Topic: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Impressions

[King Bowser Koopa]

Andrew gets down and dirty with the portly plumber pair.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressions/34550

Let's a go! The E3 demo for Mario & Luigi Dream Team features three scenarios: exploring the real world, the dream world and a boss battle example.

I got a chance to try out the real world scenario, which features some lush overworld plains, not unlike the opening areas seen in previous titles. The biggest and most obvious addition to the franchise is the graphical overhaul, presenting the world using colorful and simple 3D models with cartoonish textures. The characters are 2D sprites, but they lack the cartoon outlines and pixel look from past titles in favor of a new painted style. The animation is as fluid as ever, with plenty of squash and stretch as the Bros. bounce around the screen stomping enemies.

As can be expected, the A and B buttons are assigned to Mario and Luigi respectively, and they jump independently from one another to traverse the landscape. Plenty of staple elements to the Mario & Luigi series are present right from the get go, and pressing the R button will cycle the jump command to hammers and specialized jump techniques. I noticed hidden "x" spots in the ground where Luigi could hammer Mario underground and pop out to reveal buried beans. Various seesaw platforms that required hammering would allow you to spring yourself to new locations or rearrange the height of corresponding platforms to create staircases; there seems to be plenty of puzzling platforming action to be had in this title.

One new jump technique was a special drill move that sends Mario and Luigi hurtling forward and smashing through rocks, which was used creatively in one valley area where the Bros. fly into a suspended, rotating cannon and then fire themselves out in a different direction to smash boulders blocking their path forward. 

Overall the game looks very promising, and features the same style of humor and charm present in each of previous titles. I'll go back in for another crack at the game over the course of the day and I'll be back to update later on when I've had a chance to play the other two demos available here at E3.

Watch this space for more info!