Mario & Luigi (also called Mario & Luigi RPG in Japan) is a series of role-playing video games. Nintendo publishes the games, and they were first created by AlphaDream before the company went out of business. Acquire made the most recent game in the series. The series is a side series of Nintendo's popular Super Mario games and features the characters Mario and Luigi. The stories usually follow Mario and Luigi on a mission to save Princess Peach and stop a villain. 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 on the Nintendo 3DS with added content. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was the last game made by AlphaDream before the company went out of business in 2019. Critics generally praised all the games, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and its remake received award nominations.

Gameplay

The Mario & Luigi series includes common parts of role-playing games (RPGs), but it differs mainly by letting players control Mario and Luigi at the same time. In the overworld, which is the area where players explore and interact with the game world, Mario moves while Luigi follows closely. During exploration and 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.

The series uses a traditional turn-based battle system, similar to the Paper Mario franchise. In battles, players can strengthen attacks by timing button presses with the animation of the attack, such as Mario and Luigi’s jumps or hammer attacks. A unique feature of the series is the ability to use real-time commands while an enemy is attacking. Good timing lets players avoid enemy attacks or even damage the enemy instead of being hit. Some games in the series 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 search for Cackletta, who took Princess Peach’s voice. It introduced a gameplay style that later games in the series would use, including controlling multiple characters at the same time, solving puzzles, and avoiding enemy attacks during turn-based battles through quick actions.

• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time was the first Nintendo DS game, released in 2005. The addition of Baby Mario and Baby Luigi allows players to control four characters at the same time, with the option to split them into pairs. Set in the Mushroom Kingdom, the story includes time-travel elements as Mario and Luigi rescue 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 causes Bowser to swallow several characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, including Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. The game alternates between two-dimensional gameplay inside Bowser’s body and three-dimensional sections where players control Bowser directly.

• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team was the first Nintendo 3DS game, released in 2013. The story takes place in both the real world (Pi’illo Island) and a dream world. Mario teams up with Dreamy Luigi to rescue Princess Peach. In the dream world, players use the touch screen to pull on Luigi’s mustache while he sleeps, allowing them to control parts of the environment, such as tree branches and time flow.

• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. Princess Peach and a paper version of herself are captured by Bowser and a paper version of Bowser. Paper Mario joins Mario and Luigi to save them. Players control all three characters at once, using special attacks called Trio combos and earning boosts through battle cards. Some puzzles in the game involve mini-games.

• Mario & Luigi: Brothership was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2024. The game follows Mario and Luigi as they sail a moving island to reunite the islands of Concordia. It introduces new mechanics, such as Luigi Logic, where Luigi can act on his own during gameplay for the first time in the series, and Battle Plugs, which provide temporary combat boosts with limited uses.

• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions is a Nintendo 3DS remake of 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 are divided into three types, each strong and weak against specific enemies in a rock-paper-scissors style.

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

Development

AlphaDream was founded in January 2000 by former employees of Square, including Chihiro Fujioka, who directed 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, AlphaDream released Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga outside of Japan on November 17, 2003.

The Mario & Luigi series used turn-based combat inspired by Super Mario RPG, which AlphaDream producer Yoshihiko Maekawa helped direct. Maekawa mentioned that one idea for Super Mario RPG came from a children's toy in Japan where players pressed buttons in time with music. This led to a system where players could press buttons at the right time to improve their attacks. For Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, AlphaDream improved this idea by letting players dodge enemy attacks entirely.

At the time, Mario franchise characters had limited personalities. Since Mario & Luigi used text-based storytelling and featured many characters, AlphaDream wanted to create new, detailed versions of these characters. With Nintendo's approval, they redesigned characters like Luigi to keep their charm while adding depth.

Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (originally called Mario & Luigi 2) at E3 2005, where players could try a demo with three levels. Each level had a different goal and showed how characters could use abilities like hammers. Before the game's release, Nintendo shared more details, including that it would work with the "Rumble Pak" feature. The game 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 in 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 changed some parts of the game to 3D but kept character designs as 2D because they believed they were effective for showing expressions. 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 character animations alone.

For Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the goal was to focus more on Luigi, as Maekawa felt he had less depth even after earlier changes. One 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, which allowed creative level designs and new attacks. One idea involved Luigis forming a volcano, but it was not used because it was too hard to control.

During development of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, released on January 22, 2016, Intelligent Systems, the developer of Paper Mario, helped oversee production. The game aimed to combine the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series and introduce a third character to control. 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 it to be simpler.

After Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, AlphaDream released remakes of older games, including Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions on October 5, 2017, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey on January 11, 2019. The team chose not to release the second remake on the Nintendo Switch to keep the dual-screen feature from the original games. The side story focused on Bowser Jr. to explore his relationship with Bowser. AlphaDream skipped remaking Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time because Bowser's Inside Story was the most successful game in the series.

In 2018, AlphaDream faced financial difficulties. A report stated that Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey sold poorly, leading to canceled 3DS projects. By March 2018, AlphaDream owed £3.5 million (US$4.3 million) in debt and filed for bankruptcy in October 2019. In January 2020, Nintendo registered the Mario & Luigi series trademark in Argentina, which some believed could mean the series would continue.

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 game was not developed by AlphaDream, which had gone out of business. Nintendo said that some original developers from the series helped create the game. The game was made by Acquire, as noted in its intellectual property information. The art style shifted to full 3D, and Akira Otani mentioned that a style similar to Octopath Traveler was considered but not used.

Reception

All games in the series have been well-received by players and critics. According to Metacritic, a review website, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story received "universal acclaim," while other games in the series received "generally favorable reviews." Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam had the lowest rating among the series.

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

The DS sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, was also well-received. GamesRadar+ appreciated its humorous dialogue and story, though Nintendo World Report criticized the balance of the game's special items, called "Bros. items." The next DS game, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, was highly praised. Giant Bomb noted that the game kept the series' core formula but added small, unique improvements. Game Informer commended the natural use of the DS's touch screen and microphone features.

The 3DS title Mario & Luigi: Dream Team received mixed feedback. IGN praised some of its creative ideas but noted that many were introduced and then ignored, leading to an "uneven experience." Nintendo Life acknowledged the care put into the game but warned that it might be too much for some players, recommending it mainly for dedicated fans. Digitally Downloaded said Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was still fun and varied but lacked a strong opening story. IGN also mentioned that the game's environments and story felt uninspired. GamesRadar+ believed that adding Paper Mario as a character helped keep the game fresh for longtime players.

The remakes Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey were positively reviewed but not as highly as the original versions. Polygon called the first remake "a game that deserves to be enjoyed by a new generation" but criticized the Bowser's Minions bonus content for being repetitive and boring. Destructoid said the second remake kept the original's strengths but found the Bowser Jr.'s Journey bonus content not worth playing for longtime fans.

Reviews for Mario & Luigi: Brothership were mostly positive, though some critics felt the game's pacing was slow. Gamereactor noted that the game had strong moments but risked being abandoned due to unbalanced gameplay and uninteresting side quests. Twinfinite enjoyed the game's variety of settings and new boss battles, while Shacknews praised its "unforgettable story" and "lovable characters." By February 4, 2025, the game had sold 1.84 million copies.

The Mario RPG series influenced the 2025 game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, according to Guillaume Broche, creative director of Sandfall Interactive. The enemy parrying mechanic in Clair Obscur was likely inspired by Mario & Luigi, as it was the only Mario RPG game at the time that allowed players to control enemies during combat.