in defense when held too long; the bro. just puts it down. Consequently, the hammer can also be held much longer.

Other Differences

 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game that does not have a main female antagonist.
 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game that a normal Yoshi does not appear in. Also, Professor E. Gadd did not make an appearance.
 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game that does not require assembling the pieces of a broken star.
 * Mario & Luigi do not have a suitcase, unlike the first two Mario & Luigi games.
 * Unlike the first two Mario & Luigi games, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story does not have the same ending music the first two games.
 * Unlike the first two Mario & Luigi games, this is the first to have a save block instead of a save book.
 * The save-screen or load-file-screen no longer resembles a notebook.
 * Mario and Luigi's sprites are a bit different from the other Mario & Luigi games. Luigi's sprite has a light bluish-green shirt while the previous games had a yellow green shirt. Also, Mario and Luigi's sprites have eyebrows now.

Release Differences
Insert non-formatted text here
 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game to be released in Japan before any other country.
 * This is the first Mario & Luigi game in which the North American boxart is the same as Japanese boxart. The European boxart, while not exactly the same, uses the same pictures and background as the Japanese boxart.

Solo Pictures
NOTE: Solo artwork for this game which is not shown here was previously used in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros. 2: During Bowser's battle with the giant Wiggler, the Wiggler sometimes attack by pulling out vegetables, which are the exact same ones that were seen in this game. Also, prior to that battle, Bowser will state that he hates vegetables, which may have been an allusion to Wart's hatred of vegetables. Lastly, one of Bowser's brainwashed minions will state that they forgot what Bowser's castle was originally called (before it was turned into "Fawful Theater"), and mistakenly referred to it as "Mouser's Castle".
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Fawful reappears as the villain. The Bros. Attacks from this game were reused, and there was a slight remix of Cackletta's theme song that played in the background after Fawful took over Peach's castle. Lastly, Mario and Luigi battle Dark Fawful inside of Bowser's body, just as they did with Cackletta.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - When Mario and Luigi talk to Broque Madame, she tells them stories about the Shroob invasion that took place in the game. Several Shroobs were also seen at Bowser's castle, where they were kept frozen in a cryogenic chamber. If the player chooses to thaw them out, then an optional boss battle with them will commence. During the battle, several other shroobs, including Princess Shroob and Elder Princess Shroob can be seen in the background. After the battle, Mario and Luigi told Starlow about their previous battle with the Shroobs, and how they defeated them while they were babies.
 * Super Mario 64- The music that plays within Peach's Castle when visiting it for the first time is a remix of its theme here.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS - The Fawful Guy enemy can imitate the attack patterns of both the Woozy Guy and the Glide Guy. In addition, one of its attacks mirrors Yoshi's main form of offense in the game, egg throwing.
 * Dr. Mario - Blue Viruses appear on a poster in Dr. Toadley's office, and in one of a Toothy's attacks.
 * New Super Mario Bros.- Blue Shells make a reappearance. A Mega Mushroom will also occasionally appear during one of Broque Monsieur's attacks during his tutorial.

Quotes
Main article: List of Quotes in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Trivia

 * This is the first Mario game to have Bowser's name in the title.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is the first game where Princess Peach has the power to levitate other people. Apparently, this is because she must pray in conjunction with Starlow's powers to do so.
 * This is the first time in the Mario RPG series that a sequel has been released on the same system as its predecessor.
 * The game's French, Spanish (European) and Italian name is a pun on the famous novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
 * In Partners in Time, the player fights three Shroobs in Hollijolli Village (a cold area) and in Bowser's Inside Story the player fight three Shroobs in Bowser's basement, frozen.
 * In this game, Mario and Luigi can journey out of Bowser, however, if they travel to the exact same spot that Bowser is standing, he will not be there.
 * The credits music is all of the overworld themes excluding the underground theme going from the order of the story and at the end of the credits the music is the main theme.

Official Sites

 * Nintendo of America's Website for Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
 * Nintendo of Europe's Website for Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
 * Japanese Website for Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!!