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  1. It's easy to forget that not everyone has played every game in a franchise you love, especially the early entries that may have been overlooked just because of their age. For the Mario & Luigi RPG series the earliest entry was Superstar Saga on the GBA—not the first Mario RPG but the first to put Mario and Luigi in the starring roles and give them a variety of themed Mario Bros. abilities and combo attacks, set in a wacky RPG world (and I mean wacky in the best way possible). It remains one of the best games in the franchise, and now even more players have a chance to try it out with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions for the 3DS, complete with a new side mode starring one plucky Goomba and his team of minions. The good news is this remake retains all the goofy charm of the original, even if the new additions are modest. The main Mario platformer series may not be known for its writing but the RPG spin-offs take the opportunity to craft more elaborate and hilarious storylines in the Mushroom Kingdom. Or as I should say, the Beanbean Kingdom, where Superstar Saga takes place. The story begins with the evil Cackletta stealing Princess Peach's voice, so the Mario brothers give chase (with the unlikely assistance of Bowser). A simple enough premise, but Superstar Saga made waves in 2003 for its delightfully goofy sense of humor, one that perfectly balances between outright slapstick comedy and clever writing. And if you've never seen Fawful in a Mario + Luigi game, you're in for a treat here. This side-kick to the main villain is so wonderfully bizarre that he's charmed players for years with his unusual speech patterns and adorably small but evil stature. One of the additions to this remake is a fast-forward option during cutscenes, and while it's nice to have the option to speed things up be sure to read the dialogue as much as you can, it's worth it. Superstar Saga is the genesis of the Mario & Luigi RPGs, and began the combat system where you control Mario with the "A" button and Luigi with the "B" button and can increase attack power or dodge attacks with a carefully timed press of the correct button (although this action-battle system actually goes further back to Super Mario RPG on the SNES). This is a long way of saying the battle system in the Mario & Luigi series has always done a great job of keeping every battle interesting. You aren't just mashing the attack button every time your turn comes around—you have to pay attention to what you're doing. And dodging well means you can completely avoid damage, so you really have to focus when the enemy is attacking, especially during long boss fights. Add in the extra-powerful Bros. attacks which require a bit more skill with timing and you've got an engaging RPG combat system that rewards skill as much as planning/level grinding. The unique battle system also means that the Mario + Luigi series has always had a pretty fluid sense of difficulty. If you're bad at dodging the game can feel pretty punishing at times, and conversely it can seem like a breeze if you avoid every hit. This remake tries to find a middle ground—or at least cater to novice players—with an easy mode that is more forgiving. As is always the case with such features easy mode is entirely optional, but if you find yourself struggling it might not be a bad idea. Superstar Saga isn't a particularly difficult game, but getting stuck on a boss battle is never fun. Superstar Saga also puts a fun twist on exploration. Your progress throughout the Beanbean Kingdom is tied to new abilities that the Mario brothers learn, which correspond to their iconic skills: jumping, hammer attacks, and fireballs. As in battles you control the brothers separately: "A" makes Mario jump and "B" makes Luigi jump. Unlike the original game you can now press "X" to make both brothers jump, which is handy. Jumping around the scenery may not sound like a big deal but Superstar Saga has a knack for making these simple actions fun. The abilities are as funny as they are functional, such as when Mario smacks Luigi with a hammer, driving him into the ground, so he can go underneath a locked gate to open it. There are a handful of times where the brothers are split up, which allows for unique puzzle-platformer sequences and serves as a good reminder that the brothers are more powerful as a team. And finally as a bonus you can see enemies wandering around the environment and can avoid them if you don't feel like taking the time to battle—though it's an RPG, you should be fighting everything you see! The controls are pretty intuitive and have gotten a couple of small upgrades like the aforementioned "X" button to make both characters jump. Additionally, the touch screen can either display a mini-map or quick links to Bros. abilities while exploring (otherwise you use "R" and "L" to cycle through the abilities). Both are welcome additions and help make exploration just a bit smoother. In battle the touch screen doesn't have much to do, but it displays the stats for Mario and Luigi, which is really only useful information when one of them is afflicted with a status ailment. The main addition to this remake is of course the new mode: Bowser's Minions. This side story follows a slightly altered version of the plot from the perspective of one enterprising little Goomba who is dead set on rescuing Bowser from the chaos of the Beanbean Kingdom. The writers have done a great job of matching the charming and outright silly tone of the main game in this side mode—in fact the best reason to play is just for the cutscenes between the various minions. The gameplay is a little less compelling, or at the very least overstays its welcome even across the relatively short length of the Bowser's Minions campaign. The key component in minion battles is planning—there's an attack triangle system where melee minions beat ranged, ranged beat flying, and flying beat melee—but the battles themselves grow tiresome pretty quickly, mainly because you don't actually get to do much. Once you've chosen your minions for the next stage you begin the battle and watch them fight. There are only two inputs you need to focus on now: timed attacks, similar to Mario and Luigi's attacks in the main game, and Captain Commands which are special abilities that cost command points to use. Battles can be kind of boring with these limited tools for interaction, and sometimes luck just isn't on your side when it comes to timed attacks or Captain Commands, so these strategic encounters have an obnoxiously chaotic element to them. Battles end up feeling pretty repetitive, especially when you have to replay previous encounters to level up a bit (enemy armies always seem to be just a little ahead of you, level-wise). Bowser's Minions is okay as a side mode but that's really all it is: a side dish novelty that you might enjoy playing in short bursts but ultimately won't hold your attention. The visuals have gotten a significant overhaul compared to the original GBA graphics, trading sprite artwork for polygonal models. The original sprites had a lot of personality to them and while the new graphics aren't quite the same this 3DS version still looks great. The shift in art style doesn't completely diminish the charming character design that defines Superstar Saga, from the exaggerated expressions to the oddball villains. And although the developers didn't add stereoscopic 3D to the game—which feels like a missed opportunity since they revamped the graphics anyway—Superstar Saga looks pretty sharp on the 3DS screen. It also sounds great, with an updated soundtrack that improves upon the GBA's sound system. The composition is just as good, with plenty of catchy songs, and now you can hear it on better speakers than the original. Mario + Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions takes an already great game and basically just repackages it. The updated visuals and audio are great since the original game is quite old at this point, and a few touch-ups make the adventure a little smoother, but the one big addition doesn't actually add much to the experience. On the other hand, Bowser's Minions doesn't detract from it either. It may not be a hugely interesting side mode but it can be charming in small doses, and since it's an optional mode you can just as easily focus entirely on the main game instead. The core Superstar Saga experience may not be particularly different or revamped but it remains an utterly charming and engaging RPG just the same. Rating: 9 out of 10 Beans
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