Mario, Luigi and Bowser team up for a big adventure.
Now
they’re words we wouldn’t have thought we’d type, unless we hadn’t
played Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga on the Game Boy
Advance back in 2003.
For once, the big green spiky mean dude
isn’t the antagonist here, but it’s only because it suits him. You
see, Cackletta has stolen Princess Peach’s voice, replacing it with
explosives. Yep – she speaks, she drops word bombs. Real bombs.
Bowser doesn’t want to kidnap her in this state, as her language may
damage his lovely, lava-filled castle.
So, they join forces
and head off after Cackletta and her henchthing, Fawful, to rescue
Peach’s voice. This means visiting the neighbouring Beanbean Kingdom
(which is, of course, right next to the Isis kingdom...) Will the
Beanbeans help our intrepid heroes (and Bowser)? Or will they become
has-beans?
It’s a big old turn-based RPG thing, but with
massive smatterings of Mario lore that make it less po-faced. It’s
also quite funny at times. From simple jumping upon the bonces of
enemies to going full whirlwind right through them, you level up,
get more powerful – you know the drill.
Then there’s the
bonus game which unlocks once you’re a reasonable way into the main
adventure. Running alongside the main story (but optional),
Minion’s Quest: The Search for Bowser sees the Goombas trying
to track down their boss and rescue him. Rocking a sort of Fire
Emblem vibe, you equip units and go for baddie takedown.
While looking prettier and adding amiibo support that offers a
few small advantages should you be appropriately plastic figurine
equipped, this is still the same main game that came out 14 years
ago. So, you’ll be going over ground where you’ve already bea- erm,
been. If you didn’t play it back then though we hope we’ve
planted a seed...
