Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
North American box art
Developer(s)	AlphaDream
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto
Composer(s)	Yōko Shimomura
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi
Genre(s)	Console role-playing game, action, adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, released in Japan as Mario & Luigi RPG 3. (マリオ&ルイージRPG3., Mario ando Ruīji Ārupījī Surī), is a role-playing video game released for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console in Japan on February 11, 2009, North America on September 14, 2009 and in Europe on October 9, 2009.. It is the third game in the Mario & Luigi series, following Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and was first revealed at Nintendo's press conference at October 2, 2008. As a part of the Mario & Luigi series, the game includes new features such as mini-games and the ability to play as Bowser and use his own unique battle system, which allows players to hold the DS sideways and use the touchscreen and microphone to perform special moves. More details about the game were revealed at E3 2009, including the English title and North American and European release of Autumn 2009.. The game was critically acclaimed, and won three awards from online reviewers.

Gameplay

The game switches between three characters. Mario and Luigi are found together inside Bowser for the first part of the game, exploring a 2-D platform-style environment. However, battles are still turn based, and are initiated by touching enemies. Bowser explores the Mushroom Kingdom in a 3/4 overhead-view world, much like previous Mario & Luigi games. After a certain point in the game, Mario & Luigi can go outside of Bowser's body to explore the overworld as well. They can then use pipes to return to the inside of Bowser's body.

The battle system from the previous two Mario & Luigi games has returned for this installment. In addition to Mario and Luigi, Bowser is a playable character as well. Bowser's battle system is like Mario and Luigi's, but with a few minor differences—Bowser fights alone, but is much stronger than the Super Mario Brothers, and after a certain point, Bowser gains the ability to consciously inhale his enemies, enabling Mario and Luigi to fight the enemy inside Bowser.

Bros. Points (BP) have been brought back from the first game in the series, only this time, they are called Special Points (SP) because of Bowser's playability. In this installment of the series, items are acquired by collecting 10 "Attack Pieces". Upon collecting all 10 pieces of an item, the player may use the complete item repeatedly, but using it will require a certain amount of Special Points. Bowser can also gain special attacks by freeing his minions or by collecting Blitties and delivering them to Broque Monsieur, a merchant made of blocks and a master on blocks. Bowser's attacks use the touch screen.

There is also a new ranking system feature, where players increase their rank as they level up to certain levels. Earning ranks will allow Mario, Luigi, or Bowser to equip more items, buy more equipment, and possibly earn a new item. There are six ranks for Mario and Luigi, starting from "Mushroom Rank" and up to "Rainbow Rank", and four ranks for Bowser, starting from "Bronze Boss Rank" to "Final Boss Rank".

The badge system has also changed. Instead of badges that grant certain skills, badges are now used to get bonuses whenever you get a "good", "great", or "excellent" during an attack on an enemy. Such incentives are Health or Skill-point recovery, increase in coins earned after battles, or attack power increase.

Various minigames have been added to the main story, unlike the previous game (which featured only three). The new minigames include the "arm power-up", where Mario and Luigi hit spark-like items to strengthen Bowser's arms; the "leg power-up", where Mario and Luigi stomp on leg muscle to strengthen Bowser's legs; and the stomach digestion, where Mario and Luigi digest the food that Bowser eats. One minigame increases Bowser's size up to a giant, which allows the player to enter a new battle system where the DS is held open like a book, and attacks utilize the stylus and microphone instead of the A, X, B, or Y buttons (blowing through the microphone makes Bowser breathe fire, for example).

Plot

A mysterious infection called "The Blorbs" is taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. The infection, its cause unclear, makes the Toads inflate to many times their normal size and roll around uncontrollably. A council including the Mario brothers is called to discuss what can be done about the infection. Starlow, a representative of the Star Sprites, also attends. At the meeting, it is discovered that all those affected had been exposed to a "vacum sroom ." At this time, Bowser enters Peach's castle and, up to his usual antics, attempts to kidnap Princess Peach. Mario fights and defeats him once again, and boots Bowser out of the castle.

Bowser later finds himself in a mystic forest, where a mysterious figure (later revealed as Fawful, originally the assistant to the main villain (Cackletta) from Superstar Saga) offers a "Lucky Mushroom" to him, claiming it will make him strong enough to defeat Mario. Fawful's "Lucky Mushroom" -- later revealed to be a "Vacuum Shroom" -- causes Bowser to go into a mindless rage, inhaling everything in his path, culminating in him returning to Peach's castle and inhaling everyone in the council chamber before passing out. The council members, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Starlow are shrunk to microscopic size and trapped inside Bowser's body. Fawful then takes over Peach's Castle, while his assistant, Midbus, takes over Bowser's Castle. When Bowser awakens, he proceeds to chase Fawful in an attempt to reclaim his castle. Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi, Starlow, and the rest of the inhaled Toads must work alongside Bowser from within his body in order to find a way out, defeat Fawful, and rescue Princess Peach. Throughout the game, Bowser is unaware that Mario and Luigi are inside him, communicating only with Starlow, who nicknames herself "Chippy" to avoid suspicion.

Bowser confronts Fawful at his castle, where he defeats his assistant Midbus, but Fawful tricks Bowser into eating lots of food, causing him to become obese and get stuck in the floor. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi eventually locate Peach inside Bowser's body, but Fawful uses Bowser's immobility to extract Peach from inside him. Before he does this, Peach realizes that Fawful must be in possession of the Dark Star, a source of great evil and power that was sealed away by Peach underneath Toad Town. Fawful had kidnapped Peach so he could use her to unleash the star's power. Mario and Luigi are able to leave Bowser's body via a pipe system he inhaled, and discover that Fawful has taken Peach to her castle, which he has also taken over. However, the brothers find the path to the castle blocked, and meet with Dr. Toadley, the resident physician, about what to do. Toadley informs them that gathering three Star Cures could be the solution. While Bowser hunts for the cures himself, Mario and Luigi manage to acquire all three. The cures form the Miracle Cure, which destroys the blockade as well as curing Mushroom Kingdom of the blorbs infection.

Bowser confronts Fawful again in Peach's castle, who was in the process of absorbing the Dark Star's power. Bowser fights and defeats Midbus once again. He also inadvertently inhales the Dark Star, which proceeds to copy Bowser's DNA, then exits his body and forms into Dark Bowser. Bowser tracks down Fawful and finally defeats him, reducing him to a small, black blob. Dark Bowser then inhales him, and with his power complete, Dark Bowser blankets Mushroom Kingdom in darkness. Bowser engages Dark Bowser in battle, and ends up inhaling Fawful. Mario and Luigi defeat Fawful from within, and Bowser defeated Dark Bowser and light shines upon Mushroom Kingdom again. Inside Bowser, Fawful promises to leave quietly, but instead explodes, causing everyone inside to be expelled from Bowser. Bowser is furious to discover that Mario and Luigi had been inside him the entire time, and proceeds to fight them once again as the credits begin to roll.

During the credits, images are shown of Bowser being defeated once again, his castle, and Peach's, being rebuilt, and Mario, Luigi, and Peach sending a present to Bowser. The final scene depicts Bowser receiving the gift, though he doesn't open it and laughs at the gesture. Once his minions have left the room, however, Bowser opens it, revealing a cake with sparkling candles and figurines of Mario, Luigi, and Peach.

Development

Nintendo revealed Mario & Luigi RPG 3 at a press conference in Japan. Nintendo of Japan revealed details of the game relating to the plot and game play, as well as the fact that it would involve extensive use of the touch screen. AlphaDream, developers of Superstar Saga and Partners In Time, developed this game along with experienced contributors to the Mario series such as Yōko Shimomura and Charles Martinet working on music and voice acting respectively. At E3 2009, it was revealed that the official English name of the game would be Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and it would be released in Fall 2009 for North America and Europe.

Reception

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story received critical acclaim. The game received a score of 35/40 from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, and sold 193,000 copies in its first week of release in Japan. It sold 650,000 copies in Japan during the first half of 2009. The first North American critic to review it was the magazine "Nintendo Power", who scored the game a 9.5/10 saying it is "the best RPG-style Mario adventure ever made," and that "Anyone who loves the Mario characters, RPGs, or even action games should absolutely give Bowser's Inside Story a look." IGN awarded it a 9.5 as well as an Editors Choice Award. GameInformer awarded this game with a 8.75 out of 10 and giving it an award for Handheld Game of the Month. Gametrailers.com gave it an 8.9 out of 10. GameDaily.com gave the game 10/10. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game 92%, saying "Bowser's Inside Story is the freshest, most vital RPG on the DS for ages", though they said "Combat a little light". Gamespot gave the game a 9.0, and awarded it with an Editors' Choice award, praising the overall plot and story. X-Play's Blair Herter gave the game a 5 out of 5, highly praising the plot.

External links

• Official US site
• Mario Luigi RPG 3 site
• Announcement video
• Mario & Luigi RPG 3 at GameSpot
• Mario & Luigi RPG 3 at IGN