A look back at: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

We were all gaming noobs at one point, always playing the most popular games at the time when we were kids, and sucking horribly at them in a lot of ways. I remember Superstar saga as such a notable example of what I was back in the day, someone who enjoyed Nintendo's overall gaming experiences especially when Mario is concerned. And what do you know, a story-driven game involving the bros, Peach, and Bowser! It didn't get me into RPGs, thank Pokemon for that, really. But it was an interesting game.

The idea of actually dodging direct attacks and enhancing your own with timed action commands is delightful, and it is probably heard of at least one expert player who can dodge literally every attack thrown at them. Such players are pretty good overall and can obviously take that low-level playthrough in the palms of their hands. Indeed, I at least try to do similar to that. Mario and Luigi are NOT strong characters, they are generally okay at dishing damage, but could fall easily to strong attacks. With a little memorization, their strongest attacks will destroy enemies, and so will they be able to dodge whatever is thrown at them with relatively excellent timing. There's plenty of actually good minigames too, a hallmark I notice in quite a few Mario RPGs, where none of them are really groan-inducing.

The other major hallmark? The humor. Now, I'm pretty sure you can laugh your ass off at any funny RPG moment, then lose your sanity at another. But Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is a generally funny game overall with barely any major nightmarish scenarios. You look at Cackletta and she's generally dangerous, but in a quite comical way. Double for Fawful as well, who will naturally make a reappearance in Bowser's Inside Story as its main villain. You also look at minor villains like Popple, as well as none other than Bowser himself, who has mostly been relegated into comic relief almost entirely until Cackletta decides to fuse with his body. Naturally, that's one of those moments that I'm not a fan of, but at least the intimidation factor increases here. And the natural sense that despite any possible separation, the gibberish-speaking bros will ALWAYS triumph over whatever possible threat that Cackletta ended up providing. All in all, a very humble effort that Nintendo provided.