General Mario Thread

Disagree. The worst Mario & Luigi game is still good-to-great.

Yeah. I've never seen the series have a particularly bad misfire.

Hm, I thought the general consensus with Mario & Luigi fans was that Partners in Time was a steaming pile.

If it is, the consensus is wrong.

And even then, I've never heard that? It is the black sheep, but saying it's seen as a "steaming pile" is a gross overstatement.

Edited by Perseus on May 31st 2021 at 1:09:10 AM

It's really not. It pales a bit in comparison to its predecessor and successor, but it's by no means a terrible game. It's at the lower end of the series, but it's still good.

Not even that. The black sheep of the series is probably Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, and even then mostly just because of the bizarre pseudocrossover premise.

Edited by WackyPancake on May 30th 2021 at 5:10:37 PM

Okay, fair. It was the black sheep for a long time.

I do not like Partners in Time like at all and even I don't think it's a bad game.

Partners in Time is a weird one. It has some good ideas in it, but a lot of them either don't feel fully realized, or get overused over the course of the game, and certain mechanics feel like they were changed from other similar games just for the sake of being different, rather than actually improving the experience. Not a bad game, but my personal least favorite from that series.

Even so, Paper Jam is at least more consistent with the other games in terms of gameplay style while Partners in Time stands out like a sore thumb. It's still insulting to call it the Sticker Star of Mario & Luigi though.

Really could have used that remake magic though. Shame. Though I'd highly recommend buying a used DS copy and not resort to the Wii U copy. It's a headache.

(Guess who played the Wii U version...)

Paper Jam is also weird, because, while it has its problems (The lack of unique characters or locations and the over-abundance of mini-games being the standouts as far as I'm concerned), the core gameplay is actually a lot better feeling than most of the rest of the series.

I did too. Back then we didn't have the luxury of buying used copies of a game that wasn't in print online so easily. I made liberal use of the virtual console's save state system.

As for Paper Jam, it helps if you think of it more like an expansion pack to Dream Team, given the art style. Though in the process I constantly thought "when are we going to get into the dream section" and realizing my mistake.

I have a soft spot for Partners In Time.

Bros. Items are inferior to Bros. Moves and the game is painfully linear with nothing to do except the main quest, but the gameplay is pretty solid and I like the slightly grim but not edgy tone. Plus the bosses are fun.

I didn't play Paper Jam so I can't fairly judge it (It'd probably be at the bottom from what I've seen), but Dream Team is probably my least favorite. Mainly because it's just such a slog. All the levels are absurdly long and tedious, and then followed by a second, also-absurdly-long-and-tedious dream world level.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on May 30th 2021 at 2:44:21 PM

I always liked Partners in Time myself. As for Paper Jam... I never finished it and don't think I got further than halfways through, guess it just didn't keep my interest as much as the others despite the premise sounding interesting

Edited by Zanreo on May 31st 2021 at 1:43:37 PM

Partners in Time is my favorite too because of it's darker story while still being cartoony and silly, while I despise Paper Jam due to the lack of originality, with it just consisting of generic mainline Mario stuff with no new characters or locations.

Edited by CookingCat on May 31st 2021 at 5:58:27 AM

Partners in Time really can get quite bleak, even though it of course has a lot of silly moments. But you still see Toads and other people actively get killed and Shroobified.

Okay, let’s say that you have the option of three game compilations/remake packs

• Super Mario Allstars Advance - A collection of Super Mario Bros 1-3, Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, and New Super Mario Bros all remade in the Retro Engine (Or Star Engine as it’s called now) with features from SMB Deluxe and the Advance games added in along with an option to switch between 8-Bit and 16-Bit styles for SMB 1-3 along with the addition of extra levels, power ups from New Super Mario Bros Wii, and boss fights replacing the tower battles for New Super Mario Bros

• Donkey Kong Country Golden Horde - A collection consisting of DKC 1-3, and the Donkey Kong Land trilogy all remade in the Retro/Star Engine with features from the SNES trilogy’s GBA ports being added in like Pacifica from DKC 3 GBA and the mini games added along with a color mode for the DK Land 1 & 2 that make it look like a Game Boy Color game not unlike DKL3’s Japan only port along with general gameplay improvements for DK Land 1. Also Donkey Kong 64 is there with an option to toggle on an easy character switch.

• Wario Land Gold Stash - A collection of Wario Land 1-4 plus Psycho Waluigi or Super Mario Land 1&2 remade in the Retro/Star Engine along with remasters of Wario World and Wario Land Shake It.

Which one do you choose?

Edited by MisterZygarde64 on Jun 3rd 2021 at 3:41:03 AM

Wario Land Gold Stash, by far.

What the hell is "Psycho Waluigi"?

It's a fangame. Quite a good one! I was also confused as to why it was included in this scenario, though.

Edited by Perseus on Jun 3rd 2021 at 8:22:22 PM

Color me disappointed that it's a platformer and not about Waluigi going full on Slasher Movie villain.

I would prefer a remake of the Mario Land trilogy. I think they deserve it by now, and the other classic 2D Mario games have already been remade before (and I personally think that the Advance versions actually ruined them =/).

My introduction to Super Mario World was through the GBA port. I consider it a pretty good adaptation, although I get that it might be jarring if you're used to the SNES version. Especially because of the voice clips ("Just what I needed!").

The Land games probably have fallen by the wayside because they're quite bizarre.

A common issue with the GBA versions like Mario World or the Final Fantasies is that it murders the sound quality, which is practically blasphemous for FF. For Mario, they went in and added pointless voices.

I feel like instead of porting the originals for the umpteenth time, new versions with the GBA exclusive content are just what we needed.

I remember having a lot of fun with Super Mario Bros. Deluxe's fortune cookies. Especially the one that gave you five lives!