Review: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Mike Bantick
Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:45

Entertainment

Graphically M&L:BIS serves up a crisp familiar look, with the main environments easy to navigate.  This includes Bowsers insides, where the brothers must work their way around the various locales, dealing with bodily functions (including swimming sections!) or stimulating Bowsers muscles to aid him in achieving his goals top side.  This is not as icky as it sounds, and Alphadream manage to present the microscopic map without getting too hung up on actual biology.

There are plenty of encounters to be had, new challenges imposed and plenty of to-and-fro between the inside and outside adventure.  The game makes use of all DS functionality, including the microphone and vertical orientation during the ‘giant Bowser’ sections.

It is hard to fault the game, the pacing is top notch, the characterisation is all in place, and though there are only a handful of options available at any one point in time, the player feels in control of his destiny, garnished with a bit of strategic thinking.

In fact, about the only issue is that the game is too easy.  This may however be a product of the target demographic.  There are plenty of challenges, but once an enemy attack pattern is worked out, it is pretty much smooth sailing from there on.

Perhaps there could have been more Raquel Welsh also.

Nintendo has churned out yet another delightful Mario romp, and fans of the iconic video-game star will not be disappointed.



9.5 Banzai Bills out of 10