Reviewed: March 13, 2005
Reviewed by: John Wekluk
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
AlphaDream
Released: November 17, 2003
Genre: RPG
Players: 1 / 4
ESRB: Everyone
9
9
8
9
9.0
Supported Features:
Mario and Luigi are at it again. The plumbing pair return in another RPG adventure, this time on the Game Boy Advance. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga marks the brothers' third incursion into the world of RPGs. Like Nintendo’s previous two RPG titles involving Mario and Luigi, Mario RPG for the Super NES and Paper Mario for the N64, this game exudes quality. Developed by Alpha Dream and filled with innovation and wit, this title is destined to become a classic.
Newcomer baddie, Cackletta, from the nearby Beanbean Kingdom, has done something quite bizarre. She has stolen Princess Peach’s voice. Peach, unable to chime in with her regular voice, can only communicate by uttering symbols that quickly explode. And you thought Barry White had a low voice. Serial kidnapper, longtime Mario nemesis, and all-around bad guy, Bowser, shows up a tad too late to the party and decides against kidnapping the princess this time, fearing that Peach’s voice would do too much damage to his own castle. Bowser, with his own agenda, offers to help Mario find Cackletta. Mario agrees, and after some tomfoolery, Luigi is accidentally brought on board. You didn’t think Luigi was really gonna sit at home, did you? Mario, Luigi, and Bowser head out together and the adventure begins.
The gameplay in Superstar Saga is very similar to Paper Mario, with a few new tricks thrown in for good measure. As in Paper Mario, players wander the countryside in search of their next goal or clue, while facing off against a bevy of new enemies and a horde of familiar faces. Just like in the previous Mario RPG games, the fighting sequences are turn-based, players can use timed dodging, and there are plenty of puzzles to be solved.
The innovations come in the form of character control. The player controls both Mario and Luigi simultaneously in this outing. Both brothers are moved with the directional pad, while the A button controls one character and the B button controls the other. One brother takes the lead position(this is accomplished by using the start button) and this determines what kind of moves the duo can pull off together. This can be a tad frantic at first, especially when you’re trying to quickly pull off a move, but, in time it becomes second nature.
Mario and Luigi learn some new moves along the way and these moves help the pair progress throughout game. For example, the spin jump, when Mario jumps onto Luigi, is used to cross gaps that can not be crossed using the standard jump. Of course, just like in the good ol’ days, the duo learns to wield a hammer which is used for breaking those pesky rocks that always seem to be keeping you from getting to that next area.
In battle, players will be able to use the brothers as a team in the form of bros. attacks. These are special timed attacks that are learned during the game and, when used properly, can inflict major amounts of damage to the poor enemies. Each move uses a certain amount of bros. points.
The combination of innovation and familiarity makes the game easy to learn, while at the same time giving the player a challenge. It’s a win-win situation.
Truth be told, these are your standard Nintendo Game Boy Advance graphics, which means a lot of colors on the screen and a clear sense of what is occurring while playing. Gamers won’t find any cluttered scenes and they won’t have that feeling of not knowing what is happening. This is excellent considering that many items are buried in the ground and the visual hints are the only things clueing a person in as to the items’ whereabouts.
Sure the characters are cutesy, bright, and a little over-the-top, but that is what gives the Nintendo GBA titles their charm. The oceans, fields, deserts, forests, mountains, towns, and caves are all well-represented by their attention to detail. There is plenty of character and a lot of personality to feel in the Beanbean Kingdom.
Just as with the gameplay, the audio in the game mixes the old and the new. The nearly twenty year old themes that are used here still sound fresh and lively. If video game music had its own version of the Billboard charts, the Super Mario Brothers theme would be the number one single of all-time. The new songs are not too shabby, either. The songs do an excellent job at setting the mood. When you’re swimming the music lets you know that you’re swimming and when you’re climbing a treacherous mountain, you know it by the sounds that are jumping out of the GBA speaker.
This offering also incorporates all of the familiar sounds of the Mario franchise. Who doesn’t know what that “boing” sound means? I might not be able to tell you exactly how the call of a lioness sounds or what noise a swallow makes, but I can surely tell you what a grown plumber eating a mushrooms sounds like. Personality and character come through, yet again.
This game also uses quite a bit of voice sampling. Mario and Luigi often communicate with each other in their own special brand of jargon. This adds another dimension to the soundscape. Overall, the sound is the perfect mix of old and new.
With such a vast amount of area to explore, there is more than enough to keep players satisfied in Superstar Saga. The game is long enough, and so full of things to explore, that a player will want to go back and try to find all of the things that they missed the first time around, thus giving the game some added replay value.
Also included on the cartridge is the classic Mario Bros. Battle and Mario Bros. Classic. Both games can be played in Multi-Pak mode with all the Super Mario Advance games. This is not a make it or break it feature, but it’s nice to have the original Mario Brothers handy if the player ever gets the urge to flip some turtles over or head butt a POW block.
Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is destined to become a classic. A classic in a long line of Mario classics. Excellent gameplay, vibrant graphics, beautiful sound, and an intriguing story make this one of the best GBA titles, overall, to be released for the hand held console to date.
If you like RPG's and you like Mario there is not a single reason that you should not own this title. Mario and Luigi are ready to smash, run, surf, and jump their way to victory. Boing!
