Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story Review

I enjoy complex role-playing games. I like allocating multiple types of points, poring over skill trees, and managing a balanced party. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story doesn’t have any of that. The Mario & Luigi series has always favored humor and accessibility; with the genre’s traditional complicating factors stripped away, Bowser’s Inside Story is an ideal RPG for people who don’t normally play RPGs.

I’m not dismissing the habits of the non-hardcore crowd – especially since complexity doesn’t necessarily equal quality. In this case, simple controls within inventive scenarios result in one of the most polished and consistently entertaining titles on the DS. Mario and Luigi’s adventure through (and subsequent escape from) Bowser’s insides takes what people love about the series and adds an array of cool new twists. 

Switching between the plumbers’ 2D platforming and Bowser’s isometric exploration injects variety at all the right times. Just when you feel like Mario and Luigi have tromped around in the koopa king’s stomach for long enough, you suddenly find yourself controlling an awesome Godzilla-sized Bowser, or timing your button presses as the brothers use tendons like trampolines. Even the implementation of touch screen and microphone controls is done well; they aren’t pervasive, but they feel fun and natural when they surface – especially when performing Bowser’s ­minion ­moves.

While the pacing is successful on a larger scale, regular battles have a tendency to wear thin. In any given zone, there are only a handful of possible encounters, and it gets old dodging the same attacks and using the same strategies repeatedly. While this is a problem in many role-playing games, it is particularly noticeable here. It gets even worse as the enemies become more difficult, because the fights are longer and require more precise timing. 

A few flaws on the battlefield aren’t enough to stem the flow of laughs generated by the game’s exceptional writing. The return of Fawful as the main villain ensures plenty of hilariously nonsensical one-liners, but the impatient and aggressive Bowser steals the show. He has no depth beyond a constant desire to incinerate, punch, and stomp everything, but Bowser’s Inside Story isn’t a tale full of nuances. It is, however, a title with lots of variety, plenty of great dialogue, and rock-solid mechanics that any gamer can understand and ­enjoy.