Bros. Attack



Bros. Attacks are special methods of attacking, which require Mario and Luigi to work together. These moves are used in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario and Luigi learn eight Bros. Attacks during the adventure, four for each brother; the required moves are based off their overworld Bros. Actions, ex. the Bounce Bros. attack, which is based off of the High Jump, and are obtained at the same time. In addition, there are two secret Bros. Attacks that they can learn by acquiring the two Secret Scrolls in the Hammerhead Bros.' caverns in eastern Beanbean Outskirts. A very small selection of enemies can use attacks similar to Bros. Attacks, such as the bosses Popple and Rookie in their second battle.

Bros. Attacks use up Mario and Luigi's Bros. Points, or BP. Each Bros. attack costs three to eight Bros. Points, which can be replenished with Syrup Jars, other BP restorative items (like Golden Mushrooms), and/or certain badges.

To perform Bros. Attacks, buttons must be pressed in the right order, at the right time. If a button is missed, the attack will do far less damage, possibly even less than a regular Jump or Hammer attack. Each Bros. Attack also has three Modes: 1, 2, and 3. Mode 1 is the most basic; the game goes into slow motion when buttons need to be pressed, to give the player ample time to press the correct buttons. In addition, button icons that show which button needs to be pressed are clearly displayed. In Mode 2, slow-motion is taken out, but the button icons remain. Mode 3 has no slow-motion, or button icons, but Bros. Attacks performed in Mode 3 are more powerful and cost less BP than those performed in the other Modes.

After executing a Bros. Attack successfully (i.e. pressing all of the buttons correctly) a certain number of times, Advanced Commands are learned. Advanced Bros. Attacks are generally harder to perform than regular ones, but Advanced attacks often have added bonuses such as stealing items, making the enemy Dizzy, or simply doing more damage to it.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Modes 1, 2, and 3 no longer exist for the Bros. Attacks, instead they are replaced by "Normal" or "Easy" difficulty, with the Easy difficulty being more lenient in timing but with the downside of costing more BP to perform. The slowed down pace of Mode 1 is also removed. The "Advanced" Bros. Attacks have been given their own separate category of "Super Bros. Attacks". Even if the Bros. fail to obtain an "Excellent!" rating for the original attacks, it still counts towards the number of times that the move is performed, meaning that there is no penalty for failing to perform the attack properly. Furthermore, the Bros. have a chance to practice their Bros. attacks if they lack knowledge on proper timing during "Practice" mode or watch a "Demo" of the attacks in order to learn how to perform them properly, both of which are accessed during combat. Some attacks, such as Swing Bros., have had their inputs changed.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
The concept of Bros. Attacks was replaced with Bros. Items in the sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bros. Attacks are referred to as Special Attacks and they use up Special Points. Unlike in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, all Special Attacks can be activated by both Mario and Luigi, Advanced Commands are completely omitted, and they are unlocked by collecting ten Attack Pieces in a given area instead of gaining them as the player gains new field techniques for Mario and Luigi, either by hitting Attack Piece Blocks or by completing certain quests to obtain all ten pieces at a time.

In the remake, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, "Special Attacks" and "Special Points" are renamed back to "Bros. Attacks" and "Bros. Points," respectively. Just like in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, the "Easy" difficulty mode for Special Attacks can be toggled on or off in the remake using, which makes the timing of button presses for the attacks much more lenient, but at the cost of more Bros. Points being used up.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Bros. Attacks return in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and can be used in battles in the Real World. Mario & Luigi have five Bros. Attacks each, making a total of 10. They are unlocked by collecting 10 Attack Pieces in various places in the Real World for each attack, similar to how Special Attacks are unlocked in the preceding game. In the Dream World, Luiginary Attacks are used instead of Bros. Attacks, though they are acquired the same way as Bros. Attacks in the Real World; by collecting 10 Attack Pieces in a certain area. Two Bros. Attacks are also available for Dreamy Luigi in Giant Battles.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Bros. Attacks return for the fourth time in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where like in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario and Luigi have five Bros. Attacks each. When the player uses a Bros. Attack, Mario and Luigi will execute the attack while Paper Mario cheers for the duo; as a result Bros. Attacks can even be used if Paper Mario is knocked out or absent entirely. Paper Mario instead has the option to use Trio Attacks that work similarly to Bros. Attacks; but require Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario to cooperate with each other. Unlike in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Bros. Attacks are not gained by collecting Attack Pieces; they're instead gained by getting them back from Nabbit who stole them at the beginning of the game, with the exception of Toad Trail which is obtained after defeating King Bob-omb at the top of Mount Brrr and after gaining access to Neo Bowser Castle.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story / Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
* - Required for the game.

Trivia

 * In the original DS version, Snack Basket's food falls at a steady pace, while the 3DS version's food falls at different paces. The 3DS version also contains one food item that is more important than the others.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
* - Mandatory Bros. Attacks.

Names in other languages
Attacchi Fratelli