Mike Bantick
Thursday, 15 October 2009 11:45
Entertainment
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Mario and his brother Luigi are trapped inside the body of an unlikely ally as they seek to (again) save the Mushroom Kingdom from a deadly disease that is ballooning the good citizens into gigantic bloated mushroomy balls. Nintendo and developer Alphadream have crafted an exquisite Mario flavoured RPG experience for the hand-held DS.
Remember that 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage? Of course you don’t, you’re too young. The premise was; in order to save a diplomat; a team of scientists are shrunk, along with a submarine, and injected into his body.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
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Developer
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Alphadream Corporation
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Publisher
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Nintendo |
Rating
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G
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| DS |
Whilst M&L:BIS does not contain Raquel Welch, much of the action takes place within the robust body of Bowser after he is tricked into inhaling most of the good inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Mario, Luigi and Starlow inhabit the lower touch screen and Bowsers various innards, whist Bowser blusters about on the top screen looking to get his castle back from Fowful the mad scientist. Fowful has a whacky take over plan to match his whacky use of the English language.
The core game play is similar, whether controlling Bowser or the teamed up brothers, move with control pad, explore and battle in turn-based combat confrontations against a myriad of beasts and internal creatures.
The Mario brothers can seek out and collect “attack blocks” which unlock special attacks, such as joint kicking green shells at enemies. Or the brothers can simply use their jump or hammer attacks. Similarly Bowser will find his minions scattered over the land, displaced by the take-over of his castle. These minions become Bowser’s special attacks.
Each opponent or group will use ‘tells’ as part of their own unique approach to combat, it is up to the player how best to apply the skills of the brothers or Bowser (sometimes in a combined way) to overcome each new combatant.
As in any classic RPG, at the end of any combat, the players avatars earn experience, level up stats and so on, but it is almost impossible to get into a comfortable rhythm in M&L:BIS, and this is a good thing. The game will throw new curve balls at every turn, and whilst the mechanics remain largely the same throughout, the nature of their application, and the variety of situations will keep you on your toes for adventures duration.
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