Departing Salute - The Best of DS #12: Mario&Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

In2514 days, Nintendo launches its 3DS handheld system in Japan, to be followed a month later by the European and American versions. While the arrival of 3DS doesn't mean its predecessor is completely dead, we're definitely moving into the DS's latter days. That makes now the perfect occasion to catch on up all the DS games you've missed. In the days leading up to 3DS's Japanese debut, I'll be looking back at the best the DS had to offer -- my favorite games for one of my favorite systems ever, and some others that I may not be totally enamored with but can respect for their general importance. This isn't a definitive list or anything. It's an op-ed column! Please feel free to voice your dissent in the comments.

Previous entries:1.Bangai-O Spirits| 2.Brain Age| 3.Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow| 4.Contra 4| 5.Dragon Quest V| 6.Dragon Quest IX| 7.Etrian Odyssey III| 8.Feel the Magic: XY/XX| 9.Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light| 10.Kirby: Canvas Curse| 11.The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Departing Salute Entry 12:Mario&Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Developed by:AlphaDream
Published by:Nintendo
Genre:Incredible RPG journey
Date:Sept. 15, 2009

ThebestMario RPG is 2001'sPaper Mariofor N64, which exists outside the continuum of this series. I am, after all, writing about DS games. But that frees me to write about thesecond-best Mario RPG, which is 2009's Mario&Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (which I will henceforth call M&L3, because the full title is way cumbersome and doesn't shorten with anything resembling elegance).

M&L3 marked the seventh time the Mario brothers had ventured out into the world of role-playing. It succeeded the two least popular Mario RPG entries to date, Partners in Time and Super Paper Mario, and I think a lot of people dismissed the game out of hand after being disappointed by its predecessors. But that was their loss, because M&L3 was great. It seems seven reallyisa lucky number.

Let's begin with the graphics. Despite coming off a little simplistic and cutesy in screenshots, M&L3 is a beautiful-looking game. You have to see it in motion, I suppose, but every element of the game is dripping with detail. These details collect into pools of animation in which it's entirely too easy to drown. Big, rounded, colorful sprites are everywhere, moving with fluid grace and demonstrating the greatest number of totally superfluous incidental animations I've seen sinceFinal Fantasy TacticsorSymphony of the Night. So, yeah, basically I'm saying that this is a game that showed off the same degree of subtle detail seen in the two most subtle and detailed big-budget games of the PlayStation era. And here you thought portable games were lightweight fluff.

Equally deserving of praise, though, is M&L3's game design. The whole adventure is broken into sections: sometimes you play as Mario&Luigi, sometimes as Bowser, sometimes as Mario&Luigiinside ofBowser as mushroom-fueled micronauts. It's a mad hybrid of the first two Mario&Luigi games, the scenes from the Paper Mario series where you stomp around as Bowser, andHoney I Shrunk the Kids. It's all very amusing, although it's best not to think too hard about the scenery when you're scampering around Bowser's innards. Sometimes it's kind of gross.

The best moments of the game are the ones that play up the odd duality-slash-relationship between the Mario brothers and Bowser. The bros often play a role Bowser's battles, as he'll swallow foes and let Mario and Luigi deal with them -- a variant on Partners in Time's four-character battles, but far less clumsily designed and considerably easier to manage as well. Meanwhile, as the brothers, you spend much of your time running around Bowser's guts restoring the powers that he was robbed of at the beginning of the story. This is necessary to progress and all, but the brothers find themselves facing off against the Koopa King on multiple key occasions. At each new encounter, he's stronger and more capable than he was the last time you fought.And you have no one to blame but yourself.

And, of course, it's an amusing game all around. Funny situations, witty localization, all highlighted by the return of Superstar Saga's popular villain Fawful. Even on a system choked with RPGs, M&L3 merits notice.

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