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 predecessor, 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, which Partners in Time lacks.

Part turn-based RPG, part action RPG, and part platformer, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time took the formula from Mario & Luigi: 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 a drawing at one point), the game used the addition of the and  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
During Mario and Luigi's infancies, the Mushroom Kingdom is faced with one of its greatest rivals: the Shroob invasion. On a distant planet shaped and colored like a Poison Mushroom without eyes, there lives a vile and evil race of aliens known as the Shroobs. They begin searching for a planet worthy of invasion. They ultimately find the Mushroom World, specifically the Mushroom Kingdom. Plans for an attack are presumably soon under way.

Baby Bowser just so happens to pick the same day that the Shroobs invade the Mushroom Kingdom to kidnap Baby Peach. He attacks the main castle, but is stopped by Baby Mario, who has come to the castle with his younger brother Baby Luigi. Baby Mario manages to defeat Baby Bowser and rescues the princess. However, this allows the Shroobs to catch the distracted Toad guards, who were unaware of their invasion. Everyone winds up being forced to flee. Young Toadsworth, Baby Bowser, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and Baby Peach, in her carriage, follow Baby Bowser's assistant, Kamek, to the Koopa Cruiser, which the Koopas are using to travel to his castle. They escape from Baby Peach's Castle as quickly as possible.

Years in the future, adult Mario and Luigi watch with rapt attention as Professor E. Gadd reveals his latest invention: the time machine. It is such an important occasion that a Lakitu is on hand, broadcasting the event to live television. E. Gadd reveals that his machine runs on the power of the mysterious Cobalt Star. Adult Princess Peach is so overjoyed by the invention that she asks the professor to take it for a spin. Toadiko and Toadbert accompany the princess on her journey. Despite Toadsworth's pleas, the three travel back in time to a younger Mushroom Kingdom, when the princess and the Mario Bros. were mere youngsters.

Toadsworth promptly faints, and Toad asks Mario to get the Refreshroom that Toadsworth keeps in his room, for it can help revive him. Finding it inside a block above Toadsworth's garden, Mario brings back the item just as a Toad doctor is diagnosing it to be the only way to bring Toadsworth back.

Back in the past and shortly after the babies' escape, a time machine appears in the castle throne room. A fully grown Princess Peach and her loyal assistants, Toadiko and Toadbert step out. The Shroobs suddenly stop their invasion and let their leaders, the Elder Princess Shroob and Princess Shroob confront Peach. Thinking fast, Princess Peach grabs the Cobalt Star from its place in the time machine. As the younger Shroob princess watches, Princess Peach holds it above her head, and forces the star to consume the Elder Princess Shroob inside of the star, then shattering it into six pieces. However, the other Shroob princess is able to capture Princess Peach, while Toadiko and Toadbert run away. This part of the story is revealed to the player in Toadwood Forest by Toadiko.

Mario uses the refreshroom on Toadsworth, who comes to in time to see the return of the time machine from his hospital bed. The time machine is in a worse state than it was when it had left. When it is approached, a large alien comes out, scaring everyone away. He knocks Toadsworth (still on he hospital bed) down the hallway. Mario takes the alien down while everyone is gathering around after Toad reappears from entering the capsule who announces that the princess was not inside the time machine. E. Gadd is at a loss as to what is happening. After all, he had been more than 99% sure that Princess Peach would return all right after her return from the past.

Luigi soon discovers a mysterious new hole out in the courtyard. E. Gadd elaborates that it is a time hole, or a rip in the spacetime continuum. It is caused by the use of the time machine that he had invented. Luigi goes closer to investigate, standing on the raised edge of the hole. Suddenly, Toadsworth panics. Rocketing into the courtyard, still on his hospital bed, he crashes into the hole while demanding answers. However, this causes Luigi to lose his balance and fall into the hole. Mario jumps in after his brother to rescue him.



Although the Shroobs have lost their leader, Princess Shroob (the second in command) takes command of the Shroobs and their operations and they continue their conquest of the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town falls as the Shroobs swarm from Princess Peach's Castle. In a short period of time, the Mushroom Kingdom falls under complete Shroob control.

Meanwhile, time holes begin appearing all over the Mushroom Kingdom. One such hole appears just outside of Hollijolli Village. Shortly afterward, a grown up Mario and Luigi pop out of it. Stuffwell follows, after which the time hole disappears. Arriving in the village, they find it devastated from the Shroob attack. After they find the mayor, the Shroobs arrive again, abducting the mayor, and proceed to battle Mario and Luigi. The Shroobs prove to be too powerful for Mario and Luigi to defeat alone. However, in the Koopa Cruiser, Baby Peach is crying because Baby Bowser does not want to stop and help the poor people who were attacked. Baby Bowser, wanting to save his ears, destroys the Shroob UFOs around Hollijolli Village; the baby brothers then proceed to fight the Shroobs who battled the adult brothers and are 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 has been turned into Shroob Castle, with a giant Princess Shroob statue in the center.

Suddenly, a figure appears above the Koopa Cruiser. It is Princess Shroob, who launches a missile at them, taking down their engine. They crash land into Baby Bowser's Castle. Mario and Luigi, the only ones other than Stuffwell who have not 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 find Baby Mario and Baby Luigi on the way. Once Stuffwell explains to them how to control a group of four, the babies travel with the older brothers. After they find a mysterious sparkling shard, they, in addition to Baby Peach and Toadsworth the Younger, all travel through a time hole in Baby Bowser's room that leads back to the present day Princess Peach's Castle.

Once back at the present castle, Stuffwell shows Professor E. Gadd the mysterious shard, which the professor identifies as being a shard of the Cobalt Star, the power source of the time machine. The Cobalt Shard then flies over to the defeated Junior Shrooboid, who then reacts to the Cobalt Shard. The Cobalt Shard afterwards creates another time hole, and E. Gadd sends Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi to investigate. As they all enter the time hole, Toadsworth is chasing Toadsworth the Younger, who has Baby Peach in his arms assuming that Toadsworth the Younger is some sort of kidnapper.

After the heroes enter the time hole, they find themselves at Toadwood Forest. Later, they discover Toadiko, who is wrapped in a tree's branches. She gives them some information as to what happened to her, Toadbert, and Princess Peach (although she had not explained the full details due to her memory loss), then tells them that there is a Cobalt Shard at the Vim Factory, where vim that is sucked out of Toads bound to the forest trees is used to make fuel for Shroob UFOs. Shroob UFOs then attack, and Mario and the gang run, while Toadiko is transformed into a Shroob Mushroom.

After Mario and gang reach the Vim Factory, the L33t Hamm3r Broz. use a suction-type tree and capture Mario and Luigi, leaving the babies behind. The Hamm3r Broz. challenge the babies to a battle. As usual, the babies win and the helmets on the Hammer Bros. break, freeing both Hammer Bros. from the Shroob's control. They give the babies Hammers and teach them how to use them. The babies travel through the air shaft and finally rescue Mario and Luigi. The babies continue moving along, with their older selves, towards the rest of the Vim Factory.

In the last room, they find a huge Shroobified Wiggler named Swiggler. Mario and Luigi watch Swiggler give the Shroob UFOs energy, but Baby Mario knocks the vim holder. This enrages Swiggler, causing it to battle. When the boss is defeated, another Cobalt Shard is found. However, Baby Bowser comes in, running around the four heroes. As a result, Mario, Luigi, and the babies become dizzy and Baby Bowser is able to steal both Cobalt Shards. Baby Bowser and Kamek escape, and the heroes travel back to the present day Princess Peach's Castle, both successful and unsuccessful.

When they return to the castle, Stuffwell informs the professor of their dilemma. He tells them that time holes have been popping up excessively and that they should find Baby Bowser, along with his stolen Cobalt Shards, in one of them. E. Gadd then tells them that some young fellow and Toadsworth have been squabbling and that the brothers should investigate. In the courtyard, Toadsworth and Toadsworth the Younger are trying to cheer up a crying Baby Peach. They do so by spinning on each other's head, which is called the Toadsworth Twist. Luigi is impressed by this move and wants them to teach it to him, along with his older brother, Mario. After they learn the Spin Jump technique, the brothers use it to reach the only available time hole, which is located in the second floor library. Using their new Spin Jump move, they reach the time hole, taking them to the Yoshi's Island of the past.

On the island, they notice that all of the Yoshis have disappeared and a giant, purple and green egg shell is left. They enter one of the huts where they run into Kylie Koopa, who is a reporter looking for the scoop on the mysterious egg. The babies use a spring to find all of the Yoshis hiding in the attic. They are hiding from Yoob, a Shroobified Yoshi who has been eating other Yoshis. A Yoshi tries to fight Yoob, but is easily eaten like the rest. Kylie tries to take some pictures of the scene, but gets swallowed doing so. She is then spit out, and is shot into the hut that the brothers are hiding in. After Yoob leaves, the brothers find Kamek facing off against the giant Shroob monster. Like Kylie, he is eaten, then spit out. Before he leaves, Kamek mutters something about needing to get Bowser a snack. The heroes then enter a hut which leads to another part of the island as they discover Yoshi Cookies. Mario leaves them alone, but Luigi decides to take them with him. He almost eats one, but then decides to give it to Baby Luigi. As the plumbers continue through Yoshi's Island, they spot Kamek again. Mario and Luigi try to get him, but he escapes and tries to burn the island in order to keep them busy. Stuffwell then learns that they can use Baby Mario's ability to spit water, extinguishing the flames. The adult and baby brothers used their newly learned abilities to pass through the puzzles off the island and make it to the top of the cliff, where Prince Bowser is eating all of the Yoshi Cookies from the island. While Kamek tells him to slow down, Mario and Luigi confront them as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi start eating the Yoshi Cookies. In their discussion, Prince Bowser says that he is going to keep both the Cobalt Shards because Mario previously stole one of the Cobalt Shards from him and the other will be consolation. He also intended on keeping all of the Yoshi Cookies, but the baby brothers ate them all. As a result, Prince Bowser goes into a tantrum. Kamek says that he would take care of it as he fights the brothers. Kamek uses his magic to duplicate himself, create fire, and power himself up. He is ultimately defeated, however, as the brothers chase after Prince Bowser. The prince reaches a dead end, and as a last resort, eats the Cobalt Shards, finding them to be interestingly delicious. As Mario and the gang try to get the Cobalt Shards out of Prince Bowser, Yoob climbs up the cliff and is shot by a ray from a Shroob UFO. The ray causes 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 find themselves in the intestines of the creature. They rocket themselves into the stomach, where they find a Yoshi trapped. It is trying to push a big Chomp Rock to make more space in Yoob's intestines and find an escape route. However, the rock is far too heavy for the dinosaur to push alone, and the four heroes wander throughout Yoob's Belly and enlist the aid of several other swallowed Yoshis to help push the Chomp Rock. Luckily, there are enough Yoshis to push the Chomp Rock, and as a result, everyone could travel through more of Yoob's Belly. Mario, Luigi, and the babies battle their way through the monster's intestines, encountering Dry Bones and RC Shroobers on their way.

Later on through the digestive process, they discover that there was a factory inside Yoob, turning Yoshis into strange eggs for unknown purposes. Fortunately, the babies manage to shut down the factory. Toadbert is first seen here, having apparently lost his memory. The only thing that he could remember is a strange drawing that he himself made but does not recall what it meant. He decides to give it to the brothers, not knowing what they could do with it. Farther on, they discover the mastermind behind the egg factory: a giant egg like monster called Sunnycide and afterward, it throws an egg at the brothers, which happens to contain Prince Bowser. Freeing the Yoshis and enlisting their help, the brothers defeat Sunnycide. After that, they escaped from Yoob out of the end. Prince Bowser coughs up the Cobalt Shards, and the brothers grab them and run.

Back at the castle, the adult brothers once again learn a new move from the Toadsworths, Bros. Ball Using this move, the brothers could curl themselves into a ball to roll around. Using this new power, the brothers solve a puzzle allowing them to access the highest area of the castle where the next time hole is located. This particular time hole takes them into the middle of the Gritzy Desert. A huge colosseum is located in front of them. Mario and the gang try to get in, but are quickly chased away by the Shroobs that are inside. They run away and hide behind a pillar. The babies walk away and Luigi will stop them, but they get caught and run away, while Kylie Koopa appears again and informs Mario, who left behind, about the four pillars of the desert, saying that they have some mystical connection that could help them. By telling, a hilarious spectacle plays with Luigi, the babies and a Shroob chasing each other. The older brothers and baby brothers then separate and activate the huge pillars, all of which resemble Dry Bones. Suddenly, beams of light shoot out of each statue's eyes, connecting with each other. The connection causes a secret entrance to the Koopaseum to be open. The brothers then sneak into the arena.

Within the arena, Princess Shroob is hosting a celebration about the conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach is revealed, being strapped to a platform. The platform is lowered towards a large Warp Pipe. Petey Piranha is in the Warp Pipe, jumps, and eats the princess. The brothers stand in shock, unaware that Kylie Koopa is 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 is still standing. She calls upon the Shrooboid Brat, who attacks the brothers and entertains the crowd at the same time. The brothers, however, defeat the brat, angering Princess Shroob. With the assistance of her lackeys, she breaks the floor under them, sending them to the caverns below.

In the Gritzy Caves, the adult brothers are knocked unconscious by the fall. Baby Mario then hit Luigi with his Hammer, which awakens him and he scares the babies, who start to cry. Mario is awoken by the babies crying and confronts Luigi. They then decide to not turn on themselves and continue through the caverns, where they are 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 Piranha's open mouth. Some Shroobs are also there, ready to begin the execution. Kylie pleads for the brothers to rescue her, saying that she is the one who told them about the secret entrance. Unfortunately, Mario and Luigi could not reach her, so they could do nothing but watch in horror as one of the Shroobs grab an axe from its body and cut the rope. Kylie Koopa, still tied by rope, is eaten by Petey Piranha. The brothers have no choice but to continue.

After hitting a block a couple of rooms later, the heroes are attacked by Petey Piranha, whom they battle and, after a struggle, defeat. Another Cobalt Shard pops out of the plant, along with Kylie Koopa, surprisingly free of the rope, who finds a key in the plant's belly. While talking to Kylie, she tells the brothers that she saw someone in the Cobalt Shard. However, she and the brothers think of that as being very unlikely, and continue their adventure.

A little farther, the brothers enter a cell, where the find Princess Peach, whose face is covered by a Shroob Mushroom. She and Luigi, who is horrified by her appearance, both collapse and are taken back to the present day castle. Everyone gathers in the room of the Princess, where they discuss the Princess and the Shroob Mushroom. Princess Peach then decides to take a nap and the brothers are shoved out of the room.

Downstairs, Mario and Luigi are taught yet another move by the Toadsworths, Baby Cakes, where the older brothers could flatten the babies using their Bros. Ball technique. During the lesson, the Toadsworths flatten Baby Princess Peach(The elder toadsworth promptly objects but his frail bones were no match for his younger counterpart), who is swept away by a gust of wind. The four heroes use their new moves to save her. Mario and the gang then leave the Toadsworths, where they meet some panicking Toads. Curiously, the heroes travel up the castle to see Princess Peach. It turns out that Bowser is just about to kidnap her, and he runs through the castle with the princess on his shoulder. However, Bowser falls through the floor and lands in the next time hole.

The brothers went into the time hole that Bowser was in and wind up at Thwomp Volcano, which they climb to the top of, battling various enemies, such as the block shaped Thwacks. At the top, they learn that the volcano is close to erupting. They then meet Professor E. Gadd’s younger self, who is panicking because the volcano is going to ruin all of his inventions. He thinks up of an idea of making a machine that could douse the volcano's fire, which the older E. Gadd creates in the present time. He then uses his quickly built invention to spray water into the time hole and stop the volcano, angering many native Thwomps. One of those Thwomps was Mrs. Thwomp, who battles the brothers but is defeated. Her husband agrees to take the brothers in the volcano, where they solve various puzzles to destroy blocks that are obstructing their path to the bottom. Then, they fight and defeat 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 is sucked up by the Shroob Mother Ship. The courageous brothers followed her.

Inside the Shroob Mother Ship, the heroes fight a few Guardian Shroobs and later meet up again with Kylie Koopa, who saves them from the Shroobs and Princess Shroob disguised as Princess Peach. Kylie takes them into a room to try and solve the secret of the Shroobs with the large, mysterious key she found earlier. She inserts the key into a large machine, but it actually causes them to fall out of the ship. Kylie lands on Yoshi's Island, while the brothers end up in Toad Town, where everyone is gone except for two elderly Toads, who help them stock up on gear.

After they solve some puzzles, the four brothers escape the Shroob infested Toad Town and find a Warp Pipe that takes them to Star Hill, where they are attacked by the Commander Shroob, his Support Shroobs, and a Shroob-omb. Once defeated, the four heroes head up Star Hill and the Cobalt Star creates a path so that they can get to the Star Shrine, where another Cobalt Shard is located. At that time, the spirit of the Cobalt Star (which resembled Misstar from Paper Mario) began to talk to the brothers about defeating the Shroobs. Baby Luigi begins to cry afterward for a strange reason. The brothers did not know why, however, but they calm him down. They then travel to the Star Shrine, where a gate needs to determine if the heroes had pure hearts to get past it. Mario and the babies did, but Luigi did not, apparently. Mario knows that he is not going to leave his brother alone, so he and the other heroes are placed through a trial to prove that Luigi has 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 Star Shrine, after finding the fourth Cobalt Shard, the brothers meet up with Toadbert and Kylie Koopa, who reveal how to clean Toadbert's picture, given to the brothers back in Yoob's Belly. It turns out that another Princess Shroob was on the picture. Before the drawing was explained, Mario and company are attacked by the Elder Shrooboid, who attacks Toadbert and Kylie Koopa, causing them to become Shroob Mushrooms. The four brothers fight the Elder Shrooboid. Although the Elder Shrooboid is much more powerful than the Junior Shrooboid, they are able to defeat it and the heroes acquire another piece of the Cobalt Star.

They then return to the castle, where they are told to go to the Shroob Castle in the past. The brothers solve many puzzles in the large castle, and even take down the Shroob Mother Ship. Mario and the gang finally find Princess Shroob, along with Princess Peach. After a long battle, the brothers defeat the Shroob princess. Then, Princess Peach shows them the last piece of the Cobalt Star, but does not let them merge it with the other pieces that they have. Before she could explain, Prince Bowser swoops in and takes the final piece and connects it to the other pieces, causing Elder Princess Shroob to appear. He is then transformed into a Shroob Mushroom, as well. Peach finally reveals that she trapped Elder Princess Shroob inside the Cobalt Star and the final piece freed her. After that, the brothers fight the mighty Elder Princess Shroob. After beating her, she turns into a dark colored Mushroom (which Baby Luigi takes with him). As the brothers try to figure out what to do with the Mushroom that was once Baby Bowser, the babies play around with it and Baby Luigi gets hurt. He begins to cry on it, which restores Baby Bowser to his true form. Realizing the Shroobs' weakness, the gang gets Professor E. Gadd to spray a chemically similar liquid to Baby Luigi's tears all throughout time with his invention, the Hydrogush 4000, causing all of the 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 find Bowser lying on the carpet, completely knocked out. As the brothers wonder what to do with the behemoth reptile, Elder Princess Shroob's mushroom form hovers into Bowser's mouth, who weakly eats it and turns into "Shrowser". Shrowser is relentless, but the brothers use his attacks against him and dissolve the spirit of Elder Princess Shroob. Afterwards, Toadsworth the Younger, Baby Peach, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi all use the repaired time machine and travel back to their own time, bidding farewell to their future selves.

Playable Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Baby Mario
 * Baby Luigi

Non-Playable Characters

 * Toadsworth
 * Peach
 * Baby Peach
 * Professor Elvin Gadd
 * Stuffwell
 * Kylie Koopa
 * Princess Shroob
 * Baby Bowser
 * Young Toadsworth
 * Toadbert
 * Bowser
 * Toad
 * Yoshi
 * Yoob
 * 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.

Locations

 * Princess Peach's Castle
 * Hollijolli Village
 * Bowser's Castle
 * Toadwood Forest
 * Yoshi's Island
 * Yoob's Belly
 * Gritzy Desert
 * Koopaseum
 * Gritzy Caves
 * Thwomp Volcano
 * Shroob Mother Ship
 * Toad Town
 * Star Hill
 * Star Shrine
 * Shroob Castle

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 the brothers finish a battle, they each gain EXP points. With enough EXP Points, a brother 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 has, the sooner 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, for Luigi,  on Baby Mario, and  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 or ) 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 ( or ) to have Mario or Luigi lift up the baby. Then, they must hit the baby button ( or ) 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 that require all the bros. so it can be used.
 * Green Shell
 * Fire Flower
 * Ice Flower
 * Trampoline*
 * Cannonballer*
 * Pocket Chomp
 * Red Shell
 * Smash Egg
 * Copy Flower*
 * Mix Flower*

Items
When choosing the item icon, the four heroes can use an item to recover HP. 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 to 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 or  button to make Mario or Luigi run. If the babies are in battle, the player must hit the or  button. However, if they don't do this quickly, one of the bros. will fall and drop a large amount of coins unless a wallet badge is equipped. 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 button.

Avoiding Attacks
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time allows the player to 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 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, Baby Luigi is ) 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 takes damage on its 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, whose first area has the same music as this game's alternate title music. In addition, Kamek makes a reference to his attempted kidnapping of Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars- In the beginning of the game, the Cobalt Star shard is in a block similar to the regular Treasure Chest blocks in this game.
 * 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 as a source of light. 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. The ending theme for Partners in Time is a remix of the ending theme from Superstar Saga.

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".
 * Like its predecessor, it 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 & Luigi series where players can listen to the Princess Peach's castle theme whenever they want. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the player can only listen to 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.
 * The boss theme was originally going to be in Super Smash Bros Brawl.
 * The North American instruction booklet for this game makes two errors: one on page 27 and another on page 32. The former page has a Japanese screenshot, where "Stache" is listed as "Hige" and the latter has the following sentence: "Approach either side and speak to the sales-Toad to make the corresponding menu will appear," where the word will is an unnecessary addition to the sentence structure.
 * This is the only Mario & Luigi game where Peach is kidnapped at the very beginning.
 * When the Mario brothers first see Shroob Castle, the statue of Princess Shroob on the very top of the castle is hidden to keep her as a secret until later on. But if the player looks closely at the screen, he/she will be able to see the smaller statue of Princess Shroob at the castle entrance.
 * Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time is the second Mario and Luigi RPG that has a possessed Bowser as the last boss, although it is required to defeat the possessor in order to pass the game. The first game to introduce this idea was Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.