Introduction:

Mario's first RPG on a handheld system, and his very first RPG with his brother Luigi. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga promises to give a great RPG experience on a handheld, while instituting a new action side to the great Mario RPG series.
The Super Mario RPG series are one of my favourites. So I was very excited to play this game, but how did it stack up against other Mario RPGs?

Story:

Princess Peach's voice has been stolen? Yes, apparently you can steal a voice. Well, it has been stolen, and it is up to Mario and Luigi to get it back.

Gameplay:

The gameplay gives some of the same great style as the other Mario RPGs. But there is no mistaking, this game is clearly the most different.
Lets start with when you are in Battle. It has the classic options, Run Away, Basic Fight Attacks, Items which will allow you to recover your HP and BP (Bros. Points), revive a fallen brother, and a couple other things. This is where it takes a turn. Instead of special moves which only require 1 person, they are now called Bros. Moves. Mario and Luigi work together to pull off some cool moves. You also have to master the moves, you don't simply select a move, and then watch Mario and Luigi perform it. You have to click buttons on the controller at precise moments to get the biggest attack on your enemy. This is fun to try and master each Bros. Attack at its hardest level. But once you master a Bros. Attack, it's well worth it.
The battle mode has some other action parts packed into, unlike other Mario RPGs where you would attack, and then be attacked.
In this game you actually have a chance of dodging the enemies attack, and even inflicting damage on that enemy! And this chance to dodge, doesn't come around every once in awhile, it comes around every attack. So if you get really good, it's possible to never get hurt at all! Each enemy has a "tell" of what it is going to do, and who it is going to attack. You have to figure out these "tells" to be able to stay alive. This gives the game more of a challenge, and a cool thing to have to figure out. That's about it for battle.
Now outside the battling, even walking around the world is different then the other Mario RPGs. One huge and very important reason is Mario and Luigi now have special moves that they will learn, and have to use all the time through-out the game. Mario can do a spin jump with Luigi and go across holes, Luigi can do a high jump with Mario and reach high places. There are a couple other as well, and Mario and Luigi will have to work together to finish the game. This makes walking around the world very fun. It's not just walking and talking into you get into a battle, you are doing fun stuff outside the battles.
But there are also alot of people you can talk to, and like all RPGs, some will help you out. The world is also very cool. Instead of a huge world, that has small parts you go across, this is just one huge world where you can basically go anywhere, everything is connected. This is another cool addition.
There are puzzles through-out the world you have to solve.
There are also some cool Mini-Games you get to play through-out the game, which makes it even better to play.
And the game stays very loyal to the Mario Series, I don't want to give anything away, but you will see some cool old-style Mario-like things.
It is also a nice change to just play as Mario and Luigi through-out the game, instead of characters joining your party every once in awhile.
The game is amazing, the battles are similar to previous Mario RPGs, except there is now some action, it is fun to know you can actually avoid attacks. The world play is so different than the console Mario RPG's, you are constantly having to use moves and solve some cool puzzles.

I give the gameplay: 8/10

Graphics:

The graphics are pretty good. Mario and Luigi look very nice, and they have a nice look when they are moving around and doing anything. The enemies and characters look very nice as well. There are some unique looking characters.
The environment is nice, everything has some detail, and there is a diverse world look, with Desert, Forest, and more.
I don't really know how to describe the graphics, they are unique, colourful, and have there own style. They are memorable.

I give the graphics: 7/10

Sound:

The sound is amazing. I love it, the battle sound fx, and other sound fx are perfect. The background music is very well done. Different music for different areas, it captures the mood and feel of that area.

I give the sound: 8.5/10

Replayability:

This is where all RPGs lack. Once you beat the game, what else is there to do.
Well this has some surprisingly good replayability. You may want to replay the game to master perfectly all the Mario Bros. Attacks, and to master dodging all the enemies attacks, as well as reply the fun mini-games.

I give the replayability: 6/10

Challenge:

This is a category where it lacks. I'd have to say this is the easiest Mario RPG out of them all, hands down. The puzzles and such in the world aren't that hard at all. Many you will figure out instantly and know what to do. Some may take a couple minutes, but there isn't really any puzzles that make you go crazy trying to figure it out. Everything is pretty obvious. Now in battles, it is easy as well. I love how you can dodge enemies, but that severely makes the game easy. You can go into a battle, and not get hurt once. Another sad thing about the challenge is the big boss battles. They are easy as well. I remember playing Seven Stars and Paper Mario, there would be some boss battles I had to replay a few times to beat.
There wasn't one single boss battle I had to redo, not only that, there wasn't even one boss battle that was even kind of hard. Even the final boss battle, which should be very difficult, was very easy. It was just longer than the others, but still easy. When I defeated the game I still had tons of items in my inventory, usually I would have just a few. But despite the games lack of a challenge, it still is very fun. But don't get this game expecting a challenge like other Mario RPGs.

I give the challenge: 5/10

Frustration:

Not much frustration, since boss battles and puzzles are pretty easy. I did get frustrated a couple of times though, just because I would try and jump and miss a platform a couple times, but that was my own dumb fault.

I give the frustration: 4/10

Value:

This game has good value. I got it new and don't regret it, I had a great time playing it. I will play it again and again every few years probably. Not as much as the other Mario RPGs, but it's still a great game and worth every dollar.

I give the value: 7/10

Overall:

Overall Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga is a must play for any Mario RPG Fan. It has some very fun gameplay. You owe it to yourself to play this Mario RPG and see why it is so different than the others. If you've never played a Mario RPG, then this is a good one to start with, it's fun and easy. If you played a previous Mario RPG before and sort of liked it, maybe you'll love this one for its action side.
This game has fun battle and non-battle play. It has some very fun mini-games, and some cool graphics and sound.

I give Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga : 8/10

Conclusion:

This is a great game. I got addicted to it just like the other Mario RPGs. I just kept playing it and playing it. It may have been easy, but it was very fun. It had a cool story, and some fun mini-games, I'll always remember it, and it will always have a place in my heart with the amazing games I've been able to play.
Right now the sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time is out. I hope I will be able to play it, Superstar Saga made me want to see more Mario RPG's with this action style and play as both Mario & Luigi. This game is great, and should be respected for its new type of style its giving the Mario RPGs.

Written By: Joey Anderson
Date Written: December 7th, 2005