Article Eclipse Expounds - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

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Greetings once again. 'Tis I, Eclipse, and with me today I bring a game review. As is custom with this article series, "Eclipse Expounds", I discuss a video game that I have played and enjoyed, and discuss its particulars with the rest of Valor at large.

Normally, I tend to pick video games that I have played in fairly recent history. However, this time, that is not the case, for I have played this particular game enough times that I essentially know it like the back of my own claw:

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:: Introduction ::

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a rather old and fairly well-known RPG that hit the Game Boy Advance in November of 2003. It is the first of currently five titles in the Mario & Luigi RPG side series, and was made as a spiritual successor to the well-known Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on SNES. Owing to its popularity, it came to the Wii U Virtual Console in April of 2014, as one of the three very first GBA games to do so (alongside Advance Wars and Metroid Fusion). As is custom for several GBA Mario games, it also comes with a port of the original arcade Mario Bros. game.

A remake of this game (the sixth installment in the RPG series) will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS in October of 2017 (a month and a half from now), so this seems like no better time to write a review on it! (...actually, I'd meant to write this a couple months ago right after the announcement for the remake dropped, and it had slipped my mind, but let's not talk about that.)

The game follows the story of the titular Mario Brothers having to take an unexpected journey to the new land of the Beanbean Kingdom, just one country over from the age-old Mushroom Kingdom. Hilarity ensues at every possible moment. Yes, every possible moment. There definitely is a plot to follow (and one that is not obfuscated at any point), but the sheer level of shenanigans as to how the plot is executed - as well as the antics and facial expressions that the brothers and the multitude of NPCs make - make this game pretty memorable for many fun reasons.

For example, near the start of the game, Mario and Luigi need to have their pictures taken for passports. The NPC taking the photo tells them not to press any buttons on the + Control Pad to strike a silly pose. So, naturally, the game gives you the opportunity to do just that.

After all, wouldn't you love to make a funny face for a passport photo?
...I thought so.


:: Gameplay & Controls (Overworld) ::

Being on the GBA, the gameplay and controls of the game are rather simple. As it is an RPG, you'll find yourself in one of two places all the time: either you're in a battle, or you're not (you're exploring on the overworld). I'll go over the overworld controls first.

You will control Mario and Luigi walking about and exploring the world. The brothers are controlled simultaneously, so where one will walk, the other will follow directly behind him, and you move them around with the + Control Pad. The A and B Buttons are used to make the Brothers perform actions; A Button controls the brother walking in the front, and B Button controls the back brother. Either brother can lead the party, and you can just press START to swap who's in the lead. There will be two spheres at the top right of the screen, which are colour-coded to alert you which controls which at that moment.

The L and R buttons are used to cycle through what actions you have set for the brothers - L is for the back, R is for the front. Normally, the default action is just a jump - the jump is what they're famous for, after all - but as you progress through the game, you'll have more options available to you, like the Hammer (which can smash objects) or the Spin Jump (which is used to spin through the air to other platforms). You will swap between your available options to traverse the overworld and handle whatever puzzles you're given. If you press L and R at the same time, it will revert both of the brothers' set actions to the basic jump - which you'll be using most of the time, so it makes sense.

Finally, the SELECT button opens your suitcase, which gives you your current status (level, HP, BP, stats, etc.), items on hand, gear equipped, a map with your current location and destination, and one or two other small things. It's handy for keeping track of your current stock, and where you go to change equipment.

Sometimes Mario and Luigi will be separated from one another. The controls will still work as normal; you'll still be able to switch (most of the time) by using START. The only real differences are that the L and B buttons won't be used outside battle, and if a battle starts, the brother will have to fight alone.

Those are the tools available to you that you'll use to traverse the vast and vibrant world of the Beanbean Kingdom. Item boxes are scattered everywhere, and you acquire their contents by having Mario or Luigi jump to hit the blocks' undersides, just as you would in any other Mario game. Most are "?" blocks, but there are a few other special types of blocks as well. One of those is the Save Block - a blue block with an orange S that looks like a photo album - and you can only save your game at the Save Blocks. The rest of the block types...well, I'll let you discover that for yourself.


:: Gameplay & Controls (Battle) ::

Creatures appear around the overworld, and if you run into one, a battle will begin. You can actually engage with certain creatures in the overworld to initiate the fight; for example, if you jump onto one, you'll start the fight with each enemy having taken a little bit of damage - a good advantage! This can work both ways, though; for example, if an enemy runs into the brother in back and initiates the battle by surprise, he misses his first turn. There are a few other tricks as well.

After you enter a battle - and hopefully after you've stopped bobbing your head to the incredibly catchy fight music - you'll have Mario and Luigi to move against whatever beasties you encounte-hey, stop being mesmerised by that silly dance!

Unlike in the overworld, where whoever is in front determines who gets which button, in battle A is always for Mario and B is always for Luigi - probably for simplicity's sake.

During a brother's turn, he has 4 commands available:
:: Use a Solo attack, attacking 1 enemy of his choice with a basic hit (like a Jump).
:: Use a Bros. Attack, where the 2 Brothers team up together and unleash a special move.
:: Use an Item, affecting either 1 or both of the Brothers.
:: Run away from the fight, which cannot fail but will cost you coins to run away (more coins are lost if your Speed is lower). Bosses can't be fled from.

The Bros. Attacks require both Brothers to be together and conscious, and using one costs some BP (think like MP, Magic Points) to use. It only uses up 1 of the brothers' turns, and each brother learns different attacks, so keep those things in mind.

The main draw to Superstar Saga's battle system is the use of timed button presses. (This has carried forward to all future installments in the series.) Pressing a button at precisely the right time will let you do more damage; for example, if Mario uses a Solo Jump attack, and hits A right as he lands on an enemy's head, he will inflict more damage. The timing required varies by attack; it also gets more complicated when Bros. Attacks are involved, which involve a series of button presses in a specific order. In Superstar Saga, the only buttons you need worry about for timed presses are A and B.

This also works both ways - you can use said timed presses to dodge attacks. Whenever an enemy attacks, you'll have the opportunity to defend yourself; use A and B to control the brothers as usual here. For example, if a Bullet Bill shoots himself right at you, the brother can just jump over it to avoid the attack. Every enemy attack in the game can be avoided in some way, and they all have a 'tell' to them, so you can theoretically go through the whole game without getting hit once!

Note that if one of the Brothers is unconscious, and an enemy is about to attack, the remaining Brother will jump over and carry him while defending, so your counters will be a bit slower in that case. You don't just leave your blood brother to the wolves, after all.

After the fight you'll get coins, EXP, and items (sometimes). Coins are used to buy items and gear, and EXP will level your Brothers up; with each level up, the Brothers' stats will all go up a little bit. You'll get a 'bonus wheel' to raise one of the Brother's stats of your choice by a random amount. The numbers start small (1-2), but if you pick a different stat to boost every level, the numbers will get bigger and bigger as you progress (as high as 6).


:: Progression ::

Superstar Saga is by no means a hard game, nor is it a lengthy one. A single run through the game for a first-timer will take about 16-18 hours in all, and subsequent runs will reduce that even further; I don't speed-run my games by any means, but my record is 13 hours, and that was the run I deliberately didn't avoid random encounters! All of that EXP paid off and made my fights faster, apparently.

At first, the game will be fairly linear - you'll only get to go one way before getting more places to explore - but after that (about when you reach Level 6), the world will open up more to you, and you'll have a lot more freedom of exploration. Keep in mind that a lot of the places you'll see or notice may require skills that you haven't learned yet, and will have to return to later - those of you 'Metroidvania' fans in the audience will find said areas quite a treat. You might have to re-visit the same location 2 or 3 more times to find all the goodies therein!

As far as strength of opponents are concerned, it increases at a slow but reasonable place; the only time you'll really have trouble with enemies is if you deliberately try to avoid random encounters. However, avoiding them is usually done intentionally, so for most people, this will probably not be a concern. If you wanted, you could try for a low-level run of the game (my record is 30 but I'm sure there has been lower still), though on a first run through I don't recommend it.

As for the plot...my word, it writes itself. There's nothing that is really out of place or seems just added in for the sake of it, but there are very few words to adequately describe how silly the game is overall. A lot of the fun is simply to see what sort of crazy antic or errand the Brothers will be sent on next (like the soda incident, which - like most things in this game - must be seen to be believed). Just approach the plot with the intent of having a good laugh or two. You'll definitely get them.


:: Conclusion ::

I know my explanations here have been rather broad, as if heedlessly stroking a paintbrush without examining the finer details, though a large part of that is that (1) explaining bits of the plot would ruin the experience (and the surprise) of the game, and (2) even if I did, it sounds nonsensical without context - though, to be fair, it sounds nonsensical with context too. So my comments are focused mostly on the gameplay aspects.

To summarise, Superstar Saga isn't difficult. In fact, it's extremely easy to pick up, it gives reason to keep the player engaged, and it's so ludicrous and catchy that it keeps the player wanting for more - especially if you find the music as enjoyable as I do. (Yoko Shimomura has comprised all tracks for all of the Mario & Luigi RPG games, and this is no exception.) This game does a lot of things that aren't seen nearly as often (or at all) in the newer RPG installments, so the atmosphere will be markedly different - but Superstar Saga is the one I come back to time and again.

Why is that? I think it's because the game is so simple, less intricate and involved, and doesn't require a whole lot of prep work to really dive in and enjoy the thing. The newer titles have a lot more doodads and widgets and mechanics there waiting for the player, and while that's all well and good, it means there's a new learning curve for each one. Apart from this game, the only other M&L RPG title I like to revisit is Bowser's Inside Story, for very much the same reasons (short, fun, easy to pick up). Re-learning a game that you haven't played in a long while can take a fair amount of time, and Superstar Saga doesn't have much to re-learn.

Then again, I may have the game so thoroughly ingrained in my mind that I never really re-learned it at all, and it was always waiting for me.

I don't intend to use this post as a review for any other installments in the series - and especially not the remake that's coming out in a little over a month. If I review that one, I will do so separately, and have a whole new exposition waiting for you. Until then, I shall see you very soon!

◈◈ From the desk of Eclipse, the Dark Dragon Deity ◈◈

 

Indeed, I didn't know that you recently acquired a physical copy of the game, and will soon be starting your playthrough of it - at almost the same time I planned to post this. Now I'm rather glad I procrastinated over two months on this.

If I had to take a guess, you'll probably be hooked on this game in nothing flat.

 

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I know which one you mean, and thankfully that is the only one that's actually difficult - though for fair reason, as I'm sure you're aware.

All the puzzles get easier with time, though (or so I've found), as the more you repeat them, the more you start invoking your muscle memory. There are also no penalties for failing those puzzles either.

 

Ah yes, come to think of it, Bowser's Minions is released in a few scant days, right? That means we'll have a whole slew of things to look forward to, both new and old. I plan to get a copy of the game as soon as I can, and I'll definitely be writing a review on it, seeing how it compares to the old one.

I will definitely still carry around my GBA SP to play the original, since there's still the nice feel of the old music and sprites that will really appeal to me. I'm definitely looking forward to whatever the remake will have in store, though. It does have a new gaiden story, after all.