This one tends to get overshadowed by Superstar Saga and Bowser’s Inside Story, with most seeming to regard this as the worst in the series. Why this is the case is beyond me as I find Partners in Time to be a more than worthy follow-up to the former.
Story wise it’s arguably a bit less ambitious than Superstar Saga, being almost entirely set in the Mushroom Kingdom with the only major new characters being the alien Shroobs, who act as primary antagonists. Unfortunately since the Shroobs are wider in numbers they don’t get to forge out distinct personalities like Fawful and Cackletta did in the previous game. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it does make them a bit less memorable by comparison.
What does stick out though is the much more grim atmosphere and tone this game has compared to the previous entry, or really any Mario games besides maybe Luigi’s Mansion. I wouldn’t say it’s as dark as some people make it out to be though, rather that it’s more akin to something like a Tim Burton film. What I mean is that even though there’s a lot of dark crap, there’s also a fair bit of light-hearted comedy to offset this. Particular standouts would be the escapades with the talking Star door and pretty much any scene with the 2 Luigi’s. Fortunately it doesn’t ever sway too far in either direction that it ends up feeling jarring, so it overall manages to keep a good balance in tone.
Gameplay wise there’s not as much to say that I didn’t cover when I reviewed Superstar Saga, with 2 exceptions: the Bros. Attacks and the enemy HP. As opposed to retaining the BP mechanic from the previous game, Alphadream controversially changed it to where each Bros. Attack is treated as an individual item like healing items. Likewise if you want more you’ll have to buy them in item shops as opposed to just replenishing your BP with syrup jars. I’m a little conflicted on this overall: on one hand I didn’t really think the BP system was particularly awful or warranted changing, but on the other hand the new system does alleviate the need to replenish BP every now and then, which in turns I feel encourages using Bros. Attacks outside of boss fights, which you’re gonna wanna thanks to the other major problem people have with this game: the OP as fuck enemies.
Now for the first half of the game I didn’t really see what people meant, but right around Toad Town the enemies just suddenly start rocking massive amounts of HP and in turn will hit you like fucking bricks if you’re not prepared. This wasn’t a massive problem for me as I was making a conscious decision to grind throughout each area so I could have the ideal stats but if you’re just playing casually you’re gonna have a real hard time with the last quarter, especially with the boss fights. I still don’t think it’s quite AS bad as a lot of people make it out to be, but yeah I do at least see their point to an extent.
That aside though I honestly don’t see why everyone holds this as the worst. Granted I haven’t played more than 2 of them to the end but I still don’t see the drop off point between this and Superstar Saga. The combat’s still fun, it’s got all the same heart and charm while also being a bit more dark than most Mario games, the soundtrack slaps just as much as Superstar Saga’s (I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet but Yoko Shimomura is Marty O’Donnel tier as far as game soundtracks are concerned holy shit) and it’s overall just a really good time. It’s available through the Wii U eShop for like 10 quid if you’re interested in giving it a shot, along with the GBA version of Superstar Saga. I’d highly recommend getting it through there over forking over like 50 bucks for a used copy if you ask me. 9/10
Story wise it’s arguably a bit less ambitious than Superstar Saga, being almost entirely set in the Mushroom Kingdom with the only major new characters being the alien Shroobs, who act as primary antagonists. Unfortunately since the Shroobs are wider in numbers they don’t get to forge out distinct personalities like Fawful and Cackletta did in the previous game. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it does make them a bit less memorable by comparison.
What does stick out though is the much more grim atmosphere and tone this game has compared to the previous entry, or really any Mario games besides maybe Luigi’s Mansion. I wouldn’t say it’s as dark as some people make it out to be though, rather that it’s more akin to something like a Tim Burton film. What I mean is that even though there’s a lot of dark crap, there’s also a fair bit of light-hearted comedy to offset this. Particular standouts would be the escapades with the talking Star door and pretty much any scene with the 2 Luigi’s. Fortunately it doesn’t ever sway too far in either direction that it ends up feeling jarring, so it overall manages to keep a good balance in tone.
Gameplay wise there’s not as much to say that I didn’t cover when I reviewed Superstar Saga, with 2 exceptions: the Bros. Attacks and the enemy HP. As opposed to retaining the BP mechanic from the previous game, Alphadream controversially changed it to where each Bros. Attack is treated as an individual item like healing items. Likewise if you want more you’ll have to buy them in item shops as opposed to just replenishing your BP with syrup jars. I’m a little conflicted on this overall: on one hand I didn’t really think the BP system was particularly awful or warranted changing, but on the other hand the new system does alleviate the need to replenish BP every now and then, which in turns I feel encourages using Bros. Attacks outside of boss fights, which you’re gonna wanna thanks to the other major problem people have with this game: the OP as fuck enemies.
Now for the first half of the game I didn’t really see what people meant, but right around Toad Town the enemies just suddenly start rocking massive amounts of HP and in turn will hit you like fucking bricks if you’re not prepared. This wasn’t a massive problem for me as I was making a conscious decision to grind throughout each area so I could have the ideal stats but if you’re just playing casually you’re gonna have a real hard time with the last quarter, especially with the boss fights. I still don’t think it’s quite AS bad as a lot of people make it out to be, but yeah I do at least see their point to an extent.
That aside though I honestly don’t see why everyone holds this as the worst. Granted I haven’t played more than 2 of them to the end but I still don’t see the drop off point between this and Superstar Saga. The combat’s still fun, it’s got all the same heart and charm while also being a bit more dark than most Mario games, the soundtrack slaps just as much as Superstar Saga’s (I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet but Yoko Shimomura is Marty O’Donnel tier as far as game soundtracks are concerned holy shit) and it’s overall just a really good time. It’s available through the Wii U eShop for like 10 quid if you’re interested in giving it a shot, along with the GBA version of Superstar Saga. I’d highly recommend getting it through there over forking over like 50 bucks for a used copy if you ask me. 9/10