I have been playing the Mario and Luigi series for over 20 years. I played Superstar Saga when it came out in 2003, Partners in Time in 2005 and so on.
The last entry in the series, a remake of 2009’s Bowser’s Inside Story (which I wrote a review of last semester), came out in 2019. Publisher Alphadream went bankrupt not long afterward.
So when Nintendo revealed a trailer for Mario and Luigi: Brothership in June 2024, I went feral. I remember it vividly. I was visiting my parents, and I had gotten up early in the morning specifically to watch the Nintendo Direct.
I started jumping, clapping and chanting. My mom told me to chill out, but my partner at the time told her to let me have this. She didn’t realize that I was seeing a game that I had thought couldn’t exist for five years.
The Mario and Luigi (MnL) series has numerous claims to fame. The most important one, in my opinion, is the lack of bloat. RPGs have a reputation for having too much stuff going on. There are too many menus, the numbers get too high, there are too many characters and so on.
MnL keeps numbers low, giving it easy accessibility. The player only has a few pieces of gear they can switch out, they only have a few special moves and there aren’t a ton of characters to keep track of.
Switching out party members and figuring out who’s the best for any given situation feels like a hassle in many RPGs. MnL doesn’t let the player switch party members, as there are always only two-to-four. Every game gives us Mario and Luigi. Some have guests such as Bowser or the baby bros.
The series is also known for its humor. From dialogue that can be appreciated by fans young and old alike to some good old Luigi-based slapstick, these games are constant chuckle-fests.
That’s a nice overview of the series, but how does Brothership stack up with the rest of the franchise?
It holds up well. While it doesn’t drastically innovate the Mario and Luigi formula, this entry has every right to stand beside its brothers in the MnL series.
The Super Mario Bros. find themselves in the land of Concordia, which has been broken apart into islands. The bros travel on an island that is also a ship, working to reconnect the severed land.
The inhabitants of Concordia are electrical outlet people. To my knowledge, the species does not have a name other than “Concordian.” Connie, a “Wattanist” in training, highlights the silly-yet-approachable design of these creatures as she wears a plug for a hat.
Combat and exploration are pretty standard for MnL. Mario does an action such as jumping or swinging his hammer with the A button, while Luigi uses the B button.
New to Brothership is Luigi Logic. Sometimes the player will be prompted to press the L button in the overworld, causing Luigi to take various actions. These can range from staying at a button to keep the lights on to plucking plants and hammering boxes.
There are a few remixes of classic mechanics. The UFO Spin replaces the iconic Spin Bros. It’s novel but functionally the same move. When in battle, if neither bro is knocked out, he will help the other with his standard jump and hammer attacks.
The soundtrack is pretty good. I haven’t been humming any of the tunes in my free time, so I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect soundtrack, but I haven’t been displeased with any of the music.
As for the difficulty, I have found it to be a pleasant surprise. I’m so used to curb-stomping MnL games. I don’t know if it’s simply because it’s new or if the game is actually challenging, but I’ve had to use my fair share of 1-up mushrooms thus far.
One odd gripe I have is that they changed how Luigi works. Firstly, using the L button instead of the B button to activate him in the overworld is silly. He only follows Mario blindly otherwise. The button isn’t seeing much other usage.
Furthermore, when in battles, the B button would select options for Luigi when it was his turn. Not anymore. The A button confirms things, while the B button goes back, just like they do for Mario. It’s a weird nitpick, but it genuinely took me some getting used to.
Full disclosure, I have not completed the game yet. It has been out for less than a week, so I’ve only put around 11 hours into it. Maybe one day I’ll get paid to fully play video games and put out timely reviews, but that day is not today, so I had to work instead of finishing Brothership.
Brothership is a solid game. If it stays as good as it has been so far, I’d be comfortable giving the game a 4/5. Once again, IGN was wrong. Who could’ve seen that coming?
Tolbert can be contacted at [email protected]. Take him on an adventure to form the bonds of brothership.
