Mario & Luigi is a series of role-playing video games. Nintendo publishes the games, and they were originally created by AlphaDream before the company went out of business. Acquire developed the most recent game in the series. The series is based on Nintendo’s popular Super Mario games and features Mario and Luigi as the main characters. The stories usually follow Mario and Luigi on a mission to save Princess Peach and stop a bad guy. The first game, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, was released in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. The latest game, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, came out in 2024 for the Nintendo Switch. Two games, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, were re-released for the Nintendo 3DS with added content. AlphaDream developed the second of these games, which was their final project before going out of business in 2019. All games in the series received positive reviews from critics, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was nominated for several awards, including for its remake.

Gameplay

The Mario & Luigi series includes common parts of role-playing games (RPGs), but it is different mainly because players control Mario and Luigi at the same time. While exploring the overworld, which is the main world of the game, players move Mario using the controller, and Luigi follows him closely. In both the overworld and during battles, players use the A button to control Mario and the B button to control Luigi. These controls help players solve puzzles, find collectibles, and use special moves that often require Mario and Luigi to work together.

Like many RPGs, the Mario & Luigi series uses a traditional turn-based battle system. The games include a mechanic similar to the Paper Mario franchise, where attacks are made stronger by timing button presses with the animation of the attack. This includes Mario’s and Luigi’s special jumps and hammer attacks. A unique feature of the series is the ability to use real-time commands during an enemy’s attack. Good timing allows players to avoid damage or even attack the enemy instead of being hit. Some games in the series also include other playable characters, such as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, and Paper Mario in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

Games

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The game follows Mario and Luigi as they try to find Cackletta, who took Princess Peach’s voice. It introduced a gameplay style that later games would use, such as controlling multiple characters at the same time, solving puzzles, and dodging attacks during turn-based battles by pressing buttons at the right time.

• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time was the first Nintendo DS game, released in 2005. The game added Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, allowing players to control four characters at once, with the option to split them into pairs. Set in the Mushroom Kingdom, the story includes time-travel, as Mario and Luigi must save Princess Peach after she is sent back in time by alien creatures called Shroobs.

• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was released for the Nintendo DS in 2009. The villain Fawful makes Bowser inhale people from the Mushroom Kingdom, including Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. Players control Mario and Luigi in 2D sections inside Bowser’s body, while other parts of the game let players control Bowser in 3D sections.

• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team was the first Nintendo 3DS game, released in 2013. The game switches between the real world (Pi’illo Island) and the dream world. Mario tries to rescue Princess Peach with help from Dreamy Luigi. In the dream world, players use the touch screen to tug on Luigi’s mustache while he sleeps, which lets them control elements like palm trees and time.

• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was released in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS. Princess Peach and Paper Princess Peach are captured by Bowser and Paper Bowser, so Paper Mario joins Mario and Luigi to save them. Players control all three characters at once, using special team attacks in battles and earning boosts through cards. Some puzzles in the game are played as mini-games.

• Mario & Luigi: Brothership was released in 2024 for the Nintendo Switch. The game follows Mario and Luigi as they sail a moving island to reconnect the islands of Concordia. New features include Luigi Logic, where Luigi can act on his own during gameplay for the first time, and Battle Plugs, which give temporary boosts in battle but need to be recharged after use.

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions is a Nintendo 3DS remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, released in 2017. It includes a new side mode called Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, where players build a group of troops to fight enemies. The troops have different strengths and weaknesses, similar to rock-paper-scissors.

• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey is a Nintendo 3DS remake of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, released in 2018. It adds a new side mode called Bowser Jr.’s Journey, which plays like Minion Quest but includes new special moves.

Development

AlphaDream was started in January 2000 by former workers from Square, including Chihiro Fujioka, director of Super Mario RPG, and Tetsuo Mizuno, Square's second president. Square had previously created Super Mario RPG, the first role-playing game (RPG) featuring characters from the Mario series. After making several smaller games, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was AlphaDream's first game released outside of Japan on November 17, 2003.

The Mario & Luigi series used ideas from Super Mario RPG for its turn-based combat system, which AlphaDream producer Yoshihiko Maekawa helped design. In an interview, Maekawa explained that Super Mario RPG was inspired by a children's toy in Japan where buttons had to be pressed in time with music. This led to the creation of a system that combined real-time action with RPG gameplay by allowing players to press buttons at the right time to improve their attacks. For Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, AlphaDream improved this system by letting players dodge enemy attacks entirely.

At the time, Mario franchise characters were not well-developed in terms of personality. Since Mario & Luigi uses a text-based story and features the main characters interacting with many others, AlphaDream wanted to create new character designs. With Nintendo's approval, they redesigned characters like Luigi, aiming to keep their original charm while making them more detailed.

Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (originally called Mario & Luigi 2) at E3 2005, where players could try a demo of the game. The demo included three levels with tutorials to teach players how to use abilities like the hammer. Between the game's announcement and its release, Nintendo of America shared more details about the story, gameplay, and the game's compatibility with the "Rumble Pak" feature. Partners in Time was released in North America on November 28, 2005. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was revealed in October 2008 in Japan under the name Mario & Luigi 3. Its release for North America and Europe was announced at E3 2009, and it came out on September 15, 2009.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team was released on June 30, 2013. With the Nintendo 3DS's 3D graphics, AlphaDream could update the game's world to 3D while keeping the 2D character designs, as they believed the 2D style helped express humor effectively. Akira Otani, a series producer, said the animation work was a major reason for the long development time. He noted that up to six people worked on designing character animations alone.

For Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the main goal was to focus more on Luigi, as Maekawa felt he had less depth even after previous character changes. One early idea was having many Luigis on-screen at once, which became possible with better technology. The team decided to set the game in a dream world, allowing for creative level and attack ideas. Director Hiroyuki Kubota mentioned a prototype where Luigis formed a volcano, but the idea was abandoned because it was too hard to control and not fun enough.

During the development of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, released on January 22, 2016, production was managed by Intelligent Systems, the team behind Paper Mario. The game aimed to combine the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series and introduce a third character to control, inspired by using a third button for a second Mario. The team wanted to keep the game simple despite adding new features. When a prototype with fast button presses was shown to Shigeru Miyamoto, he asked for simpler controls.

After Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, AlphaDream worked on remaking older games, including Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (October 5, 2017) and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey (January 11, 2019). The team avoided releasing the remake on the Nintendo Switch, preferring to keep the dual-screen design of the original games. Bowser Jr. was the focus of the side story to explore the relationship between him and Bowser. AlphaDream skipped remaking Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time because Bowser's Inside Story was the most successful game in the series and because the villain Fawful was well-received internationally.

A source reported that Mario & Luigi games were declining in popularity, noting that the Bowser's Inside Story remake sold poorly and led Nintendo to cancel other 3DS plans. From 2018 to 2019, AlphaDream looked for new workers, including graphic designers and assistants, for future games on the Nintendo Switch and smartphones. However, the Bowser's Inside Story remake sold poorly in Japan and was one of the worst-selling Mario games. Other 3DS plans were canceled, marking the last Mario game on the console. By March 2018, Yahoo! Japan reported AlphaDream owed £3.5 million (about $4.3 million) in debt, leading to bankruptcy in October 2019. In January 2020, Nintendo registered the series' trademark in Argentina, sparking speculation that the series might continue in the future.

In June 2024, the sixth game in the series, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, was announced and released on November 7, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch. This was the first game not developed by AlphaDream, though some original developers were involved. The game was created by Acquire, as noted in its intellectual property information. The art style shifted to full 3D, with Akira Otani stating that a HD-2D style similar to Octopath Traveler was considered but not used.

Reception

All games in the series have been well received by critics. According to the review website Metacritic, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story were described as receiving "universal acclaim," while all other games in the series were given "generally favorable reviews." Among these, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam had the lowest rating.

Both GameSpot and Eurogamer called Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga "one of the best GBA games of the year." GameSpot highlighted the game’s unique gameplay ideas, while Eurogamer praised its "simple and clever design."

The DS sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, was also well-received. GamesRadar+ celebrated its humorous dialogue and story, though Nintendo World Report noted that the game’s special items, called Bros. items, were not balanced well. The next DS game, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, was highly praised. Giant Bomb said the game kept the series’ basic formula but added small, creative changes. Game Informer noted that the touch screen and microphone features felt natural and well-designed.

After the release of the 3DS game Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, IGN both praised and criticized the game for introducing many ideas that were not fully used, leading to an "uneven experience" with both strong and weak moments. Nintendo Life acknowledged the effort put into the game but said it sometimes went too far, recommending it mainly to very dedicated fans. Digitally Downloaded said Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was still fun and varied but lacked an engaging story to begin with. IGN also noted that the game’s environments and story felt unoriginal. GamesRadar+ believed that adding Paper Mario as a character helped keep the game fresh for longtime fans.

Critics gave high marks to the remakes Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, though not as high as the original versions. Polygon said the first remake was "a game that deserves to be enjoyed by a new generation," but criticized the Bowser's Minions bonus content for being boring and repetitive. Destructoid said the second remake kept the original’s good qualities but found the Bowser Jr.'s Journey bonus content not worth playing for longtime fans.

Reviews for Mario & Luigi: Brothership were mostly positive. However, some critics, like Gamereactor, said the game’s pacing was uneven, with some parts feeling too slow or unbalanced. Twinfinite enjoyed the game’s variety of settings and new boss battles. Shacknews praised the game’s "unforgettable story" and "lovable characters." By February 4, 2025, the game had sold 1.84 million copies.

The Mario RPG games directly influenced the 2025 title Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s enemy parrying mechanic, according to Sandfall Interactive creative director Guillaume Broche. This likely refers to Mario & Luigi, as it was the only Mario RPG at the time that allowed players to control enemies during combat.