Bizarre combination of franchises in a very competent cover-based tactical RPG.
+ well-designed combat system that appears simple but has a lot of depth (mostly due to freedom in movement)
+ small but amusing selection of units who each fill a unique role with flexibility through skills
+ appealing environmental design that seamlessly integrates battle arenas and features a lot of detailed backdrops
+ decent difficulty curve with only a couple potential roadblocks
+/- a lot of different puzzles to break up the strategy gameplay loop (most of which are unfortunately easier to brute-force than solve properly)
- pathetic options menu (e.g. no defaults for fast forward or easy mode)
- no map or zoom function for orientation purposes
- tiny active team of 3 with Mario as a mediocre forced unit