Following a nine-year void with no new role-playing games (RPGs) for the Nintendo franchise, Mario & Luigi: Brothership sees the plumber pair reunited for another adventure, and it’s a glorious return to form for a beloved series.
At a preview event hosted by Nintendo, I got to play just over an hour of the upcoming game, and judging by that alone, I’d wager it could easily chart among the best Nintendo Switch games to be released this year.
A lot has changed in gaming over the last decade, reflected wonderfully in Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s careful balance of sticking to its roots while adding shedloads of creativity and quirk that has been sorely missed in more recent titles. Mario and Luigi’s brotherly bond is at the front and center, with even the cover art showing the pair closer than ever in a shoulder embrace, with new Bros. Attacks, new game mechanics, and new friends to join the mustachio’d pair on their quest.
Its new, all-3D artwork is wonderful, allowing for far more expression both from its characters and the world itself. Speaking of which, the semi-open world is a delight to explore and brimming with life and activity, and as a Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker fan, it’s wonderful to see Nintendo return to the sea once more.
Bro, bro, bro your boat
For their latest caper, Mario and Luigi are seabound, transported to a new realm called Concordia, and sent on a mission to reconnect its scattered islands into one united land following the destruction of the Unitree which once held them together.
It’s hard to tell based solely on my preview, but it seems Mario & Luigi: Brothership has taken a similar approach to the semi-open world of Super Mario Odyssey - though it remains to be seen to what degree you can choose where you’ll venture next.
The main hub of the game itself is also an island; Shipshape Island, which is suitably ship-shaped. As such Mario and Luigi can use Shipshape Island to traverse the open sea, using a cannon to launch themselves to nearby islands.
You navigate the ocean by sailing around different water channels, finding islands and smaller, unmarked islets to explore along the way. My time with the preview didn’t reveal how much of a role the ocean navigation segments play in the game, but I did learn the hard way that it’s possible to overshoot your destination and end up continuing around the one-way path that the water currents create.
Once on dry land, you have relatively free reign to explore the islands themselves as the brothers work together to complete quests for the locals and find each island’s lighthouse, and reconnect it to the Unitree. I got to explore two such islands; first, a music-themed isle from earlier in the game, and the latter was a Merry-Go-Round-themed island from about five hours in. However, I’m already really excited to see more of the game’s varied thematic islands and the puzzles that lie within them.
A bro-dependant pair
But what about our heroes? Well, with great joy I can say they’re closer than ever - a wise move following the success of the Super Mario Bros movie, where their brotherly relationship was fleshed out in more detail. The time-honored gags remain; gibberish “Italian” dialogue; Mario nailing every landing while Luigi plummets into a nearby tree; Mario saving Luigi from a plethora of perils; all injected with the 3D animation style’s ability to convey more emotion and expression, making the duo ever more loveable.
Joining you are also a host of familiar faces as well as new characters, including the Super Mario Universe’s latest addition - Concordians. These blocky characters come in all shapes and sizes, with a huge variety of personalities - a welcome departure from the doppelganger doomscape that is the Mushroom Kingdom.
Your main guide through these foreign lands is Connie, a young and kind-hearted Concordian with a penchant for plug-shaped hats, as well as Snoutlet, the brothers’ primary companion who takes residence in Luigi’s hat. While its name may portmanteau outlet and snout, Snoutlet will be sure to let you know they’re no swine.
For the first time in a while in the Super Mario Universe, I found myself cackling at the goofy, hyper-animated world of Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood and it’s a charmed return to form that will serve to delight fans of the more whacky era of Mario gaming.
Brothers in arms
Combat broadly feels finessed in Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, maintaining the dynamic battle system with core features like the Bros Attacks while adding some exciting new mechanics.
Timed attacks, dodges and counters keep combat exciting and engaging, and even normal attacks now use both brothers to deal damage. I really like this addition, but it does, at times, draw out combat, especially if you’re just trying to grind through turns while you wait for your Bros Points to recharge so you can deal a killing blow with a Bros Attack.
Speaking of which, Bros Attacks remain as epic as ever, with high-octane and smoothly animated sequences giving a real sense of momentum to battles. I tried out Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s take on the Red Shell and Green Shell Bros Attacks, where the brothers kick back and forth shells to ramp up damage, but that was the only move available at that point in the game. However, Nintendo of Japan previously released in-game footage showing new Bros Attacks like a lightning strike will come into play, and there’s certain to be an array of the best attacks from previous games, too.
A smaller but welcomed addition is also the health bar and level information on enemies. No, it’s not groundbreaking, but it’s new to the series, and a welcome addition if you’re trying to decide if you can be bothered to tackle an enemy crew.
As you traverse Concordia, you’ll be able to upgrade your gear as in previous titles and choose stats to buff as you level up. That’s not the only way you can power up your punches, however - a new Battle Plug system allows you to create and customize your fighting style with power-ups, which can be toggled in and out of fight sequences. These have a limited number of uses before they need charging, but came in clutch several times during my preview by stunning enemies, amping up my attack power, and helping me dodge and counterattack.
Fight sequences aren’t the only times the plumber pair will band together. As well as overworld puzzles, there are also new Bros Moves. These team-up mechanics offer unique powers as you explore the world, and while I was only able to sample the UF-Bro move which sees the pair merge into a floating spaceship to bridge gaps and fly over obstacles (normal Mario things, right?), I’m really excited to see how the game builds on the collaborative approach to exploration. Other in-world obstacles like cliff edges and ball volleys also require the pair to work together, and while these are mostly aesthetic additions, it’s nice to see the cooperative thread running throughout the game.
I'm a-Luigi, number… two…
While Nintendo is keen to highlight how much Luigi is Mario’s equal in the game, I was a little disappointed that it hasn’t been quite as bold as I’d have liked with its reimagining of the series. Yes, there are new mechanics, and I do love the aesthetic and world-building additions to the game, but why oh why is Luigi still playing second fiddle?
Let’s start with the positives; Luigi hasn’t been left in the dust and has a new special ability called Luigi Logic that enables our green-capped scaredy-cat to become a puzzle and battle master.
If there’s a nearby interactable object, he’ll have a lightbulb moment, and by pressing the L trigger he’ll be released from his invisible brotherly bond to Mario a la Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and shuffle off to smash boxes, uproot plants, and crush boulders to find coins and items. In battle, Luigi will also occasionally have brain waves that will help the pair defeat foes, but I didn’t see any of these during my preview.
This, combined with Snoutlet’s attachment to Luigi rather than his older brother, brings Luigi more to the fore in the narrative. Still, it seems as though it’s just a few new features that allow you to control him independently, and at select moments within the game, rather than my dreams of switching between the pair at will.
A Nintendo representative did confirm there are points where you can fully and independently control Luigi, but until the full game releases, there’s no real indication of just how much Luigi time we might get.
A special bro-ccasion
Luigi's woes aside, there’s a lot to love about Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It’s unabashedly quirky, and even without the stalwart steer of its original developers, the now-defunct AlphaDream, its roots are as strong as those of the Unitree connecting Concordia. In an abnormally secretive move, we still don’t know who the developers are for the new title, though a Nintendo Rep did confirm to Game File that some of the original AlphaDream developers who worked on the franchise are involved with Brothership.
Regardless, it’s clear that whoever has taken custody of developing the Mario & Luigi franchise has a lot of love for the games, and a keen understanding of what makes a Mario game great; simple yet inventive and engaging combat, whimsical world-building, and a whole load of goofy gags.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly excited for the game’s release on Nintendo Switch on November 7, 2024.
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