Welcome to another edition of For What it’s Worth, where bargain titles are examined to see if they really are worth your bottom dollar. Our little celebration of the upcoming release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues as we take another look at unique Mario games that have some how made their way to the bargain bin.
Tonight we take at look a Mario RPG (no not the SNES classic) for the Game Boy Advanced called, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Back in 2003, Nintendo decided to repeat the success of the Paper Mario RPGs with a new series of handheld titles known as the Mario and Luigi series. The humor and gameplay from the Paper Mario games stays on board but the art style goes back to the franchise's roots. Does this new take on Mario RPG's work as well as the previous plumbing role playing efforts?
Story: The evil sorceress Cackletta has stolen Princess Peach’s voice during a diplomatic visit from the Bean Bean Kingdom. It is then learned that Cackletta seeks to use Princess Peach’s voice to unlock the power within a Bean Bean treasure known as The Beanstar so she can become all powerful and take over the world. It is up to Mario and Luigi to travel through the Bean Bean Kingdom and put a stop Cackletta’s evil plan. It is actually a pretty good story that doesn’t take itself too seriously and how could it? The story offers up a dynamic group of bright and colorful characters who are equally hilarious in their own right and make this comedic tale that much stronger for it.
Graphics & Design: The game has a superb animated style of storytelling that just screams classic Mario. The sprites are fantastic and are actually animated so well; it feels as if you are actually watching a cartoon in 16-bit. The gameplay looks as good as the cutscenes, in fact the cutscenes are actually blended into the gameplay.
Sound: The music is pretty good. It’s a bit wackier and a little more off the wall than most other Mario games but it still has the same charm and light heartedness as always. The voice acting is limited to gibberish and very few words but it works very well with the game’s sense of humor. And of course the classic Mario sound effects are there as well. After all, without them it just wouldn’t be Mario.
Gameplay: It is a combination of classic Mario platforming and RPG style combat. The platforming element is used instead of the traditional style of travelling through different areas and dungeon crawling and it plays like any Super Mario Bros. game. For instance, you can collect coins and power ups by hitting ? blocks, you can jump on enemies to gain the advantage in combat and you can also jump on platforms to reach new areas like in the sidescrollers and 3D games. Speaking of reaching new areas, this brings in a new element introduced in the Mario and Luigi series called the Bros. Moves. Bros. Moves are special techniques used to either get past obstacles in the platforming end of the game or as special tag team combo moves during combat. Let’s talk about the combat for just a second. Combat usually happens when Mario and Luigi come into contact with an enemy. If you don’t want to fight, you get away from the enemy as fast as you can. But if you do want to fight, I recommend jumping on or hitting the enemy with your hammer. That way you can stun the enemy and get a few extra hints in during the battle. Much like in the Paper Mario series, Mario and Luigi attack their enemies using traditional Mario fashion, like the jump, using the Hammer and using the famous fire attack or in Luigi’s case, the new thunder attack. As I said before, you can also use the Bros. Moves to perform combos for extra damage, as long as you have enough Bros. points to perform the move. The gameplay mechanics are solid and I really like the emphasis on teamwork, which is a unique twist on the classic Mario Bros. formula. Just a shame that this is only a single player game. It would be interest to see if Nintendo ever adds a multi-player element to this series. I also like how you are given the chance to dodge. I have said this before it deserves repeating, “All turn based RPG should allow the player the chance to dodge attacks!” I mean just standing there and taking the hits is pretty damn moronic if you stop and think about.
Extra Features: The revamped version of the Mario Bros. arcade game that comes with every Mario title on the GBA.
Replay Value: The game itself is at least a good 25-30 hours length during the initial play through, so even if you are not the kind of person who likes to play games multiple times, you’re still going to get plenty of bang for your buck. But if you like RPGs and Mario, then you will likely replay it eventually.
Over All Value: Retail price- $15-20 (new)
What it’s Worth- $30
This is an absolutely wonderful Mario title and one of the best overall games on the GBA. The solid gameplay, the great characters and an awesome sense of absurdist humor makes this an instant classic.
Until next time: Happy Hunting.
Next on the Docket: Super Mario 64.
