Soooo I finally picked this up (after going from one end of St. John’s to the other before I finally found it at the Walmart near the airport), and so far it’s really really good.
Granted I’m not very far in it yet, but I really like what I see at this point.
The dialogue is really good. I’m less than an hour in and it’s already shaping up to be the funniest of the Mario RPGs.
The voice clips are a lot better this time around. Princess Peach actually doesn’t sound all high-pitched and irritating! It’s amazing. Mario and Luigi’s jibberish actually sounds a bit more like actual words, but still random enough so that they don’t. And Bowser sounds more like he did in Galaxy, unlike the previous two M&L games where he sounded more like he did in Sunshine.
The music is also really good, but I’ve already spoiled myself on much of the soundtrack. It’s another great job by Shimomura, what can I say?
The animation is really fluid. In still shots it might look the same as Partners in Time, but in motion you can see the difference.
Then there’s the gameplay, which is also great. Considering that for pretty much half of the game you’re playing as Bowser, this kinda sold me alone. But consider what that really means: Unlike Partners in Time, where the babies were more or less just weaker versions of Mario and Luigi, the Bowser segments here play much differently. He fights differently, and he has different moves on the world map. It really gives the game its own unique feel, instead of just feeling like another Mario & Luigi title.
I’ve been reading reviews that give nothing but glowing praise for this title, and I’m really seeing why. You should all do yourselves a favor and pick this up. Or else you’ll make Bowser cry. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?
The low availability of the M&L games is pretty irritating considering they hit the sweet spot between light-hearted and gameplay fun. (They are railroaded, but you can’t win them all).
I’m usually easily bored with Mario games because I find them repetitive, but I love this one. I’m pretty far into it now and they’ve managed to keep things (generally) diversified. Including Bowser as a playable character was a great idea (he’s so cute!) and it definitely makes the gameplay more interesting. -But now I’m stuck at the giant Bowser fight against the train because I can’t figure out how to get an “Excellent” rating on his fire breath…
I’ve only done two giant Bowser battles so far, but I’ve found the fire to be a bit tricky too. Mostly because I still have a phat DS and the mic is located differently and I can’t really see the screen well if I’m prepping to blow on it.
Also, I gotta say, this game feels a LOT longer than the previous two M&L games. I’ve probably spent about as much time just getting to this point (acquiring Bowser’s body slam) than it would take me to completely finish the other two. Can’t say I’m complaining there because I’m still loving every moment of this game.
And now I’m stuck at the same place Walhalla was for the same reason. CURSE YOU GIANT TRAIN!
Maybe I’ll screw with the Mic Test or something to see if I can get it to register properly. No matter how I blow into it, sometimes I get Excellent, and sometimes I just get Ok, it’s about 50/50, and unfortunately the margin for error in this fight is surprisingly small. It’s an oddly unforgiving battle for a Mario RPG.
I still love this game to pieces despite it though.
I didn’t find the train part that difficult. You have to start blowing into the mic after the sign appears. Be sure also that you aren’t blowing too hard. Its not measuring how hard but how long you’re blowing into the mic. You need to blow into it for a a few seconds to get a great or an excellent. The game is fucking awesome. I love the script.
I didn’t find the first two games to be particularly funny or charming, like SMRPG and the Paper Mario games, and…
I found the whole “switch between Mario and Luigi every 5 seconds to do different jumps and spins and dances to reach the next platform” factor to get old really fast.
I guess I wouldn’t say I disliked them severely, I just found that they got boring really quickly.
I’ve been playing a shit ton of the game. I agree entirely with the damn train. I think I played that part like 12-15 times. I started to lose count and just kept swearing. The whole mic part isn’t hard, it’s just finicky. If you repeat the same action twice, you get different results. However, I noticed that when you kept your face about an inch and a half away from the center of the DS, it works fairly well. Although I did get one ‘Good’ from it.
But ALMOST all good things to say about this game. The one thing I hate, well rather, the one thing the obsessive-compulsive completist whore side of me hates, are those cholesterol filled challenges. SO far, I’ve only completed the green shell. All of the other ones just kind of piss me off. Kind of reminds me of Chocobo Tales. Repetitive minigames just make me cry. :bowser:
Alright, I just finished it. I almost wish I didn’t spoil myself on the final boss bgm beforehand as it’s a surprisingly epic piece for a Mario RPG and it would’ve blown my socks off just now, ah well.
The final boss itself throws various tricks from throughout the game at you keeping you on your toes but without being overly cheap like the final boss of Superstar Saga could be. (Aw, starting this battle with 1 HP due to plot contrivance? Well TAKE THIS MULTI-TARGET HARD-TO-AVOID SPINNING ARM ATTACK BEFORE YOU GET A TURN! BWAHAHAHA!)
The dialogue in this game makes it, and I think it’s largely due to the added focus on Bowser. He was kind of a non-presence in Partners in Time, and was really served the short end of the stick in Superstar Saga. But this time? It’s all Bowser all the time, and it’s the game’s benefit for it. His ‘punch first ask questions later/never’ attitude is a great contrast to the Bros and their quest to save the day. Out of all the Mario RPGs this is probably the most we’ve ever seen of the Koopa King. You almost forget you’re playing the standard bad guy.
Despite the one frustrating bit with the third giant Bowser battle the game was entirely fun. It’s good to know that gorgeously animated 2D games like this can still be done in the face of a bajillion hi-def polygons, and still be awesome to play.
IMO, I think that’s what the DS should do, for the most part. Beautiful 2D all around. I just beat the game today, too. I have to agree with you, the dialogue in these games are great. Big thumbs up to the English localization. Completely brings me back. You guys remember how Superstar Saga was full of “leet speak.” I don’t know, but I thought that was cool back then. Good times.
Pretty sure that was Partners in Time, and it was only a few lines before an early boss battle, if I recall correctly. Anyway, I’ve been playing through the M&L games again recently, and I’ve actually just started BiS for the first time. Only 3 hours in, and it’s already my favorite of the three. Bowser’s dialog really does make the game that much better, and playing as him is an awesome change after two solid games of the same bros. Not to mention the music, the minigames, and pretty much everything else about the game.
Ok, so I broke down and finally got the game, and I’m having quite a bit of fun with it. Only thing that pisses me off is that I have trouble with the timing for some of the Bros’ later SP attacks. Don’t know what it is, but I just can’t get the timing right. Also, the giant Bowser battles have been pretty fun so far. The 2nd one kinda had me going “WTF?” with what was going on, but I caught on.
Anywho, good game so far. Especially that dialog. Funny stuff.
I never had much trouble with most of the Bros. Attacks outside of the Fire Flower. In fact I was able to clear all of the challenges for both the Bros. and Bowser.
That stupid 100-point puzzle challenge however, can go die in a fire.