Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

"Hilarious, but lacking somewhere; maybe next time"

Yes, I was not satisfied with Mario and Luigi 2 (Partners in Time). This means not that I hate the game, or that I would never play it again; far from it. I simply was not satisfied. The humor that I enjoyed from the first game was kept largely intact (though a little less than before), the combat engine was improved, yet the game just didn't have that zen feeling the first had. Nor does it have the epic feel of a standard RPG (that even Super Mario RPG had).

So, what was wrong? To understand the wrong, you must look at the right first:

Story is one of the things that sold the first game, and while it somewhat works here, it just doesn't meet any realistic standard that I know of. While it IS funny to see the adult Mario and Luigi beating Bowser, then watching baby Mario and Luigi beat Baby Bowser, and then watching Bowser assist the royal group (babies included) escape an evil Shroob invasion. To be blunt, as funny and ironic as all this is, the plot crumbles once the time travel comes up, as shards from a familiar professor's time machine cause rips in time that just happen to open not only where you need to go, but also behind places inaccessable until you learn a new skill. As fun and interesting as it is to see something unreachable in a Zelda game, this doesn't feel right, especially since you are stuck in the main palace in the present for most of your exploration. And I won't even go into the whole issue of time paradoxes, including one where you encounter a familiar (and hilarious) return from the previous game with the babies, who sit and listen to the rants and furious raves of this character. Call me crazy, but given how smart these kids are (and ignoring the game's claims to the contrary), they have to know what this awful crony is griping about. If you played the first game, you might have picked up on my tips there. Yes, they were deliberate. If you have no clue what I mean, play the first game; you'll laugh harder when you do.

(side note - yes, I did just cover a negative aspect; but it was required so that I can explain the babies without making too many words appear to raise the count. Now back to the review before the moderator rejects this for word count. ;-) )

Graphically, the game is a walking example of how primitive 2D can be used to create cartoonistic (is that a word!?) world that is just shy of the cartoon feel of Wind Waker (the Cel-Da, if you are unfamiliar with the reference). The landscapes are far less detailed than the previous GBA title Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, but where there is less detail there is the top screen, which doubles as a near pointless map (more later) and alternate screen for gaming. Naturally, being that you have control over both the Mario and Luigi we all know and love and their infant counterparts, this means some interesting, if somewhat untapped, puzzle and combat options. At least there are vast ammounts of animations and sprites, not to mention very little enemy reusing and recoloring. Now if only the backgrounds were more detailed...

Music is another high point, with many, many familiar remixes in new forms, several new themes, and many voice clips for the characters, some returning, some brand new, and some that you will love right away (Baby Bowser's "Oh no!" comes to mind). Yet as fun as the music gets, it gets only funnier with the animations. Have to love the work that went into this.

Controls are responisve, yet you do need to get the hang of not hitting the wrong button for the wrong brother. Yes, this need not apply to all, but I ocassionally hit the wrong button when I meant for Mario to jump, and instead doomed myself to redo a baby puzzle. Not a big gripe, but notable none the less.

Now, we get to the icky part...

The game play. Oh, the game play. However fun the first game was, and no matter how wacky this game's humor can get, the game just is... well boring too often. Don't get me wrong, the combat is engaging, the humor is funny, the story lacking (oops), yet the exploration, the puzzles, the castle, the locals, nothing really ever breaks a continuous pattern of zilch. Whole rooms in the castle, the main place for the adventure, are filled with nothing except a Toad or item block, and whole levels (not areas; the game is far too linear to call new sections "areas") are nothing more but vast emptiness with the odd foe or puzzle to tackle.

Earlier I stated that the map was near useless. The reasoning behind this is that the level designs are so obvious and empty and lacking so much detail, it requires you to either be an inexperianced tyke or strait-lining not to figure them out. I wish I could phrase this better, but compared to the GBA release's more detailed and varied paths, the standard paths and obvious puzzles are just not as fun.

Don't get me wrong, some may love this, some may hate me for "bashing" the game. I did like the humor, and am still playing through it to see it out, but I'll be honest, it was not the end-all RPG to meet the portable needs. Heck, with this year's luck for portable RPGs, even Final Fantasy IV will be a dud!

But, that is a rant for another day; right now, I must conclude this write-up.

In all, not a horrible RPG like Lunar Dragon Song, but neither does it come close to the fun that the first Mario and Luigi was. Maybe it's the time travel mixed with darker plot plot. Maybe it's the somewhat stale humor. Maybe it's the linear game play. I don't know, you decide.

Score - 7 out of 10


* Best Features: Sound and Music, Graphics, Controls, Humor, (censored)'s cameo
* Worst Features: Humor, Game Play, Puzzles
* If You Liked: Mario and Luigi (GBA), Super Mario RPG (SNES), Legend of Dragoon (PSX)
* Guilty Pleasure: Seeing (censored), and laughing as he retold his tale. Now THAT was worth the price of admission alone. ::laughs too hard, falls into a coma::

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/05, Updated 11/20/07

Game Release: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (US, 11/28/05)