Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Review

     Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: AlphaDream Platform: DS Players: 1 Release: 2009 Genre: RPG / Action Rating: 8.9 \ 10.0: Fantastic

 

This is the first RPG I ever played, and it’s also my favorite. I'll admit— it took the Mario brand to the little kid me interested in this game, but I would have ended up having loads of fun and laughing a ton even without the familiar faces of the Mario Bros. The plot is a bit odd— the Toads are suffering from a disease known as the Blorbs, and Princess Peach holds a meeting to discuss how to cure it. Meanwhile in a forest, Bowser and his aid, Kamek run into Fawful, an evil genius, who is disguised as a magician, and he sells Bowser a magic mushroom that causes him to inhale everything in sight. Then he storms off to Peach Castle, where you must battle him as Mario. Once he’s beaten, he gets back up and inhales Mario, Luigi, and Peach. It’s up to the Mario Bros. to save the Princess… inside Bowser’s stomach. While playing as Mario and Luigi, you explore Bowser’s insides, defeating the strange enemies, most of which are inspired by classic Mario foes, within, and taking advice from Starlow, a baby Star Sprite. While playing as Bowser, you destroy large objects, fight much bigger enemies, inhale smaller enemies for Mario and Luigi to fight, and take advice from Broque Monsieur, a foreign block collector who roams the Mushroom Kingdom. As with the bros' previous RPG outings, the turn-based combat is clearly inspired by that of Mario's first RPG, 1996’s Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars. Sometimes the battles are fun, and sometimes not— you choose an attack As Mario and Luigi, you can jump on your foe, kick a Koopa shell at your attacker, or hit your opponent with a sledgehammer, and as Bowser, you can punch or inhale the enemy. After you venture to the fourth area, you soon gain the ability to torch enemies with the Koopa King's inferno breath, for his flame pipe was once clogged by a strange bug. Afterword, your enemy prepares to strike, and you must counterattack to avoid taking damage, and you also have a chance do damage. Some fights are so easy, I do them over and over again to get rich on coins and get a massive load of experience. One of the best parts of the game is the soundtrack. I highly doubt I'll ever get the infectiously catchy tunes out of my head, especially the epic final battle theme.Occasionally you'll be challenged to a minigame, such as when Bowser pulls a gigantic carrot from the ground. A caterpillar-like Wiggler sees what you've done and challenges him to eat it. It's a tough minigame, and it adds nothing but tedium to the experience, but your efforts are rewarded when you're given a Banzai Bill that Bowser needs.  Though this game contains some minor flaws,

Ups
Fun combat
Very humorous and clever
Amazing soundtrack

Downs
Sometimes difficult
Tedious minigames

ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief and Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $19.99 (Retail)