Now over the past few months Nintendo’s 3DS system has been on a roll with some great new titles, with the likes of Luigi’s Mansion 2: Dark Moon, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Fire Emblem: Awakening, the Animal crazy Animal Crossing and much more. There are many more great games on the Horizon for The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Systems, so start saving you big N Fans.
Nintendo’s in house development team has now released to the world the 4th Installment in the Mario & Luigi Role Playing Game Franchise ‘Mario & Luigi Dream Team Bros’ for the Nintendo 3DS. The game starts with an airship that arrives at Princess Peach’s castle with an Invitation from Dr Snoozemore to visit the island of Pi’illo. Princess Peach, The Mushroom Clan and finally Mario & Luigi board the airship, however while on their way they are attacked by what looks like a pillow, what comes out of the pillow? Well you will have to find out by playing the game.
Players new to the franchise, do not worry, during the first set of battles you will be able learn the basic skills of combat, counter & defense. Now where was I? ahh yeh, ‘Airship battle’, this ends and you end up landing on the Island where you are greeted by the residents and taken to the castle. Along the way you will be given puzzles to complete which allows you to earn prizes and coins, and a few mini battles to hone your skills on.
Ok Back to the story…. OH no the Dream Stone is stolen and yet again Princess Peach is kidnapped, see by now the Plumbers should of learnt to attach a tracking device to this girl or a long metal chain just so she will, 1 not go missing and 2 that damn Bowser character cannot kidnap her over and over again. Or even better, create a decoy Princess Peach with a Bomb attached to her, so when they do decide to take the poor girl, they will end up with a BOOMING surprise. Yet again Mario and Luigi are in it for the long haul as it’s time for them to save the day, through many amazing zones with many twists and turns along the way. Also making a return are some of the original villains from previous games, which to fans of the franchise will be pleased to see. The story is entertaining and Luigi is a pure comical genius and really helps bring the game alive.
The game consists of two types of gameplay elements one bring the 3D World (The Real World), where you get to explore the land, battle enemies and solve puzzles. Then we have Luigi’s Dream Land which has been designed as a 2D side-scrolling world. In the dream world Mario works with Luigi’s dream self to help rescue missing residents if Pi’illo and move past obstacles that stop you from moving forward in the 3d World..
Now being able to play Luigi in the dream world is fun and interesting, but this is not the only way you can interact with Luigi. While Luigi sleeps you can use the 3DS touchscreen to interact with him, this in turn opens up many more intuitive abilities, for example, pulling on Luigi’s Moustache to help Mario reach out-of-reach objects and platforms, to tickling his nostrils hairs to make him sneeze which in turn brings background obstacles to the foreground all in the dream world. There are plenty of fun interactions to learn while Luigi sleeps and really helps bring more depth and interaction to the game as a whole. I felt this was a great added feature and really made exploring areas and completing puzzles more fun and interesting.
As you progress through the game you will learn a number of new skills and special abilities which aid you in the upcoming battles ahead, which in a sense make each zone you, enter a more unique playing experience. The same can be said for the battle system, which takes full advantage of all the games features, with it turn based tactics. Players that have played the original RPG’s in the franchise will find that nothing much has changed to the overall feel of the battle system, maybe a small tweak here and there. While most of the battles will rely on using jumps and hammers, you do get the added advantage of these becoming more powerful based on button bashing with perfect timing.
Ok the battle system does seem to get a bit repetitive, however almost all games go down the same root as you get used to it. Click this, do that, or you find the perfect rotation to use and stick to it, so when it comes to this area just except it and move on. There is some challenge when it comes to the battles this comes in the form counters.” NO not counters as in number counting you div” the type I am talking about is when you need to learn the enemies attack patterns and countering them to survive or do more damage on an enemy. You really need to master this skill as Mario’s and Luigi’s health bar is so damn low and if you don’t master this then you will most likely see yourself restarting more than once.
The battle system gets even more fun when you start to use the Nintendo 3DS gyroscope, for example, when you need to steer a Propeller-Block-like object. How about turning the 3DS on its side and controlling an oversized Luigi? Sound fun, How about adding super huge enemies as well? It’s all in this game. The depth perception when using the Nintendo 3DS 3D option makes the battles even more immersive and enjoyable. The island itself is very beautiful to explore, from its lava pits to castle dungeons and tropical areas, all are a feast for the eye to see. The 3D world contains many mini bosses to tackle, loads of puzzles, mini quests and much more to dig your teeth into. If you are like me and take bloody ages in a game to explore every area then you shall be well rewarded with mini boosts thanks to magical beans “not the type that create beanstalks sorry” and badges that allow you to combine and create new attack moves and defensive skills
Now down to the nitty gritty was it worth me spending £27.99 on this game from Amazon UK or £34.99 on the Nintendo eShop?
Well I would of loved to of had the option to choose a difficulty level, maybe a Game Mode + or Hard mode after finishing the game. The game does offer an average of 30 plus hours of playing time which is, to say the least awesome. The Development Team behind the production of the RPG series have managed to keep the game fresh and clean through all its outings which is a great achievement. The game is entertaining, funny and really puts the Nintendo 3D capability and other functionalities to great use.
I would suggest this game to any budding Nintendo fan for certain, but not just those, RPG fans as well looking for pure fun should differently grab this game as well. The game is being sold bang on the buck and is well worth your hard earned money, yet again another sweet title from the BIG N.
Scan the QR code to goto the eShop to purchase the game now and download straight to your 3DS, Or click Here to goto Amazon and purchase there.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
