Absolutely amazing journey that is equally adventurous and terrifying. Some of the creepy sci-fi stuff they got away with here is honestly impressive. It felt so good to come back to "THE game I couldn't beat as a kid" and finally make it to credits. Probably my personal favorite in the series and is a must play for Mario RPG fans.
9/10
Wahoo brothers meet small wahoo brothers for adventure where time travel barely matters...???
So, I want to start by saying that there has NEVER been a BAD Official Mario game. So when I say I did not like Partner's in Time as much, I'm not calling the game bad. Just..Mid. Well, let's start with the positives.
The battles are still just as entertaining as I remembered them to be. Synchronizing attacks with the babies and adults creates creative combos and awesome special attacks. If you get good at your coordination, special attacks like Trampoliners and Copy Flower become downright BROKEN against bosses. I also like how there was very little grinding needed to beat this game. Sometimes, I prefer a short, easy RPG that doesn't require much commitment.
The environments are pretty unique too, with tons of puzzles sprinkled through them. For example, in the desert, you have to split up the adults and babies to hit blocks simultaneously to unlock doors.
Secondly, while I won't spoil the final boss, it was very epic and satisfying to defeat, even if it came out of left field. Yes, even THAT part.
Lastly, the graphics and music are great here, with the characters looking way more expressive in cutscenes than of Superstar Saga. I find myself listening to the desert theme a lot, although I can't remember some other things.
Ok, onto the disappointing. The Time Travel mechanic of the story felt undercooked. Like, you go to environments in the past, but nothing about them gives the impression that this is unique to the past and not the present. Wouldn't it be cool to see the past and present versions of the same locations, and see aged-up characters? That way, we won't be stuck in Princess Peach's Castle! This idea is KINDA played with a younger Professor E.Gadd getting an idea that transfers to present E.Gadd, but that's it! So lame!
Moreover, the main villain, the Shroob Princess, is underwhelming. They play up the terror of the Shroob army, how large they are, and how foreign they are in their customs and language, but since we never get any more motivation or dialogue between the heroes and villains, it ends up being underwhelming. Now hold on, hold on. Yes, Mario villains aren't always complex, nor do they have to be to have a good story or gameplay. But when you get villains like Bowser or Fawfull in Bowser's Inside Story, simple characters with tons of interaction and witty dialogue, it makes up for the simple plot!
This entire game feels like beta Bowser's Inside Story because there isn't much of the witty humor or fun interactions that are in that game. Frankly, if you ONLY had one M&L game to play in your entire life, skip this one and go to Bowser's Inside Story, the best game in the franchise. Still, if you want a little more fun and some cool time-travel shenanigans, this game ain't too bad.
The battles are still just as entertaining as I remembered them to be. Synchronizing attacks with the babies and adults creates creative combos and awesome special attacks. If you get good at your coordination, special attacks like Trampoliners and Copy Flower become downright BROKEN against bosses. I also like how there was very little grinding needed to beat this game. Sometimes, I prefer a short, easy RPG that doesn't require much commitment.
The environments are pretty unique too, with tons of puzzles sprinkled through them. For example, in the desert, you have to split up the adults and babies to hit blocks simultaneously to unlock doors.
Secondly, while I won't spoil the final boss, it was very epic and satisfying to defeat, even if it came out of left field. Yes, even THAT part.
Lastly, the graphics and music are great here, with the characters looking way more expressive in cutscenes than of Superstar Saga. I find myself listening to the desert theme a lot, although I can't remember some other things.
Ok, onto the disappointing. The Time Travel mechanic of the story felt undercooked. Like, you go to environments in the past, but nothing about them gives the impression that this is unique to the past and not the present. Wouldn't it be cool to see the past and present versions of the same locations, and see aged-up characters? That way, we won't be stuck in Princess Peach's Castle! This idea is KINDA played with a younger Professor E.Gadd getting an idea that transfers to present E.Gadd, but that's it! So lame!
Moreover, the main villain, the Shroob Princess, is underwhelming. They play up the terror of the Shroob army, how large they are, and how foreign they are in their customs and language, but since we never get any more motivation or dialogue between the heroes and villains, it ends up being underwhelming. Now hold on, hold on. Yes, Mario villains aren't always complex, nor do they have to be to have a good story or gameplay. But when you get villains like Bowser or Fawfull in Bowser's Inside Story, simple characters with tons of interaction and witty dialogue, it makes up for the simple plot!
This entire game feels like beta Bowser's Inside Story because there isn't much of the witty humor or fun interactions that are in that game. Frankly, if you ONLY had one M&L game to play in your entire life, skip this one and go to Bowser's Inside Story, the best game in the franchise. Still, if you want a little more fun and some cool time-travel shenanigans, this game ain't too bad.
what a great game that i am not really a fan of at all, and it pains me to say this because the core of this game is really great, and it starts off so strong too. but i think my main sour point with this game derives from the bosses.
a disclaimer. i played the NORTH AMERICAN version of this game, since i am a filthy american, and this is the version of the game where the developers presumably did several lines of coke and thought it would be a fucking great idea to make every single boss in the latter half of the game an HP sponge snoozefest that act as utter brick walls to both the pacing and my overall enjoyment of the game. i am not joking when i say that this game has some of my least favorite bosses in any RPG i've ever played, and i hate that i have to say this because i was actually praising how good the bosses were in the first half. i think the turning point for me was the shrooboid brat in gritzy desert, which i didn't mind all that much but thought its HP was a bit too high for my liking, then it all went downhill from there. it snowballs until the final boss where it has so much HP it's borderline comical. to only compound this problem is some of the bros attacks in this game, specifically the flower abilities, genuinely hurt my hands. i don't think i'll ever replay this game due to the fear that i'll actually develop carpal tunnel syndrome. i hear that the japanese and european versions rebalance the bosses significantly, so if there's an english option in the european version, i would practically beg you to play that version instead.
this is a little off topic but it still pertains to this game: it genuinely makes me upset that bowser's inside story got the remake treatment instead of this game. BIS is already an almost perfect game as it is and this game would actually benefit from a remake. hell, i'll even take a european ROM of the game on the virtual console. i understand why alphadream chose to remake BIS instead, (money, at least that's what they hoped. if you wanna shave a couple years of your lifespan go look up the BIS remake's sales numbers) but man is it still disappointing.
TL;DR if you wanna play this game, play the japanese or european version if you're not a fucking masochist
a disclaimer. i played the NORTH AMERICAN version of this game, since i am a filthy american, and this is the version of the game where the developers presumably did several lines of coke and thought it would be a fucking great idea to make every single boss in the latter half of the game an HP sponge snoozefest that act as utter brick walls to both the pacing and my overall enjoyment of the game. i am not joking when i say that this game has some of my least favorite bosses in any RPG i've ever played, and i hate that i have to say this because i was actually praising how good the bosses were in the first half. i think the turning point for me was the shrooboid brat in gritzy desert, which i didn't mind all that much but thought its HP was a bit too high for my liking, then it all went downhill from there. it snowballs until the final boss where it has so much HP it's borderline comical. to only compound this problem is some of the bros attacks in this game, specifically the flower abilities, genuinely hurt my hands. i don't think i'll ever replay this game due to the fear that i'll actually develop carpal tunnel syndrome. i hear that the japanese and european versions rebalance the bosses significantly, so if there's an english option in the european version, i would practically beg you to play that version instead.
this is a little off topic but it still pertains to this game: it genuinely makes me upset that bowser's inside story got the remake treatment instead of this game. BIS is already an almost perfect game as it is and this game would actually benefit from a remake. hell, i'll even take a european ROM of the game on the virtual console. i understand why alphadream chose to remake BIS instead, (money, at least that's what they hoped. if you wanna shave a couple years of your lifespan go look up the BIS remake's sales numbers) but man is it still disappointing.
TL;DR if you wanna play this game, play the japanese or european version if you're not a fucking masochist
Super good and weirdly dark game with the exception of the final boss really sucking, and I could just never beat it as a kid.
What an underrated game as far as Mario RPGs go. It featured a story, world and events that went on to become entertainingly unsettling for a Mario game. Thus a memorable experience was born - together with that epic final boss music!