Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a 2003 role-playing video game created by AlphaDream and released by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the first game in the Mario & Luigi series. The story follows Mario and Luigi as they journey to the Beanbean Kingdom to fight Cackletta and Fawful, who stole Princess Peach’s voice to gain power from a special item called the Beanstar.
Superstar Saga is the third role-playing game in the Mario franchise, after Super Mario RPG (1996) and Paper Mario (2000). It has a fun and playful script with more focus on humor than earlier games. Players control Mario and Luigi at the same time as they explore the game world, fight enemies, earn experience points, and collect new items and equipment. The battle system is different from traditional role-playing games, with more attention to timing and special moves called Action Commands. The game was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Tetsuo Mizuno, and Satoru Iwata. It was announced at E3 2003 and released the same year.
Superstar Saga received high praise from critics, who appreciated its writing, tone, and battle system. However, some reviewers had mixed opinions about the gameplay and the top-down view of the game world. It is often ranked among the best games for the Game Boy Advance. The game was a commercial success, selling over 2 million copies, and it became a Player’s Choice title. A sequel, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, was released for the Nintendo DS in 2005. An improved version with extra story content, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. The original game was later made available on the Wii U’s Virtual Console in 2014 and the Nintendo Classics service in 2023.
Gameplay
The game Mario & Luigi plays differently from most role-playing games because it lets players control Mario and Luigi at the same time. During the overworld sections, the directional pad moves one brother, and the other follows closely. Players can switch between Mario and Luigi using the Start button. Each brother’s actions are controlled separately using the A button (for the front character) and the B button (for the rear character). At the beginning of the game, Mario and Luigi can jump on their own. As the game progresses, they learn to use hammers and other skills. For example, Luigi’s hammer can shrink Mario, letting him fit through small spaces. Putting Mario on Luigi’s shoulders lets them float across large gaps. Enemies are found in the overworld, and touching them starts a battle. Hitting an enemy on the overworld can let players deal damage before the fight begins or make the enemy stunned. Enemies can also hit the player first.
Battles in Superstar Saga are turn-based. Mario and Luigi are controlled with the A and B buttons, no matter their position in the overworld. They can attack enemies by jumping on them (available from the start), using hammers, or with hand powers (unlocked later in the story). Jump attacks hit enemies from above, but jumping on enemies with spikes or fire will hurt the player. Hammer attacks work on enemies on the ground but miss floating or flying enemies. Each brother has an elemental hand attack: Mario uses fire, and Luigi uses thunder. Some enemies are hurt more or less by these attacks.
Like other Mario role-playing games, such as Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario, players can time button presses to make attacks more powerful, such as getting an extra jump or stronger hammer hits. A new feature in this game is how Mario and Luigi can defend themselves during enemy attacks. When an enemy attacks, the brothers can jump or use their hammers. If timed correctly, this lets them avoid the attack and even hit the enemy back. For example, jumping on a charging Goomba can damage it.
Throughout the game, players can unlock Bros. Attacks, which use Bros. Points (BP). These attacks require Mario and Luigi to work together. Each brother has their own health points (HP). If one brother’s HP reaches zero, they faint, and the other carries them while dodging, countering, or fleeing. Bros. Attacks cannot be used until the unconscious brother is revived or bad effects are removed. Players can use items like mushrooms to heal, peppers to boost stats, and 1UP mushrooms to revive fallen brothers.
Defeating enemies gives experience points, which help Mario and Luigi level up and improve their stats. Players can choose to increase one stat each time they level up. Stats can also be improved by equipping new gear or wearing badges that add special abilities.
Like other Mario games for the Game Boy Advance, Superstar Saga includes an improved version of the Mario Bros. arcade game, which was also used in the Super Mario Advance series. The game also supports a rumble feature when played with the GameCube’s Game Boy Player accessory.
Plot
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is mainly set in the Beanbean Kingdom, a country next to the Mushroom Kingdom, which is where the Mario games usually take place. The Beanbean Kingdom is inhabited by Beanish people and Hoohooligans, with many places having names that sound like laughter. The main characters are Mario and Luigi, who are brothers. They travel to the Beanbean Kingdom to return Peach’s voice, which was stolen by the Beanish witch Cackletta and her helper, Fawful. Other characters include Queen Bean and Prince Peasley of the Beanbean Kingdom, who help Mario and Luigi; and the thief Popple, who meets them during the game.
Cackletta and Fawful pretend to be ambassadors of the Beanbean Kingdom. They visit Princess Peach’s castle in the Mushroom Kingdom and steal her voice, replacing it with explosives that fall from her speech balloon when she speaks. Mario and Luigi are called to the castle and briefly fight Bowser, who had planned to kidnap Peach but decides not to because of her explosive speech. The three team up to get Peach’s voice and fly to the Beanbean Kingdom on Bowser’s new airship, the Koopa Cruiser. During the flight, Fawful attacks them, and Bowser is separated from Mario and Luigi after being shot from a cannon during a crash landing on the Mushroom Kingdom side of the Beanbean Kingdom border. After crossing the border and going to the top of Hoohoo Mountain, Mario and Luigi defeat a cursed dragon named Dragohoho, freeing Prince Peasley.
The brothers then go to the Beanbean Kingdom and are invited to the Beanbean Castle. There, Cackletta, pretending to be the royal advisor Lady Lima, tricks them into helping her steal the Beanstar, a mystical item that grants any wish when awakened by a noble and beautiful voice. After freeing Queen Bean from being turned into a savage beast by Cackletta, the brothers follow Cackletta to Woohoo Hooniversity and find her showing the Beanstar the stolen voice, making it go wild. Mario and Luigi fight Cackletta, seriously injuring her. Fawful saves her soul with his
Development and marketing
Superstar Saga was created by AlphaDream and directed by Yoshihiko Maekawa, one of the directors of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The game was inspired by the Nintendo 64 game Paper Mario, as both games share similar graphics and gameplay. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario franchise, Tetsuo Mizuno, and Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, were the producers of the game. Charles Martinet, known for voicing Mario and Luigi in Nintendo's Mario games, provided the characters' voices in Superstar Saga. The game's music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, who also created the soundtrack for Super Mario RPG.
Superstar Saga was announced at E3 2003 under the name Mario and Luigi, and a playable demo of the game was available for testing. In August and September 2003, playable versions of the game were also shown at the European Computer Trade Show, the Games Convention, and Nintendo Gamers' Summit. To match the game's humorous style, Nintendo held an official competition from October to November 2003. Participants submitted knock-knock jokes to win a Game Boy Advance SP and a copy of the game. Comedian Kathy Griffin was chosen by Nintendo to select the winning joke.
Reception
Superstar Saga received very high praise from the review site Metacritic. Critics especially liked the game's funny dialogue and themes. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell said that "each line of dialogue and recognizable character appearance was handled with a lot of humor." However, RPGamer's Andrew Long noted that the story was repetitive and the characters were a bit shallow. While some critics appreciated the game's references to the Mario series' history, they also praised it for not using common ideas from earlier Mario games.
The gameplay received mixed reviews. Critics liked the battle system, which was different from usual role-playing game traditions. IGN's Craig Harris said, "unlike most Japanese RPGs, Mario & Luigi's turn-based battle keeps the player involved throughout." However, some reviewers thought the gameplay lacked new ideas. Gamespy criticized the game for not offering much that was new, saying, "in terms of gameplay, there isn't much there that we haven't seen in the NES and SNES Mario and Zelda titles." Some reviewers also thought the game was too easy because it targeted younger players. Edge and other publications said the controls were sometimes confusing when using jumping, hammers, and other actions between the two characters.
A common issue among reviewers was the overhead perspective, which made it hard to see where paths and objects were in relation to the background. However, the visuals were mostly praised, along with the setting and animations. The audio was commended for mixing new and old elements, even though it repeated often.
GameSpot named Superstar Saga the best Game Boy Advance game of November 2003. During the AIAS's 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, it was nominated for Handheld Game of the Year. In 2006, it was ranked the 37th best game made on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list. That same year, the game was included in the Player's Choice label. In 2007, it was named the twelfth best Game Boy Advance game of all time in IGN's feature on the Game Boy Advance's history. In the United States alone, Superstar Saga sold 1,000,000 copies and earned $30,000,000 by August 2006. Between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 14th highest-selling game released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, or PlayStation Portable in that country. As of 2021, the game has sold 2.15 million units.
Remake
A remake of Superstar Saga for Nintendo 3DS, titled Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, was announced at E3 2017. The remake includes improved graphics that still use character images, but with more lighting effects similar to those in Dream Team and Paper Jam. It also has a remastered soundtrack and convenience features added in later games, such as the ability to save at any time and skip cutscenes. The game includes Amiibo support, linked to existing Boo figures and new Goomba and Koopa Troopa figures. It was released in October 2017.
The story of the remake is the same as the original game, but it also includes a new storyline called Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser. This story follows Captain Goomba and introduces a real-time strategy battle system.
In the Koopa Cruiser, Bowser’s airship heading to the Beanbean Kingdom, two Goombas—Captain Goomba and Private Goomp—are trapped in barrels. They become allies to help Goombas gain respect by ending their enslavement by the Koopalings. However, Fawful crashes Bowser’s airship. Captain Goomba wakes up on Hoohoo Mountain after seeing Bowser being shot from a cannon. He decides to rescue Bowser and gathers an army.
Captain Goomba learns that some minions, including Private Goomp, were brainwashed by Fawful to help rescue Bowser. This causes conflict with the Koopalings. After falling off Hoohoo Mountain, Captain Goomba teams up with Private Goomp again and builds a new army to recruit others. Meanwhile, the Koopalings are also brainwashed by Fawful. Larry joins the Minions after being saved, on the condition that the others find the remaining Koopalings.
With Larry and Wendy helping, the Minion’s Army returns to Hoohoo Mountain, where they see Bowser, who has amnesia, being recruited by Popple as his "Rookie." The Minions chase Popple, saving Morton in the process, and learn that Bowser has been possessed by Cackletta, now called Bowletta. They find Roy and repair Bowser’s airship, discovering from Fawful that Bowletta is in Bowser’s Castle. The Minions fly there, recruit the remaining Koopalings, and earn the respect Goombas wanted.
With Bowser’s army complete, the Minions battle Fawful and his "Mecha" army. Bowser’s army wins, but Fawful escapes to join Bowletta. Both are defeated by the Mario Bros. Bowser’s Castle explodes, and Bowser, now normal, returns to his kingdom with his army. He promotes Captain Goomba but then remembers that Captain Goomba caused his amnesia and chases him in anger.