mario and luigi He has just been resurrected. However, we thought that a lot was said by this series derived from turn-based role-playing games, based on the universe of Super Mario. In 2019, the Japanese studio AlphaDream, which had been at the helm for fourteen years, went bankrupt. Then we imagine Nintendo abandoning this friendly line of descendants of Super Mario RPG (whose remake we really liked), which was not profitable enough to support its main developer.
But no: in June, Nintendo announced a new version, Mario & Luigi: the brotherly epicwhich arrives on Switch on Thursday, November 7. And the transfer to the Acquire studio (again Japanese; they worked in particular on the Octopath Traveler) was carried out without problems, but quite the opposite.
Mario and Luigi are thrown into a broken world. A catastrophe has divided the continent into a multitude of drifting islands, prey to the great ocean currents. The natives, adorable little anthropomorphic plugs (don’t worry, in this episode everything is placed under the sign of electrical equipment), are isolated and their hope of reunion lies on an island shaped like a ship capable of sailing. waves to “connect” places.
The foam of the joules
New crew of this strange galley, the exalted brothers take charge of this field mission. The plan is simple: as soon as land is in sight, they launch into it with a cannon. The return ticket will only be stamped after you have found the local lighthouse, allowing you to add the island to the ship’s collection, which drags them behind like the newlyweds’ car drags the pots and pans off the ship. church.
The symbolism is quite charming. There is something fundamentally warm about this vision of uniting a people by repairing the land. A poetry that is not entirely foreign to the series but that, here, has a true coherence and adapts perfectly to the habits that are naturally established in a video game: we sail, we touch land, we discover a new environment, we experience a more or less Miniadventure. less complex, we arrive at the lighthouse, we connect, we return, we start again.
This intelligent world also benefits from particularly clean 3D, wonderfully reminiscent of the two-dimensional graphic style of previous episodes. But all this is nothing compared to the wonderfully crafted animation work of the two brothers. The slightest pirouette of the duo breaks the screen.
Current issues are resolved as we have always done in mario and luigispecifically in turn-based combat. Jumping on enemies to start a confrontation doesn’t kill them right away, but it could give you a small advantage (unless the terrible one is covered in spikes, in which case it’s better to use the hammer, but we have faith in your common sense inherited from platform titles).
continuous currents
Obviously, the so-called specificity of action commands The specific feature of the series remains: all attacks, without exception, can be dodged or countered by jumping or hitting with a sledgehammer at the right moment. Likewise, the effectiveness of your attacks only depends on your precision in pressing the right button at the right time. The special techniques, for their part, require a little more mastery, and the most complex ones are almost a mini-game to unleash their full devastating potential.
The title also introduces a new “power socket” system, which provides the duo with different advantages in combat (additional damage, area effect, automatic healing, etc.). Combined, shots can even create unpredictable synergies, which naturally encourages experimentation. An innovative and welcome addition.
If the trip is long (about thirty or even forty hours), we somewhat regret the absence of freer exploration of the ocean. The currents that we are forced to follow are unlocked consecutively, giving a very linear feeling to an adventure that could have been given another dimension with a more open philosophy. Then, if the trip is well organized, it is also organized by an attentive tour operator. So we better like our boat and let ourselves be carried by the waves.
Pixel opinion in brief
We liked:
- the impeccable and lively animations of the Mario brothers;
- the humor subtly stupid, gently cartoonish, always kind.
We liked less:
- the absence of the feeling of exploring the ocean, although the context lent itself so much to that;
- too many fights.
It’s more for you if…
- You already miss the summer sun.
It’s probably not for you if…
- You prefer turn-based platforms.
Pixel Note:
176 volts at 220
