The Mario and Luigi series holds a very special place in my heart. Detailing the wacky adventures of both Mario brothers, with an emphasis on story. When I was younger these games felt like sprawling epic narratives, that was a call to adventure for my younger self that had nothing better to occupy his time with. My under exposure to common tropes and motifs in stories and narratives at the time led me to hold these games’ stories in high regard based on what I believed to be narrative complexity. However, when compared to other narratives, especially heroic ones, the Mario and Luigi series is quite simple, though it doesn't mean this game series is lacking in depth.
The RPG genre is one that commonly leans into more complex story telling compared to other genres of games, that is where most of the fun is had. So, it might appear to be a contradiction to create an RPG series for the Mario franchise, a platforming series that creates fun through simplicity, and all Mario RPGs including the Mario and Luigi series have simple storylines at their core. Despite this, I am a believer that how you execute a plot is far more important than your idea for one. The game I will be reviewing today, Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story, is evidence that you can create an RPG with a simple story which, at many times is logically ridiculous, that has a lot of depth threaded into it.
The story begins introducing a new disease that has overrun the Mushroom Kingdom known as the Blorbs. This then prompts all high ranking officials in the kingdom to have a meeting discussing how to properly deal with the terrible epidemic. Two of which being Mario and Luigi. A bit strange. I mean I know Mario also spends his free time acting as Dr. Mario but I'm not sure if he should be giving health advice or should have a medical license. From what I've seen from his own game ,which most definitely is not a Tetris clone, he just pumps all his patients full of drugs. Then there is Luigi. I don't really think he really wants to be there, sleeping through most of the meeting, and rightfully so honestly. What does he know about curing diseases, especially the ones that have the best doctors in the Mushroom Kingdom stumped.
As they are having their meeting Bowser interrupts, upset he wasn't invited and fights Mario, which acts as the game's tutorial. Peach then tosses him straight out of her castle into a forest you later find out is called Dimble Wood. Like does she even need Mario to save her?
Bowser explores the forest and runs into a shady character that offers him a mushroom that he promises will allow him to defeat Mario. Obviously because Bowser lacks brain cells he happily eats the mushroom. This causes Bowser to just absorb everything in sight without control. He then heads back to Peach's castle and absorbs everyone that was in the meeting room prior. This includes: Peach, Mario, Luigi and a character known as Starlow who later acts as Mario and Luigi's companion throughout the adventure. The one behind all these shenanigans is a guy known as Fawful, who was actually a villain from the first Mario and Luigi game. He acted as the henchman to the main antagonist of that game Cackletta. Bowser isn't the only thickheaded individual, as the reason why so many toads acquired the Blorbs disease is down to them believing similar lies from Fawful and eating whatever mushroom he gave them without question, which then caused them to bloat. Fawful then transports Bowser to a place called Chakroad and Fawful takes over not only the Mushroom Kingdom but also Bowser's Kingdom seeking world domination. Bowser’s goal from there is to take back his kingdom aware he did inhale at least one person, Starlow, who refers to themselves as Chippy offering to help Bowser take back his kingdom. When in actuality it's the Mario brothers who are doing all the leg work. Mario, Luigi and Starlow quickly realise they have no way out of Bowser and have to trust that anything he does will be of benefit to them, their short term goal being to search for Peach inside Bowser.
The plot of the game has a lot of moving parts, that continue to develop as the game progresses. When I described the plot as ‘simple’ I meant in a thematic sense; at its core you are stopping an evil person from committing evil upon the world, there is no complexity that is trying to shatter your perception on common societal concepts. Although this game is definitely continuing to challenge your perception of Bowser as a character, and it is one of this game's biggest strengths.
For a long time Bowser has been the main antagonist for the Mario franchise, and with a character that has such a large intimidating frame you’d think he'd have an equally cunning and sadistic personality to go with it. Though this is not the case at all; it has been no secret that Bowser had been portrayed as a gullible if at times stupid character prior to ‘Bowser's Inside Story’ in games like ‘Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door’ and, most prominently, in Mario’s first RPG appearance ‘Super Mario RPG’ where you actually see Bowser cry and it is played up for comedic effect. I have no idea the context for why he was crying, but the fact he did it at all shows that this has been a long established interpretation of Bowser prior to this game.
The difference with this one compared to other Mario games is there are way more examples of his gullible nature here, with added traits such as his overconfidence that make him a lot more entertaining. When you first arrive at Bowser's castle, it has been completely taken over by Fawful who has brainwashed all of Bowser's minions. Instead of trying to sneak into the castle and strategically take it back he goes straight into the front entrance, which implies that he thought taking it back by force was the best option. It isn't the brightest idea but not the worst either, however this is made worse by the fact that Bowser allows himself to be guided into a theater show Fawful created where all onlookers are made to watch Bowser fight Fawful’s main henchmen, and Bowser's direct rival of the game, Midbus.
After defeating Midbus, Bowser allows his brainwashed minions to feed him food that makes him so fat that he gets stuck in the floor. It's a hilarious moment that is silly and far past logic. It is physically impossible for anyone to gain weight that fast or be so gullible to willingly participate in a theater show designed by their enemy. Not once did Bowser ever consider that he was walking directly into a trap; and I didn't think something so silly and illogical could work well for a narrative but it does.
It never feels out of place because the game is ridiculous from the beginning. Like logically it makes sense that the antibodies and bacteria in Bowser's body will fight and defend against Mario and Luigi because that is the natural response the body has to anything foreign, but it makes no sense that some of these enemies have weapons! The game is consistently ridiculous throughout, which allows you to become immersed within the story without feeling the events of the narrative are out of place. It is easier to accept ridiculousness in a narrative if the story establishes that is what it is building its logic from, if the story instead tried to be completely logical throughout and then had ridiculousness mixed into it that would be immersion breaking because it is breaking the rules that it has created. Leaving the player to not be sure what the narrative is trying to be.
Unlike a game like even ‘Super Mario RPG’ which also lets you control Bowser in battle, you can explore the overworld with him in this game. He has access to a few attack options, he is able to punch enemies directly, breathe fire onto all enemies on field, use special attacks and most interestingly vacuum enemies straight into his stomach. It's the same action timed button attacks from the prior Mario and Luigi games, with the obvious twist that you are controlling Bowser. Despite the fact that a majority of Bowser's minions are brainwashed, those who were loyal to him were caged in different locations across the game as punishment. When you save them as Bowser you get access to ‘brawl attacks’ which can be simply put as Bowser abusing the power of his minions and sending some of them to certain death, I mean if hitting a goomba with a fire flower in the Super Mario games killed them I can't imagine taking a hit from Bowser's fire would be any different. Bowser's vaccum ability lets him: absorb certain traits present in enemies that give them an advantage in battle. For example you can absorb a certain enemy's teeth so it can't use beans to restore its health. Bowser can capturecreatures known as blitties and when he collects them all he gains access to his most powerful brawl attack. Bowser’s vaccuum ability also lets him absorb smaller enemies, which then engages both Mario brothers into battle. Defeating these enemies usually makes the battle easier for Bowser. The mechanic of dual fighting with the Mario brothers and Bowser is a common gimmick throughout the game in regular battles and some boss battles. In fact, dual fighting is essential to defeat the final boss of the game.
Every Mario and Luigi game before Bowser's Inside Story let you get access to special attacks, referred to as bros attacks, but the method of acquiring differed for the two games before Bowser's Inside Story. In the first game ,Superstar Saga, anytime the bros learnt a move that helped them progress the overworld, they learnt a new special attack in battle. You could then develop them further into advanced bros moves, but those are optional to unlock. In Partners in Time you simply outright bought special attacks from the shops in Peach's Castle, being able to buy more as the story progressed. Bowser's Inside Story handles them differently as well; all special attacks can only be used once you've collected all the attack pieces for it. Some are mandatory and some are optional, although the optional attack pieces are the best ones in my opinion, doing the most damage and can break some of the boss fights in the game if you have the correct set up.
The attack pieces are handled way better in the next game, Mario and Luigi Dream Team, because most of the ones you obtain are handed to you in bulk or sometimes all at once. The whole point of a system like this is to encourage exploration and to engage with the game's level design but you can't do that if so many are always handed to you, though one of the ones handed to you in bulk didn't bother me too much. You solve a few puzzle pieces for this old turtle fella to build furniture in his room and once completed he gives you this attack piece called the Spin Pipe. I don't like performing this one because it's extremely difficult to actually pull off correctly, but it isn't bad game design, it just takes a lot of skill to effectively pull off the attack as intended. A good risk vs reward system, which is present with all attack pieces in the game, even starting from the green shell.
I didn't find much excitement with the first 3 attack pieces personally because the green shell and fire flower are both generic mario items that don't do as much damage. The jump helmet is original but like the first two special attacks not much damage done, though it is fun to pull off. However, once I got access to the Yoo Woo Canon the quality of the attack pieces just got better from there. The Yoo Woo Canon creates clones of the Mario brothers and you have to remember who is being shot out of each canon. It add to the game's charm and ridiculousness. My favourite attack piece was the Magic Mirror one where Mario and Luigi will jump out of magic doors and you have to time your action commands to just before Mario or Luigi land on an enemy. Sometimes you have to press both Mario and Luigi's action commands at once, you won't know until they jump out of the magic door.
One amazing new element that was added to battle were the badges. When you get about halfway through the game, Mario and Luigi both have different types of badges they can equip. When one of the bros get an excellent on an attack the badge's gauge fills. Once it is fully filled the bros can choose to have a special effect take place in battle. This can range from having some health points restored, restoring bro points or , my favourite, having the damage dealt for each of the bros’ next attacked be doubled. This badge can absolutely break boss fights if you come in prepared, especially the final boss where there can be many rotations of repeated phases if you take too long to defeat it. It's a fantastic system that lets you take advantage of the level up wheel each Mario brother has access to each time they level up. You can choose to neglect HP and instead level up power and luck so you are able to do more damage to enemies. So, the HP badge would then come in handy to quickly restore both bros’ health without wasting a turn. I am glad this system returned in Dream Team and at the time of writing this review the new game Brothership has yet to release. I hope it has a system like this later on as it helps with being able to optimise player experiences on repeat playthroughs.
Mario and Luigi take a notable back seat throughout this adventure. Don't get me wrong the Mario brothers still get access to weird attacking moves and do things which should not be physically possible like Luigi hitting Mario to make him smaller allowing Mario to get access to areas he couldn't previously. Except now, most of the weird interactions in the game are now directly related to Bowser. Bowser is the protagonist for most of the adventure and the Mario brothers are secondary protagonists that act as Bowser's support unit, or as he puts it minions!
Sometimes throughout the game there will be moments where Bowser will be unable to progress the story without the help of the Mario Brothers, these are usually split into three distinct sections. There are moments where something in the outside world creates a change in Bowser's body and the Mario Brothers either explore this section of Bowser because they need to for their own personal goals or because the change is affecting Bowser's ability to progress the story. Other changes include bite sized minigames where Mario and Luigi provide Bowser with, usually strength based, support. Some examples being counter throwing a massive cannon ball back at Bowser's castle, pulling a small island towards Bowser to help a character known as Monsieur Broque who later becomes Bowser's ally and a minigame where the Mario Brothers help Bowser eat a carrot in under a minute by quickly finding digestive enzymes in Bowser's stomach. The last one happens when Bowser is in mortal danger and the Mario Brothers venture down Bowser's adrenaline channels, you hit coloured orbs that correspond with each bro. So Luigi's coloured orbs are green and Mario's are red. At the end of the minigame Bowser temporarily grows to an extraordinary size and you engage in a boss battle on a gigantic scale. These boss battles are really cool narratively and can be good fun, but they aren't mechanically interesting and if these were just regular boss fights they would be subpar at most.
I've touched a bit on the character and writing already but like many other Mario stories its the moments in the journey that make the game special rather than the final end that make the adventure special. Most of the funniest moments go towards Bowser. The game is fully aware of how stupid and naive he is. Before Bowser eats the vacuum mushroom from Fawful Kamek has the best reaction telling Bowser not to eat his weird mushroom because ‘the dude is weird’, and I love how he sees and portrays Fawful like a psychopath. He kind of is with all the strange metaphors he chooses to make. His craziness is a joy to experience and it makes every moment with him on screen incredible. This isn't to say the bros don't get their own moments. One that I rather enjoyed was in the final dungeon Mario and Luigi both explore within Bowser, Luigi is shivering because of the unbearable cold. Starlow then proceeds to gaslight him into believing it is all in his head. Then there is a back and forth exchange of Luigi shivering but then suddenly stopping every time Starlow reveals herself. It isn't anything major but it's a little moment that made me chuckle.
I am not the correct individual to be questioning music's validity and what makes a soundtrack great, but I enjoyed this game's soundtrack. For me, each theme suited the circumstance perfectly. Whether it was an overworld theme or one for battle themes. There is a nice contrast between Bowser's battle theme ‘Showtime’ and Mario and Luigi's theme ‘Okey Dokey’. Bowser's theme is intense, somewhat menacing. Even if Bowser can be a silly character, there is a reason he continues to be Mario's main antagonist; he is powerful and there is weight behind every punch, every fire he breathes. To steal a comment from a reupload of the theme on youtube, ‘you are the boss and the enemies are trying to overcome you.’ Very different from the Mario brothers who have such a jolly theme. It suits the plumbers and their weird bros attacks well. While Mario and Luigi are powerful, the theme also highlights how weird their powers are. It almost feels like the two plumber's weirdness adds to their own individual power. Bowser is raw strength. The bros have magical strength. I also can't write this review without mentioning the final boss’ theme, it can best be described as intense. Fawful is trying to take over the world and its Bowser and the Mario bros’ last stand to save the world from total evil and destruction.
For this review I played the 3ds remake of the game. I did this on a replay because I had already played the original Bowser's Inside Story and wanted to see what was different and what remained the same with the adventure. I won't be discussing the Bowser Jr's expansion for this review because I didn't have much interest in playing it. Though I wouldn't mind doing a follow up review at some point to see if the expansion had any meaningful impact on the original Bowser's Inside Story's narrative.
The first change being the cut in frame rate. Instead of running 60fps like the original game, it only runs at 30fps in the 3ds remake. This is an issue for a turn based RPG that relies on you having a good reaction time.
The remake is noticeably easier than the original game. Certain boss fights have been toned down in difficulty like Bowser's second encounter with Midbus and the Fawful Express. The latter was necessary considering in the original to breathe fire in gigantic Bowser battles you needed to blow into your mic. It was a bit gimmicky up until that point but doable. However for that specific boss fight you need to destroy the train before it reaches the canyon and if you get anything besides an excellent you always lose that fight. It's hard to do that with the mic, most of the time you will not consistently get excellents so as a boss encounter it is mechanically broken. In the remake this has been changed, all you need to do to breathe fire is to tap the stylus on the 3ds’ bottom screen just before Bowser breathes fire. It went from making the fight terribly frustrating to very easy. I prefer this because it means I get to experience more of the good the game has to offer.
I noticed two of the special attacks for the bros changed in the remake. Instead of the green shell just disappearing after both bros had hit it enough times, it's been changed to do one final hit for the last green shell that deals a lot of damage. The one who deals the final attack is dependent on who first chose to use the attack for their special. The other one being magic mirrors, instead of the original where it goes on until one or both bros mess up the attack, it has now been changed to where each bro will simultaneously do a string of a few very powerful attacks that then end the special. I would have rather they kept it like the original as it is the apex of the risk vs reward system that is done for every other attack in the game. Though I see they possibly did this to prevent players from breaking the game, as in the original when paired with the KO Badge you can defeat some boss fights with one single special if you're good.
This is a great Mario adventure and while it might not be great in the ways I originally thought, this game proves that what makes a great narrative is not about how logical it is, or close to a truth that we can imagine in our own world. It is one with depth. You can believe in what the fictional world has to stay and become one with the characters.
Comments