Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Review

Bowser, he's the one villain in the Mushroom Kingdom that's been universally loved by all. He's also one of the few characters who's never starred in his own game. That is until now with the release of the third game in the Mario & Luigi series also known as Bowser's Inside Story. The game put the Koopa King in the limelight for the first time and he takes that opportunity and runs with it.

For those unfamiliar with the series Mario & Luigi is Nintendo's attempt at putting the plumbers in their own RPG's and the series really started back with Super Mario RPG on the SNES, but has really gotten big with the advent of this set of games. They have starred the brothers alone in Superstar Saga and the past and present version of the titular two with Partners in Time. This third act in the series has the brothers come back in a bit of a supporting role, though they see their fair share of screen time.

The game's story centers on a new disease to the Mushroom Kingdom known as the Blorbs, which is a disease that has caused the Kingdom's residents to balloon to massive size. During this outbreak Bowser is tricked into eating a Mushroom by the villain Fawful that causes him to inhale a large number of things, including Mario, Luigi, Toadsworth, Peach and a new character Chippy. It's because of this we get the clever title and the dual action of adventuring through the world with Bowser and through Bowser with the Mario Bros. who are attempting to rescue everyone who is trapped, discover the source and cure of the Blorbs and stop Bowser all at the same time. The two different adventures with mingle with each other many times throughout the course of the game where actions that one group takes directly affect the other.

Each of the characters is controlled with the D-pad and a set of buttons. The A button controls Mario's actions. The B button controls what Luigi does and Bowser has the X&Y buttons mapped to his actions. IF you are in control of Bowser on the top screen of the DS, but need to switch to the plumbers just hit one of their action buttons and the game switches to the lower screen where their adventure takes place. The same goes for Bowser if you are controlling Mario & Luigi. During the course of the adventure Mario & Luigi will gain access to additional actions that can be used with a quick hit of the R button, which cycles between all the available actions. It's the same style of game play we've seen in the series before and it's very easy to use and keeps the number of buttons you need to access at any one point to a minimum.

During certain parts of the game Mario & Luigi must help Bowser accomplish his tasks by completing a mini game that will affect Bowser in a number of ways. You can clear pollen from his nasal passages that will create a seriously powerful sneeze by swiping your stylus left and right to knock pollen particles on to the walls of Bowser's nose. Riding a raft through Bowser's rump region and shooting the correct colored orbs will cause Bowser to grow to enormous size and lift huge objects off of him. Timing hammer swings to knock electrons into Bowser's muscles will give him super strength to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. Many of these mini games will be easy to accomplish, but sometimes break up the flow of the game a little much during high action sequences.

The bright visuals have continued and the DS is taken full advantage of. All the characters are amazingly detailed and animated. Even though Mario & Luigi don't have much to say you always know what they're thinking and their actions are exaggerated to help really get the point across. Other than a few grunts, growls and speedy Italian all the story is presented through traditional text bubbles and be prepared to read a lot during this game. The opening takes about an hour to get through and most of it involves reading conversations. The music is probably the best in the series and really helps hammer across the different stories. Battle sequences have the usual fast paced action soundtrack with the appropriate victory fanfare. It's easily the best soundtrack in the series and worth really paying attention to.

Each of the different NPC's in the game has some unique quality to them that really sets them apart from everyone else. There is a quirky French vendor who will sell you items along your journey and he is obsessed with blocks, him being a block and all. The villain, Fawful, has amazingly well scripted dialog that is reminiscent of the poorly translated games from the NES era, spouting phrases like "I have the chortles".

The Mario & Luigi RPG series has been one of the most successful spin-offs to the Mario franchise and Bowser's Inside Story is the latest and is a worthy successor to Partners in Time, which by the way is still my favorite game in the series. RPG fans and Mario fans alike will find something in this game that they will enjoy. It's got all the deep RPG elements like leveling up and item balancing that RPG fans want with the funny dialog and zany situations you've come to expect in Mario's travels. Giving the lead role to Bowser was a stroke of genius on the part of developer Alphadream. The game will take you somewhere between 20 and 30 hours to complete the story alone and there are tons of side quests that you can then go back and complete and I would not be surprised to see many people getting 50+ hours of enjoyment out of the game.

There's no denying that Nintendo knows how to handle their characters and they've really done a great job with this latest adventure. It's well worth picking up if you own a DS and are looking for a solid story and a lot of fun game play.

Final Score: 5/5 Excellent

Game was purchased at Gamestop.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Ships Today

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sure, he’s a villain, but Bowser™ is one of the most beloved characters in Nintendo’s imaginative Mushroom Kingdom. Now, with today’s launch of the Mario & Luigi™: Bowser’s Inside Story game for the hand-held Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ video game systems, fans will get to know the cantankerous King Koopa inside and out — literally. The new game finds Mario™ and Luigi™ getting inhaled by Bowser, sending players straight to the belly of the beast for an outrageous hand-held adventure.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story lets players adventure through two fun and hilarious storylines at the same time, taking control of the famous Mario brothers and even Bowser himself. Not only must players control Bowser to win back control of his castle from the evil Fawful, they’ve also got to muster the guts to help Mario and Luigi as they try to escape from Bowser’s body. Players can switch between the two storylines independently as they attempt to rescue Princess Peach™ and restore order to Mushroom Kingdom.

In addition to its inventive dual storyline, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story makes creative use of the unique interface capabilities of Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi. Players will press buttons with precise timing to enhance their attacks, tap the touch screen with the stylus, blow into the built-in microphone and even turn the whole game system sideways and hold it like a book in order to successfully overcome obstacles and advance the plot. A lively mix of puzzles, character battles and humorous dialogue and storyline delivers all the action and amusement fans can stomach.

“The imagination and humor of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story make it a can’t-miss adventure,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Featuring some of Nintendo’s most iconic characters, the game is full of hilarious surprises for fans and newcomers alike.”

For more information about Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, visit http://www.BowsersInsideStory.com.

Source: Nintendo Press Release