By the way, yes, these are all GBA games. And there’ll be spoilers:
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga:
The premise involves Mario and Luigi travelling to The Beanbean Kingdom to reclaim Princess Peach’s voice from Cackletta. Once there, they stumble upon a conspiracy to destroy The Beanbean Kingdom and The Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, being the altruistic soul he is, and his scaredy-cat brother Luigi decide to help The Beanbean Kingdom, hence the title. Of course, hijinks ensue. Lots of them.
If you’re playing a Mario RPG for the story, you’re going to be disappointed. Not because there isn’t one, but because it’s not an epic. You know how the previous paragraph was light on plot? That’s because this game’s light on story. Most of its memorability relies on character interactions and dialogue, of which there’s plenty. My favourite gag involves Luigi dressing as Peach to fool Cackletta. Despite Luigi refusing to uncover his face, Cackletta falls for it anyway.
There are other great moments, including a subplot involving a Beanbean thief named Popple, that are scattered throughout. Whether it’s how frequently Mario and Luigi are recognized as celebrities, or how Luigi’s billed as being braver than he is, I found myself grinning constantly throughout the 30+ hours I spent on it. The game even has sections where Mario and Luigi go at it solo, giving me time to appreciate their moves. As someone who considers Luigi more interesting than Mario, it’s nice to be reminded that he deserves more respect when he ventures alone to save his poisoned brother.
This game has plenty of unique secrets. Considering the limitations of GBA cartridges, it’s amazing how big The Beanbean Kingdom is. It’s nothing compared to home consoles, but there are hidden paths and objectives that I wouldn’t normally expect. The most-surprising involves the underwater map. Ignoring how Mario and Luigi can breathe underwater, traversing that part is always interesting and fun…even if some parts I can’t properly access.
I like this game’s music. The GBA wasn’t known for high-quality tracks, but this game’s one of the exceptions. I think my favourite is Popple’s battle theme, which doubles as the theme for Fawful near the end of the game. Something about it gets me in the right mood for a boss fight, even if I’m not the best at combat. And it works! It might even be a better track than the final fight with Bowletta! Fancy that.
I said this game was overrated, no? That’s because of some key issues. For one, I keep forgetting Mario and Luigi are mapped to different buttons on the gamepad. This is true of the overworld, but also combat. Far too often, I’d be in a major battle…only to forget and lose a lot of health. It might be good for my reflexes, but I struggle with information processing. There’s a reason I spent so long on this game...
Another problem I have involves the Bros. moves. These are special attacks during combat, but they’re not always intuitive. Factor in how the game doesn’t tell you how much HP your opponents have, and it makes using Bros. moves a chore. How should I gauge when to use a Bros. attack if I don’t know how effective it’ll be? Am I supposed to guess?
Speaking of combat, some of the bosses are a nightmare. This is true of Bowletta’s final form, as Mario and Luigi begin at a disadvantage. Unless you use healing items right away, you’re not going to last. I also didn’t enjoy the boss in Joke’s End because I kept attacking the wrong enemy. Does this game like punishing me?!
Finally, there are too many mandatory side-quests. Traversing the overworld for a side-quest is frequently a game of “Are We There Yet?”. I like how many of these side-quests provide an opportunity to try out Mario and Luigi’s power-ups, but there’s too much backtracking for my liking. It makes an otherwise-fun experience a chore. And a game should never feel that way.
I’m sounding harsh, but I don’t want to turn people away from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. It’s fun! And much of the game’s fantastic! But for something that spawned a successful sub-series, you’d think I’d be sold more on its debut. I wasn’t. Perhaps I’m being unfair, but I think I’ll hold off on future entries. Sorry.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team:
You take the role of a human cursed to become a Pokémon. After waking up in a foreign world, you quickly learn that the Pokémon world’s in peril. Earthquakes are commonplace, and Pokémon can no longer evolve. Complicating matters is that Pokémon are turning savage and terrorizing the locals. As you take on odd-jobs, the question remains: who made you a Pokémon, and could your presence be the source of these calamities?
I remember reading the Manga serials for these games when I was subscribed to Nintendo Power. I never completed the story, but a human becoming a Pokémon was intriguing. So when this game was announced for NSO, I had to try it out. Right after finishing Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, I started it. I wasn’t disappointed.
Getting inside the head of a Pokémon is this game’s selling point. It not only draws attention to this perspective, it allows me to talk to other Pokémon without it feeling weird or unnatural. It makes this world lived-in and tactile, essentially. Because being a human and interacting with Pokémon isn’t the same as being a Pokémon. This franchise is proof of that.
As implied from the title, this is a dungeon crawling RPG. The stages play out on a grid, with enemies taking turns with your Pokémon in real-time. Unlike the main games, these fights are telegraphed. And unlike the main games, the fights can feel slow. If you’re not used to dungeon crawling mechanics, the key is patience.
Despite this, the game’s not overly-challenging. For one, you heal whenever you move. And two, even if you don’t know which attack to use, you can still mash buttons and strike opponents. This makes combat simple, made simpler by being able throw items at enemies that you find in dungeons. It works for what it is.
What’s more pressing is keeping track of your energy levels. Like any ordinary human, you’re bound to get hungry. Getting hungry also depletes your energy. Thankfully, there’s plenty of food lying around in each dungeon, some of which doubles as a status healer or stats booster. Why anyone would eat food lying on the floor’s beyond me, but I’m not a Pokémon, so…
It helps that dungeons don’t require you to dilly-dally. Not only do you have the option to teleport back to your base if you complete an objective, but finding the stairs to the next floor means you’re not obligated to explore further. This is great for weather hazards like heat or ice, both of which can deplete your health. I kept forgetting that until it was too late, as my Pokémon would black out from depleted health, forcing me to either call it a day, or return to a save point. Oops!
The save mechanic becomes more pressing in the latter part of the campaign, one you rely on once the game becomes story-heavy. It turns out that your transformation might have something to do with the everyone’s woes, making you and your allies fugitives. It’s here that the game becomes darker narratively, forcing you to clear your name. I also like how you can sometimes befriend Pokémon that you beat in dungeons. They prove helpful in these darker moments.
I love the boss battles in this game. These are the hardest enemies, and they’re where the game’s combat truly shines. I especially like the fight with Rayquaza. He’s not only the last in the campaign, but his fight feels the most consequential. He’s tough to beat, too, and it took me several tries. Come to think of it, most of the bosses took several tries to beat…
Once the main story was over, sadly, so was my engagement. Sure, I could now evolve Pokémon, but I made the mistake of not teaching the HM Surf that I’d received for an underwater dungeon. Considering you lose items if you black out, I had to go to a different dungeon to find Surf. And, lo and behold, I couldn’t access it anyway. There went any desire to continue further!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team’s a fun game. Is it the best Pokémon game? Not really. I wouldn’t even consider it the best Pokémon spin-off game, that title belongs to Pokémon Snap. Nevertheless, it’s a decent enough dungeon crawler. I’m glad I played it, and that’s what really matters.
Wario Land 4:
Beginning with a cutscene that’s skippable, Wario Land 4 has Wario driving to a mysterious pyramid to find a secret treasure. How does he find this out? From a newspaper. How does he get there? In his convertible. Does this make any sense? No, but who cares?
The game tells you everything in its first level, which doubles as the tutorial. You enter a level, collect treasure, find the four pieces of a special sapphire, acquire the keyzer, trigger the frog timer and escape the way you came before the timer runs out. It’s straightforward, and possibly formulaic, but each level has enough variety to keep from feeling stale. Considering this is a short game, that it leaves an impression is a testament to memorability. And that’s only scratching the surface!
Perhaps the real secret, like I said, is making the time gimmick tolerable. Up until now, the only game I’ve played that made a time gimmick tolerable was Pikmin 3. That game allowed you to extend the time limit with fruit, incentivizing exploration. Wario Land 4 has a time gimmick too, but it’s not a burden because: a. It’s generous. b. The consequences for failure are non-existent. c. You can try again as often as you’d like, with no penalties.
That’s not to say the time limit isn’t stressful. It absolutely is. Not only is the music that plays increasingly chaotic, but Wario starts bleeding coins when the timer ends. From there, you need to escape before you run out of money and are booted from the level. Fortunately, like I said, the time limit’s pretty generous, so the odds of you not making it out are slim. Though it’s happened once or twice for me.
The bosses are also timed, but for a different reason. You have to beat them before the timer runs out, but that timer also determines how much treasure you can bring with you upon beating them. If you wait too long, the treasure chests start disappearing. If you wait even further, you lose all of them. And if you don’t beat the boss before the timer hits zero, you have to start from scratch. No pressure.
Despite this, the boss fights are a genuine highlight. They’re varied in combat style, and they force you to think outside the box. I found myself having to replay each one several times to understand their weak points, as each was different. The final boss in particular kept mixing attack styles as the fight progressed. This was also when I relied heavily on the NSO’s rewind feature, something I’d never used prior to this game, but am incredibly grateful for.
The game itself is lots of fun. I find games revolving around treasure collecting can feel stale, but it fits the moniker of Wario. After all, he’s greedy! If his introduction in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins was any indication, he thrives on stealing treasure! So if this game didn’t focus on that, I’d have been disappointed. It helps that collecting treasure’s exciting.
That’s all there is. When it comes to the topic of best Wario Land games, Wario Land 4 frequently gets shafted. I disapprove. Not only is it a great game, it also deserves to be discussed. Though I guess talking about it here counts. Give it a go.
And that about does it! Feel free to play these games at your leisure, and I’ll see you next time!
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