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Monday, October 7, 2013

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Review

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: AlphaDream Platform: 3DS Players: 1 Release: 2013 Genre: RPG / Action Rating: 8.8 \ 10.0: Fantastic

Above is gameplay of the Luiginary Ball attack

Finally, after four years, the a new Mario & Luigi game has arrived! It all starts when the Mario Bros. receive an invitation to Pil'lo Island. you board a blimp, accompanied by Princess Peach and Toadsworth, who were also invited. On the blimp, you are greeted by returning characters Broque Monsieur (the blockhead doesn't even remember the bros! And he is quite literally a blockhead-- in fact, he's made of blocks!) and Starlow. But on the way there, you are confronted by an anonymous floating figure, who you will later find is called Antasma. After arriving on the island, Luigi falls from the blimp, becoming unconscious. After taking a short stroll, you will end up battling a pair of Goomba-like creatures called Grombas, and you will receive  battle tutorials. That's perfectly normal at the start of the game, but one of my main complaints about this game is the excessive amount of pointless tutorials. There's a new battle feature, in which when you jump, if you press the attack button right before impact with your opponent, you'll jump again and dish out extra damage. Next, you will make your way to Pil'lo Castle, where Peach and Toadsworth will step on a jet-propelled platform, not realizing it would propel them into a secret room. You must follow them, guided by Starlow, and after exploring a hidden dungeon, you will find them, and have a rematch with Antasma. Eventually, you'll come across a stone pillow. Luigi falls asleep on it, and it opens a portal to the Dream World. Mario and Peach are sucked in the portal, and Peach is carried away by Antasma and into Dreams Deep, the deepest reach of the Dream world. You then begin your journey in the Dream Word. The Dream World is limited to a 2D side-scrolling perspective, rather than a top-down open-world perspective, similar to Bowser's insides in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. You will encounter many foes that are not in the real world, although there are "dreamy" versions of outer-world foes as well. As I mentioned in my Bowser's Inside Story review, the combat is turn-based. first, you attack, and then you must counterattack and do damage or take damage from your enemy. In the Dream World, you're assisted by Dreamy Luigi, who enhances you're abilities in combat. When you jump on your foe, Luigis will rain upon it (or them, as many dreamy enemies attack in large groups), and when you attack with the iconic hammer, a wave of Luigis will strike as well, creating a massive shockwave. There's also a new twist in battle-- in the real world, when you collect all 10 Attack Pieces in the real world, you will unlock a powerful Bros. Attack, such as taking turns kicking a Koopa shell, by using your BP (Battle Points?), and in the Dream World, you'll unlock a Luiginary Attack, which usually involves lots of Luigis. Luiginary Ball, for example, has Mario roll upon a ball made of Luigis, moving from left to right by tilting the 3DS system, and you can enlarge it by rolling through the large line of Luigis that runs throughout the battleground, and finally, you tap A to kick the ball at your opponents. The bigger the ball, the more damage you do. The returning badge system adds even more depth to the combat. You can mix and match badges for different effects, such as restoring HP or Bp to each bro. To use badges in combat, you must fill a meter by attacking. You can purchase badges at item markets. But in every area of the Dream World, there are a certain number of Nightmare Chunks. Break 'em all, and you'll release a Pil'lo Folk from ancient times. The first of these is Prince Dreambert, who was the prince many years ago back when the island was dubbed the Pil'lo Kingdom. Dreambert will assist you throughout your adventure. But one of the best new features in the Dream World are the objects that Dreamy Luigi can morph into. Luigi's face is displayed on the touchscreen, and by touching specific areas of his face, you can trigger the objects. For example, you can pull Luigi's moustache to use it as a catapult, tap his nose to make him sneeze, unleashing a gust of wind in the Dream World, and more. In the real world, things really take a turn for the worst when Bowser teams up with Antasma to wreak havoc. But as great as this game is, and it is really great, there are still flaws. The game can sometimes have a rather steep difficulty curve, which can mess things up, and the soundtrack, although still great, isn't as catchy as before. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is still an incredible games, and one of the best RPGs available on the 3DS, and as fun (and not to mention funny) as before, its predecessor is slightly better.

Ups
New villain
Epic Luiginary attacks
Great badge system
Takes advantage of 3DS

Downs
Tough at times
Not as catchy soundtrack

ESRB: E 10+ Content: Mild Cartoon Violence Price: $39.99 (Retail / Download)

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