Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

[Mark E]

Anybody else been playing through this? So far I've found it to be a great follow-up to Superstar Saga, and I'd go as far to say that I'm actually enjoying it a bit more. It manages to shore up some of the more irritating parts of the first game while fleshing out the neat bits.

 

For one thing, that ridiculous coffee brewing scheme appears to have been whittled down to a simple 'collect the underground beans' sidequest that you can participate in when you see the familiar X's in the ground. The coffee brewing from the first seemed so unnecessarily convoluted that I never touched it once, so this is a nice change.

 

Another nice bit is that you can hold down the hammer button for counter-attacks and not worry about the head falling off the damn hammer because you held it too long. Some would argue this takes away from the challenge, but the game is still pretty challenging on its own.

 

Really good use of the four players and two screens, I should add. Enemies attack from both and all four characters are used in some clever ways for puzzles from what I've seen so far.

 

And while reviews seemed to poo-poo the plot, I like it a lot because rather than the amusing diversion to the BeanBean Kingdom we're in the good old Mushroom Kingdom, which we haven't seen in a while. The past version brings back some amusing characters too, like Kamek the Magikoopa (who makes a great Yoshi's Island reference) and Baby Bowser. The writing has been pretty funny thus far ("It's from... uh... an evil cow.") and even Toadsworth isn't annoying (and he was running a close second to frikkin' Tingle for being a drip of a character).

 

Very impressed thus far, here's hoping it keeps on truckin'!

[The Daisy]

I've been helping my wife with this one. The two M&L titles are on my playlist once I finish Final Fantasy I for the GBA.

 

Glen

[Carlucci]

Only 2 save files on this title, so my kids are enjoying it right now. Then Dad'll nuke one of their saves and have a go.

 

Carlos.

[Mark E]

Just finished the game a few minutes ago, great ending, much improved over the short wrap-up to the first one. On the whole it probably took exactly the same amount of time as the first game, but was a much more enjoyable experience throughout.

 

I'd say this title was easier, since I saw the Game Over screen a lot more during Superstar Saga than this one, but that's also because the Bros. items are done way better in this game. Once you have your timing down you can start demolishing enemies for massive damage. I worked out the timing for the green shells, the first item you get, and pretty much used those the whole way through the last third of the game.

 

Great times, didn't outstay its welcome, and I'd love to see another sequel sometime in the future. Can't argue with that outcome :tu

[ChrisBardon]

I got about halfway through this game while I was on vacation, and then came home to the new 360 and haven't picked up the DS again since That should change though, since I was really enjoying M&L 2. It's definitely a worthy sequel though, and the 4 character control is pretty cool. Still, I don't think I'd rate it as high as Paper Mario 2 if you're looking to make comparisons.