Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story
List Price : $34.99
Price : $33.99
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Product Features
* Players are in control of two separate storylines. One features Bowser and his efforts to stop an arch-villain from taking over his castle.
* The microbe-sized Mario & Luigi must muscle their way through challenges and keep their nerve if they want to find a way out. They take action to control Bowser from the inside – but without his knowledge.
* Players can switch between storylines at will. What happens inside Bowser affects what he’s doing on the outside. Sometimes Mario & Luigi must solve puzzles and challenges behind the scenes to help Bowser overcome various obstacles and advance the plot.
* Players must make well-timed button presses to enhance their performance during battles and challenges.
Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story Reviews
I want to start off by saying that this game does almost everything right and hardly anything wrong. The gameplay is great. You use Bowser on the top screen with the D-Pad and X makes Bowser punch and Y makes Bowser breathe fire. Mario and Luigi are controlled by the D-pad and the A and B buttons. The action is very smooth and well done in this game. The Bowser battles are a lot different then the Mario and Luigi battles but that helps make the game even greater. The characters in this game all are full of life, color, and humor. The boss battles are fun, and the battles that Bowser grows and you have to turn your DS around like a book are very fun. The storyline is crazy but its funny, and the text in the game and actions of the characters are 100% classic. Some of my favorite parts of the game are when your Bowser and you meet up with any of his minions that always leads to a funny moment
It’s almost as assured as the sun rising in the east that a Nintendo product starring Mario will be of the highest quality. Technically this is actually a second party game having been developed by AlphaDream but it remains rock solid both in terms of visuals and gameplay. This time the brothers Mario find themselves miniaturized and swallowed up by Bowser ala the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage. For the first time Bowser takes center stage as a playable character while Mario and Luigi assist him from within. For instance the brothers might give a nerve connected to Bowser’s bicep a jolt for a burst of power or pound an enemy to restore Bowser’s fiery breath. The same `condition’ that caused Bowser to inadvertently inhale the brothers also allows him to suck in enemies so that Mario and Luigi can get in on the battle action. Not that there isn’t tons of enemies existing within Bowser to keep the plumbers busy.
My one issue with the previous Mario and Luigi was the controls. Besides Mario and Luigi the player would also control their baby counterpart and each of the X/Y/A/B buttons was mapped to a character. Besides that the right shoulder button could be used to switch modes. It was all very confusing and I have to confess that I never felt comfortable using it and even after hours of play would mess up the buttons. Inside Bowser simplifies it somewhat by mapping both X and Y to Bowser but it still doesn’t feel as smooth as the rest of the game and you still switch attacks using the right shoulder button. My other issue with Partners in Time was that it was much more linear than Superstar Saga but this isn’t nearly as bad in the newest game. Although you can wander a lot more the game makes sure to point out your current goal on the map with a star just so you don’t forget of get confused as to what to do next. One ding I gave Brothers In Time was the lack of side quests and although Bowser’s Inside Story improves there still aren’t a ton. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was the lack of great gear and almost complete absence of badges. Once you get access to badges you pretty much get them all immediately. The gear (Pants, Socks, Shoes etc.) don’t really get a whole lot better as the game goes on. Sure you have a slightly wider selection but they really don’t have a major impact.
The Luigi/Mario franchise has always had a fantastic battle mode. The fights are all about pattern recognition, timing and quick reflexes. I actually found some of the battles surprisingly challenging given the target audience but maybe I’m just losing my lightening reflexes in my old age. The menu system in the game is one of the best I’ve ever seen and allowed the players to use the stylus to click on character statistics for a brief explanation. Perhaps the crown jewel of the series is the scripting and AlphaDreams continues to maintain its high standards. Having Bowser as the main character adds even more to the humor of the story. My issues with this game are small and I wouldn’t hesitate at all to give it five stars and rank it among the best DS games of all time. This is a must have game if for nothing else than the ability to blow into the mic to control Bowser’s fiery breath. Now THAT is an experience you don’t want to miss.
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