Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review

Marking the first new entry in the Mario & Luigi RPG series in almost ten years, Brothership brings together the best mechanics we enjoy from the games while also exploring unknown territory. Mario & Luigi: Brothership whisked me off on a new adventure to an ocean world known as Concordia after Mario and Luigi were accidentally teleported to this land.

The world wasn’t always a vast ocean but an evil shake-up took place that split up the land into islands. These islands now float around the ocean currents waiting to be linked back together with the help fo Mario and Luigi. The duo sail across the ocean in a large wooden ship called the Shipshape. This vessel is home to some of the residents of Concordia as well as a Uni-Tree. This tree has the power to link together the islands and even discover new currents across the ocean to sail on.

Sailing in Mario & Luigi: Brothership plays quite a big role in the game. Brothership wants players to feel as if they are scouting an endless ocean and the game does a great job here. Not only does the Shipshape move in real-time to Mario and Luigi, but choosing a new route for it always provided me with a sort of seeker’s energy. As if the ocean held all these secrets I had yet to discover and I could not wait to reach new currents to find new islands.

I could always set a point for the Shipshape to reach and carry on with a side quest while the vessel sailed towards the destination. When it reached the spot, I quickly hopped back in the fast-travel pipe and returned. I could then run to the cannon and shoot Mario and Luigi out of it sending them flying towards the floating mass.

Granted, you do unlock the ability to speed up the Shipshape’s speed. This does help because waiting for it to reach a set spot can often feel tedious, especially when I didn’t have any side quests to take on. But even with the faster speed, the sense of discovery always kept me guessing where I would go next and what I would find.

The islands themselves are just as exciting. Every island is themed around Concordia’s “electrical outlet” style. The people look like walking wall plugs and some of the islands follow the same theme.

These islands are mostly inspired by cliche video game ideas but they work. There’s a jungle, desert, circus and wasteland-like island too, While they do have cookie-cutter themes, they are brought to life thanks to Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s incredible visuals. The game’s bright colours and cartoon-like engine make this the best-looking Mario & Luigi RPG to date.

If anything, the game’s move away from the Mushroom Kingdom is a welcome change here and makes Brothership worth the trip even if you play the game on easy. Concordia’s people are lovable, the islands are fun to explore and the refreshing setting means there’s a you won’t expect to see coming.

Concordia is themed around electrical outlets. Linking the islands sees Mario and Luigi find a lighthouse and ride its outlet plug all the way from the island back to Shipshape. As a result of the connection, the island trails behind the massive ship like it is being ferried across the ocean.

After visiting an island for the main story, side quests become available which meant I often had to backtrack to these locations. Thankfyully, there’s always something more to do in addition to these quests. Often I could run around and look for sparks to collect and at times, reach new areas thanks to the pathways that form after the link is made. There’s also a crafting system where I could find ingredients by defeating enemies and use them to craft new gear. So I found myself returning to previous islands to rack up those missing materials.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership does feel scripted for the most part. I felt like the game was always holding my hand. Even with the few side quests, there wasn’t room for me to experience much RPG here. I could always afford the best gear when it was available right after a key moment and no matter how you try, the game has little room to build Mario and Luigi into the playstyles you want.

Sure, there are a few gear items that add some depth to their loadout. Some increase skill damage while others increase power. Combine that with a focus on increasing the Mustache stat a bit more after each level up and you can say there is build opportunity here. Just don’t expect much more depth than that.

Mario and Luigi’s skills are all determined on story progression and unlocked gear is the same case. I could not use cool skills until much later in the game and they were all handed to me like they should have been available in the first place. It all becomes a bit predictable and if anything, limited.

With that in mind, general gameplay is fun to play. Combat includes those iconic Mario & Luigi mechanics. I could swing a hammer, jump around and use other items to deal damage to enemies. Depending on the enemy would depend on the attack approach. I would not use the hammer attack on a flying enemy for example or a jump attack on a spiked shell.

The same timing mechanics also return here. Pressing the right button at the right time during an attack, counter or dodge would determine its effects. Bro Attacks then combined both Mario and Luigi. I had to juggle the correct button presses while also paying attention to the mechanics in play. The Red Shell saw them kick the object back and forth while I was timing the kicks with the A and B buttons. In the end, the effectiveness of the attack was determined by the successful button presses.

It works, it feels enjoyable and it looks fantastic at the same time. Even the most basic of attacks are cool to pull off. Leaping on an enemy’s head and then into the arms of Luigi, only to leap back onto the enemy’s head felt rewarding. Even after dozens of hours of using the same attack.

Battle Plugs are a new system in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. With it, I could create plugs that I would equip for combat encounters. These plugs all have their own perks. Suprise Iron Ball dropped spiked balls from the sky went I got an “Excellent” attack. This meant timing the attack prompts perfectly.

Kaboom did the same thing but instead of spiked balls, a wave of energy burst out of the attacked enemy and damaged nearby enemies. I could equip two Battle Plugs at any time. Some combinations would create even stronger attacks. These plugs did have a limit in use before they had to recharge. In the meantime, I could then equip others.

Boss fights also bring some unique mechanics to the combat. Luigi will figure out a way to take advantage of the environment – called Luigi Logic. I could then access the ability during certain moments of the fight. It usually revolved around the same button timings to successfully pull off the move.

Yes, this has all been done before. If you have played any previous Mario & Luigi games, you won’t find much new here from a combat perspective but it didn’t matter. The game’s colourful enemies, catchy combat music and interactive attacks make this a real gem for fans and newcomers.

The same Mario & Luigi mechanics are found across the islands too. Exploration often relies on abilities such as rolling into a ball or swinging around in the air to hover over a gap. Luigi can also stay behind at certain times to hit a switch that Mario needs to pass a gate.

Essentially, this is all quite a breeze to get through. Mario & Luigi: Brothership isn’t a difficult game. Combat can have its difficulty spikes but there’s usually a badge, pair of gloves or hammer upgrade that I didn’t pick up. But it doesn’t even feel challenging. This is a good and bad thing. In some way, I wanted a bit more of a challenge. Even the battle prompts were incredibly easy to pull off. The timing window is ridiculous and I hoped for a bit more of a challenge here.

At the same time, the easy gameplay does mean you can focus on Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s story and brilliant world without worrying about a grind. And there’s a stunning game here with some witty writing to enjoy. Sure, it might not be a hardcore RPG but it is charming, at the least.

This Mario & Luigi: Brothership review is based on a code sent to us by Nintendo. The game launches on 7 November for Nintendo Switch. You can purchase it starting at R1,199 here.