Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Mario & Luigi RPG 2x2 in Japan) is a video game for the Nintendo DS, developed by Alphadream and published by Nintendo. The game was a critical success from the start. Scoring highly on its reviews, the game was loved primarily for its creative, innovative gameplay carried over and revamped from its prequel, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and for its great use of the "dual- screened" aspect of the Nintendo DS. Several issues people took with the game were its repetitive and seemingly level-based gameplay. One of the most liked aspects of Superstar Saga was its free-roaming overworld, something limited to Princess Peach's Castle in this game.

Part turn-based RPG, part action RPG, and part platformer, Partners in Time took the formula from Superstar Saga and revamped it to take advantage of the Nintendo DS's new features. While it made almost no attempt to utilize the touch screen (Mario must rub the dirt off of an object at one point), the game used the addition of the X and Y buttons, the extra screen, and greater graphical capabilities to pull off the sequel. Mario and Luigi find themselves forced to work together with their younger selves, referred to as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, as they save the Mushroom Kingdom of the past from the evil Shroobs.

Story
While Mario and Luigi were still babies, the Mushroom Kingdom was faced with one of its greatest trials: the Shroob invasion. On a distant planet shaped and colored like a Poison Mushroom without eyes, there lived a vile and evil race of aliens known as the Shroobs. They had begun searching for a planet worthy of invasion. They found the Mushroom World, specifically the Mushroom Kingdom. Plans for an attack were presumably soon under way.

Baby Bowser had picked the same day the Shroobs invaded to kidnap Baby Peach. Attacking the main castle, Baby Bowser battled Baby Mario (who had come with his little brother Baby Luigi to play with Baby Peach), and was quickly defeated. However, this allowed the Shroobs to catch the distracted Toad guards, who were unaware of their invasion. Everyone was forced to flee. Young Toadsworth, Baby Bowser, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Peach (in her carriage) followed Baby Bowser's assistant, Kamek, to the Koopa Cruiser, which the Koopas had used to travel to his castle. They escaped from Baby Peach's Castle as quickly as possible.

Many years later, adult Mario and Luigi watched with rapt attention as Professor E. Gadd revealed his latest invention: the time machine. It was such an important occasion that a Lakitu was on hand, broadcasting it onto live television. E. Gadd revealed that his machine ran on the power of the mysterious Cobalt Star. Adult Princess Peach is so overjoyed by the invention that she asked to take it for a spin. Toadiko and Toadbert accompanied the princess on her journey. Despite Toadsworth's pleas, the three traveled back in time to a younger Mushroom Kingdom, when the princess and the Mario Bros. were mere youngsters.

Toadsworth promptly fainted, and a Toad asked Mario to get the Refreshroom that Toadsworth kept in his room, for it can help revive him. Finding it inside a block above Toadsworth's garden, Mario brought back the item just as a Toad doctor was diagnosing it to be the only way to bring Toadsworth back. Mario used it on Toadsworth, who came to in time to see the return of the time machine from his hospital bed. It was in a worse state than when it had left. When it was approached, a large alien came out. Mario took it down while everyone gathered around. E. Gadd was at a loss as to what had happened. After all, he had been more than 99% sure that Princess Peach would return all right.

Luigi soon discovered a mysterious new hole out in the courtyard. E. Gadd revealed that it was a Time Hole, or a rip in the time-space continuum. It was caused by the use of the time machine. Luigi went closer to investigate, standing on the raised edge of the hole. Suddenly, Toadsworth panics. Rocketing into the courtyard, still on his hospital bed, he crashed into the hole while demanding answers. However, this caused Luigi to lose his balance and fall into the hole. Mario jumped in after his brother.

When Mario popped out of the time hole, he found himself in a strange land near Hollijolli Village (standing on top of Luigi). Suddenly, after Mario jumped off Luigi, a suitcase popped out of the hole and also landed on Luigi. Stuffwell, E. Gadd's seemingly sentient suitcase invention designed to assist time travelers, informed Mario that he was there to help out. Stuffwell explained to the two bros. how to fight, jump, and learn other techniques on their journey afterward.

Back in the past and shortly after the babies' escape, a time machine appeared in the castle throne room. A fully grown Princess Peach and her loyal assistants, Toadiko and Toadbert stepped out. The Shroobs suddenly stopped their invasion and let their leaders, the Elder Princess Shroob and Princess Shroob confront Peach. Thinking fast, Princess Peach grabbed the Cobalt Star from its place in the time machine. As the younger Shroob princess watched, Princess Peach held it above her head, and forced the star to consume the Elder Princess Shroob inside of the star, then shattering it into six pieces. However, the other Shroob princess was able to capture Princess Peach, while Toadiko and Toadbert ran away.

Although the Shroobs had lost their leader, Princess Shroob (the second-in-command) took command of the Shroobs and their operations and they still began their conquest of the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town fell as the Shroobs swarmed from Princess Peach's Castle. In a short period of time, the Mushroom Kingdom fell under complete Shroob control.

Meanwhile, time holes began appearing all over the Mushroom Kingdom. One such hole appeared just outside of Hollijolli Village. Shortly afterward, a grown up Mario and Luigi popped out of it. A talking suitcase that E. Gadd created, named Stuffwell followed, after which the time hole disappeared. Arriving in the village, they found it devastated from the Shroob attack. After they had found the mayor, the Shroobs arrived again, abducted the mayor, and proceeded to battle Mario and Luigi. The Shroobs proved to be too powerful for Mario and Luigi to defeat alone. However, in the Koopa Cruiser, Baby Peach was crying because Baby Bowser did not want to stop helping the poor people attacked. Baby Bowser, wanting to save his ears, destroyed the Shroob UFOs around Hollijolli Village; the baby bros. then proceeded to fight the Shroobs who had battled the adult bros. and were able to defeat them. Afterward, Mario and Luigi are brought aboard, where Toadsworth disregards their story, thinking that they were not right in the head. The heroes, both past and present, then witness what has happened to Peach's Castle. It had been turned into Shroob Castle, with a giant Princess Shroob statue in the center.

Later, a group of Shroobs began attacking the Koopa Cruiser. Baby Bowser informed his pilots to launch the Koopa Cannon to shoot them. Suddenly a figure appeared on the top screen. It was Princess Shroob, who had launched a missile at them, taking down their engine. They crash-landed into Bowser's Castle. Mario and Luigi, the only ones other than Stuffwell that not have been thrown clear by the crash, began to make their way through the castle, informed by Stuffwell that there was a time hole nearby. They found Baby Mario and Baby Luigi on the way. Once Stuffwell explained to them how to control a group of four, the babies traveled with the older bros. After they had found a mysterious sparkling shard, they, in addition to Baby Peach and Toadsworth the Younger, all traveled through a time hole in Baby Bowser's room that led back to the present-day Princess Peach's Castle.

Once back at the present castle, Stuffwell showed Professor E. Gadd the mysterious Shard, which the professor identified as being a shard of the Cobalt Star, the power source of the time machine. The Cobalt Star Shard then flew over to the defeated Junior Shrooboid, who had then reacted to the shard. The shard had then created another Time Hole, and E. Gadd sent Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi to investigate. As they entered the Time Hole, Toadsworth was chasing Toadsworth the Younger, who had Baby Peach in his arms.

After the heroes entered the time hole, they found themselves at Toadwood Forest. Later, they found Toadiko, who was wrapped in a tree's branches. She gave them some information what happened to them (although she had not explained the full details), then told them that there was a Cobalt Star Shard at the Vim Factory, where vim that had been sucked out of Toads bound to the forest trees was used to make fuel for Shroob UFOs. Shroob UFOs then attacked, and Mario and the gang ran, while Toadiko was transformed into a shroobified mushroom.

After Mario and gang reached the Vim Factory, the L33t Hamm3r Broz. used a suction-type tree and captured Mario & Luigi, leaving the babies behind. The Hamm3r Broz. challenged them to a battle. As usual, the babies won and the helmets on the Hammer Bros. broke and both Hammer Bros. were freed from the Shroob's control. They gave the babies hammers and taught them how to use them. The babies traveled through the air shaft and finally rescued Mario and Luigi. The babies continued moving along, with their older selves, towards the rest of the Vim Factory.

In the last room, they found a huge shroobified Wiggler named Swiggler. Mario and Luigi watched Swiggler gave the Shroob UFOS energy, but Baby Mario knocked the vim holder. This enraged Swiggler, causing it to battle. When the boss was defeated, another Cobalt Star Shard was found. However, Baby Bowser came in, running around the four heroes. As a result, Mario, Luigi, and the babies became dizzy and Baby Bowser was able to steal both shards. Baby Bowser and Kamek escaped, and the heroes traveled back to the present-day Princess Peach's Castle, both successful and unsuccessful.

When they returned to the castle, Stuffwell informed the professor of their dilemma. He told them that time holes had been popping up excessively and that they should find Baby Bowser (and his Cobalt Star Shards) in one of them. E. Gadd then told them that some young fellow and Toadsworth had been squabbling and that the bros. should investigate. In the courtyard, Toadsworth and Toadsworth the Younger were trying to cheer up a crying Baby Peach. They do so by spinning on each others head. Luigi is impressed by this move and wanted them to teach it to him, along with his older brother, Mario. After they learned the Spin Jump technique, they used it to reach the only available time hole, which was located in the second floor library. Using their new spin jump move, they reached the time hole, taking them to Yoshi's Island of the past.

On the island, they noticed that all the Yoshis have disappeared and a giant, purple and green egg shell was left. They entered one of the huts where they ran into Kylie Koopa, who was a reporter looking for the scoop on the mysterious egg. The babies used a spring to find all the Yoshis hiding in the attic. They were hiding from Yoob, a shroobified Yoshi who had been eating other Yoshis. A Yoshi tries to fight Yoob, but was easily eaten like the rest. Kylie tries to take some pictures of the scene, but gets swallowed doing so. She was then spat out and shot into the hut that the Bros. were hiding in. After Yoob left, the Mario Bros. found Kamek faced off against the giant Shroob monster. Like Kylie, he was eaten then spat out. Before he left, Kamek muttered something about needing to get Bowser a snack. The heroes then entered a hut which lead to another part of the island as they discovered Yoshi Cookies. Mario left them alone, but Luigi decided to take them with him. He almost eats one, but then decided to give it to Baby Luigi. As the plumbers continued through Yoshi's Island, they spotted Kamek again. Mario and Luigi try to get him, but he escaped and tried to burn the island in order to keep them busy. Stuffwell then learned that they can use Baby Mario's ability to spit water, extinguishing the flames. The Adult and Baby Bros. used their newly learned abilities to pass through the puzzles off the island and made it to the top of the cliff, where Prince Bowser was eating all the cookies from the island. While Kamek told him to slow down, Mario and Luigi confronted them as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi started eating the cookies. In their discussion, Prince Bowser said that he was going to keep both the shards because Mario stole one of the shards from him and the other will be consolation. He was also going to keep all the cookies, but the babies ate them all. As a result, Prince Bowser went into a tantrum. Kamek said he'd take care of it as he fought the brothers. Kamek used his magic to duplicate himself, create fire, and power himself up. He was ultimately defeated, however, as the brothers chased after Prince Bowser. The prince reached a dead end and in a last resort, ate the shards (which he found to be delicious). As Mario and gang tried to get the shards out of him, Yoob climbed the cliff and was shot by a ray from a Shroob UFO. The ray caused him to grow incredibly large and he devours Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Bowser. Inside Yoob, the brothers and their smaller counterparts found themselves in the intestines of the creature. They rocketed themselves into the stomach, where they found a Yoshi trapped. It was trying to push a big Chomp Rock to make more space in Yoob's intestines and find an escape route. However, the rock was far too heavy for the dinosaur to push alone, and the four heroes wandered throughout the belly of the creature and enlisted the aid of several swallowed Yoshis to help push it. Luckily, there were enough Yoshis to push the boulder and as a result, everyone could travel more of Yoob's belly. Mario, Luigi, and the babies battled their way through the monster's intestines, encountering Dry Bones and RC Shroobers on their way.

Later on through the digestive process, they discovered that there was a factory inside Yoob turning Yoshis into strange eggs for unknown purposes. Fortunately, the babies managed to shut down the factory. Toadbert was first seen here having apparently lost his memory. The only thing he could remember was a strange drawing that he himself made but does not recall what it meant. He decided to give it to the Mario Bros. They did nothing with this drawing for now. Farther on, they discovered the mastermind behind the egg factory: a giant egg-like monster called Sunnycide and afterward, it threw an egg at the brothers. The egg happened to contain Prince Bowser. Freeing the Yoshis and enlisting their help, the brothers defeated Sunnycide. After that, they escaped from Yoob out the end. Prince Bowser coughed up the shards, and the brothers grabbed them and ran.

Back at the castle, the adult brothers once again learned a new move from the Toadsworths. Using this move, the brothers could curl themselves into a ball to roll around. Using this new power, the brothers solved a puzzle allowing them to access the highest area of the castle where the next time hole was located. This particular time hole took them in the middle of the Gritzy Desert. A huge Colosseum was located in front of them. Mario and gang tried to get in, but were quickly chased away by the Shroobs that were inside. While running away, they met Kylie Koopa who informed the bros. about the four pillars of the desert, said that they had some mystical connection that could help them. The older brothers and baby brothers separated and activated the huge pillars, all of which resembled Dry Bones. Suddenly, beams of light shot out of each statue's eyes, connecting with each other. The connection caused a secret entrance to the Koopaseum to be open. The brothers then sneaked into the arena.

Within the arena, Princess Shroob was hosting a celebration about the conquest of the kingdom. Princess Peach was revealed, strapped to a platform. The platform was lowered towards a large warp pipe. Petey Piranha was in the pipe, jumped, and ate the princess. The brothers stood in shock, unaware that Kylie Koopa was just taken away by Shroobs. The brothers sneak through the Koopaseum in search of Petey, but unfortunately, they accidentally end up onstage, where Princess Shroob was still standing. She called upon the Shrooboid Brat, who attacked the brothers and entertained the crowd at the same time. The brothers, however, defeated the brat, angering Princess Shroob. With the assistance of her lackeys, she broke the floor under them, sending them to the caverns below.

In the Gritzy Caves, the adult bros. were knocked unconscious by the fall. Baby Mario then hit Luigi with his hammer, which awakened him and he scared the babies, who start to cry. Mario was awoken by the babies crying and confronted Luigi. Then they decided not to turn on themselves and continue through the caverns, where the were constantly attacked by Dark Boos, Snifaros, Elite Boom Guys and Bob-ombs. After a while, they see Kylie Koopa tied by a rope hanging down towards Petey's open mouth. Some Shroobs were also there ready to begin the execution. Kylie pleaded for the Mario Bros. to rescue her, saying that she was the one who told them about the secret entrance. Unfortunately, Mario and Luigi couldn't reach her, so they could do nothing but watch in horror as one of the Shroobs grabbed an axe from its body and cut the rope. Kylie Koopa (who was still tied by rope) was eaten by Petey Piranha. The Mario Bros. had no choice but to continue.

After hitting a coin box a couple of rooms later, the heroes were attacked by Petey Piranha, whom they battled and, after a struggle, defeated. Another cobalt Star Shard pops out of the plant, along with Kylie Koopa, who found a key in the plants belly. It is unknown how Kylie was freed from the rope. Perhaps she broke free inside Petey's stomach. While talking to Kylie, she told the bros. that she saw someone in the Cobalt Star Shard. However, she and the bros. thought of that being very unlikely, and continue their adventure.

A little farther, the bros. entered a cell, where the found Princess Peach, whose face was covered by a Shroob mushroom. She and Luigi (who was horrified by her appearance) both collapsed and were taken back to the present day castle. Everyone gathered in the Princess’s room, where they discussed the Princess and the mushroom. Princess Peach then decided to take a nap and the bros. were shoved out of the room.

Downstairs, Mario and Luigi were taught yet another move by the Toadsworths, Baby Cakes, where the older bros. could flatten the babies. During the lesson, the Toadsworths flattened Baby Princess Peach, who was swept away by a gust of wind. The four heroes used their new moves to save her. Mario and gang then left the Toadsworths, where they met some panicking Toads. Curiously, the heroes traveled up the castle to see Princess Peach. It turned out that Bowser was just about to kidnap her, and he ran through the castle with the princess on his shoulder. However, Bowser fell through the floor and landed in the next Time Hole.

The Bros. went into the Time Hole that Bowser was in and winded up at Thwomp Volcano, which they climbed to the top of, battling various enemies, such as block shaped Thwomps. At the top, they learned that the volcano was close to erupting. They then met E. Gadd’s younger self, who was panicking because the volcano was going to ruin all his inventions. He thought up an idea of making a machine that could douse the volcano's fire, which the older E. Gadd created in the present time. He then used his quickly built invention to spray water into the Time Hole and stop the volcano. This made many Thwomps angry. One of those Thwomps was Mrs. Thwomp, who battles the bros but was defeated. Her husband agrees to take the bros. in the volcano, where they did various puzzles, proceeding to the bottom. Then, they fought and defeated Bowser and Prince Bowser(who was shot into the volcano after being blown away from Yoshi's Island). Before they can rescue the Princess, she was sucked up by the Shroob Mother Ship. The courageous bros. followed her.

Inside the mothership, the heroes fought a few Guardian Shroobs and later met up again with Kylie Koopa, who saved them from the Shroobs and Princess Shroob, who had been disguised as Princess Peach. Kylie took them into a room to try and solve the secret of the Shroobs with the large, mysterious key she found earlier. She inserted the key into a large machine, but it actually caused them to fall out of the ship. Kylie landed on Yoshi's Island, while the Marios ended up in Toad Town, where everyone was gone except for two elderly Toads, who helped them stock up on gear.

After they solved some puzzles, four bros. escaped the Shroob infested town and found a pipe that takes them to Star Hill, where they were attacked by the Commander Shroob, his Support Shroobs, and a Shroob-omb. Once defeated, the four heroes head up and the Cobalt Star creates a path and they can get to the Star Shrine, where another Cobalt Star shard was. At that time, the star (which resembled Misstar) began to talk to the bros. about defeating the Shroobs. Baby Luigi began to cry afterward for a strange reason. The bros. didn't know why however, but they calmed him down. They then traveled to the Star Shrine, where a gate needed to determine if the heroes had pure hearts to get past it. Mario and the babies did but Luigi didn't. Mario knew that he wasn't going to leave his brother alone, so he and the other heroes are placed through a trial to prove that Luigi had a pure heart, finding the Aurora Block. Shortly after, they get the block and gain access to the Star Shrine, where they learn that Luigi had a pure heart the whole time, and was only being tested.

In the Shrine, after finding the fourth Cobalt Shard, the Marios met up with Toadbert and Kylie Koopa who revealed how to clean Toadbert's picture, given to the bros. in Yoob's belly. It turned out that another Princess Shroob was on the picture. Before the drawing was explained, Mario and co. were attacked by the Elder Shrooboid, who attacked Toadbert and Kylie Koopa, causing them to become Shroob Mushrooms. The four Mario bros. fought the Elder Shrooboid. Although the Shrooboid was much more powerful than the Junior Shrooboid, they were able to defeat it and the heroes got another piece of the Cobalt Star.

They then return to the castle, where they were told to go to the Shroob Castle in the past. The bros. solve many puzzles in the large castle, and even had to take down the Shroob Mothership. Mario and gang finally found Princess Shroob, along with Princess Peach. After a long battle, the bros. defeated the Shroob princess. Then, Princess Peach showed them the last piece of the Cobalt Star but does not let them, merge it with the other pieces. Before she could explain, Prince Bowser swooped in and took the final piece and connected it to the other pieces, causing Elder Princess Shroob to appear. He was then transformed into a mushroom as well. Peach finally revealed that she trapped Elder Princess Shroob inside the Cobalt Star and the final piece had freed her. After that, the bros fought the mighty Elder Princess Shroob. After beating her, she turned into a dark mushroom. As the brothers tried to figure out what to do with the mushroom that was once Baby Bowser, the babies played around with it and Baby Luigi gets hurt. He began to cry on it, which restored Baby Bowser to his true form. Realizing the Shroobs' weakness, the gang got Professor E. Gadd to spray a similar liquid all throughout the time, causing all victims of the Shroobs to turn back to normal and ridding the presence of the Shroobs in the process.

The brothers soon return to Peach's Castle where they found Bowser lying on the carpet, completely knocked out. As the brothers wondered what to do with the behemoth reptile, the mushroom that was Elder Princess Shroob hovered into Bowser's mouth, who weakly ate it and turned into Shrowser, a form of Bowser possessed by Elder Princess Shroob. He was relentless, but the brothers used his attacks against him and defeated the manipulating form of Elder Princess Shroob. Afterward, Toadsworth the Younger, Baby Peach, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi all used the repaired time machine and traveled back to their own time.

Playable Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Baby Mario
 * Baby Luigi

Supporting Characters

 * Toadsworth
 * Peach
 * Baby Peach
 * Professor Elvin Gadd
 * Kylie Koopa
 * Princess Shroob
 * Baby Bowser
 * Young Toadsworth
 * Toadbert
 * Bowser
 * Toad
 * Yoshi
 * Elder Princess Shroob
 * Kamek
 * Young Elvin Gadd
 * Fawful
 * Toadiko

Enemies
Below is information in alphabetical order on the many enemies and bosses from Partners in Time. Note that only the American stats are shown here, but the European/Japanese stats can be found in the enemy's respective article.

Battle System
To start a battle, Mario, Luigi, or their baby selves must touch an enemy or perform a First Strike by jumping on the enemy in the overworld. A first strike will damage the enemy before the battle starts. Since the game is an RPG, the player and enemies will take turns attacking each other. The player can use well timed attacks to deal more damage.

Stats
Each brother and baby has his own HP, POW, DEF, SPEED, and STACHE points. When they finish a battle, they each gain EXP points. With enough EXP Points, he can level-up and increase each respective statistic.


 * HP (abbreviation of Heart Points) is the amount of life the heroes have. When an enemy hits one of the Marios, he will lose HP. When his HP reaches zero, he passes out, but can be revived with a 1-Up Mushroom or 1-Up Super.
 * POW (abbreviation of Power) is how strong either Mario or Luigi is. The higher his POW stats are, the more damage he will give.
 * DEF (abbreviation of Defense) is how much damage either Mario or Luigi can block from an enemy hit. The higher his DEF stats are, the less damage he will receive.
 * SPEED is how fast Mario or Luigi are. The more SPEED he have, the more he can attack an enemy in a given turn.
 * STACHE is the most unique of Mario and Luigi's stats. The higher their STACHE stats are, the greater there is a chance of a Lucky Hit, which doubles POW. Plus, it gives Mario and Luigi discounts when buying at shops.

Moves
During a battle, the four heroes have five choices when attacking, unless Mario and Luigi are not paired with the babies; instead, they would have four choices. They can use a jump move, a Hammer move, a Bros. Item, use an item, or run from battle.

Jump Move
During a jump move, Mario, Luigi, or the babies will jump on an enemy. When Mario jumps on an enemy, he uses A, B for Luigi, X on Baby Mario, and Y for Baby Luigi's jump. Hitting their button when they are about to land on the enemy does extra damage. Sometimes, the babies will be in battle helping Mario and Luigi. If so, when the two older bros. attack and land on an enemy, the player should press the babies button, and then the adult brother's button. This will give the enemy more damage.

Hammer Move
After Baby Mario and Luigi enter the Vim Factory, they will get hammers to use in battle. However, the adult Mario and Luigi can't use this move without the babies with them, as they don't have hammers. When one of the babies attack with a hammer, the player must hit their button (either X or Y) when the tool shakes to deal a lot of damage that can possibly stun an enemy. If the player waits too long or hits the button too early, the hammer head will fall off the hammer and the baby bro. will do much less damage. When the corresponding button is hit before they directly face the enemy, they will trip and fall flat on the enemy, also yielding less damage. When the adult bros. are with the babies, they can perform a stronger attack with them. When doing this, the player must hit the adult button (A or B) to have Mario or Luigi lift up the baby. Then, they must hit the baby button (X or Y) when their hammer shakes. This will deal more damage then a normal hammer attack. The hammer move does less damage than a jump move, and is best used when fighting a spiked enemy.

Bros. Items
Bros. Items are special attacks that the heroes can use to deal more damage. Some attacks require at least two bros., while some require all bros. Note that some items are unlocked later in the game than others.

Bros. Items requiring at least two bros.



 * Green Shell
 * Bros. Flower
 * Ice Flower
 * Pocket Chomp
 * Red Shell
 * Smash Egg

Bros. Items requiring all bros.

 * Cannonballer
 * Copy Flower
 * Mix Flower
 * Trampoline

Items
When choosing the item icon, the four heroes can use an item to recover HP or BP. Other items, such as Refreshing Herbs, can heal status effects. When one of the bros. passes out, the other bros. can use a 1-Up Mushroom or 1-Up Super the revive him. However, once an item is used, the bro's. turn is over. Peppers are another type of item that can be used with this icon and can bring up the bros. stats for a while.

Run
Mario, Luigi, and the babies can both run from battle when they choose the run icon. When getting away, the player must hit either the A or B button to make Mario or Luigi run. If the babies are in battle, the player must hit the X or Y button. However, if they don't do this quickly, one of the bros. will fall and drop a large amount of coins. When both bros. have left the screen, the player will end up back in the overworld and continue their adventure. The player can cancel this attempt by pressing the L button.

Avoiding Attacks
Partners in Time allows the player to completely avoid enemy attacks. Mario, Luigi, or Baby Mario and Baby Luigi can either use their Hammer or Jump moves to avoid attacks. With their Jump move, the heroes can simply jump over the attacking enemy. When using the Hammer to avoid attacks, the player must hold Baby Mario or Baby Luigi's respective button (Baby Mario is X, Baby Luigi is Y) and release just as the enemy or its weapon hits.

The four bros. can also use these moves to counterattack. When they jump over an enemy, they may land on them, causing damage. Baby Mario or Baby Luigi can also hit enemies with their hammer during an enemy's turn. Either way, the enemy will take damage on their own turn.

Out-of-Battle Techniques
The four heroes can use some techniques out of battle. All of the following techniques must be learned by progressing in the game, except for jumping.

Mario and Luigi Techniques
When Mario and Luigi are without the babies outside of battle, they can do the following techniques:


 * Mario and Luigi can both jump.
 * Mario and Luigi can perform a Spin Jump.
 * Mario and Luigi can form a Bros. Ball.

Baby Techniques
When Baby Mario and Baby Luigi are alone outside of battle, they can do the following:


 * The babies can both jump.
 * The babies can use their Hammers.
 * The babies can perform a Baby Drill.
 * Baby Mario can fill himself up with water when near a fountain. Then, Baby Luigi can hit him with his hammer to spit out the water quickly.

All-Character Techniques
There are also techniques where all the heroes are needed. They can do the following:


 * Mario and Luigi can flatten the babies into Baby Cakes.
 * The babies can be picked up by the older bros.
 * The four heroes can perform a Piggyback Jump.
 * Mario and Luigi can perform a Baby Toss, and throw the babies to higher areas.
 * Mario and Luigi can make the babies perform a Spin Jump by spin jumping into them.

Items
These are the items that appear in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.- When the wind blew away Baby Peach, Toadsworth the Younger asked the Baby Mario brothers to save her, saying: "You will save her, won't you? I assure you, she's NOT in another castle or anything." This is a reference to the Mushroom Retainers' line: "Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle!"
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island- This game features the return of Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Bowser, and the Chomp Rock. Also the player can travel to Yoshi's Island, which the first area of it has the same music as the alternate title music of this game. In addition, Kamek makes a reference to his attempted kidnapping of Baby Mario and Baby Luigi.
 * Super Mario 64- The music that plays within Princess Peach's Castle is a remix of "Inside the Castle Walls".
 * Luigi's Mansion- Professor E. Gadd moves to the Boo Woods as a young man where he is later found by Luigi, foreshadowing the events of the game. Also, background music from cutscenes involving E. Gadd are a remix of the Luigi's Mansion main theme.
 * Super Mario Sunshine- Shine Sprites return. Also, the Hydrogush 4000 resembles F.L.U.D.D..
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga- Fawful runs Fawful's Bean 'n' Badge. Additionally, a picture of Prince Peasley appears in the Shroom Shop on a poster about beans.

References in Later Games

 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl- A Shroob, Stuffwell, and Luigi carrying Baby Luigi appear as stickers. Also, one of the CDs is called Gritzy Desert, a direct reference to this game. The music is also the same as the area.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story- Three Shroobs appear as optional bosses. Junior Shrooboids, Commander Shroobs, and Elder Princess Shroob cameos in the background of that stage. Also in the audience from Fawful Theater there's a Shroob in the audience. There are some gear that has "Shroob" in the name.

Trivia

 * Although he is called "King" Bowser in the earlier Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, the younger Bowser's title in this game is "prince".
 * In the American version of the game, most of the enemies have higher stats than in other releases.
 * Like its predecessor, this is one of the few Mario games to have been released in North America before Japan.
 * The English and Spanish names of this game are puns on the title of the short story compilation Partners in Crime.
 * The Gritzy Desert level of the game bears a storyline like that of the novel The Time Machine. Despite the Koopaseum being a colosseum, the time traveler visits a place via his time machine, in a desert, and the building is also dome-shaped. He then later has to enter an underground set of caves later on in the same place. This is possibly a mere coincidence, however the plot line in the game is similar, as the heroes visit a desert via time travel, enter a dome like building, and visit a underground set of caves.
 * This is the only game in the Mario and Luigi series where the player can listen to the Princess Peach's castle theme whenever they want. In Superstar Saga, the player can only listen it in the beginning and the middle when Princess Peach's airplane lands. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, it is only in the beginning and at the end.