Poll

Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?

Superstar Saga
6 (46.2%)
Partners in Time
1 (7.7%)
Bowser's Inside Story
6 (46.2%)
Dream Team
0 (0%)
Paper Jam
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 13

Author Topic: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?  (Read 4827 times)

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Offline Mop it up

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Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« on: October 07, 2019, 05:52:49 PM »
Seeing as how the series is now likely retired, it's a good time to poll for a fave. And if the series does return at some point it will probably be from a different developer anyway. People also started talking about the games in the Talkback thread for the news of the bankruptcy, so I figured I'd start a place for anyone to discuss the series in general.

Offline Adrock

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2019, 05:54:29 PM »
I’ve only finished Superstar Saga so that.

Offline broodwars

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2019, 06:03:15 PM »
I've played all the Mario & Luigi games, and Superstar Saga is by FAR the best in the series (which is...sad, considering it was the 1st). It's still one of the funniest games I've ever played, and Fawful was a real delight. That last sequence with him and Prince Bean is still a highlight.

It's also the only game in the series that seemed to know how to END before the combat got really annoying and gimmicky.
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Offline Order.RSS

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2019, 07:29:12 PM »
Haven't played any of these, so I'll keep an eye on this thread.
Curious to read which of these games are worth playing (if any). I've only played Paper Mario 2 on Gamecube, and my Paper Mario Colour Splash savefile is very early on still, so I'm not super well-versed in Mario RPGs.

As a series outsider, I could never really tell whether the Mario & Luigi games were enduring on their own, or whether they're a kind of forgettable side-series. They always seemed to exist in the shadow of Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario series, but maybe that's just because I've never really looked into them?

Both Superstar Saga and Partners In Time are on virtual console, so I could theoretically try one of those, if they've held up okay over time.

Offline ejamer

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2019, 07:53:11 PM »
The series isn't perfect by any means... but I've enjoyed both entries that I've played.

Although I mostly enjoyed Superstar Saga, there were a handful of times where you were expected to go to specific areas without any real direction or guidance to advance the plot. I didn't enjoy those aspects at all. Although glad to have played it through once, I feel no interest in going back for a second helping.

Bowser's Inside Story seemed to have a better flow even if it did overstay its welcome a little bit. The humor also hit better for me - they did a great job handling Bowser's character, and really just about everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom. Playing Superstar Saga first to get an idea of what Fawful is really about helps though... otherwise you don't understand the mad brilliance of that character when he's introduced in this game.

After finishing off Bowser's Inside Story, I sold it. Later I regretting that decision, so we ended up re-buying (cheap copy of the original version, not the remake) and are happy with that choice. I'd gladly repay it, which seems like a good enough reason to recommend to others.
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Offline nickmitch

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2019, 07:57:30 PM »
I've played all the Mario & Luigi games, and Superstar Saga is by FAR the best in the series (which is...sad, considering it was the 1st). It's still one of the funniest games I've ever played, and Fawful was a real delight. That last sequence with him and Prince Bean is still a highlight.

It's also the only game in the series that seemed to know how to END before the combat got really annoying and gimmicky.

I think Superstar Saga is the best because there wasn't much you could do with the formula, or at least nothing they did was particularly spectacular.  For me, Paper Jam just felt like "Mario & Luigi & Paper Mario".  There wasn't much beyond that they added another character.  So, the game play was more or less perfected on the first time out.

Also, I don't think the series produced a better character than Fawful.
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Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2019, 08:34:35 PM »
It's also the only game in the series that seemed to know how to END before the combat got really annoying and gimmicky.

See, there's a section in Superstar Saga where you have to fight the Koopalings and it is basically one sort of boss fight after another. I found that section got tedious pretty fast and it is part of the reason why I hold back from praising Superstar Saga as much.


Partners in Time had a rhythm to it. You would do three maps / sections of a world and fight a boss at the end. It basically repeated that process from start to finish. As well, it didn't really require much back tracking (like looking for beans) nor was it necessary to have to grind to up your levels much. As long as you just fought all the enemies you encountered then you would level up at a steady pace to match the new and higher rated foes you would run into as the story progressed. It made for a bit of a linear game but I appreciated that continuing forward momentum and it's kind of become my favorite now because of it. My biggest knocks on the game are that Superstar Saga came first and it copies a lot of the same ideas when it comes to the Bros. moves and controls and that you have to grind for beans a bit if you want to acquire all the equipment the game has to offer but the latter complaint may not matter to others as much.

This aspect of similarity was felt very much in Bowser's Inside Story where I was just waiting to be given all the Bros. moves I knew were coming like hammers and drilling into the ground and squishing a bro down and tornado jump spinning. It's got me questioning how much I want to play Dream Team and Paper Jam as I fear I'll be just as restless in those games waiting to acquire those same moves while simultaneously being bored by the repetitive nature of those same moves. There seems to be no new ideas with them yet the designers can't shake them off to come up with new moves / ideas. On the flip side, it's been discussed before how many similarities Paper Mario and Paper Mario 2 have to each other. Yet, despite the potential for diminishing returns in retreading some of the same ground in both games, PM:TTYD is kind of more beloved than the original because the developers were able to mix some new things in with the old and present the returning ideas in a fresh manner resulting in both games feeling like completely different experiences. The Mario & Luigi series has failed in this regard. Your best experience will most likely be whichever game you choose to play first with each game after coming off as too similar and less creative.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2019, 08:36:38 PM by Khushrenada »
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Offline Luigi Dude

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2019, 04:18:19 PM »
I think Superstar Saga is the best because there wasn't much you could do with the formula, or at least nothing they did was particularly spectacular.  For me, Paper Jam just felt like "Mario & Luigi & Paper Mario".  There wasn't much beyond that they added another character.  So, the game play was more or less perfected on the first time out.

Yeah, that's kind of been the biggest problem with this franchise.  The first game was amazing for what it was and really played out all of it's gameplay to the fullest.  From the combat system, to the overworld puzzles, nothing felt underdeveloped.  So when each sequel just keeps reusing many of the same gameplay with no real changes except an extra character, it just got stale. 

Of course I feel Bowsers Inside Story was able to still be great because of the Bowser gameplay.  Bowsers combat and overworld abilities were unique and offered a fresh take on the gameplay.  The weakest parts of that game were the sections where you played as Mario and Luigi, since many were once again rehashing things that Super Star Saga already did better years earlier.  Had Bowsers Inside Story just been about Bowser, I feel the game would have been just as good as Super Star Saga.  That's why Dream Team was such a massive chore because it's Bowser's Inside Story, without the Bowser sections to freshen things up and the baffling decision to be twice as long.

See, there's a section in Superstar Saga where you have to fight the Koopalings and it is basically one sort of boss fight after another. I found that section got tedious pretty fast and it is part of the reason why I hold back from praising Superstar Saga as much.

Actually this is one of the reasons why Super Star Saga is by far the best.  The final section was the perfect way to end the game, using everything learned at that point.  Each Koopaling battle had a unique gimmick to it, to really make sure the game got the most out of it's combat system.  Every battle increased the intensity until reaching Fawful who had his own unique fight as well.  Then you finally take on the Final Boss which is legit hard and a massive spike in difficulty compared to the rest of the game.  It's such an epic finale that none of the sequels come close to matching.

It's shows why the sequels all fail to match Super Star Saga because the developers pretty much did everything they could do with the gameplay by the end of that game.  None of the sequels feel as polished because they're just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, but not willing to really take any of those idea's to the limit because they don't want to travel too far outside of the comfort zone they created in the first game.  Bowser's Inside Story came close, but was still held back by the uninspired Mario & Luigi sections instead of going all in with Bowser.  Even Partners in Time which I enjoyed, could have had more potential if it did more with the time travel aspect and made the Baby's gameplay more unique.
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Offline Mop it up

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2019, 06:58:55 PM »
It's got me questioning how much I want to play Dream Team and Paper Jam as I fear I'll be just as restless in those games waiting to acquire those same moves while simultaneously being bored by the repetitive nature of those same moves. There seems to be no new ideas with them yet the designers can't shake them off to come up with new moves / ideas.
I was going to suggest Dream Team since I recall feeling like it was adding more variety with all the Luigi sections and things they add, but then I remembered it all being bogged down by too many tutorials which greatly over-explain everything as well as just having lots of inane chatter in general. Not to mention the game dragging on much longer than it really should have. It's a shame too because I think it has some really neat ideas, but I'm not sure they're worth the slog.

Offline Khushrenada

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2019, 08:14:24 PM »
Of the two, I'm more interested in Paper Jam with its odd decision of trying to leech of Paper Mario's world but I'll probably still play through Dream Team at some point before getting to it just to get it out of the way.
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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2019, 11:05:29 PM »
The only two I ever put any real time into were Partners in Time and Paper Jam, and while I enjoyed both, I definitely preferred Paper Jam. I thought it did a good job of combining the two styles. I always wanted to try the original and Bowser's Inside Story since they seem to be the most acclaimed ones in the series, but by the time the 3DS remakes came out I wasn't really buying 3DS games anymore.
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Offline BeautifulShy

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2019, 01:25:49 AM »
I only played Super Star Saga and Bowser's Inside Story up to this point so I would have to say I liked BIS a little bit more.  When I played it I was at a time where I loved Thousand Year Door and the Bowser and Peach sections of the game so when it was announced you could play as Bowser and swap between Mario and Luigi I was sold.  It was like a mix of internal co-op within the game and a lot of what I loved with Super Star Saga and just expanded on the first game in the series so I would have to say I liked BIS a bit more.

Super Star Saga I liked a lot especially the writing and as weird as it sounds some of the writing is somewhat reminiscent of some of the things me and my friends would imagine and talk about in a Mario RPG. It was surreal when I played the game for the first time.
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Offline fawful

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2020, 01:05:31 AM »
It's close between Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story. I'd say I consider them equal, but I gave my vote to BIS here since it had less.

Partners in Time and Dream Team are also fantastic though. I'm not a fan of Paper Jam, as someone who is a die-hard of both Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi and has dreamed of a crossover between them, one with such a sterile character cast and vanilla story felt like such a tease and waste of the concept.

Offline Stratos

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Re: Which Mario & Luigi game do you like the most?
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2020, 01:45:47 PM »
I vote Super Mario RPG. That is still the best Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi game.
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