Mario & Luigi (series)

The Mario & Luigi Series consists of two handheld RPG games, and an upcoming third one, where Mario and Luigi team up to defeat evil. In both games, the story is about Princess Peach getting in trouble. The first game in the series is Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, released 2003 for the Gameboy Advance. The game centered around Peach's voice being stolen by Cackletta and Fawful. Unlike previous Mario games, it took place in the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom. Superstar Saga was Mario and Luigi's first adventure together since Super Mario World twelve years previously.

A sequel to Superstar Saga was made for the Nintendo DS in 2005, called Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. This game revolved around the Mushroom Kingdom, like most Mario games, but the Mushroom Kingdom of the past. It featured an evil alien race, known as the Shroobs, attacking the Mushroom Kingdom of the past, capturing Peach's Castle, and forcing Baby Bowser, Baby Peach, and the Baby Mario Bros. to flee. At the same time, Peach went back in time using E. Gadd's Time Machine, and was captured by Princess Shroob. Eventually, Mario & Luigi end up going back in time through the Time Holes the Time Machine created. There, they meet their baby selves, and the four team up to stop the Shroobs and rescue Peach.

A third installment, released in Japan on the DS in February 2009 and tentatively titled Mario & Luigi RPG 3, was announced at Nintendo's Fall Press Conference on October 2nd, 2008. Little is known about it so far, except that Bowser seems to be playable at some point.

The Mario and Luigi series is, so far, entirely on handheld consoles.

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. The absence of Fawful was surprising, considering his prominence in the series. However, one of the random names in Brawl is FWFUL, obviously referencing Fawful.

Trivia

 * 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 body in Mario & Luigi RPG 3)
 * 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 RPG 3 have enemies under Fawful's controll)
 * The first two games play the same music after the final boss is defeated.
 * All three games have a final boss that involves fighting a possessed Bowser.
 * All three games have Bowser as the opening boss.
 * Bowser has a different form in all three games involving the games' true antagonists.
 * This is The only Mario RPG series that is for handheld consoles.

Similarities Between the Games

 * In Partners in Time, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi faces three Shroobs in Hollijolli Village. In RPG 3, Mario and Luigi can face three Shroobs optionally.


 * 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 Gera Express in RPG 3.


 * The first two games have one character that is stuck and needs help, but as soon as they are rescued, something wrong 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.