Gaming Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

[Charles]

There was already a thread pertaining to this game, but it dates back to August, so I figured it was time to renew the discussion with a fresh start. That is, if anyone else besides me has it. :blush:

Anyway, I've not had much time with the game. But, judging from what I've played, it's really a terrific little cart. Much like the other Mario RPG games, there's a rich sense of humor underlying everything. It comes through in all facets of the game, whether it be animation, the audio, or the scripting itself. I've probably logged in a decent thirty minutes and I've already encountered a fair amount of jokes and a nostalgic scene [spoiler]that involved The Hammer Brothers. There was even a painting in the background depicting the castle that awaited you at the end of every level in the first world of the original Mario Brothers.[/spoiler] Great stuff. It's also playful in the respect that Bowser is helping you only so he can kidnap The Princess (which isn't a spoiler--they tell you right away).

Thus far, the gameplay reminds me a lot of the first Super Mario RPG. You know, it integrates the freedom of pseudo platforming controls (such as performing jumps and bashing blocks) into the RPG formula. So, you're not just roaming around statically. Plus, you can jump on enemies, which is neat. If you land it perfectly, they will begin by taking damage. If your back character is hit, however, they will begin the battle stunned. I've not yet unlocked the brothers' cooperative abilities, but from what I've read, there's quite a bit of variety to be enjoyed.

So far, this just seems like a whimsical game that's really fun to play, like its predecessors.

As a side note, the visuals and sound impressed me quite a bit. The sound is very clear for a GBA game. Although the spoken dialogue in the game is mostly gibberish, it's high quality gibberish and it's effective due to it largely being incorporated during comedic scenes. And, the animation here is very smooth and plentiful.

I really hope this game does well; I think it deserves to. It's probably the best GBA game I've played ssince Wario Ware. That's saying quite a bit since I [i]really[/i] love that game. If any of you pick up a copy or intend to, feel free to make this thread soar like a mighty phoenix!

[Semjaza]

I was planning on starting this myself, but you beat me heh.

I've been playing it for a few days. I don't know an exact time amount, but I'm in [spoiler]Beanbean Kingdom collecting Beanbean coins to pass some big King guy.[/spoiler]

It's a lot of fun. The controls take some getting used to, especially jumping one after another... but it makes sense. I'm surprised no one thought of this sooner.

I love the speech in the game too. Instead of hearing constant "Mama Mia!!!"s you get this weird jibberish language. Mario and Luigi don't actually say things you can read, which is a nice touch. Luigi is great too. The animations he does, and how he does little things to make people not ignore him.

Good stuff so far.

[Dan Rugh]

I really like Superstar Saga. I really enjoyed Paper Mario when it came out for N64 (even though it was impossible to beat Bowser at the end).

Mario & Luigi uses a lot of the same battle system which is not a bad thing at all. The new Bros. Attacks are really neat, but took a while to get the hang of. I was relieved when I could finally use [spoiler]hammers[/spoiler] instead of just jumping on things' heads every time. I'm at Bean Bean castle now, trying to prove myself to Lady Lima that I am the real Mario and Luigi by [spoiler]fixing the castle's plumbing.[/spoiler] After that, I guess I get to meet the Bean Bean Queen. :P

I'm wondering if you get to add people to your party like you did in Paper Mario. That would be cool, but I doubt it'll happen

[Gavin]

[COLOR=#707875][size=1]I've read a few reviews on this game and it's predecessors and I have to say [b]I like it[/b], I've always wanted to play a Super Mario RPG that did actually include Luigi because he strangely enough is my favourite of the Plumber Duo.

[spoiler]I have seen the Hammer Bros. in several pictures and I am happy to see their return to the games[/spoiler]

Hmm I was wondering if controling the two Mario Brothers on screen is difficult of confusing.[/color][/size]

[Semjaza]

It takes some adjusting. A controls one and B controls the other. At times you'll have to use L or R to switch the actions of Mario and Luigi (normal jumps to screw jumps, for example).

However, you'll get used to this after a bit of time.

[Charles]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dan Rugh [/i]
[B]I'm wondering if you get to add people to your party like you did in Paper Mario. That would be cool, but I doubt it'll happen [/B][/QUOTE]

Yeah, you're right. No parties this time. But, it's not something I miss. Although I've not had the chance to play the game recently, I [i]know[/i] it's something I'll finish. At first I was a bit concerned about the control scheme, but the game does an outstanding job of easing you into the thick of things.

I'm very happy this discussion was revived. Quite honestly, we're talking about the best original effort to grace the GBA since Wario Ware Inc. and Metriod Fusion. It's quite charming; I think it's the personality literally overflowing out of this little cart that makes it so much fun to play.

I'm also happy that the platforming isn't hampered as much by the perspective as some made it out to be. The world's design is too good to be bothered by such a thing. Combine that with boss battles more challenging than Final Fantasy X-2, and you're talking contender for RPG of the year here. At least in my opinion anyway. lol

Knights of the Old Republic is probably the only thing that comes close. Maybe I'm biased though. I just love handheld games from Nintendo. When they're pulled off right there's a certain magic to them missing from many GameCube games even.

[James]

[color=#707875]I've been playing this game for a couple of days now...I'm [spoiler]up to the Beanbean Castle[/spoiler] right now.

I must say, despite all the great comments I've read...I am enjoying this game more than I first expected.

The comedy is really fantastic. It just works so well. It's cute and fuzzy, but it occasionally has a dark side to it. It's really Nintendo-ish, if that makes sense (and to anyone who's played it, it will).

I love the nostalgic references...and I love the little touches.

[spoiler]Like when the prince flicks his golden locks and the entire screen focuses on him when he does it.[/spoiler] I just find that really fantastic. lol

The game is also really visually impressive -- again, moreso than I expected. I'd like to play it on the big screen. The animation quality is really pretty outstanding in some areas. And everything is filled with colour and detail.

So far I'm also really enjoying the battle system -- moreso than the system in Paper Mario.

And although I can see some problems with the perspective...it's not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. I have never had any problems judging a jump or hitting a box, due to perspective. It seems fine to me.

Fantastic effort from Alpha Dream. What a cool little developer they are. ~_^[/color]

[Dragonballzman]

One of my friends has let me borrow it for tonight, and I gotta agree with everyone else. It's an amazing game. ^.^ I've just [SPOILER]got to the big guy who says "nothing can knock me over...I think."[/SPOILER].

Like Semjaza Azazel, the controls take a while to get used to. My first few battles were mostly just pressing the A and B buttons at the wrong time to dodge, ending up with one of teh Bros. getting hurt...>_<;; But after a while, yeah, you get used to it.

The boss battles are pretty hard...Well, I've only had one [I]real[/I] battle so far, where it hasn't told me how to do anything because I should have worked it all out by then, but still...([SPOILER]The guy who you have to give 100 coins to, so he'll free Bowser[/SPOILER])

Now I just have to decide whether I [I]really[/I] want to get it...I've got £30 right now, so I could rush out and buy it whenever I want, but that money was originally for saving up for Animal Crossing...>_<;; Gah. I hate not having enough money to get all the games you want...It was like this with Viewtiful Joe and F-Zero GX, too...[SIZE=1]I had to trade in about 6 games to finally have enough for F-Zero...I dun wanna have to do that for these two...[/SIZE]

[Semjaza]

Mario and Luigi is one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of playing... handheld or otherwise. There's not one thing so far that I've not liked. At times I get a bit frustrated over stupid things, but nothing that's a big deal. The challenge is at a perfect level, I'd say.

The gameplay is freaking fantastic. They took something so simple and ran with it and it makes the game that much better. Later on when you get different methods of attack, so much is added to an already excellent battle system. RPGs where you actually have a role beyond picking crap in a menu are rather rare as it is, but this game manages to pull it off so well that I can't help but be impressed even still. I just got out of a boss battle that really utilized this idea to a great degree. There's a certain rewarding quality to winning battles thanks to this.

The story isn't EPIC, but it's definitely good. I'm mostly interested in the characters. Mario and Luigi don't even really talk (beyond hilarious voices -- "boobebdoobop" kind of stuff), but they have so much personality anyway. Especially with all the actions they do.

The animation really makes this game special, I think. Seeing Luigi snap his fingers (with a little star shooting off to show the sound) after pounding a bad guy into the ground is great. Or Pince Peasly's flinging his hair back with an accompanying flash. Those are just a couple tiny examples, but things like that happen constantly in this game. There's so much attention to the little things.

The graphics in general are great too. There's some areas that look a little basic, but others are simply beautiful. The game has a really minimalist, cartoony style to it, but it still comes off really well.

Music is great too, I think. There's some tracks that are forgettable, but there have been several situations where I've really sat and thought that I really like the track in such and such an area. There's also a nice use of classic themes.

I won't even get too far into all the cameos and references to other Mario games. Donkey Kong, Mario RPG, SMW, etc.

Plus if you play this on the Game Boy Player, you can enable the rumble feature. I thought it was a nice idea.

Buy this right now if you haven't, it's that good.

[Ninjaman]

I got this game for Christmas and I love it! I find the characters lovable and hilarious. Heh, I find Fawful's way of talking funny the way he uses metaphors in nearly every sentence and his "Fink rat!" phrase is funny. One of my favorite parts was when [spoiler]in the beginning, when Luigi was asked if he was joining Mario on the adventure, then Luigi responded by shaking his head and waving bye bye to Mario.[/spoiler]

It took a while for me to get adjusted to the buttons. Using the hammers to counter is the hardest for me to get used to. >.<

Right now, [spoiler]I just defeated Queen Bean[/spoiler] and I'm excited to see what happens next. Mario & Luigi is a good and fun game. ^^

[Semjaza]

I think the main problem is timing the damn things. I miss more with the hammers than jumping, that's for sure. Part of it is that you actually have to hold down the button a second before they even lift the hammer up... I wind up reacting too late lol.

I just got past the [spoiler]Guffawaha Ruins with Luigi, or whatever those are called[/spoiler]. I'm about 6 and a half hours in, I think.

[Hittokiri Zero]

*EDIT: I answered my own question*

Wow you've all hit on what i've thought of this game (more or less ^_^). Other than I think that the ending could have been put together a little better, for some reason I just wasn't fully satisfied with it =\. Ah but alas... i'm also mad because I didn't get all the "Advanced Commands"/attacks and I never really knew how to use them -_- (i'm one of those people who refuses to use a strategy guide the first time through a game >_>)... But what is annoying me even more is that there are atleast 3 items that I can't get anymore because you randomly recieve them from bosses >_
Anyway here are the 3 badges I am talking about....

- Lucky Bros (Dropped by Trunkle) +26 Power Lucky Attack N/A
- Bowser Fang (Dropped by Roy) +50 BP Power-D N/A
- Bowser Fist (Dropped by Morton) +10 Power POW-Up Yes

Those 3 items are all dropped by those 3 bosses, and are extremely rare to pick up. But for those of you who have the Gameboy Advance Horror SP equipped at the time of defeating those bosses you have a 100% guarantee of getting the items -_-.

I just thought i'd let you all in on this incase you were unaware, because I'm hoping none of you make the same dumb mistake I did x____X!!!

On a side note, am I alone or did the ending kind of just "pop-up" like that I honestly thought the game was going to have more of a dramatic ending {by dramatic I mean, more of a Super Mario World type dramatic ending}. pffft... oh well looks like I have my work cut out for a while :rolleyes:

[Semjaza]

I was playing this in my car a week or so back... I was in a parking lot waiting for my girlfriend to get off of work so I could drive her home. Well, when she came to open the door, I pretty much instinctively was in a rush to turn the GBA SP off.

Unforunately I turned it off in the middle of a save. The next time I started the game up, all my saves were gone.

So I restarted... I'm just past the Bean Bean Sewers again lol.

[Hittokiri Zero]

Awww man that sucks x___X!! When I just beat the game today the little power light kept flickering on and off, so I was like "holy crud" this better end soon, although at the same time i didn't want it to end that soon >_>' so I figure i might beat it again to rewatch the ending while paying more attention to it than the actual power light XD.

[OtakuSennen]

[color=midnightblue]A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine accidentally left his Game Boy Advance at my house, with his recently purchased copy of Mario & Luigi in it. I had a difficult little moral conflict- For about two minutes. I then began playing what has come to be perhaps my favorite GBA RPG of all time.

For a while I thought that the battle system was very easy. In the early parts of the game, countering and dodging were extremely simple. I would go for an hour without even getting hit once, and call my friend and griped for a while about the simplicity of the battle system. Later on, though, I found it to be an amazing, intriguing system that takes an above-average amount of hand/eye coordination to use effectively.

It didn't take me long to get very far. In fear of my friend wanting the game back, my GBA was on whenever I had a moment to play.. I believe I finished off the [spoiler]Mushroom Kingdom Colony / Luigi going out on his own to save Mario[/spoiler] thing within three days' time.

I didn't find Mario & Luigi to be as humorous as the original Super Mario RPG back in the days of Super Nintendo. Maybe my taste in humor has gotten more mature since I played that game, or something, but the only thing I've found really funny is [spoiler]The Prince's poses and overall bishounen, fangirl-attracting persona.[/spoiler]

I sadly returned the game to my friend on Tuesday. I do think that he is done with it now, and I may ask for it later this week.

Bravo, Alpha Dream. You created an addition to the Mario RPG series without it seeming like an entirely different kind of game.[/color]