Review For: Mario and Luigi : Superstar Saga (GBA) Date Written: November 24, 2003 Written By: Webmaster Christopher Beley Rating:

Introduction 
The Goodwill Ambassador from the Beanbean Kingdom has come to give a gift to Princess Peach, but the gift is actually this green gas that starts floating around Princess Peach’s head. Soon after, Toad goes to look for Mario in his house to tell him of the sudden occurrences. Once Toad finds Mario, Mario and Luigi quickly head off to Princess Peach’s castle.

There, Mario and Luigi find Princess peach in her throne crying and Bowser in front of her. Mario and Luigi accidentally run into Bowser, because they were in such a hurry. This caused Bowser to get angry and start the first battle of the game. A little after that (When you are just about to beat Bowser too) Bowser realizes this is no time for fighting.

Bowser explains to Mario and Luigi about the visit from the Goodwill Ambassador from the Beanbean Kingdom. It turns out that the Goodwill Ambassador stole Princess Peache’s voice and replaced it with an “explosive vocabulary” (by this I mean that when ever Princess Peach tries to talk, instead of her voice you hear bombs come down from over her head effecting everyone around her)! Now you are probably wondering why Bowser was there. Well, he was going to kidnap Princess Peach, but his plans backfired, because if he kidnapped Princess Peach his whole castle would be destroyed! So, Bowser helps Mario to get to the Beanbean Kingdom, because if Princess Peach isn’t rescued he won’t be able to kidnap Princess Peach. You then end up in this rest area where you learn a little bit about the game. You will soon find Bowser by his Koopa Cruiser ready to depart. Now you may be wondering what ever happened to Luigi for the last paragraph or so. Well, don’t worry. He is in this game too:) He is just saying bye to Mario, but Bowser’s “baddies” arrive and drag him onto the Koopa Cruiser. After that they are off to the Beanbean Kingdom! 

My First Thoughts 

 Well first of all I want to say that this has to be one of the best games for the Gameboy Advance! Who would of ever thought someone would turn Mario into an RPG (Role Playing Game)! As you can see from the introduction this story has a very good storyline unlike some other games I know (cough, cough, Spongebob). This game also has some humor in it, especially at the beginning (I left out some of the humor in the introduction so I didn’t spoil everything:). First lets talk about the game play… 

Game play
The game has something called “action commands”. When you are just walking around if you press the L or R buttons you can switch to different “actions”. For example you can get out your hammer or prepare to do a special move. Some of the special moves are the spin and high jumps. You can use the spin jump to travel in mid air across ledges or some other obstacles. With your high jump you can jump onto high ledges and other obstacles. There is a catch through; Mario and Luigi have to use teamwork to do their moves. Depending on who is leading (you can change if Mario or Luigi is leading by pressing the start button) you can do different moves. So, for example, if Luigi is leading then you can do a spin jump or if Mario is in the lead you can do a high jump. Now let’s take a look into some things in this game that aren’t in your every day game… 

SOME MISC. COMMENTS
In this game you may end up doing things wrong just to see Mario and or Luigi’s reactions to it. Mario and Luigi never seem to talk, but instead of talking they use a few simple words and lots of funny hand expressions and body movement. This game is sure to make you laugh at some point! Another thing is that all the characters (not just Mario and Luigi) seem to have there own unique personality witch is shown very well in the game. 

THE GRAPHICS

The graphics are very detailed and crisp and is one of the reasons why I like this game so much. You won’t find anyplace in the game where there isn’t “Eye Candy” and this will make you want to get further and further into the game to see the new scenery. The only setback is that the scenery is mostly stationary and nothing moves like in Pokemon Ruby (In Pokemon Ruby the grass would move or it would rain, etc). I don’t mean that all the scenery is stationary, but most of it is. I also wanted to state that all the characters are very well drawn and are very detailed. You will run across many strange and exotic creatures! Now let’s see if the music is as good as the graphics……… 

THE MUSIC
And it is! This game just keeps getting better and better! The music is pretty good for a Gameboy Advance game and there is a lot of different music that plays during different times, so you won’t get bored with the music. There also seems to be a few remixes of some of the old Mario game classics! The only problem with the music is that when ever you go into battle it is the same music, but it is really good music:) Now, for the sound effects. When you go to talk to people, Mario and Luigi talk with actual voices, but they are simple phrases like yes or no. They will also make weird sounds occasionally when talking, which can be quite amusing, when Mario and Luigi talk and no one understands half of what they say:) The sound effects of things like jumping are good, but not the best. For example, the sounds that some of the monsters make don’t sound too realistic, but maybe the developers wanted to put a little of the older games into this game. (You never know!) Now for a little insight on the bonus game that comes with this game! 

THE BONUS GAME
Included in the game itself is the classic Mario Bros. This is the Mario game you often see in arcades and I think it was the first Mario game to come out! Now this is nothing Nintendo hasn’t done before. They have put this same game in Yoshie’s Island and a few other games, but still this is a nice addition to have in the game. But wait, there’s more! You can hook your Gameboy Advance up with someone else and have a multiplayer game! I’m not sure, however, if both people have to have the game or not. Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode is only for the Bonus Game. Now for the Pros and Cons… 

THE PROS
The graphics, music, and storyline are all great. This game is also very funny and amusing and will keep you playing for hours. 

THE CONS
No game is perfect I guess:( Well, first of all some of the monsters sound effects don’t sound particularly good and there isn’t much moving scenery. 

MY CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this game is the best and you should definitely buy it! You don’t find games this good every day and it is well worth your money! Now, if only I could stop playing it…..