Last time, I reviewed Mario & Luigi Partners in Time. But with that as the second in the series, you may be wondering how Superstar Saga itself holds up. Is the early game as good as its sequels? Is it worth buying if you plan to get Mario & Luigi Dream Team?
The answer to all those questions is most certainly yes. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is one of the best Game Boy RPGs ever made, and this review will tell you why.
Graphics
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga looks amazing. It's got a fantastic art style with plenty of personality as well as a level of detail almost unheard of in other GBA RPGs of the era. There really isn't anything to criticise here.
Indeed, do you know the one thing I think is best about these graphics?
How much more charm and originality they have.
You see, as mentioned before, Superstar Saga doesn't fall into the 'New Super Mario Bros trap'. It doesn't just come up with a generic, dull art style that looks like the rather bland modern Mario art, but its own very unique look that makes the game and its world actually feel unique. Just look at it:
Above: Superstar Saga's graphics are unique and full of personality and charm.
That's far more interesting than the look in New Super Mario Bros or Mario 3D Land. Heck, it's arguably an even more interesting art style than that found in some of its own sequels... Either way, the graphics are great and have a fantastic, unique art style to them to boot.
Music
Musically, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is a pretty good game. It's got some catchy themes with plenty of personality (that stick in your head for hours after playing) and with the exception of exactly one piece of music, has a generally rather good soundtrack.
Here are some good examples of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mltkiFEb6zE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve5IiTbhKf4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSDGxVrhpEs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdyayBEMik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXf3QKExm1E
Now, after that music showcase, you may be wondering why I said 'with the exception of one piece of music'. After all, isn't all of Superstar Saga's music good?
Well not quite. Cue Joke's End and this theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Atv7UWUK_A
It's not exactly great music. In fact, I'd say it's literally the most monotonous, depressing piece of music I've ever had the misfortune of listening to, and it plays non stop in what's arguably one of the longest, most difficult, most damn frustrating areas in the game. Well suited to the area sure, but aggravating to the point you could end up losing your sanity after listening to it for too long. It's a tune you play to people you absolutely can't stand.
Still, the Joke's End theme aside, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga does have a great soundtrack with some well composed, catchy themes that you can enjoying listening to even after turning the game off. So it does music well.
Gameplay
So, that's how well the game holds aesthetically, how about gameplay wise? Well in that respect, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is brilliant.
On a basic level, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is sort of like a cross between a Zelda game and an RPG. You've got the turn based battles of the latter (albeit with a rather unique style of action command that makes the whole thing based on skill rather than just 'strategy' or 'grinding'), but the overworld works a lot more like your average Zelda game with the different abilities you get working like items and opening up new areas.
For instance, see that ledge there that's too high to reach? Well you'll 'unlock' an ability called the High Jump that lets Mario and Luigi spring their way up there. See a flame in your path? You can make Mario drink water then hammer his head to make him spit it at the flame, putting it out. Oh, is that an orb? Luigi gets lightning/thunder powers later that let him power it up to activate machinery.
And do you know what makes this even better? The game manages to take a game with only two playable characters and logically introduce new abilities that always have some practical value. This ain't Paper Mario or Zelda where your later abilities are basically useless due to the world not being made for them people. Nope, this is a game where every single ability is perfectly integrated in the location design and opens up a ton of new paths and areas even in the first places you visit. So you never end up with abilities that go unused.
Another great thing this game does is the overworld. Heck, you could cynically say Superstar Saga actually does the overworld better than any Zelda game since at least Majora's Mask, given that you actually have an interesting world to explore with tons of secrets and sidequests. To add to this, it's also a surprisingly non linear world map, with many areas explorable right after you come down from Hoo Hoo Mountain for the first time. Much better than the somewhat overly linear structure in the last two or three Paper Mario games and Partners in Time.
But the overworld stuff is only part of this game's appeal, with the game also having a solid battle system.
How does it work? A bit like Paper Mario. You enter a battle by attacking or walking into enemies on the overworld (being able to get an early hit by getting the first strike), and then it works like other RPGs where Mario, Luigi and the enemies take turns to attack. But this isn't just 'hit or get hit', it's actually got a really well done and logical 'skill' element to it all.
What do I mean? Well let's say you decide to attack a Goomba. Whereas in other RPGs you'd just stand there and magically do some damage after an animation, here you get to press buttons with good timing to make Mario or Luigi do various fancy attack animations for more damage.
You can also combine their abilities with what we call 'Bros attacks'. These special moves have Mario and Luigi work together to attack an enemy, having them do fancy looking things like backflips, handstands and tossing each other around the screen to do major damage to their foes. Again, you get to press the buttons indicated (by an icon flashing after red or green for Mario/Luigi respectively) to do more stuff for even more damage (or just mess up and watch the attack turn into an utter disaster).
Above: Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga introduces this brilliant battle system unique to the series.
And it's not only your attacks where you can do more damage via careful button presses. Nope, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga has some extremely easy to use 'dodging' abilities. Is an enemy coming? Then a hammer or jump icon will appear. If a hammer, hold it to charge and smack the enemy with the hammer by letting the button go as it approaches. If a jump, press A or B with the right timing to make Mario or Luigi bound into the air and dodge the attack (or come right down on the enemy's head for even more damage). Indeed, every single attack in the game can be dodged via pure skill, meaning that in theory a level 1 player can defeat the final boss with skill alone. And the way you dodge (having Mario or Luigi press the right button to actually jump or hammer the enemy) is much easier and makes much more sense than that in the likes of Paper Mario (where blocking is basically pressing buttons at completely arbitary times).
There's also a meaty 'equipment' menu where you can equip things like badges and clothing to either boost Mario or Luigi stats or give them new abilities and powers. Bit like in Paper Mario, except even more complex and even more well done.
All in all, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga has some great gameplay with lots of well implemented options and mechanics. In fact, it's probably the one RPG that even many fans of the platformers will enjoy due to its greater focus on skill and reflexes than other RPGs out there.
Length/Replay Value
As far as game length goes, Mario & Luigi Superstat Saga is extremely impressive. Why? Well let me put it in one sentence:
This game comes up with new plot twists every ten minutes.
What this means is that while other Mario & Luigi games (or games in general) have you generally working towards a fairly well defined 'goal' (collect the seven mcguffins to stop the evil demon king who's returned after 1000 years of being stuck in a warp portal) and not much else besides, this game actually surprises you multiple times by adding a whole new set of areas to explore and a whole new set of characters to meet and abilities to acquire. Oh, so you're exploring Beanbean Kingdom to fight Cackletta? That already gives you at least four 'major' areas to explore with their own characters, bosses, abilities to get, etc. But when you reach the Hooniversity and defeat Cackletta, the game just keeps on going.
More areas open up. You find the Airstrip, Teehee Valley and others. Oh, the villain later returns. Cue the enormous new area of Gwarhar Lagoon as well as various other interesting areas littered around the kingdom. And heck, both Joke's End and Bowser's Castle are literally some of the longest, most difficult and to a degree interesting areas in the title... yet both found right at the end. The game keeps throwing surprises your way, you keep finding enormous new areas to explore and new things to do, and generally the game has enough content that it's equivalent to a Mario platformer with about 15 worlds. It's certainly a nice lengthy quest that'll keep your attention for a long time, that's for sure.
Replay value wise, the game is great too. You've got a ton of different types of beans to collect (to use for making coffee in E Gadd's coffee shop), badges to buy and find with unique effects, mini games to replay for high scores whenever you want and even a whole bunch of additional caves and grottos littered around which hold a Golden Mushroom or other nice bonus item inside. You've got plenty of things to do here.
So for length and replay value, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is fantastic, and is arguably the best Mario RPG ever made.
Overall
All in all, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is a great game. It's got great graphics with a unique style of their own, a fantastic soundtrack with the exactly one exception mentioned and plenty of fun gameplay to experience throughout.
It truly is a fantastic Mario RPG, and potentially even one of the best RPGs ever made, and comes highly recommended to anyone who owns a GBA or original DS (or who happens to be a 3DS ambassador). Buy it now.
95%
The answer to all those questions is most certainly yes. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is one of the best Game Boy RPGs ever made, and this review will tell you why.
Graphics
Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga looks amazing. It's got a fantastic art style with plenty of personality as well as a level of detail almost unheard of in other GBA RPGs of the era. There really isn't anything to criticise here.
Indeed, do you know the one thing I think is best about these graphics?
How much more charm and originality they have.
You see, as mentioned before, Superstar Saga doesn't fall into the 'New Super Mario Bros trap'. It doesn't just come up with a generic, dull art style that looks like the rather bland modern Mario art, but its own very unique look that makes the game and its world actually feel unique. Just look at it:
Above: Superstar Saga's graphics are unique and full of personality and charm.
That's far more interesting than the look in New Super Mario Bros or Mario 3D Land. Heck, it's arguably an even more interesting art style than that found in some of its own sequels... Either way, the graphics are great and have a fantastic, unique art style to them to boot.
Music
Musically, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is a pretty good game. It's got some catchy themes with plenty of personality (that stick in your head for hours after playing) and with the exception of exactly one piece of music, has a generally rather good soundtrack.
Here are some good examples of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mltkiFEb6zE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve5IiTbhKf4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSDGxVrhpEs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdyayBEMik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXf3QKExm1E
Now, after that music showcase, you may be wondering why I said 'with the exception of one piece of music'. After all, isn't all of Superstar Saga's music good?
Well not quite. Cue Joke's End and this theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Atv7UWUK_A
It's not exactly great music. In fact, I'd say it's literally the most monotonous, depressing piece of music I've ever had the misfortune of listening to, and it plays non stop in what's arguably one of the longest, most difficult, most damn frustrating areas in the game. Well suited to the area sure, but aggravating to the point you could end up losing your sanity after listening to it for too long. It's a tune you play to people you absolutely can't stand.
Still, the Joke's End theme aside, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga does have a great soundtrack with some well composed, catchy themes that you can enjoying listening to even after turning the game off. So it does music well.
Gameplay
So, that's how well the game holds aesthetically, how about gameplay wise? Well in that respect, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is brilliant.
On a basic level, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is sort of like a cross between a Zelda game and an RPG. You've got the turn based battles of the latter (albeit with a rather unique style of action command that makes the whole thing based on skill rather than just 'strategy' or 'grinding'), but the overworld works a lot more like your average Zelda game with the different abilities you get working like items and opening up new areas.
For instance, see that ledge there that's too high to reach? Well you'll 'unlock' an ability called the High Jump that lets Mario and Luigi spring their way up there. See a flame in your path? You can make Mario drink water then hammer his head to make him spit it at the flame, putting it out. Oh, is that an orb? Luigi gets lightning/thunder powers later that let him power it up to activate machinery.
And do you know what makes this even better? The game manages to take a game with only two playable characters and logically introduce new abilities that always have some practical value. This ain't Paper Mario or Zelda where your later abilities are basically useless due to the world not being made for them people. Nope, this is a game where every single ability is perfectly integrated in the location design and opens up a ton of new paths and areas even in the first places you visit. So you never end up with abilities that go unused.
Another great thing this game does is the overworld. Heck, you could cynically say Superstar Saga actually does the overworld better than any Zelda game since at least Majora's Mask, given that you actually have an interesting world to explore with tons of secrets and sidequests. To add to this, it's also a surprisingly non linear world map, with many areas explorable right after you come down from Hoo Hoo Mountain for the first time. Much better than the somewhat overly linear structure in the last two or three Paper Mario games and Partners in Time.
But the overworld stuff is only part of this game's appeal, with the game also having a solid battle system.
How does it work? A bit like Paper Mario. You enter a battle by attacking or walking into enemies on the overworld (being able to get an early hit by getting the first strike), and then it works like other RPGs where Mario, Luigi and the enemies take turns to attack. But this isn't just 'hit or get hit', it's actually got a really well done and logical 'skill' element to it all.
What do I mean? Well let's say you decide to attack a Goomba. Whereas in other RPGs you'd just stand there and magically do some damage after an animation, here you get to press buttons with good timing to make Mario or Luigi do various fancy attack animations for more damage.
You can also combine their abilities with what we call 'Bros attacks'. These special moves have Mario and Luigi work together to attack an enemy, having them do fancy looking things like backflips, handstands and tossing each other around the screen to do major damage to their foes. Again, you get to press the buttons indicated (by an icon flashing after red or green for Mario/Luigi respectively) to do more stuff for even more damage (or just mess up and watch the attack turn into an utter disaster).
Above: Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga introduces this brilliant battle system unique to the series.
And it's not only your attacks where you can do more damage via careful button presses. Nope, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga has some extremely easy to use 'dodging' abilities. Is an enemy coming? Then a hammer or jump icon will appear. If a hammer, hold it to charge and smack the enemy with the hammer by letting the button go as it approaches. If a jump, press A or B with the right timing to make Mario or Luigi bound into the air and dodge the attack (or come right down on the enemy's head for even more damage). Indeed, every single attack in the game can be dodged via pure skill, meaning that in theory a level 1 player can defeat the final boss with skill alone. And the way you dodge (having Mario or Luigi press the right button to actually jump or hammer the enemy) is much easier and makes much more sense than that in the likes of Paper Mario (where blocking is basically pressing buttons at completely arbitary times).
There's also a meaty 'equipment' menu where you can equip things like badges and clothing to either boost Mario or Luigi stats or give them new abilities and powers. Bit like in Paper Mario, except even more complex and even more well done.
All in all, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga has some great gameplay with lots of well implemented options and mechanics. In fact, it's probably the one RPG that even many fans of the platformers will enjoy due to its greater focus on skill and reflexes than other RPGs out there.
Length/Replay Value
As far as game length goes, Mario & Luigi Superstat Saga is extremely impressive. Why? Well let me put it in one sentence:
This game comes up with new plot twists every ten minutes.
What this means is that while other Mario & Luigi games (or games in general) have you generally working towards a fairly well defined 'goal' (collect the seven mcguffins to stop the evil demon king who's returned after 1000 years of being stuck in a warp portal) and not much else besides, this game actually surprises you multiple times by adding a whole new set of areas to explore and a whole new set of characters to meet and abilities to acquire. Oh, so you're exploring Beanbean Kingdom to fight Cackletta? That already gives you at least four 'major' areas to explore with their own characters, bosses, abilities to get, etc. But when you reach the Hooniversity and defeat Cackletta, the game just keeps on going.
More areas open up. You find the Airstrip, Teehee Valley and others. Oh, the villain later returns. Cue the enormous new area of Gwarhar Lagoon as well as various other interesting areas littered around the kingdom. And heck, both Joke's End and Bowser's Castle are literally some of the longest, most difficult and to a degree interesting areas in the title... yet both found right at the end. The game keeps throwing surprises your way, you keep finding enormous new areas to explore and new things to do, and generally the game has enough content that it's equivalent to a Mario platformer with about 15 worlds. It's certainly a nice lengthy quest that'll keep your attention for a long time, that's for sure.
Replay value wise, the game is great too. You've got a ton of different types of beans to collect (to use for making coffee in E Gadd's coffee shop), badges to buy and find with unique effects, mini games to replay for high scores whenever you want and even a whole bunch of additional caves and grottos littered around which hold a Golden Mushroom or other nice bonus item inside. You've got plenty of things to do here.
So for length and replay value, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is fantastic, and is arguably the best Mario RPG ever made.
Overall
All in all, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga is a great game. It's got great graphics with a unique style of their own, a fantastic soundtrack with the exactly one exception mentioned and plenty of fun gameplay to experience throughout.
It truly is a fantastic Mario RPG, and potentially even one of the best RPGs ever made, and comes highly recommended to anyone who owns a GBA or original DS (or who happens to be a 3DS ambassador). Buy it now.
95%
