Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a 2003 role-playing video game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It was re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2014, Nintendo Switch Online Service in 2023, and remade for the Nintendo 3DS as Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions in 2017. In the game, Mario and Luigi travel to the Beanbean Kingdom in order to combat Cackletta and Fawful, who stole Princess Peach's voice for the purpose of harnessing the power of a special artifact called the Beanstar.
This game is the third role-playing game in the Mario franchise after Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario. Unlike those titles however, Superstar Saga features a lighthearted whimsical script and a greater emphasis on comedy and humor. The player controls Mario and Luigi simultaneously as they traverse the overworld, fight enemies, gain experience points, and find new items and gear. The battle system differs from traditional games of the genre, with more emphasis on timing and elaborate attacks called Action Commands. Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Tetsuo Mizuno, and Satoru Iwata, the game was announced at E3 2003, later releasing the same year.
Superstar Saga was critically acclaimed, with reviewers praising the game's writing and tone and criticism and mixed opinions on the gameplay and the top-down perspective respectively. Critics listed the game among the best games on the Game Boy Advance, and was labeled as Player's Choice. A Nintendo 3DS remake was released in 2017 and features updated graphics and music, amiibo functionality, and other quality-of-life improvements. It also features a new exclusive side story titled Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. The original game was released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in February 2023.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Mario & Luigi differs from most other role-playing games due to its focus on controlling Mario and Luigi simultaneously. During overworld sections, the directional pad controls one of the brothers' movement with the other one following closely. The leading brother can be switched between Mario and Luigi with the Start button. The brothers' other actions are controlled individually with the A (front character) and B (rear character) buttons respectively. The game begins with them being able to jump independently, and they gain access to hammers and a variety of other techniques as the game progresses. For example, Luigi's hammer can be used to squash Mario into a smaller size, allowing the latter to access small gaps, while placing Mario on Luigi's shoulders allows them to act like a propeller and hover across large gaps. Various enemies roam the overworld, and coming into contact with these enemies initiates a battle. Landing a hit on an enemy while on the overworld allows the player to deal pre-emptive damage or begin the fight with them stunned. The opposite is also possible.
Battles in Superstar Saga are turn-based. Mario and Luigi are controlled with the A and B buttons respectively, regardless of their placement in the overworld. They can attack normally by jumping on enemies (available from the start), by hitting them with their hammers or by using their hand powers (after these abilities are unlocked at successive points in the game's story). Jump attacks allow the brothers to hit enemies from above, but will cause them to take damage if attempting to jump on spiked or flame-covered creatures. Hammer attacks can harm enemies on the ground, but will always miss against winged or floating ones. Finally, each brother has an elemental hand attack (fire for Mario and thunder for Luigi), with several enemies being either vulnerable or resistant to either element.
Similar to previous Mario role-playing titles, such as Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario series, players can time button presses to make their attacks more effective, such as earning an extra jump attack or increasing the hammer's power. Introduced in this series is the way in which Mario and Luigi can defend themselves during an enemy's attack. When an enemy attacks, the brothers can either jump or use their hammer which, when successfully timed, allows them to dodge their attacks and even deal counter damage (for example: if they jump on top of a charging Goomba).
Throughout the game, players can unlock Bros. Attacks, which use Bros. Points (BP) which requires players to cooperate between Mario and Luigi's actions to perform powerful combination attacks. Players can also use items such as mushrooms for healing, peppers for boosting stats and 1UP mushrooms for reviving fallen Bros.