As witty as it is charming, Mario and Luigi: Partners in time is simply the best handheld RPG since the original.
Mario is undeniably the biggest star in gaming, spanning a mass amount of genres and an ever-growing number of titles. From platformers to tennis, Mario has done it all – and right behind him most of the time has been his green-clad brother, Luigi. This mantra of Luigi following Mario was taken quite literally in Alphadream’s 2003 smash-hit Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, which offered a simple, innovative, and most importantly fun control scheme in an RPG world filled with enough Mario-universe humour to get even a non-gamer laughing for hours. It’s now two years later, and Alphadream has produced a game that improves on the original in every conceivable way, making it one of the best Nintendo DS titles yet.
Right
• Wonderfully smooth and incredibly humourous animations for all sprites
• Easy to learn and very fun control scheme
• Fantastic localization has made this one of the funniest games to hit store shelves in a very long time
• Great use of second screen
• Interface has improved over the predecessor
• Rumble Pak compatible!
Wrong
• Although it is more challenging than the original, it is still somewhat on the easy side.
• Rumble can be a little noisy if you have the volume turned down.
• Very poor use of the touch screen
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Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time adds and takes away from its predecessor’s controls, and the result is quite pleasing. Mario is controller with the A button, Luigi with B, and their respective baby counterparts with X and Y. You move around with the directional pad in a world that has puzzle solving and platforming alike. One bro follows the other, so essentially the player is only moving the front character. Not too far into the game, the babies team up with their older selves, and all four are moved as one unit, with the option of throwing the babies off by pressing the X or Y button. Unlike in Superstar Saga, Mario and Luigi cannot switch places – Mario is always in front and Luigi is behind him. One of the best features, the Bros. Moves, has been carried over to the sequel, like drilling underground with the babies or rolling around in a ball as the elder bros.
The fight system remains mainly the same… until you get to fight as all four. The babies piggyback the older versions, adding potential bonus damage to an attack. When using the Jump attack, for example, players can choose to first do a timed hit with the baby, and then with the older all in the same turn, doing extra damage than with just one bro. Bros. Attacks – and thus, Bros. Points – have been taken out, and in their place are Bros. Items, which more or less function the same, but they use items instead of points. Bros. Items are timed attacks that use two and/or four characters, and are as humourous as they are powerful. One of these items causes a Chain Chomp to chase older brother left and right across the screen, who jumps on an enemy in his way. If they’re in your group at the time, the babies ride the chain chomp and additional damage can be dealt by swinging their hammer as they pass the enemy.
Boss battles have been changed to include some trick to beating them. The first boss, for example, has two lackeys that re-spawn if eliminated. The main enemy itself drinks some juice before it attacks, and this juice can be altered to either benefit or harm it by hitting the lackeys. It’s entirely possible to win the fight without using the two extra enemies, but it makes it much easier to use them to your advantage.
The two screens are used very well in Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, displaying a map when not in battle, different camera views during story events, and a greater vertical distance in battles. In a typical fight the top screen is used for enemy and player attacks alike, and it definitely adds more challenge to timed attacks and defense. There is no multiplayer, so the wireless goes unused. There is also no touch-screen use, but in a game as great as this it’s only a minor drawback – it already uses the hardware for great effect.
Those DS owners who went out and got Metroid Prime Pinball will be pleased to know that Partners in Time is compatible with the Rumble Pak, vibrating the system when opening the menu or when an attack connects. It’s a shame that the game does not come with the peripheral, but at least support for the device is here, unlike other Nintendo add-ons (read: e-Reader).
Arguably the best reason to get Partners in Time is because of its fantastic localization. Superstar Saga was by all means a hysterical game, but this one goes much farther, making it easily one of the funniest games to come out in recent times. Kamek commenting on kidnapping Mario and Luigi, the Hammer Bros. speaking in “l33t”, and Toadsworth meeting up with his past self are a small fraction of comedic moments found in the game. From start to finish, you will have a grin on your face, be it from the subtle humour in the sprite animations and voice-overs, or from the insanely wild story sequences.
Partners in Time looks and sounds leagues over its predecessor; screenshots do not give this game any justice. The frame rate has been kicked up a notch, the animations for all sprites are not only more numerous but are smoother and funnier. Although the game plays primarily in two dimensions, Alphadream has thrown some really cool 3D effects in the game, like a shockwave attack during the first boss, or when entering and leaving a battle. The audio is a mix of new songs and remixes of classics (they never go out of style), and each area sounds like it should: cold places have a slow, tranquil feel; battles feature fast-paced tunes; Peach’s castle features old-school songs with a twist.
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Buy, Rent, or Avoid?
If you have even a remote interest in any Mario game or RPGs, then you should do yourself a huge favour and buy this game. For a Mario fan, there is no gift for the holidays better than this game.
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Gameplay: 10/10
This game is an absolute joy to play. From start to end you will never once lose interest, as it keeps throwing new uses of the unique control scheme at you. The bosses are tough as they are comical, and the battle system is fantastic. Rumble Pak use is a welcome bonus to anyone who purchased Metroid Prime Pinball.
Graphics: 8/10
The sprites in the game move astoundingly. The animations in battle, out of battle, and everywhere in between are as smooth as they are funny. It has taken far too long for a game to feature Baby Luigi doing “The Monkey”.
Audio: 9/10
A great and varied soundtrack featuring original pieces and remixes of classic Mario songs is only half of it. The voice-overs for Mario, Luigi, Peach, and their baby counterparts are a riot to hear every time.
Value: 8/10
A lengthy adventure that is so much fun the first time through, that you’ll find yourself playing it again and again months after the first time you beat it.
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Overall: 9.3/10
A great game that can be easily recommended to anybody, anywhere. The gameplay is very fun, and the visuals and audio look and sound fantastic. The only real downside is having to wait for a third installment in the franchise to be announced.
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