My previous review for this game had me complaining about tutorials, but I recently finished it for the first time in more than a decade. Honestly? The tutorials really aren't that bad and are quite charming. The settings for this game are really cool and the enemies are quite menacing for a Mario game, too! I wouldn't call the bro items a downgrade, but moreso a sidegrade. It's just as good as Superstar Saga to me.
Muy infravalorado
cool rpg, not the best one on the M&L series but I love the use of the DS screens, the use of all face buttons, the combat is amazing as always, the soundtrack, a little dark story. It's kinda missing something and I don't know what it is, also I don't like the replacement of BP for items, but pretty good
sure it's not the best in the series but it's still fun
Second best Mario & Luigi
Remaster this, you cowards!!
1 pelín peor que Bowser inside story porque VAS CON 2 PUTOS BEBES LLORONES
Cool creative game but MAN everything takes too long to kill. This is the one that should've gotten remade instead of Bowser's Inside Story, if only to make the enemy health lower like it was in the Europe and Japan releases
One of the hardest final bosses, besides Cackletta in Superstar Saga. Spent ages trying to beat up Elder Shroob. Kind of a dark story. Before I knew how to grind, Toad Town's enemies and Shroob Castle legit terrified me with how tough the enemies are. Atmosphere was great, favorite part was seeing Bowser and Bowser Jr. work together - that whole Thwomp Volcano bit is great.
Best mario&luigi game
No me acuerdo de un culo pero estaba funny
I've finally got around to beating the second Mario & Luigi game proper, and while it was a very slow start compared to how fast I binged the Superstar Saga remake, I mostly enjoyed my time with it!
One thing I will have to give PiT over most other Mario RPGs is how unique it is story wise (even within the M&L series). Honestly I think it could be argued that this is the darkest Mario game easily, even moreso than Super Paper Mario. The Shroobs unlike most Mario villains feel like an actually serious threat who won't hesitate to eradicate all life in the Mushroom Kingdom, and manage to almost irreversibly turn anyone that stands against them into non-sentient mushrooms, practically killing them. It's made even more creepy by the fact they try to take over and kill Baby Peach's kingdom, along with all the other adorable tykes. I think it's also worth noting that the much tougher difficulty of the game compared to any other game within the M&L series, as well as the game's DS era artstyle really lend themselves well to supporting this grim tone that hangs over the entire game. As much as I know people want a remake of this game, I honestly feel like it holds up well enough by today's standards (albeit, for an older audience). Not to mention, given the trends we saw in the Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story's remakes, they would've likely used the 3DS Era Artstyle and have made the game much more easy, which wouldn't have fit Partners in Time's narrative nearly as well, even if it's more accessible for RPG newcomers.
Sadly, a darker take on a Mario story like this is something I feel we'll likely never see again in the modern day, SPM was the last real outing Nintendo permitted for even the spinoffs in this regard.
That said, while I think the story is definitely more interesting than the norm given the darker tone, along with really interesting concepts like the babies working with their adult selves, time travel, and just the overall narrative in general, I do feel that because Mario can only go so far into dark territory before Nintendo pulls the leash to reign it in, the story itself is limited in what it can explore as a result. Unfortunate, but it's to be expected, and I feel Mario typically is better suited for all ages/children in general, as Nintendo has other IPs better suited to more mature story telling such as Metroid and Zelda. Still, if we happen to get another RPG like this if say, Square's Mario RPG happens to get a sequel following its recent remake, I wouldn't be opposed. I feel like Square Enix's involvement could help push the envelope for a darker Mario RPG to go further in the same way that Super Paper Mario's story did.
The soundtrack ironically I feel is one of Yoko Shimomura's weaker works. While there are definitely some standout tracks such as Thwomp Volcano and the final boss themes, I found that it was a lot more forgettable to me compared to Superstar Saga's songs which I still remember a lot of fondly.
The gameplay is where things get a little more divisive for me. As I said before, I think the tougher gameplay lends itself well to the overall tone the game is going for. The combat has more depth to it that usual and has a much higher skill ceiling to master due to the fact you have 4 Bros. to work with, and juggling Bros. Attacks between them all can be really tough if you want to do the most damage possible. I welcome the challenge, though it definitely tripped me up a lot and I'm not as good at this game as I am other M&Ls as a result, but I'm sure other people really love that aspect of this game and have managed to master it.
That said, my one gripe with the gameplay (which is also the main reason why I like Superstar Saga's remake a decent bit more than this entry), is that a lot of the fights take forever as a result of the harder difficulty. I get that HP and stuff was upped across the board due to the fact you can do more damage with the Babies helping you, and I don't mind boss fights taking awhile to beat as a result of said challenge, but so many of the normal mob enemy fights take so long and made the pacing grind to a halt for me a lot throughout the game. It'd really halt my progress and make me feel like the pacing turned into a lot of stop and go on a moment's notice, and that really annoys me in RPGs. Mario & Luigi (and most Mario RPGs) are usually well known for the solid brisk pace their games have that keeps things rolling in a nice smooth flow that you can pick up and put down at any time for either a short fun session or longer binge ones, but this game really doesn't have that due to its difficulty.
The one saving grace of this gripe I have though, is that this game is much shorter than the series norm as a result, which made the pacing issue not nearly as bad as it could've been. Honestly, given how surprisingly short the game is, I'm pretty convinced part of the reason the difficulty was upped is specifically to pad out the length, much in the same vein as what NES games would do.
That said, it's pretty clear even the developers felt they went too far, hence why the European and Japanese versions of the game rebalanced things and toned down the HP of a lot of enemies to fix the difficulty. I ended up switching to the Euro version myself around the time I got to the desert area, and it made a big difference, really glad I did that. Thankfully my save file was compatible with it too, so I didn't have to restart.
The final boss was still pretty tough and took a good while even despite the fact they shaved off half its health from the original version of the game, so that was definitely a good move on the developers part. I also like that while the final boss reuses moves from Superstar Saga's final boss such as the spinning arms and you needing to destroy all of its limbs in order to make the head vulnerable so you can defeat the boss, the developers learned from the problems with SS's final boss and made it so the head stays vulnerable for a decently long amount of turns before it becomes invincible again. SS's final boss had the problem of having the head be vulnerable for way too short of time for you to damage it much, so that was greatly appreciated.
I also really liked how the post final boss fight has a really unique concept I haven't seen done in another Mario & Luigi game surprisingly. Making it so the Bros. can only counterattack to stop the boss and needing to land a certain number of hits to do so was really interesting, and I wish this would've been done in more Mario RPGs going forward, it's a really unique idea.
And honestly, that feels like the true claim to fame for this game. Partners in Time in many ways feels like one of the most unique and different Mario RPGs, and in mostly good ways! I really respect what AlphaDream did here trying to push the envelope on what could be done in this genre with Mario, and I wish we'd see more creative titles like this from Nintendo in terms of being more risky with Mario's IP. I think that there's a good chance we could see this should Mario RPG get greenlit to have more sequels hopefully, but only time will tell if that hopefully comes to pass. Overall, another great game from the series, and I look forward to revisiting my childhood favorite, Bowser's Inside Story, in the future!
Total Playtime: 17 hours, 56 minutes.
One thing I will have to give PiT over most other Mario RPGs is how unique it is story wise (even within the M&L series). Honestly I think it could be argued that this is the darkest Mario game easily, even moreso than Super Paper Mario. The Shroobs unlike most Mario villains feel like an actually serious threat who won't hesitate to eradicate all life in the Mushroom Kingdom, and manage to almost irreversibly turn anyone that stands against them into non-sentient mushrooms, practically killing them. It's made even more creepy by the fact they try to take over and kill Baby Peach's kingdom, along with all the other adorable tykes. I think it's also worth noting that the much tougher difficulty of the game compared to any other game within the M&L series, as well as the game's DS era artstyle really lend themselves well to supporting this grim tone that hangs over the entire game. As much as I know people want a remake of this game, I honestly feel like it holds up well enough by today's standards (albeit, for an older audience). Not to mention, given the trends we saw in the Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story's remakes, they would've likely used the 3DS Era Artstyle and have made the game much more easy, which wouldn't have fit Partners in Time's narrative nearly as well, even if it's more accessible for RPG newcomers.
Sadly, a darker take on a Mario story like this is something I feel we'll likely never see again in the modern day, SPM was the last real outing Nintendo permitted for even the spinoffs in this regard.
That said, while I think the story is definitely more interesting than the norm given the darker tone, along with really interesting concepts like the babies working with their adult selves, time travel, and just the overall narrative in general, I do feel that because Mario can only go so far into dark territory before Nintendo pulls the leash to reign it in, the story itself is limited in what it can explore as a result. Unfortunate, but it's to be expected, and I feel Mario typically is better suited for all ages/children in general, as Nintendo has other IPs better suited to more mature story telling such as Metroid and Zelda. Still, if we happen to get another RPG like this if say, Square's Mario RPG happens to get a sequel following its recent remake, I wouldn't be opposed. I feel like Square Enix's involvement could help push the envelope for a darker Mario RPG to go further in the same way that Super Paper Mario's story did.
The soundtrack ironically I feel is one of Yoko Shimomura's weaker works. While there are definitely some standout tracks such as Thwomp Volcano and the final boss themes, I found that it was a lot more forgettable to me compared to Superstar Saga's songs which I still remember a lot of fondly.
The gameplay is where things get a little more divisive for me. As I said before, I think the tougher gameplay lends itself well to the overall tone the game is going for. The combat has more depth to it that usual and has a much higher skill ceiling to master due to the fact you have 4 Bros. to work with, and juggling Bros. Attacks between them all can be really tough if you want to do the most damage possible. I welcome the challenge, though it definitely tripped me up a lot and I'm not as good at this game as I am other M&Ls as a result, but I'm sure other people really love that aspect of this game and have managed to master it.
That said, my one gripe with the gameplay (which is also the main reason why I like Superstar Saga's remake a decent bit more than this entry), is that a lot of the fights take forever as a result of the harder difficulty. I get that HP and stuff was upped across the board due to the fact you can do more damage with the Babies helping you, and I don't mind boss fights taking awhile to beat as a result of said challenge, but so many of the normal mob enemy fights take so long and made the pacing grind to a halt for me a lot throughout the game. It'd really halt my progress and make me feel like the pacing turned into a lot of stop and go on a moment's notice, and that really annoys me in RPGs. Mario & Luigi (and most Mario RPGs) are usually well known for the solid brisk pace their games have that keeps things rolling in a nice smooth flow that you can pick up and put down at any time for either a short fun session or longer binge ones, but this game really doesn't have that due to its difficulty.
The one saving grace of this gripe I have though, is that this game is much shorter than the series norm as a result, which made the pacing issue not nearly as bad as it could've been. Honestly, given how surprisingly short the game is, I'm pretty convinced part of the reason the difficulty was upped is specifically to pad out the length, much in the same vein as what NES games would do.
That said, it's pretty clear even the developers felt they went too far, hence why the European and Japanese versions of the game rebalanced things and toned down the HP of a lot of enemies to fix the difficulty. I ended up switching to the Euro version myself around the time I got to the desert area, and it made a big difference, really glad I did that. Thankfully my save file was compatible with it too, so I didn't have to restart.
The final boss was still pretty tough and took a good while even despite the fact they shaved off half its health from the original version of the game, so that was definitely a good move on the developers part. I also like that while the final boss reuses moves from Superstar Saga's final boss such as the spinning arms and you needing to destroy all of its limbs in order to make the head vulnerable so you can defeat the boss, the developers learned from the problems with SS's final boss and made it so the head stays vulnerable for a decently long amount of turns before it becomes invincible again. SS's final boss had the problem of having the head be vulnerable for way too short of time for you to damage it much, so that was greatly appreciated.
I also really liked how the post final boss fight has a really unique concept I haven't seen done in another Mario & Luigi game surprisingly. Making it so the Bros. can only counterattack to stop the boss and needing to land a certain number of hits to do so was really interesting, and I wish this would've been done in more Mario RPGs going forward, it's a really unique idea.
And honestly, that feels like the true claim to fame for this game. Partners in Time in many ways feels like one of the most unique and different Mario RPGs, and in mostly good ways! I really respect what AlphaDream did here trying to push the envelope on what could be done in this genre with Mario, and I wish we'd see more creative titles like this from Nintendo in terms of being more risky with Mario's IP. I think that there's a good chance we could see this should Mario RPG get greenlit to have more sequels hopefully, but only time will tell if that hopefully comes to pass. Overall, another great game from the series, and I look forward to revisiting my childhood favorite, Bowser's Inside Story, in the future!
Total Playtime: 17 hours, 56 minutes.
Crying is slightly more tolerable than in Yoshi's Island so it goes right above that one
The sequel to Superstar Saga features an all new story that follows the bros travelling in time back and forth, helped by their baby selves, in order to stop an alien invasion over the Mushroom Kingdom.
Now you control both Mario and Luigi, and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, each of them using one of the 4 buttons that the Nintendo DS has. In battle you control all four of them, although they can sometimes end up separated, having to fend off enemies by themselves. The old Bro Moves have been substituted by items that can be consumed to unleash new and powerful attacks.
A great game that delivers a nice and interesting story for a Mario game, and feels refreshing from start to finish and that sadly gets very underrated by the community.
Now you control both Mario and Luigi, and Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, each of them using one of the 4 buttons that the Nintendo DS has. In battle you control all four of them, although they can sometimes end up separated, having to fend off enemies by themselves. The old Bro Moves have been substituted by items that can be consumed to unleash new and powerful attacks.
A great game that delivers a nice and interesting story for a Mario game, and feels refreshing from start to finish and that sadly gets very underrated by the community.
Jeu très sympa, bien que je crois ne pas avoir fini le jeu
Best in the series
This one has never really done it for me. Splitting things up between the babies and the bros can really mess with the gameplay flow and I’ve never enjoyed Bros Attacks being replaced with items.
While this game is more cohesive as a complete game than the last entry, it does end up being the most forgettable of the entire series, at least to me.
Also, special attacks being items instead of moves that cost FP breaks the game. It pretty much encourages you to never use the hammer or jump options ever.
Also, special attacks being items instead of moves that cost FP breaks the game. It pretty much encourages you to never use the hammer or jump options ever.
This was my personal introduction into the world of the Mario and Luigi games. I really do enjoy this game despite what others think about it. The plot is always really fujny to excplain it's my favotie thing about it. oh what happens you ask? Mario and Luigi babies and aliens fucking destory evereything
De longe o melhor jogo do Mario que eu já joguei na minha vida, e a boss fight final foi um dos momentos mais tensos da minha vida lá pelos meus meados dos 8 anos de idade
Un juego muy muy nostálgico para mí. El más flojillo de la saga junto con Paper Jam pero quizás el más innovador, no sé. Depende de cada uno. El sistema de combate es muy complejo quizás.
The black sheep of the Mario and Luigi series, and arguably the most darkest Mario game in the franchise. AlphaDream really stepped up their game here with the overall ambition for the sequel to superstar saga. It's a shame that this one was skipped when it came to getting an HD remake like Superstar and Inside Story did because I think this is one that deserves it the most. Not to say that there's huge flaws with the game but imagining what a Partners in Time Remake would look like is just nothing short of a dream. Considering AlphaDreams bankruptcy who knows if we'll ever get to see this game and the series for that matter in the future.
I will admit though it is a missed opportunity this game never really delved into the future aspect and instead all we got were the Past and Present versions of each area. I think the game would maybe double in length if that were the case but I think of how Sonic CD handled its time travel feature and how much detail was put in the future and past given the criteria you had to fulfil.
Idk i'm just spit balling here, great game still. Definitely worth your time, and its really short too.
I will admit though it is a missed opportunity this game never really delved into the future aspect and instead all we got were the Past and Present versions of each area. I think the game would maybe double in length if that were the case but I think of how Sonic CD handled its time travel feature and how much detail was put in the future and past given the criteria you had to fulfil.
Idk i'm just spit balling here, great game still. Definitely worth your time, and its really short too.
While still a great game this one definitely had the most wasted potential overall. Most bosses drag on for far longer than they should (Looking specifically at the boulder boss and final boss). The purchasable special attacks are absolutely broken in power. And overall this game has the worst pacing, with an inconsistent story which they could have done so much more with. Time travelling to thwart a dark alien invasion is so cool I really wish it was realized to the fullest. This game was the most needed for a remake, so sad alpha dream is gone :(
Pretty solid title. The unique time-shenanigan story mixed with the alien threat made it feel so bizarre, but in the end I suppose this is a Mario RPG. Was quite funny, too. I started this game early this year, played through most of it, and then took a break because I got stuck. The break lasted longer than expected, but I'm glad I came back! This was a treat of a game and I can't wait to revisit my childhood with Bowser's Inside Story soon!
My favourite of the MnL series. Doesn't take itself seriously at all, deep mechanics, whimsical story, all while being engaging and challenging.
This is the first Mario and Luigi game I ever fully beat if you can believe it. I played bits and pieces of Bowser's Inside Story and Dream Team but Partners in Time I fully sat through to the end and I'm really happy I did.
Ironically for a Mario game, my favorite thing about this game was it's story. I'm not going to spoil anything don't worry, but it honestly threw me off with how dark the story actually was, which I loved so much. Retards who say Mario games have no story or good character moments actually don't know what they're talking about because it's obvious they haven't played a Mario game before 2010. I digress though. Often time the game interjects it's own dark tone often with really well timed jokes. Unlike some shit like the MCU or SBSP: The Cosmic Shake , 98% of this game's humor derives from a character's mannerisms, body language, and Italian gibberish which I also loved because we get to see the characters's personality shine more through these moments instead of those fucking corny ass "erm, that just happened" memes. But back to the story though, an underappreciated aspect about this game that I adored; was the sound design. The sound design of this game is sublime, the sound of the Shroob ship, for example, is so eerie, haunting and complements the tone and atmosphere of the game perfectly.
On to the gameplay though, this may be because I'm fucking stupid, but the controls did take me a bit to get used to. But once I did, this game was buttloads of fun to play. Combat was so satisfying with there being almost a rhythmic pattern to your every attack. The Bros. items (except for the stupid ass smash eggs) were awesome and kicks total ass to play.
Though sing praises for this game's ups I will, this game is far from perfect. Again, this may be because I just suck, but, this game, for me, has a lot of awkward platforming sections and depth perception issues with shadows often being very misleading. Plus the final hour of the game dragged so much for me. Did we really need FOUR FUCKING FINAL BOSSES. COME THE FUCK ON MAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN KINGDOM HEARTS. I FUCKING HATE KINGDOM HEARTS.
Anyway, this game is amazing. 8.5/10 one of the best RPG's I've ever played, certainly in the top 10 (though that may change when I play Bowser's Inside Story and the Paper Mario games).
Ironically for a Mario game, my favorite thing about this game was it's story. I'm not going to spoil anything don't worry, but it honestly threw me off with how dark the story actually was, which I loved so much. Retards who say Mario games have no story or good character moments actually don't know what they're talking about because it's obvious they haven't played a Mario game before 2010. I digress though. Often time the game interjects it's own dark tone often with really well timed jokes. Unlike some shit like the MCU or SBSP: The Cosmic Shake , 98% of this game's humor derives from a character's mannerisms, body language, and Italian gibberish which I also loved because we get to see the characters's personality shine more through these moments instead of those fucking corny ass "erm, that just happened" memes. But back to the story though, an underappreciated aspect about this game that I adored; was the sound design. The sound design of this game is sublime, the sound of the Shroob ship, for example, is so eerie, haunting and complements the tone and atmosphere of the game perfectly.
On to the gameplay though, this may be because I'm fucking stupid, but the controls did take me a bit to get used to. But once I did, this game was buttloads of fun to play. Combat was so satisfying with there being almost a rhythmic pattern to your every attack. The Bros. items (except for the stupid ass smash eggs) were awesome and kicks total ass to play.
Though sing praises for this game's ups I will, this game is far from perfect. Again, this may be because I just suck, but, this game, for me, has a lot of awkward platforming sections and depth perception issues with shadows often being very misleading. Plus the final hour of the game dragged so much for me. Did we really need FOUR FUCKING FINAL BOSSES. COME THE FUCK ON MAN I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN KINGDOM HEARTS. I FUCKING HATE KINGDOM HEARTS.
Anyway, this game is amazing. 8.5/10 one of the best RPG's I've ever played, certainly in the top 10 (though that may change when I play Bowser's Inside Story and the Paper Mario games).
Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time presents a unique gaming experience, though it occasionally becomes tiresome due to the need to switch screens when controlling Mario, Luigi, or their infant counterparts. The UI design retains the authenticity of Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, contributing to a familiar feel for fans of the series. Despite its decent writing, Partners In Time falls short of the excellence achieved by Bowser's Inside Story in the eyes of some players. While flaws could potentially be addressed in a remake, the unfortunate reality is that AlphaDream, the game's developer, has gone defunct, diminishing the possibility of any future revisions.
Man, this game is so underrated, and why? Just because it's different? Well guess what, many of these changes were made for good, or else the game would've been like Dream Team: a copy and paste of its predecessor.
We're going back in time to get shroobs OFF the menu
I loved this game but the replayability is NULL