Mario & Luigi (series)

The Mario & Luigi series (Mario & Luigi RPG, マリオ＆ルイージRPG in Japan) is a quadrilogy of Role Playing Games released by AlphaDream for Nintendo's handhelds, starting in 2003 with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance. Each title has Mario and Luigi team up for a meandering quest in which they must battle evil, all the while completing various and often banal side-quests. More playable characters were introduced in the second and third Mario & Luigi games. The series is renowned for its inventive plots and humorous dialogue and is notable for maintaining continuity between the three installations.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Artwork from the Mario & Luigi series appeared as stickers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Cackletta, Luigi with Baby Luigi, Luigi, Mario with Luigi, Prince Peasley, a Shroob, Stuffwell, and Toadsworth. Additionally, one of the random names in Brawl when naming something (for example, naming a friend code) is FWFUL, obviously referencing Fawful. Additionally, Gritzy Desert's music from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is selectable as the Mushroomy Kingdom's stage music.

Gameplay Elements
The Mario & Luigi series features games on a turn-based RPG system. Enemies are encountered in the overworld, and the main protagonists, Mario and Luigi (and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time; and Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story) can interact the enemy and enter into a battle scene. If they attack the enemy, they get a first-hit advantage by dealing damage with the enemy (or stunning the enemy if they use hammers), unless they jump on spiked or fire enemies. If the enemy hits the rear brother in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, that rear brother misses the first turn, stunned and vulnerable to attack, unless he has a higher speed stat. This has changed in the next games, since enemies have to hit behind either of the two brothers to make them stunned.

In all three Mario & Luigi games, the Mario Bros., the Baby Mario Bros., and Bowser can receive various new abilities to enter otherwise inaccessible spots. For instance, the Mario Bros. can use the High Jump ability to reach high areas.

In Battle, the Mario Bros., the Baby Mario Bros., and Bowser have various methods to attack the enemy. They have a basic attack or a special Bros. attack. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the Bros. attack consumes Bros. Points (BP). In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, items activate these attacks.

The Mario & Luigi series battle system also comes with the ability to avoid attacks by jumping, using a hammer, punching, and using the shell (the latter two that Bowser uses). Often, when facing against the Mario Bros., enemies signal which brother they will attack.

As in all Mario series RPGs, the characters have a choice to flee the battle, but by first attempting it.

Stats
As in most RPG games, each character has a different stat. When characters level up by earning enough experience points (or alternatively use special items made from beans in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga), their stats elevate. Players can decide which stat to add a bonus via roulette, but they should be aware that the numbers that boost the star will eventually decrease if consistently chosen.

Stats are also temporarily increased or decreased when peppers are consumed or from enemy attacks.

Items
The series features many items. Items can be obtained if the characters hit blocks, win battles, win minigames, and others. Mario and Luigi can buy items at various shops with coins they earned in battles and blocks. Clothes and badges are earned usually as a prize while key items are needed to advance the storyline or complete a sidequest.

Beans
Beans are consumable items found in all Mario & Luigi games, but in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, special beans are found, and they can be blended in the Starbeans Café. The drinks made from a blend of these beans can increase stats. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, beans are used to buy badges. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, beans are used to increase stats.

Badges
Badges can be equipped on the playable characters to give them extra effects or more power in battle. Badges are bought in shops, earned as prizes, or found in defeated enemies. Characters can equip only one badge at a time. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, only the Mario Bros. can equip badges. The badges are part of a gauge that fills when an action command is executed well. When the gauge is filled, the Mario Bros. can use various actions including healing themselves.

For a full list on badges, see here

Clothing
The main protagonists can also equip clothing to increase stats, such as DEF, HP, and SPD. Clothes can be bought at shops, earned as prizes, or found in defeated enemies. Some clothes are exclusive to Mario while only Luigi can wear others; some clothes are compatible with both. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, clothes can provide extra effects. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, clothes received additional types including overalls, gloves, socks, boots, and accessories for Mario and Luigi, and and shells, arm bands, rings, and fangs for Bowser. Characters can equip more clothing if their rank go up (the maximum is three), but they can equip only one of each type.

For a full list on clothing, see here.

Similarities Between the Games

 * The Mario bros. have been inside someone's body in the three games (Bowletta's belly in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Yoob's belly in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Bowser's and a giant Sockop's body in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story).
 * The three games have their own version of the Mushroom Kingdom enemies (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga have bean-related enemies, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time have Shroobified enemies and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story have Fawful-themed, organ-themed and Dark Star-themed enemies).
 * All three games have similarities between the boss fights, starting with the fact that Bowser is always the first boss.
 * During the initial Bowser fights, Mario learns the action command while Luigi is occupied with something else (watching in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, playing in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and sleeping in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story).
 * In all three games, three versions of Bowser must be battled (Bowser, Rookie and Bowletta in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga; Baby Bowser, Bowser and Shrowser in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time; Bowser, Bowser X and Dark Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story).
 * All three games have at least one boss that only gives the player a limited number of turns to defeat before Game Over. The bosses are: Roy Koopa, Wendy O. Koopa, and Larry Koopa in Superstar Saga, three Shroobs in Hollijolli Village, and Elder Shrooboid in his larger form in Partners in Time, and Fawful Express and X bosses in Bowser's Inside Story (though the X Bosses do not give a Game Over, rather they are just pulled away from the battle).
 * In all three games, there is at least one Wiggler-esque boss.
 * In all three games, an altered form of Bowser is the final Boss (Bowletta, Shrowser, and Dark Bowser).
 * On that note, two of the final bosses (Cackletta in Superstar Saga and Fawful in Bowser's Inside Story) are fought inside Bowser.
 * The first two games have one character that is stuck and needs help, but as soon as they are rescued, something bad would happen and are not seen for the remainder of the game. In Superstar Saga, Bloat is stuck in a gap, and after he is rescued, the S.S. Chuckola starts to move out to the Oho Ocean, and sinks. In Partners in Time, the Hollijolli Mayor is stuck in a chimney, and after he is rescued, Shroob UFOs come and kidnap him.
 * All three games' storyline is about collecting the pieces of a Star or another magic item (the Beanstar in Superstar Saga, the Cobalt Star in Partners in Time and the Miracle Cure in Bowser's Inside Story).
 * The Final Bosses of all three games are defeated by eliminating parts of the bosses' body to conceal a weak point: Cackletta's arms and her head must be destroyed to make attacking her heart possible, the Elder Princess Shroob's tentacles must be destroyed to conceal her crown, which after being de-activated will drop the boss's defense, and finally, the Dark Fawful Bug needs its arms, legs and glasses to be destroyed so the player can attack the Dark Star Core.
 * All three Mario & Luigi games have an elite version of an enemy. In Superstar Saga, there is an elite version of the Troopea called the Elite Troopea; in Partners in Time, there is an elite version of a Boom Guy called the Elite Boom Guy; in Bowser's Inside Story, there was an elite version of the Goombule called the Elite Goombule
 * All games have the bosses exploding, and the enemies disappearing or a small explosion.
 * Each game in the series start somewhere in Princess Peach's Castle.
 * Each game's last area to explore is in a castle.
 * The main antagonist takes over Peach's and/or Bowser's Castle in the game. In Superstar Saga, Bowletta takes over Bowser's Castle. In Partners in Time, Princess Shroob takes over Peach's Castle of the past. In Bowser's Inside Story, Fawful takes over both castles.
 * All three games have at least two new characters with at least a different speech patterns or language. Superstar Saga has Fawful's odd metaphors and Cork and Cask's French accents. Partners in Time features the Shroob language and Kylie Koopa's slang. Bowser's Inside Story had Midbus with his broken, poor English, the Emoglobin's odd vocal patterns, and Broque Monsieur's French accent.
 * All three games have a move where the player can spin or drill into the ground.
 * All 3 games have their host system appear in the game somewhere (a purple and then a yellow Game Boy Advance is used as a message device by Bowletta in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the DS Radar - actually a grey Nintendo DS - is used by E. Gadd in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and Dark Fawful uses a red Nintendo DSi to pursue the Dark Star in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story).
 * Fawful appears in all three games (As Cackletta's assistant in Superstar Saga, as a badge dealer under Princess Peach's Castle in Partners in Time, and as the main antagonist in Bowser's Inside Story).