"A Legend of the Shroom" - the BEST Mario game of all time!
The BEST Mario video game to this day, despite its debut in 2003, many years ago; consisting of a meticulously crafted story, memorable characters, and intense battles, the game easily earns this prestigious rating.
Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is, without any doubt, the BEST Mario video game that has ever been created. The game was released many years ago, on November 17th, 2003. Despite numerous creations of other Mario video game titles over recent years, Superstar Saga (as it is commonly abbreviated) remains as my all time favorite. Why has it gained my fullest approval? Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga has gained my fullest approval because it is a game that stands out from the rest of its kind. More specifically, Mario games, in general, are considered "silly and cartoonish" games that have weak and juvenile storylines. Superstar Saga has removed this stereotype; the game features a meticulously crafted plot, utilizing newly created and memorable characters, as well as intense battles, to enhance the story to an all-new level of quality. But first and foremost, it should be known that, in this game, Mario and Luigi set out on an adventure to save the world from evil; the risks are high and the danger is evident. This is the most serious and exciting Mario game you can ever experience.
The story seems to begin with the same, cliché, overused plot that has been used since the first Mario game; Mario and Luigi have become famous "superstars" of the Mushroom Kingdom for being vigilant protectors. One day, Mario and Luigi find out that Princess Peach is in the middle of being captured by the evil monster: Bowser! Mario and Luigi rush to the scene of the crime, where they find Bowser in front of the Princess, ready to snatch her. Mario immediately engages in a battle with Bowser, and Luigi, being the timid type, stands to the side and cheers his brother on. Of course, Mario easily defeats Bowser on his own, and the hero and villain strike up a conversation. Bowser admits to Mario that he was unable to kidnap Princess Peach, because someone has stolen her pure voice, and has replaced it with a crude, "explosive" voice that literally damages everything around her when she speaks! "If I kidnap her now, she'll wreck my castle!" Bowser complains. "Mario, do something about it!" Mario and Bowser then decide to team up and restore the Princess's voice, so that Mario can feel safe about her, and Bowser can have a chance to kidnap her. Mario boards Bowser's flying vessel, and prepares for his journey to save Peach's voice. Although Luigi only wished to see his brother off, he ends up joining his brother's adventure. Deciding to visit the neighboring kingdom, the BeanBean Kingdom, for advice on this situation, Mario, Luigi, and Bowser depart from the Mushroom Kingdom airport and fly off. Nearly arriving in the BeanBean Kingdom, they suddenly meet two ghastly characters flying near the ship. The leader of the pair is named "Cackletta": she is an evil witch who admits to stealing Princess Peach's voice! She then orders her servant, named Fawful, to attack the Mario Brothers. After a heated battle, Mario and Luigi thwart off Fawful. However, Fawful destroys the ship, and speeds off, causing Mario, Luigi, and Bowser to be stranded in the outskirts of the BeanBean Kingdom. Bowser goes missing, but, eventually, Mario and Luigi make their way to the BeanBean Kingdom castle. Once there, they then learn of Cackletta's plan. In the BeanBean Kingdom, lies the "Beanstar": a magical wishing star that grants any wish to someone of pure voice. Since Princess Peach is the only living person with this pure voice, Cackletta stole Peach's voice so that she could ask the Beanstar for immortality! Mario and Luigi track down Cackletta as fast as they can, in an attempt stop her from gaining immortal strength. Throughout their investigation, they are challenged by many other villains who want to defeat the legendary superstars. Mario and Luigi defeat the opponents, and eventually, they discover and infiltrate Cackletta's lair. Inside, they challenge Cackletta to a battle, and at the end, they finally defeat her. Her body completely broken from the fight with the Mario Brothers, Cackletta lays crumpled on the floor, while Fawful curses at the Mario Brothers, "sweeps up" his master, and flies off. The Beanstar, however, was broken into pieces during the battle, and it seems as though the artifact can never be used for evil again. The Mario Brothers return to the BeanBean Kingdom, and report that Cackletta has been defeated. The story is over . . . right? Wrong! Deep within the outskirts of the BeanBean Kingdom, Fawful finds an unconscious monster lying on the ground. Its name . . . is Bowser! Cackletta then transfers her spirit to Bowser, and the two powers merge into one, incredibly powerful entity, now named, Bowletta! What horrors will Bowletta unleash on the Mario Brothers? What destruction will befall both the BeanBean and Mushroom Kingdoms? How will Mario and Luigi defeat this new entity??? You will have to play the rest of the game to discover its incredible part 2 storyline, concluding with an epic finale, and filled with many other battles in between. As you can see, the characters you meet (and defeat) are essential to the success of this game. More specifically, the characters in this game are very unique and memorable.
Aside from the original cast of characters such Princess Peach and Bowser, Mario and Luigi encounter a variety of newly created characters (specifically made for this game) that are overall positive additions to the Mario series. The first of these characters is Cackletta. As mentioned, she is the new villain featured in this game, and I think she matches the criteria perfectly; the game is designed to be a "serious – save the world" type of Mario title, and Cackletta proves to be the perfect villain for the job. She is extremely powerful, supposedly defeating all of the "other superstars" that tried to oppose her, before Mario and Luigi finally met her fact to face. She is also a memorable character because she has a wicked evil laugh that is played by audio speakers: the laugh consists of witchy cackles followed by some slight and heavy undulations. Players who play this game will never forget that evil laugh!
Of course, every evil mastermind needs a loyal servant to do some of the dirty work, and Fawful does it with style. Fawful is another memorable character from this game, specifically because of his speech impediment. Fawful uses awkward syntax (he says words in a weird order) and he also uses awkward diction. For example, when Fawful first meets the Mario Brothers, he addresses them as "Fink Rats", and says something like, "I am Fawful, the servant of Cackletta's plans – like a slice of bread. And your defeat, fink rats, will be the mustard on this bread – the mustard of your doom!" As you can also see, from this example, Fawful is overly dramatic, and his weird analogies literally make you LAUGH OUT LOUD.
Additionally, during their journey, Mario and Luigi will meet other minor, yet memorable characters. One of these characters is an ally. His name is Prince Peasley, and he is the Prince of the BeanBean Kingdom. He is the over-exaggerated satire of a "prince charming"; he has a "royal chuckle" that sounds like a masculine, "Hee Hee Hee Hee", and he also likes to brush his long, pristine hair, which literally flashes bright light every time he brushes it.
Last of these memorable characters is probably the thief named "Popple". Popple is an arrogant thief who is not as great as he always claims he is; he is secretly a coward who relies on unethical tricks in an attempt to defeat the Mario Brothers (such as stealing Mario and Luigi's food and weapons). Mario and Luigi meet Popple throughout their adventure, and always defeat him in a skirmish, despite Popple's tricks. What makes Popple a memorable character is his style of speech. Popple talks like a "gangster criminal", saying things like, "I'm going to take this now, see?" In some ways, his speech resembles the kind of speech style of the Mafia.
As mentioned, Mario and Luigi will encounter all of these characters, the majority of them being hostile. These characters will attack the Mario Brothers, and a battle will begin. Overall, the "battle system" of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is a vital part of the game's admirable qualities. First and foremost, there are many battles in this game: simply too many to count. If I were to estimate a numerical amount, I'd suggest that there is nearly 100 battles that Mario and Luigi will take part in: fighting either major showdowns with the main villains of the story, or minor engagements with "wannabe villains" like Popple. The point, however, is that there is a great extent of battling in this game, meaning that there is less boring dialogue that most mediocre games have a lot of.
Despite the great numbers of battles, each battle is quite unique and enjoyable to play. Before a battle, Mario and Luigi walk around the environment freely. However, when a battle occurs, the camera zooms in on the combatants, and the system of "free movement" across the environment switches to a scenario in which Mario, Luigi, and their enemies take turns attacking each other. The battle system consists of two main parts. The first part consists of Mario and Luigi attacking their opponents, either by themselves, or combining their attacks together to perform major damage onto their opponents.
The second part of the battle system consists of the Mario Brothers' opponents launching attacks. Mario and Luigi can dodge their opponent's attacks, if the player presses the right button at the right time – timing is an essential. For example, if the player presses the button too soon or too late, Mario and Luigi will dodge too early or too late, and get hit by an attack. Only through perfect timing of the buttons can Mario and Luigi survive the onslaught of attacks. In this regard, hand-eye coordination is an essential skill to develop in order to complete this game. From my personal perspective, I remember playing this game for many years. I got this game when I was nine years old, and I was only able to complete it after playing with it for 3 years. This was because I had to mature and develop more proficient hand-eye coordination skills. Therefore, it is obvious that this game poses a great challenge to all players; the difficulty of this game makes the result of beating the individual challenges ever more rewarding. You actually feel proud when you beat the entire game.
In conclusion, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is an outstanding story, filled with a complex and meticulously crafted plot that utilizes a variety classic as well as newly crafted additions to the cast of characters. It is a game that focuses on the excitement of challenging battles, requiring some skill to complete and offering the rewarding feelings after a successful challenge is completed. The Mario series has been around for 30 years already, and in case you didn't know, Mario's emblem is a mushroom head. I feel this game has made that mushroom proud. To say that this game is simply "super" is an understatement; Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is "A Legend of the Shroom".