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by Better late than never, here's my review of Mario and Luigi: Dream Team for the Nintendo 3DS.
Story
Broggy comes down on a blimp to the Mushroom Kingdom to formally invite Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toadsworth to a well-deserved vacation to Pi'illo Island. They begin their ride to Pi'illo Island on this blimp, when a screen is shown with an old man appearing on it. This man is Dr. Snoozemore, the proprietor or Pi'illo Island. He is researching the science of sleep, and Mario is to help him with the always-tired Luigi. When the blimp crashes due to a dark object hitting it, Mario and everyone riding it crash land in Blimport. You then learn later in the game that all of the Pi'illos have been trapped by Antasma, and Mario and Luigi must save them and defeat Antasma.
Now, because this is an RPG, there is obviously a whole lot more to the storyline. So much more, that it's actually quite surprising. The dialogue is humorous as in past games in the series, and is sure to give you some laughs while playing. There are also plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested in it for the length of the game. Overall, the story is fantastic and it really seems like AlphaDream put quite a bit of effort into creating it.
Gameplay
This is where Mario and Luigi: Dream Team really shines. As in previous entries in the series, you will solve puzzles in the overworld through many different moves that the Mario bros. will learn throughout the course of the game. The enemy battles are turn-based and use a unique action-command system that works perfectly.
However, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team actually has 2 different types of gameplay. A good chunk of this game is spent in the dream world, which is basically this game's version of Bowser from Bowser's Inside Story. In here, you will traverse 2D sections and use 'Luiginary Works,' which are interesting puzzle mechanics that make use of Luigi in unique ways. You might be standing on top of a giant stack of Luigis, or pulling a giant version of his mustache to fling Mario across the screen. It's surprising how many there are, and each one is very fun to use, my personal favorite being the one that lets you speed up time.
Now, with all of the variety in not only different gameplay types, but also the areas you'll travel to, I had a TON of fun playing through it. I have to admit, in previous titles in the series, I'd always find myself getting bored at a certain point and just never wanting to continue. But in Dream Team, I find myself wanting to keep playing more and more no matter how long it's been. And trust me, this is a long game. It'll take you 35 hours MINIMUM to complete it. Compared to previous games in the series, it's quite a long one. There's even an unlockable hard mode to play through after completing the game.
One thing I will say, is that I found specific types of enemies to appear way too much. It would sometimes become boring battling the same enemies over and over again in certain areas. However, with the variety offered in pretty much every other aspect of the gameplay, I'm not complaining!
Controls
The controls work fine, as I would have expected. I did find that at some points I'd have to keep pressing the R button many times in a row, which became aggrivating. You use this button to flip through different abilities in the world, as in previous games in the series. However, if you skip over one, you have to cycle through all of the abilities again just to get back the the one you wanted. It's not that big of a deal, especially early on, but it wouldn't have been too difficult to allow you to use the L button to go to the previous ability.
Otherwise, the controls feel very precise and work exactly as they are supposed to.
Graphics
The graphics in Mario and Luigi: Dream Team are perfect. The sprites look great, and best of all, the 3D effect looks great. While it isn't a strong effect, and it doesn't have much depth, there are points in the game where it makes it much easier to view the game in 3D, or where the game simply looks great in 3D. (whether this be Luigis flying at you or when using some of the 3D attacks in battle) The graphics are absolutely perfect in the game.
Sound
The music in Dream Team is FANTASTIC. It's the best in the series by far, and would be great to listen to...if it weren't for the sound itself being totally messed up. While at low volumes there's nothing wrong, turning the volume up only makes the game's sound quality go down. I honestly have no idea how this could have happened, but it's not so terrible to where you won't want to have on the audio when playing the game. You'll get used to it after a little while, it's quality is just a bit worse than in other 3DS games is all.
Overall
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is a great game. The story and dialogue will keep you interested, the varietal gameplay keeps the game fresh throughout the entire game, and it will keep you playing for at least 40 hours. The sound quality isn't so great, and there are points where certain enemies get repetitive, but this is still my favorite game in the entire series. (which many people don't seem to agree about...personally I loved this game a lot)
Story
Broggy comes down on a blimp to the Mushroom Kingdom to formally invite Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toadsworth to a well-deserved vacation to Pi'illo Island. They begin their ride to Pi'illo Island on this blimp, when a screen is shown with an old man appearing on it. This man is Dr. Snoozemore, the proprietor or Pi'illo Island. He is researching the science of sleep, and Mario is to help him with the always-tired Luigi. When the blimp crashes due to a dark object hitting it, Mario and everyone riding it crash land in Blimport. You then learn later in the game that all of the Pi'illos have been trapped by Antasma, and Mario and Luigi must save them and defeat Antasma.
Now, because this is an RPG, there is obviously a whole lot more to the storyline. So much more, that it's actually quite surprising. The dialogue is humorous as in past games in the series, and is sure to give you some laughs while playing. There are also plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested in it for the length of the game. Overall, the story is fantastic and it really seems like AlphaDream put quite a bit of effort into creating it.
Gameplay
This is where Mario and Luigi: Dream Team really shines. As in previous entries in the series, you will solve puzzles in the overworld through many different moves that the Mario bros. will learn throughout the course of the game. The enemy battles are turn-based and use a unique action-command system that works perfectly.
However, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team actually has 2 different types of gameplay. A good chunk of this game is spent in the dream world, which is basically this game's version of Bowser from Bowser's Inside Story. In here, you will traverse 2D sections and use 'Luiginary Works,' which are interesting puzzle mechanics that make use of Luigi in unique ways. You might be standing on top of a giant stack of Luigis, or pulling a giant version of his mustache to fling Mario across the screen. It's surprising how many there are, and each one is very fun to use, my personal favorite being the one that lets you speed up time.
Now, with all of the variety in not only different gameplay types, but also the areas you'll travel to, I had a TON of fun playing through it. I have to admit, in previous titles in the series, I'd always find myself getting bored at a certain point and just never wanting to continue. But in Dream Team, I find myself wanting to keep playing more and more no matter how long it's been. And trust me, this is a long game. It'll take you 35 hours MINIMUM to complete it. Compared to previous games in the series, it's quite a long one. There's even an unlockable hard mode to play through after completing the game.
One thing I will say, is that I found specific types of enemies to appear way too much. It would sometimes become boring battling the same enemies over and over again in certain areas. However, with the variety offered in pretty much every other aspect of the gameplay, I'm not complaining!
Controls
The controls work fine, as I would have expected. I did find that at some points I'd have to keep pressing the R button many times in a row, which became aggrivating. You use this button to flip through different abilities in the world, as in previous games in the series. However, if you skip over one, you have to cycle through all of the abilities again just to get back the the one you wanted. It's not that big of a deal, especially early on, but it wouldn't have been too difficult to allow you to use the L button to go to the previous ability.
Otherwise, the controls feel very precise and work exactly as they are supposed to.
Graphics
The graphics in Mario and Luigi: Dream Team are perfect. The sprites look great, and best of all, the 3D effect looks great. While it isn't a strong effect, and it doesn't have much depth, there are points in the game where it makes it much easier to view the game in 3D, or where the game simply looks great in 3D. (whether this be Luigis flying at you or when using some of the 3D attacks in battle) The graphics are absolutely perfect in the game.
Sound
The music in Dream Team is FANTASTIC. It's the best in the series by far, and would be great to listen to...if it weren't for the sound itself being totally messed up. While at low volumes there's nothing wrong, turning the volume up only makes the game's sound quality go down. I honestly have no idea how this could have happened, but it's not so terrible to where you won't want to have on the audio when playing the game. You'll get used to it after a little while, it's quality is just a bit worse than in other 3DS games is all.
Overall
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team is a great game. The story and dialogue will keep you interested, the varietal gameplay keeps the game fresh throughout the entire game, and it will keep you playing for at least 40 hours. The sound quality isn't so great, and there are points where certain enemies get repetitive, but this is still my favorite game in the entire series. (which many people don't seem to agree about...personally I loved this game a lot)
- score:
- 9 out of 10
