u/SuchButterfly2377

Luigi was done a great justice by the Mario & Luigi games, matter a fact these games in general do characterization very well, except for the Paper Jam flanderization but anyway... what about the other half of the series? Mario? He is integral to the functioning of these games as a whole. The entire thesis of these games is Mario and Luigi's brotherly bond, how the entire world treats the coldly and they only have each other to rely on. But is that all Mario is, Luigi's brother? Why wasn't he given a "character" of his own? In this series he is merely a tool for others, his Italian gibberish is used to convey information the player already knows to npcs, he is Luigi's brother, or his missing half... but HE himself is not interesting. His biggest defining character trait is really caring for Luigi but, Luigi really cares for Mario back so it's not very unique. In contrast Luigi is shown to have a low self esteem in Dream Team, he lives in his brother's shadow not because he's younger but because he doesn't believe in himself. Then this "arc" is finished in Brothership when his unique line of logic is what saves the team on countless occasions, his rising self esteem being represented by his increasing competence in landing from a cannon shot. In Dream Team he even earns Bowser's respect, he learns Luigi's name and stops calling him "green stache". So I ask only this from the new developers, I want the next game to earn the title "Mario & Luigi" the balance has been tipped askew the other way now, it's time to bring justice to Mario! Give him an arc!

Ok so after Luigi steals the Beanstar from the Koopa Cruiser, Bowletta and Fawful crash it into Joke's End. Then Bowletta tells Fawful to grab Bowser's Castle, but before that Fawful tells Roy and the Elite Trio to sabotage the Koopa Cruiser for the Captains. Then while Mario and Luigi are fighting Popple and Birdo in Teehee Valley the Captains find and refurbish the Koopa Cruiser. They then deal with the sabotage, saving Roy and regrouping with the Elite Trio. Then they fly towards Bowser's Castle which is now itself flying above the BeanBean Kingdom. Captain Goomba goes up to Bowletta who is disguised as Bowser. Bowletta then tells Captain Goomba that he beat the bad guys and that they should go stop Mario. Just then Blablanadon brings the brothers to the castle, perfect right? Well no because Captain Goomba goes over to the other three Captains and there like "that wasn't Bowser lol", so they go confront Bowletta and Fawful. Then Fawful sends them to the dungeon to fight his robots... and when does this happen? How is the castle full of minions and the Koopalings if they are currently fighting in the castle dungeon? And there was no left over troops, Fawful specifically tells the Captains that the Castle was empty when he found it. Then the Captains find Bowser after the final Cackletta's Soul fight... SO WHEN DOES THE MAIN MARIO AND LUIGI CASTLE PORTION TAKE PLACE!?

How do yall feel about the fact that holding a knocked out Bro doesn't weigh you down anymore... I personally hate it, a change like this should be reserved for an optinal easy mode

Chakron:

This guy is fine, he's got some mystical power that allows for fast travel and he's the only one that feels like a "Sage". I think the Snack Basket requirement could have been more clear like "only the ground itself shaking could make me fall over". Overall:

9/10

​

Kuzzle:

Holy missed potential Batman, a really old Sage that doesn't even remember he's supposed to be guarding a star cure is a fantastic and very funny idea. But they just had Bowser already have his cure stolen in his castle. The worst part is everyone just knows this. Imagine if Mario and Luigi went to Kuzzle and had to spend an agonizing time hanging out with an old man only to realize that he doesn't even have it. But no let's just use him to give you a Bros Attack. Overall:

7/10

​

Wisdurm:

What a strange character, you first fight her before you even realize she's a Sage, and she doesn't say anything to you. Now this could be an interesting character moment but they just kinda don't acknowledge the previous interaction. Then her character itself is pretty interesting, it's a play on the diva girl character mixed with a genuine obligation to protecting the star cure, "why would I, a Sage, give the star cure to you?". Except this doesn't work because we aren't nobodies... Starlow is right there! She's a Star Sprite! Like all she had to do was say they needed it for important Star Sprite stuff! This just reminded me that the series refuses to do anything interesting with Starlow or the Star Sprites and it's infuriating! Overall:

5/10

Super easy way to spice up any Mario & Luigi replay, skip all enemies on every other screen.

---

This makes the game:

​

Twice as fast

​

And

​

Twice as hard!

It should all be available to read on this Google Doc

pdf version