Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga GBA review

Mario makes good RPGs. I only played the Mario Luigi series but I heard Paper Maro is great. I didn't know what this game was gonna be like until I played it since the screenshots made no sense too me. I do say its one of my favorite games on a handheld system.

Story:
Peach's voice has been stolen by a witch named Cackletta so Mario, Luigi and Bowser must travel to the foreign BeanBean Kingdom. I really like this adventure because unlike other Mario games, this one is in a whole new land, with new locations, new enemies and new people. The BeanBean Kingdom has this whole laughter thing going on with places like Hoohoo Mountain and the Oho Ocean.

While Peach and Mario are they're usually selves, Luigi really shows he has more personalty than Mario. While Mario would just agree to any insane task, Luigi would hesitate and will have to be pushed in the direction he'll need to go. Most of the new characters or one I've never seen before didn't bother me that much and I even liked most of them except for Prince Peasly. I don't why, he just rubs me the wrong way.
I would comment on the humor, but that's subjective. I would say that there is one section near the end which is just hilarious.

As for the story itself, I hate to talking about spoilers but I'll say it's very simple and very smart at times. Damn Spoilers.

Gameplay
Like most RPG's, all the fighting is done in a battle system. This was my first time expose to a system like this and it's one of my favorites. the gimmick is that you can deal more damage or avoid attacks all together if you press A or B at the right time. To fight, you can jump, use a hammer or use hand powers, each are useful in there own ways. And of course there are Bro.Moves which are super moves you can use and when used properly can destroy almost anything. I know there's a more complex version of each Bros.Move you can unlock but I never used them.

For exploring, you learn many moves in the game like a dash, digging, a spin jump to name a few and all of these can be used in combat. These moves depend on who's in front like Luigi has to be in front to use the spin jump. Out of all the Mario/Luigi games, I like this world the best not only because it opens up more as the game goes on, but because there are so many secrets and side quests to find.

Presentation
The sprites are pretty nice, even if they look small now a days. Bowser especially looks small compared to later games. The animation is good, mainly in the fights and when the brothers try to "talk". The areas look very nice with some little bits of detail in either the back or foreground like the summit of Hoohoo moutain. The music is really good and memorable with my favorites being the Beanbean theme, TeeHee Vally and the final boss theme. It's also a good mood setter, best example being Woohoo Hooniversity where it's creepy and unsettling.

Verdict
Highly recommended. This is a very well done game and is one of favorite handheld games ever.
9/10