It's hard to believe that the Nintendo DS came out almost 20 years ago. To me, it's still a vibrant system with loads of unbounded creativity that influenced how I look at games in a critical sense, and yet it retains its childlike formality with its bizarre dual screens, inundated with many varied games that made inventive uses of the DS's capabilities.

There were 3D games that showcased the DS's graphical capacity; there were 2D games that were more familiar, but had more breathing room to figure out why this game HAD to be a DS game. Of course, the big franchise that no doubt was coming to DS was Super Mario, which is undeniably why I love the DS because I love Mario games. There was Super Mario 64 DS which introduced me to older games in the franchise, Mario Kart DS brought the competitive thrills of go-karting on the go, and New Super Mario Bros. had finally returned Mario back from hell in Super Mario Sunshine.

I love that Mario games paint a picture in its own way, each painting putting a new light on the artist behind the canvas. There's a lot of variety to this franchise with 3D/2D platformers feeling different from each other, the myriad of spin-offs like kart racing and party boards, and even the RPG games which retain the strengths of Mario's goofy world, while having the game play depth to satisfy core RPG audiences. My favorite games are RPGs, and Mario had many that I really enjoyed like Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi.

Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (MLBIS) is THE Mario RPG for the system. There was Partner's in Time before it and that game is also good, but Bowser's Inside Story felt like a true successor to the GBA original - Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. Partner's In Time was more like a GBA game that just went to DS mid-production. MLBIS is fantastic. The characters are charming and the world is as rich as any Mario game should be. Each environment cascades into sub-environments creating this concisely designed world that feels fully explored, yet I don't notice because the game's pacing is brisk with it only taking about 20 hours to beat.

What I love about this game is playing as Bowser. Not only is he full of charisma and witty snark, he's got some great attacks in battle and mobility in the overworld. It's also so absurd that Mario and Luigi are primarily exploring Bowser's body which ties to fun uses of the dual screens on DS, bizarre minigames, and seeing new enemies to keep the game varied. Some great variety comes with the Mega Bowser fights after Mario and Luigi do their minigame schtick, and these always come as such a delight surprise. I know that it could distract from actual RPG gameplay, but I treat these fights as small novelties that play with the DS system in fun ways. One downside is that some minigames haven't aged well. There's one in particular inside Bowser's "Nose Deck" which is just awful because the touch screen isn't responsive to flicks like the iPhone is. Mostly though, these minigames are are fun distraction to make the game more unique and standout among other RPGs. It's at least more fun than generic 50+ hour generic anime RPG bullshit I don't have time to play anyways.

MLBIS is always cracking a smile at the player, it doesn't take itself too seriously. But there's still gravity and stake to the story which I do admire from most Mario RPGs. Fawful, the antagonist, always seems to have the upper-hand causing much needed tension in the story. Fawful is also just a fun character, dispensing weird proverbs alongside his equally badly-dubbed minion named "Midbus". Additionally, I love that Fawful hatches nonsensical schemes that just "somehow" work because the Mario characters all have a crayon stuck up their noses causing major brain damage. Nonetheless, Fawful is providing a reason why the player wants to keep playing as he keeps the plot thickening and the player guessing what will happen to the Mushroom Kingdom next.

The game is complete with RPG tropes like leveling up, armor equipments, stat-boosts and temporary debuffs, etc. It's all standard and simple, yet very effective. The badge mechanic is also a fun way to spice up battles and allows the player to experiment further with particular play styles which is always a great decision to have in RPG games. Something that most Mario RPGs do well is ensuring the player isn't bored during battles; this is probably the most difficult aspect to achieve for any turn-based RPG game. In all Mario RPGs, timing button presses to enhance attacks is the smartest decision they could've made. Mario and Luigi games also bolster the gameplay by allowing the player to observe how enemies will attack such that they can aptly dodge. It keeps the game from staying stale as new enemies will show up and have their own ways of attacking both the Brothers and Bowser. It's almost like a puzzle game in some ways, trying to figure out new enemy attacks; when you solve the puzzle, it's rewarding!

The music is vibrant and jumpy as Mario games are. The music complements the games and worlds they live in. However, there's some tracks that feel a little forgettable compared to other Mario RPGs like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario. Those games have great ambience that I feel this game doesn't quite achieve. It would've been a great opportunity to craft original songs for traversing through Bowser's body instead of getting small remixes of the overworld song playing in that respective area. These songs could've described more about the game without words. For instance, these songs could've described how Bowser is feeling during certain moments of the game using a strong motif. It could've created unsettling vibes to contrast the cheery music in the overworld. It could've been their own unique identity which I felt this game missed the mark on unfortunately. The music overall is great though; there was just some missed potential for songs inside Bowser's body. I also want to say that the sound effects are all memorable; Mario and Luigi's dialogue amongst each other is the prime example of why I think so, I don't even need to provide other examples to explain my point. The sounds are amazing.

This game is one of my favorite DS games on the system. It's not my favorite Mario RPG, but it's a close 2nd place in my ranking. Just play it. It's erupting with creative mechanics through the convection of the developers, keeping the Mario franchise alive. Every time I remember this game or replay it, it gives me that jovial sensation that most games don't entirely do for me anymore; it's what Mario excels at for my gaming tastes. Mario games are one of the reasons why living life is fun, to expand your horizons and go where no game can quite journey to. Bowser's Inside Story is one of the many Mario games that delves into the unknown and experiments with wackier stories and characters that I love seeing unearthed in the Mario franchise.

But, it's box art background is boring. So I give this game a 1 star. The Mario Movie had a better plot too, and I also love sticking crayons up my nose until it bleeds.

Gonna go ahead and shelf this bad boy for now. But I have nothing but glowing things to say about this games battle system. But a large part of me almost wishes this game was designed solely around Bowser rather than the Brother parts.

Plot and dialogue also drags a bit in this game, it's a Mario game so I'm not expecting a novel on the human condition, but man this game talks. A LOT.

Hopefully I'll return to this game.

This is still one of my favorite games of all time.

I still remember having played Partners in Time and loving it, seeing then commercials for this one and wanting nothing but to get my disgusting infant hands on it. A game where not only you get to play as Mario and Luigi....But BOWSER as well???!?!

I adore everything about this game, the characters, the presentation, the gameplay, Bowser's ...Insides. Fawful has to be my second favorite villain in Mario history, simply no other bad guy in this franchise has reached the same level of presence and charisma that fucker had, and I miss him.

Controlling Bowser feels amazing and his personality shines brighter than ever before in this one. Mario and Luigi feel just as good as always to control during battles, and their special moves here are some of the best in the entire series.

But by far, the thing I love the most about this game has to be the music. I would spend hours and hours humming the same like 4 themes from this game just cuz of how catchy the music was.

But the final boss THOUGH! Dark Bowser is one of the best final bosses in Mario history as it is with the fight and the context alone...But then you add THE MUSIC on top of that?!

Holy shit...The music that plays when you are fighting Dark Bowser is absolutely PHENOMENAL, one of the best music tracks I've ever heard in a videogame and I never get tired of listening to it, it's my all time favorite. I didn't use to pay that much attention to music in videogames but after I heard that, I got goosebumps all over the body...I could not believe how incredibly good that track is.

I say, if you only ever played one Mario RPG out of all of them...Please pick this one, it doesn't get any better than this one. One of the best games of all time and the more I talk about it, the more I want to replay it.