Review: Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is a role playing game for the Nintendo DS. It was created by Nintendo and AlphaDream.

An exmaple of a in-game battle.

King Bowser has eaten a mushroom that makes him inhale everything, including the Mario Brothers, Princess Peach, several townsfolk, and a ton of debris, before passing out. Amid the resulting confusion, the villainous Fawful has decided to use the chaos to take over King Bowser and Princess Peach’s castles. Bowser has to get back his castle and defeat Fawful, while Mario and Luigi have to locate Princess peach inside Bowser’s body, repairing Bowser along the way.

The player takes control of Bowser and the Mario Bros. using the DS’ two screens, the top screen for Bowser and the bottom screen for Mario and Luigi. Bowser’s goal is to reach his castle, fighting enemies along the way. Mario and Luigi help him by activating parts of his body so he can get through obstacles; for example, stimulating his arm muscles so he can push a large obstacle out of the way. Other times Bowser will do something to himself that will make a part of his body accessible, allowing Mario and Luigi to search for Princess Peach.

Areas in Bowser come in two types, little sections that have mini-games that the brothers only visit when something needs to happen, and large areas filled with nothing but obstacles and enemies that the brothers can visit anytime. Meanwhile Bowser walks around one large world, which, while having different sections, feels less segmented than his body and more like an actual world.

Bowser levels are far more interesting than Mario Bros. levels. Every area inside Bowser has a similar looking design, while Bowser travels around many different places. His levels also have people to talk to and more hidden things to find. Thankfully Mario and Luigi eventually find a way to travel between Bowser’s body and the outside world at will.

Bowser and the Mario Bros. have to fight enemies throughout the game. Like many other RPGs, fighting is done in turns. Bowser or the brothers will attack, and then the enemy will attack. What makes fighting interesting is that the player can increase the power of attacks or defend against attacks by pressing a button quickly at the right moment. For example, Mario and Luigi have jump attacks that become stronger if the player presses either the “A” button just as Mario lands on an enemy or the “B” button when Luigi lands on an enemy. Enemy attacks are usually color-coded red or green so the player knows whether the enemy is about to attack Mario or Luigi and can press the “A” or “B” buttons to dodge them.

For enemies attacking Bowser, it is up to the player to figure out whether the attack would be best deflected by Bowser ducking, or Bowser punching the attack. Usually the enemy gives a small hint as to what type of attack they are about to use.

The addition of extra button pressing during fights makes the fights a lot more interesting than other games, as they keep the player on their toes all the time instead of waiting around.

There are also special attacks the three protagonists can perform. Mario and Luigi’s attacks involve even more precise button pressing, while Bowser’s use the DS’s stylus function.

The rest of the game is pretty fun too. The story is interesting enough, though at first the story feels like it does not have any main objective and is just about the characters wandering around. Bowser’s story is far more interesting though, since he's a villain and, unlike Mario and Luigi, can actually talk. The funniest parts involve Bowser commenting on the weirdness wherever he is or being a bad guy getting upstaged by a different bad guy.

The game is rather short and easy. It takes about twenty hours to beat, and with the abundance of healing items Mario, Luigi, and Bowser find, plus the ability to dodge attacks, means that the chance of dying are pretty small. There are not many side quests to participate in, at most there are a couple of extra mini games the three can play that involve more use of quick button pressing.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story continues the tradition of fun Mario RPGs. Mario fans and those who think RPGs are normally boring should both find this game fun.