I had an absolutely splendiferous time playing Bowser's Inside Story and am left hungry for more after completing the game. The concept and theming of this game are some of the strongest among the entire Mario franchise. Seeing the inside of Bowser portrayed in such a cartoonish way where his immune system and such is composed of single-celled goombas and other miniature baddies was a treat for the imagination and that wonder is maintained throughout essentially the entire game. And getting to actually control Bowser as an additional playable character was exactly what this series needed to inject some new life into the game's mechanics and keep the Mario and Luigi gameplay from getting stale.
Unlike the babies from Partners in Time, Bowser is a fully realized additional party member. Bowser has his own attacks, dodge and counter methods, and occupies and affects the battlefield in a completely unique way. His vacuum ability is an inspired way for him to interact with Mario and Luigi in battles, essentially allowing him to partition certain enemies away, for the bros to deal with in his place (not to mention the creative interactions that many enemies have with being vacuumed). This asymmetrical battle system is so unique and flavorful, and I really wish something like it were present in more games. In combat, Bowser feels very different to control compared to the Mario bros. All of his special attacks are controlled entirely with the touch screen. If this were a constant for all special attacks in the game it would risk the touch controls overstaying their welcome, but their high mana cost and exclusivity to Bowser kept their presence squarely in the territory of being a welcome change of pace. I also felt like Bowser's bosses were much harder since he doesn't have an ally to revive him if he faints. Combined with the ample characterization he gets through his dialogue, this made me sympathize with him and contributed to his unique gameplay feel from that of the bros.
This game actually paces the frequency of all its gimmicks incredibly well. A major criticism I had with Partners in Time was that the potentially endless battle items slowed combats down to a crawl. Bowser's Inside Story pays homage to the flavor of its predecessor in a really cute way, by introducing a similarly endless bros attack, being the Magic Window. However, this move was improved from the similar attacks in Partners in Time because it is only 1 of the 10 special bros attacks and most importantly the pace of the Magic Window is much faster than the Copy Flower/Pocket Chomp/etc. Much unlike Partners in Time, each of the special moves at the bros' disposal feel extremely distinct from one another and were able to remain charming through the entire campaign. As for other gimmicks in the game, there are many minigame style sections where the bros manipulate Bowser's body from the inside (such as the carrot minigame, the schmup sections, etc.) and I found all of them to be pleasant diversions to keep things interesting. They, along with everything else in the game, add a lot of character to the experience. However, this is somewhat of a double edged sword.
This series is infamous for having many many tutorials in its games, and that is much more relevant in this game than it was in Partners in Time or Superstar Saga. The frequent introduction of new gimmicks and mechanics throughout the story, as well as the game's increased mechanical complexity brings about more tutorials. I was surprised to find that many tutorials were actually skippable, which will be a huge benefit to the game for additional playthroughs. I haven't played this game in a decade though, so I went ahead and listened to the majority of the them since I had forgotten how some things worked. The game does a lot of work to inject character into all aspects of itself, including its tutorials. This led to things being explained through very unconcise dialogue, the most egregious example being the explanation on how to use the blue shell blocks. Blue shell blocks are very simple, when Mario strikes one he will wear a blue shell until the next time he jumps. While he has a blue shell, pressing B will send him straight forward, allowing him to strike nearby blocks that are across gaps. This simple mechanic is explained by a blue parakoopa through dozens of text boxes across multiple minutes. In that time, this tutorial character also establishes a running gag and his own characterization. It's a good effort to make the tutorial entertaining, but that doesn't change the fact that this completely derails the gameplay to explain a mechanic that could have been figured out much faster by simply allowing the player to use it. As I mentioned, tutorials are pretty common in this game and while I was charmed enough by the game's rich character to not get bored or agitated, I can see these roundabout explanations being a bigger issue to some players.
Aside from the frequent tutorials present in the game, I actually found its pace to be very brisk, maybe even a little too brisk. This isn't a negative, it's closer to a positive actually. The game did such a good job pushing me towards each new objective that I hardly had any time to explore the optional content of the game. I meant to engage with the challenge modes in the Challenge Node as I unlocked them, but I was always so eager to advance the story that I completely forgot to visit the area until after I had already beaten the game. You keep being presenting with exciting new scenarios that it never felt like there was a dull moment. I was also surprised to learn that most of the overworld areas don't get reused by the bros after having been previously explored by Bowser. You are free to go back as Mario and Luigi to most areas that Bowser previously passed through, even though the story never pushes you to. There isn't much to find there, mostly some beans and a few question blocks, but I was surprised that there are some enemies in those areas exclusive to the Mario bros that I expect most players never even encounter because there is no external reward to go back and explore these regions (not to mention that the other enemies you faced as Bowser have slightly reworked attacks to allow Mario and Luigi to dodge them). The fact that the game is constantly throwing new things at you is one of the best things about it, but at the same time I wouldn't have minded the developers squeezing a bit more out of the overworld locations by having Mario and Luigi explore more of them.
And for my remaining miscellaneous thoughts about the game:
I enjoyed the giant battles in this game. I only find this notable because I remember hating the giant battles in Paper Jam. I appreciate that they were a rare novelty in this game.
The difficulty felt like a really good level! A fair bit harder than the previous 2 games of the series and without excessive HP on the bosses to boot.
The gear in this game is more creative than that of its predecessors', which I am greatly pleased by. Adding more customization options to the characters helps make Mario and Luigi feel like mechanically distinct units. Gear like the gloves that double healing effectiveness and the box that discounts the cost of a random special attack every turn are great pieces of equipment that the player can use to change up their gameplay style.
The boss rush in the Challenge Node is bullshit! I regret trying to clear it and will avoid it next time I play this game. I could win if dying was my only concern, but you have a limited number of turns to kill all the bosses, so there is basically a stat check for attack to beat this boss rush. I beat the main story at level 29 as Mario and Luigi and I felt like it was an appropriate difficulty. The boss rush suggests that you attempt it once you are level 50, and to grind EXP if you are too low leveled. This is honestly a waste of time and I am very surprised that that sort of padding was put into the game when it is so quick to discard so many other ideas that I would have liked it to expand upon instead. Also there is no boss rush/rematches for the Bowser boss fights which is a bit of a bummer.
I am really not a fan of the final area (Peach's Castle). It feels very generic compared to every other area in the game, and the recycled enemies present there that are just pallet swaps of enemies you have previously seen does not help in this regard.
With everything being said, I think this game is amazing and one of the best Mario games, full stop. You should play it if you haven't already! I enjoyed this so much that I will likely be playing the remake, after I've finished replaying the rest of this series, so I can experience the game again.
Unlike the babies from Partners in Time, Bowser is a fully realized additional party member. Bowser has his own attacks, dodge and counter methods, and occupies and affects the battlefield in a completely unique way. His vacuum ability is an inspired way for him to interact with Mario and Luigi in battles, essentially allowing him to partition certain enemies away, for the bros to deal with in his place (not to mention the creative interactions that many enemies have with being vacuumed). This asymmetrical battle system is so unique and flavorful, and I really wish something like it were present in more games. In combat, Bowser feels very different to control compared to the Mario bros. All of his special attacks are controlled entirely with the touch screen. If this were a constant for all special attacks in the game it would risk the touch controls overstaying their welcome, but their high mana cost and exclusivity to Bowser kept their presence squarely in the territory of being a welcome change of pace. I also felt like Bowser's bosses were much harder since he doesn't have an ally to revive him if he faints. Combined with the ample characterization he gets through his dialogue, this made me sympathize with him and contributed to his unique gameplay feel from that of the bros.
This game actually paces the frequency of all its gimmicks incredibly well. A major criticism I had with Partners in Time was that the potentially endless battle items slowed combats down to a crawl. Bowser's Inside Story pays homage to the flavor of its predecessor in a really cute way, by introducing a similarly endless bros attack, being the Magic Window. However, this move was improved from the similar attacks in Partners in Time because it is only 1 of the 10 special bros attacks and most importantly the pace of the Magic Window is much faster than the Copy Flower/Pocket Chomp/etc. Much unlike Partners in Time, each of the special moves at the bros' disposal feel extremely distinct from one another and were able to remain charming through the entire campaign. As for other gimmicks in the game, there are many minigame style sections where the bros manipulate Bowser's body from the inside (such as the carrot minigame, the schmup sections, etc.) and I found all of them to be pleasant diversions to keep things interesting. They, along with everything else in the game, add a lot of character to the experience. However, this is somewhat of a double edged sword.
This series is infamous for having many many tutorials in its games, and that is much more relevant in this game than it was in Partners in Time or Superstar Saga. The frequent introduction of new gimmicks and mechanics throughout the story, as well as the game's increased mechanical complexity brings about more tutorials. I was surprised to find that many tutorials were actually skippable, which will be a huge benefit to the game for additional playthroughs. I haven't played this game in a decade though, so I went ahead and listened to the majority of the them since I had forgotten how some things worked. The game does a lot of work to inject character into all aspects of itself, including its tutorials. This led to things being explained through very unconcise dialogue, the most egregious example being the explanation on how to use the blue shell blocks. Blue shell blocks are very simple, when Mario strikes one he will wear a blue shell until the next time he jumps. While he has a blue shell, pressing B will send him straight forward, allowing him to strike nearby blocks that are across gaps. This simple mechanic is explained by a blue parakoopa through dozens of text boxes across multiple minutes. In that time, this tutorial character also establishes a running gag and his own characterization. It's a good effort to make the tutorial entertaining, but that doesn't change the fact that this completely derails the gameplay to explain a mechanic that could have been figured out much faster by simply allowing the player to use it. As I mentioned, tutorials are pretty common in this game and while I was charmed enough by the game's rich character to not get bored or agitated, I can see these roundabout explanations being a bigger issue to some players.
Aside from the frequent tutorials present in the game, I actually found its pace to be very brisk, maybe even a little too brisk. This isn't a negative, it's closer to a positive actually. The game did such a good job pushing me towards each new objective that I hardly had any time to explore the optional content of the game. I meant to engage with the challenge modes in the Challenge Node as I unlocked them, but I was always so eager to advance the story that I completely forgot to visit the area until after I had already beaten the game. You keep being presenting with exciting new scenarios that it never felt like there was a dull moment. I was also surprised to learn that most of the overworld areas don't get reused by the bros after having been previously explored by Bowser. You are free to go back as Mario and Luigi to most areas that Bowser previously passed through, even though the story never pushes you to. There isn't much to find there, mostly some beans and a few question blocks, but I was surprised that there are some enemies in those areas exclusive to the Mario bros that I expect most players never even encounter because there is no external reward to go back and explore these regions (not to mention that the other enemies you faced as Bowser have slightly reworked attacks to allow Mario and Luigi to dodge them). The fact that the game is constantly throwing new things at you is one of the best things about it, but at the same time I wouldn't have minded the developers squeezing a bit more out of the overworld locations by having Mario and Luigi explore more of them.
And for my remaining miscellaneous thoughts about the game:
I enjoyed the giant battles in this game. I only find this notable because I remember hating the giant battles in Paper Jam. I appreciate that they were a rare novelty in this game.
The difficulty felt like a really good level! A fair bit harder than the previous 2 games of the series and without excessive HP on the bosses to boot.
The gear in this game is more creative than that of its predecessors', which I am greatly pleased by. Adding more customization options to the characters helps make Mario and Luigi feel like mechanically distinct units. Gear like the gloves that double healing effectiveness and the box that discounts the cost of a random special attack every turn are great pieces of equipment that the player can use to change up their gameplay style.
The boss rush in the Challenge Node is bullshit! I regret trying to clear it and will avoid it next time I play this game. I could win if dying was my only concern, but you have a limited number of turns to kill all the bosses, so there is basically a stat check for attack to beat this boss rush. I beat the main story at level 29 as Mario and Luigi and I felt like it was an appropriate difficulty. The boss rush suggests that you attempt it once you are level 50, and to grind EXP if you are too low leveled. This is honestly a waste of time and I am very surprised that that sort of padding was put into the game when it is so quick to discard so many other ideas that I would have liked it to expand upon instead. Also there is no boss rush/rematches for the Bowser boss fights which is a bit of a bummer.
I am really not a fan of the final area (Peach's Castle). It feels very generic compared to every other area in the game, and the recycled enemies present there that are just pallet swaps of enemies you have previously seen does not help in this regard.
With everything being said, I think this game is amazing and one of the best Mario games, full stop. You should play it if you haven't already! I enjoyed this so much that I will likely be playing the remake, after I've finished replaying the rest of this series, so I can experience the game again.