History YMMV / MarioAndLuigi

* ToughActToFollow: While nowhere near as bad as in its sister series, some fans believe that every game after ''Superstar Saga'' has failed to reach the same level of quality. Likewise, some feel that ''Bowser's Inside Story'' was the series' high point, and that both ''Dream Team'' and ''Paper Jam'' were disappointing successors to the third game. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], however, in that the games were still well-received in spite of this, unlike the AudienceAlienatingEra of the ''Paper Mario'' games from the 2010's.
%%* TheWoobie: Luigi, definitely. This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsTb2uIbuqo scene]] and this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejw-zCBjc6M scene]] from ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Partners in Time'' respectively, increase Luigi's woobieness when he breaks down crying in both of them.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Despite the sequels developing on and streamlining the gameplay further, many people still cite ''Superstar Saga'' as the best one in the series. On the other hand, many fans consider ''Bowser's Inside Story'' as the best one, or at least second to ''Superstar Saga'', in no small part thanks to the improved gameplay, [[DragonAscendant Fawful as the main antagonist]] and of course, [[ADayInTheLimelight Bowser as the main character.]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Starlow gets quite a lot of hate for being an annoying ExpositionFairy, and for [[JerkassToOne constantly picking on Luigi]]. The fact that she serves the same role in later games, while other characters from the series vanish or get DemotedToExtra, also upsets some players (''especially'' in ' ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam Paper Jam]]'', where she is the only original character who makes a return). Even Bowser gets increasingly annoyed with her in ''Bowser's Inside Story'' as the game goes on. However, she isn't ''completely'' disliked, as some players like her for her design, {{tsundere}} personality, OddFriendship with Princess Peach, and think that her quips at Luigi are funny and the game makes it clear that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold she doesn't hate him after all]]. Plus, there are some that think [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap her later appearances redeemed her character somewhat]].

* DesignatedMonkey: A lot of fans believe that Luigi's ButtMonkey status in the series is taken unreasonably far, as most dialogue surrounding him from [=NPCs=] consist of either [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg not knowing who he is]], or placing Mario on a pedestal compared to him. It also doesn't help that Stuffwell and Starlow's primary RunningGag is the two constantly ragging on Luigi, and status as a CosmicPlaything reaches its lowest in ''Partners in Time'' when the Star Gate {{gaslight|ing}}s Luigi into thinking he's self-centered and not a team player, despite it being a SecretTestOfCharacter for Mario.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

* MemeticBadass: Thanks to the series' main mechanic of being able to dodge or counter any attack, along with the games' tendency to include [[GameBreaker overpowered Bros. Attacks]], this series' versions of Mario and Luigi are believed to be capable of defeating literally ''anyone''--even someone as strong as [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]].
* PanderingToTheBase: After the ho-hum reception of ''Paper Jam'', the next two games in the series to be announced were remakes of ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'', its two most beloved games - a pretty clear attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back their old fans]] while introducing them to new ones. While well-reviewed and well-liked by the fans who ''did'' play them, [[CreatorKiller it otherwise]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong didn't work out well.]]

** Fawful is interesting here because he talks in a different funny way in every single translation. He adds "ru" to the end of every sentence (repeatedly) in Japanese, has mangled Engrish in English, a strong accent in French, stutters in German, uses made-up words in Italian, speaks very literal English to Spanish in the Latin American Spanish version, speaks in refined Spanish with set phrases in the European Spanish version, and adds "rong" at the end of every sentence in the Korean version. He also [[TalksLikeASimile speaks in metaphors]] in multiple versions.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG in a sense, although said game features completely different gameplay mechanics and character roster, its director and producer moved to work under different company Creator/AlphaDream and created this series. A few nods to Super Mario RPG have appeared through the series as well:
** A Geno appears in the Star 'Stache Smash minigame in the first game.
** There is a Koopa shell Bros. Item in the second game onwards which is used by kicking it to the enemy, similar to Mario's Nok Nok (Koopa Troopa) Shell weapon.
** Bowser's Castle and troops are taken over once again just like in ''SMRPG'' in the third game, and Bowser returns as playable character in an RPG.
** All of the games' soundtracks were composed by Creator/YokoShimomura, who also composed ''SMRPG's'' music, and some pieces have small musical nods to ''SMRPG'' in them.

** ''Dream Team'' was this to ''Bowser's Inside Story'', mainly due to its slow pacing and excessive {{Forced Tutorial}}s, although the latter has always been a problem in the ''Mario & Luigi'' series (that said, ''Dream Team'' is the worst offender in this regard). Other reasons include the fact that Bowser is the true main villain after being [[ADayInTheLimelight the main protagonist in the previous game,]] with the supposed main villain Antasma being a GenericDoomsdayVillain, or the [[{{Waggle}} sometimes broken gyro controls,]] something that the [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam next game]] removed entirely. However, some would argue that ''Dream Team'' has the best gameplay in the series, with many of its boss fights being some of the best, that it has some clever use of the dream world mechanics, great level design, the best soundtrack of the series, and the fact that it still had unique characters and locations as opposed to the approach followed by many recent ''Mario'' games.

* MemeticMutation: Thanks to the series' main mechanic of being able to dodge or counter any attack, along with the games' tendency to include [[GameBreaker overpowered Bros. Attacks]], this series' versions of Mario and Luigi are believed to be capable of defeating literally ''anyone''--even someone as strong as [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]].

* TheWoobie: Luigi, definitely. This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsTb2uIbuqo scene]] and this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejw-zCBjc6M scene]] from ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Partners in Time'' respectively, increase Luigi's woobieness when he breaks down crying in both of them.

* FandomRivalry: For a long time, fans of both ''Mario & Luigi'' and ''Paper Mario'' were FriendlyFandoms, in no small part thanks to both series having several similarities while being different at the same time. That was until Nintendo [[note]] or more specifically, the producers of ''Paper Mario'' at the time[[/note]] revealed that they were planning to make ''Mario & Luigi'' the ''de facto Mario'' RPG series, and ''Paper Mario'' would continue in ''Sticker Star'''s direction, saying that ''Paper Mario'' wouldn't need RPG elements since the former "already covered those" (which is pretty ironic given that the ''Mario & Luigi'' series incorporates platforming elements into its gameplay a lot moreso than ''Paper Mario''). Now ''Paper Mario'' fans often argue that ''Mario & Luigi'' can't replace the former, among other things. [[DownplayedTrope This is a somewhat subdued example]], as due to a significant overlap in both fandoms, not only do ''Paper Mario'' fans not actually dislike ''Mario & Luigi'' fans, but fans of ''Mario & Luigi'' also disagree with the idea of "already covering" the RPG audience. It doesn't help that each series are noticeably different in formula, plus the idea of Mario genre dibs were never mentioned once until the ''Paper Mario'' games were facing backlash, making the statement about not having two Mario RPG series even more controversial and suspect. Additionally, both series would end up in the same position of unsure futures after having major sales flops around the time Nintendo's UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch sparked a transitional period for the company.

* ToughActToFollow: While nowhere near as bad as in its sister series, some fans believe that every game after ''Superstar Saga'' has failed to reach the same level of quality. Likewise, some feel that ''Bowser's Inside Story'' was the series' high point, and that both ''Dream Team'' and ''Paper Jam'' were disappointing successors to the third game. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], however, in that the games were still well-received in spite of this, unlike the DorkAge caused by the later ''Paper Mario'' games.

** The fourth game eventually becomes downright ''[[UpToEleven brutal]]''. Enemies become powerful enough to take entire chunks out of your hit points, with attack tells being ''much'' harder to spot. Several bosses have attacks that are both fast and powerful, and the complexity of their bigger moves only adds to the difficulty.[[note]]One of the last bosses ([[spoiler:Final Antasma]]) even has an attack that goes on for ''eternity'' if you don't stop it yourself.[[/note]] Don't be surprised if the last bosses can kill you in a few hits. There's also the added [[SelfImposedChallenge Expert Challenges]], which dare you to fight in certain ways in order to obtain points to unlock rewards.

** ''Partners in Time'' got it mainly because of its [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom extreme linearity]], [[MarathonBoss overly long boss battles]], replacing Bros. Attacks and Points with Bros. Items, total lack of post-game content, and more. In spite of this, many like the idea of having four characters in battle as opposed of two like in most other games, enjoy the [[DarkerAndEdgier darker tone of the game]], and the linearity can make the game faster-paced compared to others.

** ''Partners in Time'' got it mainly because of its [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom extreme linearity]], [[MarathonBoss overly long boss battles]], replacing Bros. Attacks and Points with Bros. Items, total lack of post-game content, and more. In spite of this, many like the idea of having four characters in battle as opposed of two like in most other games, and the linearity can make the game faster-paced compared to others.

* PanderingToTheBase: After the ho-hum reception of ''Paper Jam'', the next two games in the series to be announced were remakes of ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'', its two most beloved games - a pretty clear attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back their old fans]] while introducing them to new ones. [[CreatorKiller Unfortunately, it]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong didn't work out well.]]

* ScrappyWeapon: The jump command tends to avert this, but [[TheSpiny hazardously-surface foes]] [[InvokedTrope make it and most other attacks that involve body contact utterly useless]]. Likewise, the hammer command fails against flying foes, but averts the trope otherwise. Starlow lampshades the former instance in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dream Team]]''

** The stats of bosses and such like in the second game are ridiculously hard compared to the first one [[JustifiedTrope since you have four brothers. That gives you more attack power and more longevity. If the enemies had stats in line with those from the first game, they'd be wiped out.]]
** The third game takes a ridiculous one with the Bro. Attacks and minigames.
** The fourth game eventually becomes downright ''[[UpToEleven brutal]]'', especially when compared to the previous games. Enemies become powerful enough to take entire chunks out of your hit points, with attack "tells" being ''much'' harder to spot. Several bosses have attacks that are both fast and powerful, and the complexity of their bigger moves only adds to the difficulty.[[note]]One of the last bosses ([[spoiler:Final Antasma]]) even has an attack that goes on for ''eternity'' if you don't stop it yourself.[[/note]] Don't be surprised if the last bosses can kill you in a few hits. There's also the added [[SelfImposedChallenge Expert Challenges]], which dare you to fight in certain ways in order to obtain points to unlock rewards.

* ScrappyWeapon: The jump command tends to avert this, but [[TheSpiny hazardously-surface foes]] [[InvokedTrope make it and most other attacks that involve body contact utterly useless]]. Likewise, the hammer command fails against flying foes, but averts the trope otherwise. Starlow lampshades the former instance in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowser'sInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dream Team]]''

* ScrappyWeapon: The jump command tends to avert this, but [[TheSpiny hazardously-surface foes]] [[InvokedTrope make it and most other attacks that involve body contact utterly useless]]. Likewise, the hammer command fails against flying foes, but averts the trope otherwise.

* ScrappyWeapon: The jump command tends to avert this, but [[TheSpiny hazardously-surface foes]] [[InvokedTropes make it and most other attacks that involve body contact utterly useless]]. Likewise, the hammer command fails against flying foes, but averts the trope otherwise.

* PanderingToTheBase: After the ho-hum reception of ''Paper Jam'', the next two games in the series to be announced were remakes of ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'', its two most beloved games - a pretty clear attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back their old fans]] while introducing them to new ones. [[CreatorKiller Unfortunately, it didn't work out well.]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The games are much more popular in the US than they are in Japan or Europe. The English translation {{Woolseyism}}s probably help.

** Also, Bowser complains about fat jokes when he gets stuck in a Bullet Bill blaster in the first game. A major plot point in the third game has him gaining weight from overeating.

** Fawful is interesting here because he talks in a different funny way in every single translation. He adds Ru to the end of every sentence (repeatedly) in Japanese, has mangled Engrish in English, a strong accent in French, stutters in German, uses made-up words in Italian, speaks the same in American Spanish versions, and speaks in refined Spanish with set phrases in the European Spanish versions. He [[TalksLikeASimile speaks in metaphors]] in multiple versions.

* PanderingToTheBase: After the ho-hum reception of ''Paper Jam'', the next two games in the series to be announced were remakes of ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'', it's two most beloved games - a pretty clear attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back their old fans]] while introducing them to new ones. [[CreatorKiller Unfortunately, it didn't work out well.]]

* FandomRivalry: For a long time, fans of both ''Mario & Luigi'' and ''Paper Mario'' were FriendlyFandoms, in no small part thanks to both series having several similarities while being different at the same time. That was until Nintendo [[note]] or more specifically, the producers of ''Paper Mario'' at the time[[/note]] revealed that they were planning to make ''Mario & Luigi'' the ''de facto Mario'' RPG series, and ''Paper Mario'' would continue in ''Sticker Star'''s direction, saying that ''Paper Mario'' wouldn't need RPG elements since the former "already covered those" (which is pretty ironic given that the ''Mario & Luigi'' series incorporates platforming elements into its gameplay a lot moreso than ''Paper Mario''). Now ''Paper Mario'' fans often argue that ''Mario & Luigi'' can't replace the former, among other things. [[DownplayedTrope This is a somewhat subdued example]], as due to a significant overlap in both fandoms, not only do ''Paper Mario'' fans not actually dislike ''Mario & Luigi'' fans, but fans of ''Mario & Luigi'' also disagree with the idea of "already covering" the RPG audience. It doesn't help that each series are noticeably different in formula, plus the Mario genre dibs issues were never mentioned once until the ''Paper Mario'' games were facing backlash, making the statement about not having two Mario RPG series even more controversial and suspect. Additionally, both series would end up in the same position of unsure futures after having major sales flops around the time Nintendo's UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch sparked a transitional period for the company.

* FandomRivalry: For a long time, fans of both ''Mario & Luigi'' and ''Paper Mario'' were FriendlyFandoms, in no small part thanks to both series having several similarities while being different at the same time. That was until Nintendo revealed that they were planning to make ''Mario & Luigi'' the ''de facto Mario'' RPG series, and ''Paper Mario'' would continue in ''Sticker Star'''s direction, saying that ''Paper Mario'' wouldn't need RPG elements since the former "already covered those" (which is pretty ironic given that the ''Mario & Luigi'' series incorporates platforming elements into its gameplay a lot moreso than ''Paper Mario''). Now ''Paper Mario'' fans often argue that ''Mario & Luigi'' can't replace the former, among other things. [[DownplayedTrope This is a somewhat subdued example]], as due to a significant overlap in both fandoms, not only do ''Paper Mario'' fans not actually dislike ''Mario & Luigi'' fans, but fans of ''Mario & Luigi'' also disagree with the idea of "already covering" the RPG audience. It doesn't help that each series are noticeably different in formula, making the statement about not having two Mario RPG series even more controversial. Additionally, both series would end up in the same position of unsure futures after having major sales flops around the time Nintendo's UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch sparked a transitional period for the company.

* MagnificentBastard: [[EvilGenius Fawful]] is [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga introduced]] as a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} kooky]], crafty subordinate to Cackletta before graduating to BigBad of the [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory third game]] in the series. Covertly selling a mushroom causing the Blorbs disease to the Toads of the Mushroom Kingsom, Fawful takes advantage of the chaos to provide Bowser with the Vacuum Shroom to allow him to stir up more trouble as he inhales everything in sight. Taking over Bowser's castle, Fawful brainwashes the former's minions into helping him fatten their boss up to allow him to extract Princess Peach from his body and awaken the Dark Star to rule the Mushroom Kingdom. Even when faced down by Bowser and the Mario brothers, Fawful takes in all the power he can to fight to his last.
* PanderingToTheBase: After the ho-hum reception of ''Paper Jam'', the next two games in the series to be announced were remakes of ''Superstar Saga'' and ''Bowser's Inside Story'', its two most beloved games - a pretty clear attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back their old fans]] while introducing them to new ones. [[CreatorKiller Unfortunately, it didn't work out well.]]
* ToughActToFollow: While nowhere near as bad as in its sister series, some fans believe that every game after ''Superstar Saga'' has failed to reach the same level of quality. Likewise, some feel that ''Bowser's Inside Story'' was the series' high point, and that both ''Dream Team'' and ''Paper Jam'' were disappointing successors to the the third game. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], however, in that the games were still well-received in spite of this, unlike the DorkAge caused by the later ''Paper Mario'' games.

** Fawful is interesting here, because he talks in a different funny way in every single translation. He adds Ru to the end of every sentence (repeatedly) in Japanese, has mangled Engrish in English, a strong accent in French, stutters in German, uses made-up words in Italian, speaks the same in American Spanish versions, and speaks in refined Spanish with set phrases in the European Spanish versions. He [[TalksLikeASimile speaks in metaphors]] in multiple versions.