Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (known as Mario & Luigi RPG1 DX in Japan ) is a game for the Nintendo 3DS. It is an enhanced remake of the 2003 Game Boy Advance game, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The game has an added story called Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. The game has amiibo support for the Minion Quest mode, where the Koopa Troopa, Goomba, and Boo amiibo are compatible. The game is the first remake of the Mario & Luigi series, the third game in the series to be released for the Nintendo 3DS, and the sixth game in the series overall. Despite being a Nintendo 3DS game, it is only playable in 2D.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
The remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has updated graphics, soundtrack, and controls, looking visually similar to Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. The story is mainly the same as it was in the original game. However, some additions and alterations to the gameplay have also been made.

List of changes

 * Mario, Luigi, and enemy stats were changed.
 * Mario and Luigi will now jump twice on an enemy if a solo jump's action command is entered correctly, just like in previous installments since Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * The Emergency Guard from Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is added.
 * The Solo-Attack-Command Block is replaced with separate Command Blocks for Jump-, Hammer-, and Hand-Attacks.
 * Many bosses now drop new gear such as Hoohooros dropping the Hoohooros Slacks or Rookie dropping the Rookie Badge.
 * Accessories can now be obtained throughout the entire game and not just from Professor E. Gadd.
 * Advanced Bros. Attacks are now separately selected and cost more Bros. Points to use.
 * Mario & Luigi now make sounds whenever they are hit in battle as well as during Bros. Attacks.
 * The level of an enemy is now displayed next to their name when targeting them.
 * The game now has a lot of new features due to the added second screen.
 * Mario & Luigi's passports showing their level and stats are displayed in battle.
 * A tutorial for attacks is displayed in battle similar to the one in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
 * In the overworld, the touch screen can be used to switch between moves like the High Jump or the Spin Jump.
 * The player can also press a button on the touchscreen to display a map where they can also put markers.
 * Heart Blocks are present in every version of the game unlike in the original, where only the Japanese version featured them.
 * Similarly to Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, saving can now be done at any point on the overworld.
 * Cutscenes can be sped up with, or with the icon on the touch screen.
 * Mario & Luigi's positions can no longer be switched manually. Instead, they will switch automatically when selecting a move.
 * Pressing in the overworld will make both Bros. jump simultaneously.
 * The line of the Koopa Troopa originally telling the player about switching places was changed to inform about this mechanic.
 * The menu screen features a guide option, showing how certain actions are performed similar to Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
 * This function is also available in battle via the bottom screen.
 * The percentage of beans and ?-Blocks found can also be viewed in the menu screen along with a summary of the current story.
 * A sound player was added. Unlike in previous entries, it's not accessible from the title screen but from the in-game menu screen.
 * Options have also been moved from the title screen to the menu screen.
 * The time limit to collect ten Hoohoo Spirits in Hoohooros's minigame has increased from 30 seconds to 35.
 * "Toadtown Square" was renamed to "Peach's Castle".
 * Many character sprites are apparently derived from the sprites of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, causing their appearance to be different with respect to the one of the original game.
 * Troopeas are bipedal rather than quadrupedal.
 * The Koopalings take on their modern designs rather than their original designs.
 * The NPC Koopa Troopas from the Koopa Cruiser no longer wear flight uniforms.
 * The Toads in Peach's Castle are now regular Toads with differently colored spots and vests rather than differing in height and clothing.
 * The cannon that Bowser gets stuck in during Stardust Fields now flies away upon firing him out, rather than blinking away after the camera pans back to Mario and Luigi.
 * The Turtles that block paths have been redesigned to be Big Koopa Troopas.
 * Several cameos have been added to the Mario Bros.' House
 * There is now a trophy from Mario Kart 8 on a shelf and a Wii Wheel hanging next to it.
 * Mario's tennis racket and golf club can be seen on a shelf above and leaning on Mario's bed, respectively.
 * Mario's hardhat and tool belt from Super Mario Maker is hanging beside the workbench on the first floor of Mario's House.
 * Mario's Cap is now on the clothing line outside of the house rather than on the coat-stand inside, fixing a minor continuity issue when Mario puts on his clothes. In the original game, his cap suddenly appears on his head once he's all dressed up.
 * A carpet in front of the Bros.' beds looking like a Yoshi Egg has been added.
 * A pendulum clock has been added to the wall.
 * When Mario & Luigi enter Beanbean Castle for the first time, the devastation theme keeps playing instead of the Beanbean Castle theme.
 * Instead of the music stopping when Peach's Castle explodes, the music keeps playing as it explodes.
 * Bink's design has been changed from his original Donkey Kong-like appearance to that of a generic S.S. Chuckola crew member.
 * Doctor Toadley replaces Psycho Kamek.
 * The destruction of Beanbean Castle Town is now caused by Fawful's Mechawful minions from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
 * Professor E Gadd's theme is now taken from Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon rather than being a remix of his theme from the original game.
 * The posters in Yoshi Theater, which used to reference other Nintendo franchises such as Kirby, Wario, and The Legendary Starfy, are now replaced with new posters depicting films involving Broque Monsieur, Broque Madame, and Broggy, a Shroob invasion, and Prince Dreambert.
 * Geno no longer explains the minigame, Star 'Stache Smash, with a disembodied text bubble replacing him. This is likely due to licensing reasons, as Square Enix owns the character of Geno.
 * Mechakoopas replace Mecha-Chomps in Woohoo Hooniversity.
 * Boomerang Bros. from the original game are now named Beanerang Bros. and are treated as a separate species to the standard Mushroom Kingdom ones (which are found in Minion Quest). They also drop Oho Gear.
 * Mario and Luigi are now able to swim high while underwater.
 * When the S.S. Chuckola in Teehee Valley starts moving before crashing, music doesn't play, rather than Gwarhar Lagoon's music playing.
 * Cheep Cheeps and Puffer-Cheeps are replaced by Spiny Cheep Cheeps with the same behavior.
 * Several enemies that had duplicate names but different palette and stats have been renamed to be "Elite" versions, akin to what Elite Troopea was to Troopea. These include Elite Pestnuts, Elite Chuck Guy , Elite Gritty Goomba , Elite Dry Bones , and Elite Limbo Bro.
 * Mushrooms now heal 30 HP instead of 25.
 * Similarly, Syrups heal 15 BP instead of 20.
 * The Great Force now resembles the Triforce and gives the traditional item jingle from The Legend of Zelda series.
 * Bean depressions are now known as bean hollows.
 * Invisible bean hollows that can be found by Mini-Mario or the Game Boy Player are now made visible.
 * Each blend in Starbeans Cafe requires less beans, from 25 (25 for single bean, 15/10 for two beans) to 10 (10 for single bean, 6/4 for two beans), and the stat boosts given are reduced by half.
 * There are now only two save files instead of three.
 * Cackletta's soul is now larger than in the previous version; has a blue jewel on her forehead; has light yellow eyes instead of darker yellow, bloodshot ones; has arms that are now color coded to match the elements they use, and is now a 3D model instead of a 2D sprite (as with Shiny RoboBowser).
 * When low on health Cackletta's entire body turns bright red, the eyes and heart turn green, and the jewel becomes gray.
 * The ground during the final battle now has a design of Cackletta's grin.
 * Bosses now turn red (or different colors) when low on health, as in Paper Jam. Some bosses now have altered attack patterns or new attacks:
 * When low on health, Trunkle covers the tree on his head with both hands, making it impervious to attacks.
 * Sledge and Mallet now inform Mario and Luigi that they've moved after defeating Mom Piranha and tell them to come by.
 * They are also not in the cave until then. In the original, they could be visited any time after Oho Oasis.
 * The top faces of Oucher Glasses appear to have happy faces rather than sad ones, as the mad faces on the bottom stay the same.
 * Clumphs now take critical damage from Mario's Firebrand attacks, especially the Fire Bros. attack.
 * Various music has been replaced as well. The music for the Star 'Stache Smash has been replaced with a remix of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jams mini-game theme, the music for the Barrel mini-game is replaced with a remix of Mario & Luigi: Dream Teams mini-game theme and the tutorial music is a remix of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time's tutorial music.
 * The original game featured a cutscene upon entering Bowser's Castle, where Fawful informs Bowletta about the arrival of Mario and Luigi, and she summons the Koopalings. This cutscene is missing from this game, since in Minion Quest Bowletta disguised as Bowser orders Captain Goomba and the other minions of Bowser to attack Mario and Luigi instead.
 * The Koopalings are now given a full amount of dialogue since they do not have any in the original game.
 * The battle music that was used for Fawful in Bowser's Castle is now the battle music that was used for Cackletta in Woohoo Hooniversity just like in the original game's Japanese release.
 * The Mario Bros. game is no longer included.
 * The post-battle screen is now similar to the ones used since Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and this time, the player should press to collect the EXP and coins.
 * The game can now be saved after defeating the Final Boss.
 * The Game Boy Horror SP now only applies to the bro who has it equipped, rather than affecting both regardless of who has it equipped. The bro who doesn't have it equipped now can only force a rare drop through a bros attack, or countering a counterattack caused by a bros attack.
 * Each area has a unique stamp when the game is saved, whereas in the original, there was only one stamp. For example, Peach's Castle has a mushroom stamp whereas the Koopa Cruiser has Bowser's head as a stamp.
 * The monitor that Bowletta uses to communicate with the heroes in Beanbean Castle is now a Nintendo 3DS (blue the first time and pink the second time), rather than the original game's Game Boy Advance.
 * When getting a game over, an arrangement of the classic death jingle can be heard, while in the original game, there is no music.

Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser
This previously untold adventure develops alongside and with the main Mario Bros story, and it involves Bowser's minions battling the enemies of the Beanbean Kingdom to rescue Bowser, after he is knocked out from the Beanbean Border, led by Captain Goomba. The battles are the two armies automatically fighting against each other, though the player can choose which characters to send in, give more power to critical attacks by performing certain actions such as repeatedly pressing a button, pressing a button with the correct timing or aiming correctly at the enemies, and choose one of the actions available to the captain, the latter of which costs CP. At the end of a battle, if any of the opponent's allies had survived, they will join the player's team. There are three types of troopers: Melee (who only fight physically), Ranged (who fight exclusively with projectiles), and Flying (physical fighters who fly). The types follow a rock-paper-scissors triangle of strength and weakness, with Melee units being strong against Ranged units but weak against Flying units, Ranged units being strong against Flying units but weak against Melee units and Flying units being strong against Melee units but weak against Ranged units.

Story
The story of Minion Quest is shown as a movie, just like the main Mario Bros story, in the Yoshi Theater.

The story of Minion Quest starts off right after the Mario Bros have defeated the first two enemies in the game, the two Goombas. After they are defeated, they are placed in barrels, and the one on the right complains about how he got trounced by the Mario Bros again, with the one on the left saying that it's about time the Goombas rose up and made a name for themselves. Unbeknownst to anyone in Bowser's army, these two Goombas would become Captain Goomba and Private Goomp.

They are taken care of by the Koopalings Roy, Wendy, and Iggy, who tear into them and mercilessly taunt them about how useless, expendable, and trash they are and proceed to give them orders, but before they can do so, the Koopa Cruiser gets attacked by Fawful and starts to sink into the area around the border between the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms, just like in the main story, and every one of Bowser's army of baddies is thrown clear of the wreckage.

Captain Goomba regains his consciousness and awakes in a cave. He attempts to see if there is anyone nearby, but he can hear no answer, so he looks outside and finds that he is on a huge mountain. He sees Bowser, who had just been shot out of the cannon in Stardust Fields, fly through the air into the distance. Deciding to rush after his leader, the captain of the Goombas warms up for some action and takes off in pursuit of Bowser, and thus begins the untold adventure. After beating two Beanies who come across his path, Captain Goomba comes across some of his fellow kind arguing over who should be the captain and lead the rescue. Overcome with joy, he meets up with them, where they explain the situation to him, and after he convinces them to join him on the adventure, they officially make him a captain and give him his flag. Initially they only agreed to this because no one else wanted to, but he slowly starts to win their sincere support and respect and prove himself a true captain. Captain Goomba learns the tutorials of the game the first few levels.

The crew fights various Goombas, and a pair of Hammer Bros. who were going to live with the Hammerhead Bros. The squad comes across two Paragoombas, who take Captain Goomba for an enemy and attack his squad. After defeating them, the now-freed Paragoombas tell him the bad news: Fawful came across Bowser and made plans for him, and the Paragoombas attempted to interfere and stop him, but he brainwashed them with his headgear's smoke and shooed them away to fight his enemies. The minions make fun of the captain's "aura of stupidity"; this becomes a running gag throughout the story. Ludwig and Lemmy are encountered on the mountain, but they pay the squad no mind as they continue to look for Bowser themselves.

Eventually, Captain Goomba comes across Fawful, who has Bowser with him. Before he can do anything, however, Private Goomp arrives to take credit for defeating Fawful. Fawful uses his brainwashing smoke to brainwash Private Goomp, but fails to brainwash Captain Goomba due to his true minion spirit. Captain Goomba and his squad fight against Private Goomp and his brainwashed forces, and after the battle, Fawful knocks Goomp and Captain Goomba off the top of the mountain, and flees to the castle to retrieve the Beanstar, once again drawing parallels with the main story. Later, Captain Goomba consults a Hoohooligan about Bowser's whereabouts, and jumps off the bridge to the base of the mountain, making a huge crash in the process.

Outside Beanbean Castle Town, the Koopalings are discussing their plans about how to find Lord Bowser, and even wonder if he has been kidnapped. They easily dispatch a rowdy group of Beanies, but are ambushed by Fawful, who uses a more powerful spray to brainwash all the Koopalings after the normal one proved to be ineffective.

Captain Goomba and his squad come across a Shy Guy strolling around, who throws a turnip at Goomba. Afraid for a second that he might be brainwashed, the captain is ready to fight, but the Shy Guy says they are on the same side, and he was only attacking due to the fact other minions were hostile. Shy Guy joins Goomba's team as a new captain.

The two captains and their squad eventually encounter Lakitu, who explains to them that when the Koopa Cruiser exploded, it sent the minions flying across the entire kingdom, and that they will have to recruit all of the minions before taking their last stand against Fawful. Lakitu says he'll scout the nearby areas for any minions, but before he can do so, a brainwashed Larry snatches him away for building Fawful's army. However, the duo of captains are able to rescue him, and they continue their search.

Later on, the group runs into Prince Peasley, and they ask him if he has seen any Stalking Piranha Plants lately. One sneaks up behind Captain Goomba, and a battle ensues with a few Piranha Beans. After the fight, Captain Goomba humorously sends a Piranha Bean to attack Prince Peasley. The squad then encounters the Elite Trio, with Private Goomp at the forefront. Goomp says he intends to recruit all the minions and get recognition from Bowser, so he, along with Sergeant Guy and Corporal Paraplonk, fight the squad, with Captain Goomba winning the battle. After the battle, the three then argue over why they lost, causing a fight to ensue. The squad decides to ignore them and continue. Eventually, the group confronts Larry, who is ordering his minions to help build a fortress for him, so he can conquer Beanbean Castle Town. In the ensuing battle, Captain Goomba wins against Larry, and convinces him to join their cause, although Larry strongly dislikes taking orders from a Goomba. He informs the squad that the Koopalings are scattered around the world, knowing the locations of three of the Koopalings: Iggy in Chucklehuck Woods, Wendy in Gwarhar Lagoon, and Morton in Teehee Valley.

The squad enters a cave filled with Boos, and encounter Professor E. Gadd, who talks about his ghost research and his inventions, including a time machine. They wander into Chucklehuck Woods, where Iggy is busy taking over the forest. Captain Goomba starts to smell an addictive fragrance that makes him wander off into Bubbles' lair. Inside the cave, they see Bubbles, who mistakes them for the ones who are causing the turmoil in the forest, and he breaks the floor with his feet, sending the entire squad plummeting down into the underground. Getting out, they encounter Cork and Cask, who ask for help retrieving the Red Goblet in exchange for info on Iggy's whereabouts. Sergeant Guy has split up with the Trio, and attempts to beat the squad alone, but fails and instead joins the squad. The squad soon meets a Boo who becomes another captain (although he just wanted the flag). Finally, at Mother Chuckalola, the squad encounters and defeats Iggy, and he joins the squad's team.

In Gwarhar Lagoon, Captain Goomba is swarmed by eager Hermie club fans, only for Wendy to appear and taunt the squad. The Hermie club then attacks Wendy, so the minions give chase. Although she escapes, she has set up a "cute battle contest" that will determine the cutest group, which the Hermie club plans to join. Hermie III snatches a Bob-omb and Starlow, a star sprite, to use as decorations for the cute contest, which leaves the rocking starfish Spangle dejected. Starlow escapes, and shooes both Hermie and Spangle away, before leaving to possibly enter the cute battle herself. Corporal Paraplonk is encountered training his Paratroopas for the contest, and after a battle, joins the squad. The cutie battle begins which gives Shy Guy stage fright, and he bails as a result. The minions must get through a few rounds earning points, and eventually Wendy gets fed up and decides to fight early. After, Wendy joins the squad, and after leaving, the star angels (Starlow, Spangle, and two Starkiss) end up winning the prize.

Back at Hoohoo Mountain, Bowser is seen looking for food. The minions lose sight of him, and ask a Hoohooligan what happened to Bowser. He explains that Bowser was able to escape Fawful's capturing, but got struck by a "hard object" (which made him lose his memory). Popple, who was in the village stealing food, trips on Bowser, causing him to wake up and start following Popple. Back at Chucklehuck woods, Popple has already made Bowser his Rookie, but momentarily loses sight of him. Popple asks the captains for help in finding "Rookie," but they intimidate Popple into fighting. Rookie does appear, however, but he does not recognize his former lackeys, and burns Captain Goomba when the latter tries constantly to no end to get him to come back home to the castle before leaving.

The squad makes their approach to Teehee Valley, Where Morton is attempting to take over the Toad village. Encountering Private Goomp in the desert, they battle his Goomba squadron and gain him as the last Elite Trio member. They "save" a single Toad that works at the arcade at the town, and bribes Captain Goomba into getting an Invincibility Mushroom in a cave in exchange for beans, and in yet another parallel to the main story, it turns out they got a Poison Mushroom instead of an Invincibility Mushroom, which caused Mario to get Bean Fever. Among a group of Troopeas, a lone friendly Koopa is encountered, and becomes a captain, though his affinity for rhyming is usually frowned upon. Eventually, the group finds Morton and defeat him, and he joins the squad.

Popple is encountered again, this time looking for a replacement for the previous Rookie (candidates include a Fighter Fly, a Beanie, a Paratroopea, a Tanoomba, and Birdo). Upset that the squad attacked him in the Woods, Popple fights the minions, but is defeated again. Birdo, the only Rookie left, carries Popple away. Meanwhile, the cutscene where Rookie becomes Bowletta plays, implying Rookie was just beaten.

Lakitu informs the crew that the Koopa Cruiser is being repaired in Joke's End, but Fawful appears to tell them he took over Bowser's Castle, and that Bowser is "no longer of this world anymore." Making their way to Joke's End, they find the Koopa Cruiser in ruins, so they decide to defeat minions to gather tools, unaware they are being spied on by Roy. Once they have enough allies, Roy launches a surprise attack, but soon comes to his senses and joins the squad, telling the squad to stop a bomb the Elite Trio had placed on the cruiser. With the cruiser repaired, the squad flies to Bowser's castle.

The castle is filled with the hardest enemies thus far. Ludwig and Lemmy are encountered and fought, and once defeated, the Koopaling team is complete. Eventually, as a test of strength, Ludwig orders all the Koopalings to fight at the same time. Captain Goomba defeats them all, and they gain the Koopalings' respect.

The group encounters Fawful once again, and although he taunts the squad mercilessly, they defeat him and make their way to Bowser's chamber, where Bowser (seemingly returned), immediately tells Captain Goomba to "destroy" Mario. It turns out "Bowser" was actually Bowletta in disguise, and she and Fawful use a trapdoor to send the squad into a dungeon, which turns out to be a Mechawful factory. After a long final battle which tests all the skill levels, the minions defeat Fawful one final time and escape the dungeon. It is unknown what happened to Fawful after this, it is presumed he fled and went on to fight Mario and Luigi, once again in a parallel to the main story.

After Bowletta's ultimate defeat, the minions reunite with a returned Bowser, only for the castle to explode sending Bowser and his minions crashing into the screen. Later, Bowser gets stuck in the present in the airplane, and all the minions chase after it on their way home. Back at Bowser's castle, Bowser begins to promote Captain Goomba, only to realize he was the "hard object" that fell on Bowser's head and gave him amnesia. Bowser angrily chases after Captain Goomba, and his title and flag are taken away as the story comes to a close.

Enemies

 * Fawful
 * Private Goomp
 * Corporal Paraplonk
 * Sergeant Guy
 * Larry Koopa
 * Iggy Koopa
 * Wendy O. Koopa
 * Morton Koopa Jr.
 * Roy Koopa
 * Lemmy Koopa
 * Ludwig von Koopa
 * Goomba Towers
 * Gritty Goombas
 * Koopa Paratroopas
 * Troopeas
 * Paratroopeas
 * Elite Troopeas
 * Hammer Bros.
 * Boomerang Bros.
 * Beanerang Bros.
 * Fire Bros.
 * Ice Bros.
 * Limbo Bros.
 * Lakipeas
 * Sharpeas
 * Para-Beetles
 * Green Magikoopa
 * Shy Guys
 * Fly Guys
 * Spear Guys
 * Chuck Guys
 * Bandits
 * Piranha Bean
 * Fire Stalking Piranha Plants
 * Bob-ombs
 * Boos
 * Rex
 * Beanies
 * Clumph
 * Fuzzbushes
 * Mechawfuls
 * Bowletta (not fought)

Other characters

 * Toad
 * Rookie
 * Professor E. Gadd
 * Hermie III
 * Bowser
 * Spangle

amiibo support
The game is compatible with the following amiibo from the Super Mario series.

Amiibos can be used after the player defeats Queen Bean and grants stamps which can be redeemed for prizes.


 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Toad
 * Bowser
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Boo (read/write)
 * Goomba (read/write)
 * Koopa Troopa (read/write)

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: An arrangement of this game's death jingle is heard when getting a game over.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Larry is the boss of the plains world, Morton is the boss of the desert world, Wendy is the boss of the water world.
 * Mario Golf series / Mario Tennis series: Mario's golf club and tennis racket can be seen next to his bed.
 * Mario Party 4: When Captain Goomba and his huge squad confront Private Goomp in Teehee Valley and receive a show of Private Goomp's Goomba army, Captain Goomba asks, "I only see Goombas...Is this a Goomba gala?", which may be a reference to one of the boards in this game.
 * Paper Mario / Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Goombas have the ability to Headbonk.
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time: A poster depicting a movie involving a Shroob invasion appears in the redesigned Yoshi Theater. E. Gadd also mentions he is building a time machine when encountered in Minion Quest.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Bomb Boos appear in Minion Quest.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: Dr. Toadley replaces Psycho Kamek, while Broque Monsieur, Broque Madame, and Broggy cameo on another poster. Starlow and Mechawfuls also appear.
 * Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon: E. Gadd's theme is directly taken from from this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: Many graphics originate in this game. Prince Dreambert also cameos on a poster.
 * Mario Kart 8: A trophy from this game appears in the Mario Bros.' House.
 * Super Mario Maker: Parts of Mario's Builder Outfit, specifically the hardhat and toolbelt, appear in the Mario Bros.' House.