"Wow! This was awesome! The first time..."

Okay, so I picked up this game knowing that it was a Mario title, not expecting too much of a challenge or a story.

Story - 6
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Well, I was right. It seems that the developers worked a bit harder on the story this time, but you're not getting anything great. Defeat the evil Shroobs and save Mushroom Kingdom, not totally original, but there are a few cutscenes. Anyway, let's not spend too much time on the story, it's a Mario game, you know what to expect.

Gameplay - 8
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Very, very simple and easy to learn. After a little bit of memorizing what button controls what character everything was pretty simple. For example, if you want Mario to jump, press the A button. Luigi is the B button, Baby Mario is the Y button and Baby Luigi is the X.

Just a little note here, there are no random battles. Unless you interact with one of the enemies on the map, then you will never have to get into a battle unless it is a boss battle, which doesn't happen way to often, and never is really hard.

Overall, if you played the original Superstar Saga, you'll be a bit disapointed at some aspects, but overall pleased with the gameplay of Partners In Time.

Sound - 6
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Most of the time when I was playing this game I had the sound off. The music was okay but very repitious. You got the same little clip playing over and over for one level. And then there was the crying, oh that was aggrivating, I couldn't STAND that. Other than that, nothing extremely awesome, nothing too bad.

Graphics - 7.5
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Well, not too much to say here. I like that the top and bottom screen looked the same when using the same characters (ie Baby Mario looked the same on the top and bottom screen). There were actually a couple funny parts, the sort of stuff you expect from Mario and the gang.

Yet again, I wasn't expecting way too much here, but I'd have to say that Nintendo did an alright job here.

Use Of The DS - 6
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Ok, so you don't see this in a review too much, but I just felt like I needed to talk about it.

DUAL SCREENS
About 85% of the time you're looking at a map of the level, which, isn't really detailed, a couple save points and major points in the level, and that's it.

The other 15% is when the adults and babies split up, which isn't for too long, but the graphics look just the same.

Note that both screens are used in battles.

If you haven't noticed that's what you get out of most games. 3D on one screen and a crummy map on the other. Sadly, that's pretty much what you get out of this game too, but there are certain exceptions.

WIFI
Not in this game. There wasn't too much that you could do with this though...

MICROPHONE
This also isn't used. I felt that in some parts this could have been used, but I didn't really miss it.

TOUCH SCREEN
Haha, nope, never, not at all. You don't use the touch screen, and that's okay. It's the same as the microphone really, you don't miss it after a while.

Replay Value - 3
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Let me just say, you can't save the end of the game. You can only save right before the final battle, which is sort of like a mini-game, just for fun. You do have the option of "going back in time to before you saved Princess Peach" though, which is what I did.

So far I have heard nothing special about starting a new file from a finished game. The only reason that you would want to play it again would be to collect some items that you missed or try to get your level up or something.

The only options that you have after beating the final boss are playing from the last save point or starting a new game... that's it.

Final Thoughts
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Well, honestly I feel like this game should have been made for the Gameboy Advance. Nothing special on the DS was used, no touch screen, not even a mini-game or anything.

If you're reading this, and you haven't bought it yet, please go out and buy Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. It was a LOT more funner and funnier than this game. It's different, but in a good way. It came out for the Gameboy Advance and the graphics are the same as this game, the gameplay, everything, and I liked it a LOT better. Please, let this help your decision.

Overall -7
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I haven't picked it up since the day I beat it, $35 down the drain...

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/04/06