Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

Perhaps I missed it on the reveal show, is this just the original or is it the 3DS remake also?

Man, I really hope by the time this show comes out we finally have GBA games on the Switch. Surely, right?

Toon Scottoon wrote: January 5th, 2023, 4:03 pm Perhaps I missed it on the reveal show, is this just the original or is it the 3DS remake also?

We'll include the remake.

Superstar Saga remains the only game in the series where Mario and Luigi can switch places.

I can understand why this was removed in future games. It's a bit tedious to have to add another button when wanting to do one overworld traversal technique over the other, and in terms of characterization, of course Luigi would prefer to hide behind his older brother so as to keep up his cowardly mannerisms. Not only that, but I know that several players out there instinctively press Start to open the menu, so to have it moved to the less-optimal Select button is another knock against it.

But I love having Luigi be able to take the reigns. Not only does it help differentiate the brothers' strengths and weaknesses more, but it can even be beneficial to how you encounter enemies in the overworld. If one brother has more physical prowess, you can have them take the lead so you'll likely do more damage; by that same logic, if you find the following brother delivers that first blow instead because of how the jumping mechanics work, make the tougher one take that position instead. Even the little voice clips help strengthen this, with Mario's "let's go!" being one of both confidence and coaxing his younger sibling along and Luigi's "okey-dokey!" being delivered with the same bravado as an unprepared student about to give an oral report.

I don't think Superstar Saga is the best in the series, or even the one with the most personality, but what it does have is an opportunity for self-expression and characterization that the series promptly discarded. Maybe it's just me, but I think the benefits are worth the cost of reaching for Select.

I played this far later than the wonderful sequels that appeared on the DS but found it a delightful time even when restricted to one screen. Of the two Mario RPG series it definitely leans fully into the active battle system with coordinating attacks between the two brothers making for a more compelling affair than your typical turn based battle system. The brothers themselves are packed full of character with Charles Martinet really going to town with the voice work. The story moves along with a zippy pace with Mario and Luigi being launched from one madcap situation to the other. This title also showcases that Mario is best when he is not tethered to the Mushroom Kingdom with the new Beanbean Kingdom being a whimsical land of memorable characters and strange locales. As a whole, Superstar Saga hits the vibe of the whole series right out the bat with its mixture of platforming, puzzle solving and battling, making it a must buy for anyone with a GBA or 3DS.

Three word review: Magical fruit adventure

Alex79 wrote: January 5th, 2023, 5:09 pm Man, I really hope by the time this show comes out we finally have GBA games on the Switch. Surely, right?

Having finished the remake of Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga on 3DS this winter, I was more than pleased with the experience. I'd always been a paper man when it came to my plumber led RPG's, but the diet Zelda traversal puzzles, the top notch Mario music, and the simple to understand combat system made the game fun and fairly friction free. This is not to say there weren't parts of the game I found clunky or repetitive, but the designer's prescription for these sticky moments seemed to be the return or introduction of a playfully animated character with a quirk whose jittering, jiggling, and jabbering left me eager for whatever came next.

Disappointed by the promise of yet another Princess Peach rescue mission, Prince Peasley soared into my life on his winged lima bean, did his glittering hair flip gag, which made me snicker EVERY SINGLE TIME, and I was ready to hitch up my overalls and play fetch again.

Bogged down by a finicky scavenger hunt for bean fruits to feed to the Yoshi's, a dinosaur devotee with a penchant for pirouetting and egg-cellent wardrobe named Boddle danced into my life, and kept me questing for more Beanstar pieces.

Irritated after continuously running into the same flying Koopa while trying to solve a beachside puzzle Hermie, an overgrown hermit crab who decorates his shell like a Christmas tree to impress beach babes, speaks with a lisp, and deserves his own Warioware Microgame sprang up on the sand, and started the kind of trouble I just couldn't walk away from.

Time after time this dream team of misfits propelled through the game, and now has me seriously considering playing other entries in this series.

Three word review : Fraternal charm offensive

When I first played this game in the 00s, on a sketchy GBA emulator, it was an unalloyed joy. The animation was so lush and expressive, the mechanics were so novel and engaging, and writing was so genuinely funny. The humor had some of the madcap energy of the Mario manga they used to run in Nintendo Power in the US back in the day.

A someone who has played Mario since I was a kid, but has been left cold by the 3D entries, this gorgeous presentation (especially for a kid in art school playing it on a big bright computer monitor) was just what I needed from a Mario game

As someone who has burnt themselves out on the glut of awesome JRPGs in the SNES and PSX eras, the novel real-time control of two characters using one set of face buttons gave the turn-based battles a shot in the arm which felt very refreshing.

The inclusion of the Koopalings was also a fun nod to my own nostalgia for the property's 2D heyday, and certainly didn't hurt.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was my first experience of an "RPG" Mario title. It was also one of the first games I had on my GBA back in 2003. I have also recently replayed this for the first time this year. 20 years later... This... is my story

20 years ago
It's Christmas morning, I was 12 years old, and I open up a small present and inside was a bright and vibrant box full of character and charm. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. On beginning the game I had no idea of the concept of a Mario "RPG" game. I had never heard of the likes of Paper Mario, or Super Mario RPG, so this was a new concept. I was however a fan of the RPG genre, having rinsed every Final Fantasy released. So finding that combat was turn-based and set in an "open" world was a really exciting concept. Not only this, but the implementation of puzzles around the world using Mario and Luigi's specific powers and move sets, really injected the world with some Zelda-esque navigation. The humour really tickled me, with sprites emoting in such a bold way and being able to really sell the humour and comical narrative for all characters involved. I remember absorbing the world, talking to all the NPCs, exploring every nook and cranny, and finding as much as possible within this incredibly vibrant world. I then remember playing it all over again.

Present day
I'll say it now, I love this game, and that feeling has not changed. Maybe because I hadn't played it in 20 years, and because of my situation in only being able to occasionally dedicate time to playing games, being a dad, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is exactly the type of game I want and need in my life at this moment in time, and work's perfect for my Switch. It is a game, I could dip in and out of. Something that doesn't take too much effort. Has minimal narrative, familiar characters and probably more importantly for me, a story that I am already familiar with. It is still charming to me. I can appreciate that this may not hold up against the likes of Paper Mario or Super Mario RPG to those who were there at the time, but to me, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is the perfect Mario "RPG" game and it does so much, so well.

3WR
Sumptuous Superstar Shenanigans

I had this for my GBA back in the day but never got round to completing it, so that there's a Cane and Rinse show coming up, coupled with the fact it recently joined the Switch Online service, was the perfect opportunity to go back and finish the job.

There's a lot to like about this game. It looks lovely, even by modern standards, I think. The humour is pitched just right and the game mechanics, including the battles, are a lot of fun. I really enjoyed exploring the world, finding hidden secrets and battling my way through the adventure, although I did find myself relying a little too much on the first Bros. move you unlock (the splash move, I think?) - and there is perhaps just a bit too much backtracking.

It's a really enjoyable game, but my one criticism is that it does slightly overstay it's welcome. I clocked the game at 19.5 hours, and I think that's about five hours too long. But then, I suppose it's all relative. Bought full price I'd have wanted to get my money's worth, but these days with so many other games begging for my attention I find I get impatient when things are taking longer than I'd like. But overall this is definitely worth a look if you're interested in Mario and/or RPGs.

Oh, and finally, that last boss is a real pain in the ass. I'll admit I resorted to the Switch rewind feature simply because I couldn't be bothered going through the whole fight again when I died a couple of times!

THREE WORD REVIEW: Worthy Mario RPG.

My experience with Superstar Saga was remarkably similar to the one I had with Super Mario RPG. Though the games obviously build off the established Mario iconography, I found it refreshing just how much New Stuff the designers were able to throw at the wall: new locales, enemies and characters. Granted, a lot of enemies were variations on existing things like goombas and koopas, but they were often weird and surprising variations. The characters also have so much more, well, character than the mainline games, and much like NoMoreSpearows I was only all too happy to let Luigi lead the way through the adventure.
The battle system managed to keep things varied and involving...until it didn't. After a while the turn based battles started to seemed a bit repetitive, and sadly, like Super Mario RPG before it, I never finished the game. This might also be due to the pacing of the story, which felt a bit scattershot - I think I made it until the initial battle with Cackletta, after which I was surprised that the story just...kept going.

Still, the game was very likeable, and I might revisit in one day when I finally try that switch online expansion, if nothing else to have another go at letting Luigi save the BeanBean kingdom.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga was my first Mario RPG and remains my favorite closely followed by The Thousand Year Door. I still remember receiving it on Christmasd day. It was almost certainly the same Christmas day Kez86 wrote about and I echo all of their sentiments. The game is not too long but not too short, has great spritework, visually is just one of the best the GBA has to offer, the gameplay is accessible but has depth, and the writing is better than most RPGs in general. It hits a near perfect balance in most things and, nostalgia aside, I believe it is an all-time classic RPG and Mario experience.

3 word review: Definitive Mario RPG

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga

3 word review:

Coffee Syrup Soda

While I won't be replaying this(especially since I sold off most of my game collection to move, not sure if I even still have it), I would be remiss not to talk about one of my favorite games.

If my schedule weren't an absolute mess as a result of the fallout of becoming(and unbecoming) a teacher, I'd consider trying the remake for the pod, but I ended up going off of memory and a Let's Play.

As a kid, I spent much more time in the car than I did at home, and even then, I wouldn't be guaranteed access to the TV if I were home, so I spent ALOT of time with Nintendo's handhelds. While much of my time was spent with Donkey Kong Country, Pokemon, and in particular the second Fire Emblem, Superstar Saga was an absolute delight.

And I think others feel the same way, considering the one time people asked for Fawful to be in Smash(to which a clueless Sakurai basically went 'who's that?'). Combined with the fact that Fawful does make a return in(the 3rd?) a later game as not just second in command, but a leading villain.

I didn't know it at the time, but this game continued the trend of giving some of the main players of Mario games actual personalities and dialogue as opposed to just being functional. This was also a year before Thousand Year Door, and while Paper Mario for the N64 had come out previously, it was pretty basic in terms of character. Luigi's Mansion also gave us a bit of character for Luigi, but not much. With Superstar Saga, we get an expansion on pretty much everything I've just mentioned - Luigi has to be Brave, Bowser gets into shenanigans, and we even get ALOT of cameos, some of which were cut! The game also does the thing Mario games used to do which doesn't seem to be done anymore(I'm not huge into mainline mario, so this may not be true), which is to have you explore a Kingdom. The BeanBean Kingdom, as in the name implies, consists of green bean people and has plenty of bean and laugh-based puns, and you end up making coffee and soda. While I do not expect much from a Mario story, having it thematically connect like this(even the sillier parts) gives me a grin. Like for instance, I became a HUGE Bowser fan after this game. His oblivious brashness really makes me feel like the team knew what they were doing in writing him as they did. It helps that he was allowed to have a personality unlike Mario, who if we're being generous is silent and heroic.

In this game, I think the devs knowing the genre and being able to play with the characters were a big boon - much like Super Mario RPG before it. Instead of having 'cool idle stances', the Bros do a bit of a dance as you decide what to have them do. The more active battle system also invokes the platform games it comes from, and much like a certain pink-draped hero, dodging is the name of the game.

We also see a couple things that go against the grain - they do defeat and "kill" cackletta(though of course she's revived), Princess Peach's voice was never actually stolen due to teamwork between Peach and Peasley(considering how xenophobic some of the initial stuff was, granted most was bad actors...). So in fact, Peach outsmarted the bad guy here. Something we find shades of in Thousand Year Door, also making Birdo based in the meantime? (I completely forgot about this, but it looks VERY good in hindsight.) Then we get to a minigame where the princess doesn't have common sense and is instantly kidnapped. There's a fake beanstar, and Luigi dresses as Peach, fooling the two main villains. Most of these are not just great moments, but moments that go against the grain for what we expect in RPGs.

Battles can end instantly if you're powerful enough, wish ALL games did this.

I also think this is a great example of Mario being able to work no matter the genre, as well. While this may seem obvious in hindsight, In fighting games, people still bristle at the thought of new possibilities such as MK vs SF.

You control both brothers simultaneously, and each brother is a button. This is pretty intuitive after the first few bouts.

In the theming of brotherhood, they continue to learn from new brother pairs, and even some sisters!

Even in combat, we get some differentiation in the brothers and what they're capable of. Of course this is for gameplay reasons, but it is interesting to see what happens when the gameplay doesn't necessitate a singular power up structure(fire flower = fire powers).

Bros actions aren't just limited to positive things, if a bro is KO'ed and is targetted, the other will try to protect them which makes it harder to defend but is thematically on point. Enemies would act opportunistic in the face an unresponsive target, but this is only one of the examples of that that happens regularly in the genre, even today.

I suppose the 'Superstar Saga' is also not just a subtitle here, many people are aware of Mario(and green guy's) exploits and of course, his famous jump.

These games also did a good job of having challenges to pursue while having a base degree of difficulty - if you REALLY wanted to min max, there's advance(get it?) techniques and beans you end up trading for items and stats. And you can quite easily one shot bosses with a little exploration. The latter games do offer difficulty decreases and the ability to practice 'Bros Moves'(Special team up attacks), but it's still a pretty good compromise for the technology at the time.

Furthermore, this game has the badge system, which is shared(but not exactly) with the Paper Mario series. Again, something to explore if you want to min-max or just play around with your particular style of engagement.

With Nintendo having chosen a new Mario voice actor recently, Chris Pratt playing him on the big screen and Nintendo in general trying to expand greatly beyond video games, this game and it's kin may be games to keep in mind as Illumination isn't going to produce humor like this. Mario Wonder does in fact look very inspired so we're not exactly back to the tepid "New" series of games.

In meme history, this would be the first time we see the closest thing to Bowsette, Bowletta. So, hypothetically, they could put her in smash or something...

Music is by Yoko Shimomura, who of course knocks it out of the park. She has history with the series previous entry and continues with the series' future, and I think she really comes up with some great themes(besides a late, frost based theme that loops a bit too much because it's in a VERY long section). There's both nostalgia in the music, and catchy little themes for nearly everything as we expect from her. I can pretty much recommend this soundtrack as is, in future games, it does seem like it gets just a BIT too saccahrine with some of the tracks. There's also a bit of organ from her, which I can't say she regularly does, but just as she plays the piano, it's excellent.

Apparently there were meant to be more cameos, as well as may other unused things: https://www.mariowiki.com/List_of_Mario ... ed_content .

It's also worth mentioning the remake of this game, that came with extra content ended up killing the company that's behind the majority of the Mario and Luigi games, Alphadream.

Also full stop, i'm surprised Prince Peasly never became an assist trophy.

~~~

Random Notes:


We also get to hear Mario and Luigi speak, does that age well? Either way this series is on ice if not completely dead with Alphadream out of the picture.


Oh and there's a 'block history segment' - completely unnecessary, but cool that they put that time and effort in. Donkey Kong Arcade segment.


Popple is better than Nabbit. I really wish Nintendo would bring forth some of these characters elsewhere.

geno shows up...!?! For as much as he's been requested in Smash, this was probably a big part in catalyzing that ask.

A reference to Yoshi's island, wario poster, kirby poster

So we do end up inside bowser, though obviously not to the extent of the 3rd game

Latter part of the game definitely is a bit harder, and that last boss is a doozy



Peach isn't kidnapped but her voice is, bizarrely, the game starts with a toad seeing mario nude, then a Bowser fight - almost like they're getting the mario staples out of the way before getting into new stuff. Peach's voice turns into verbal bombs and not the kind you find in a diss record, bowser mario and luigi form a temporary alliance, some silly passport pictures are taken for your trip to the BeanBean Kingdom, you do a 'border jump'(does that age poorly or well? Probably depends), there's an extortion/currency exchange joke, an excuse to use the underground theme, they actually do plumbing, of course, there is a star, luigi jumps on mario, causing him to regurgiatate special soda to calm a foreign royal's roid rage/parasitic infection?, E. Gadd has to pee except there's no bathrooms so Luigi sucks him into his vacuum where he...yeah