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E3'03: Mario & Luigi - First Impressions Preview
TVG Staff
05/06/2003
This game certainly came as something of a surprise; perhaps the best game of E3 as the Mario Bros reunite...
Perhaps the biggest surprise and personal high point of E3 was coming across āMario and Luigiā for the GameBoy Advance. TVG regulars will know of our demands for the Mario Bros to be reunited after years of Mario on his own, and Luigiās spin-off in āLuigiās Mansionā; thankfully it looks as if somebody was listening as āMario and Luigiā could very well be the title weāve wanting for ages.
Whilst we could only gain a brief impression from our small playtest, the game was significantly different to what we were expecting, playing similarly to the excellent SNES title āMario RPGā, which criminally never saw the light of day in Europe.
The game is essentially an action/rpg viewed from a ¾ perspective, offering a balance between RPG combat and platforming action. In a unique twist, players control both Mario and Luigi at once using the D-Pad to move both characters in tandem, whilst the A and B buttons allow Mario and Luigi to jump respectively. Itās a system that works wonderfully and youāll find yourself quickly getting into a rhythm whilst navigating the various platforms.
The environments are classic Mario material and require players to jump across platforms to collect coins and various items, however as soon as you encounter an enemy the game switches to a side-view and plays similarly to a turn-based RPG. Both Mario and Luigi have a variety of attack moves at their dispersal, and weāre guessing that progress within the game will open up a wide range of new moves and items to use at your advantage. In a touch that made us smile with delight, certain moves required basic combo button presses to increase the power of the attack; for example, piggybacking over Luigi firstly, simply by pressing the buttons that flash up on the screen can increase a normal Mario bottom-bounce move.
Arguably the biggest surprise comes from the games storyline that revolves around finding Princess Peachā stolen voice, which has been replaced by explosives that are destroying the Mushroom Kingdom.
As you can see from the screens and video footage, Mario and Luigi are now sporting more of a cartoon look then ever before, however coupled with the wonderful environments itās a look that feels accomplished and oozing with charm; once again it may be easy to deride this as childās play, however do so and you risk missing out on a classic.
