Review by Luke_the_Duke15

"The best Mario RPG and the best game on the DS"

Let me start out by saying that I know that I've given other games 10/10s, but I mean it when I say: THIS GAME IS PERFECT!

Story 10/10: A disease called "The Blorbs" has infected the Mushroom Kingdom. This is caused by Fawful, the sidekick to the main villian in the first game in the series. During a meeting about "The Blorbs", Bowser comes in and gets into a fight with Mario. Bowser gets his ass kicked, and gets thrown into a forest. Fawful comes and gives him a "Lucky Mushroom", resulting in Bowser sucking up Mario and Luigi. Now, Mario and Luigi have to thwart Fawful from inside Bowser.

Gameplay 10/10: The gameplay is spent playing as Bowser and the Mario Bros. You play as Bowser in the Overworld fighting monsters and leveling up. You play as the Mario Bros. inside of Bowser. You fight monsters and level up here as well. Just by looking at the Japanese title to this game, you can tell it's an RPG. The battles are turn-based, so you take turns slapping each other around in battle. In battle, there are "Action-Commands" that allow you to do extra damge to an enemy. You have to press the right button at the right time (For Mario it's "A", Luigi is "B", and Bowser is "X") There's nothing special, or extraordinary about the Mario Bros. battles. You can attack enemies by jumping on them, or whacking them with a hammer. You can also to "Special Attacks", which do MASSIVE damage to the enemy. At times, you do a little Mini-game in Bowser's body that will allow Bowser to reach new areas, or pass a barrier. As Bowser, you can either attack an enemy by punching them. If you time it right, you can knock the enemy off screen and do massive damage. You can also breathe fire, and if you time that right, there's a chance the enemy will catch fire and gradually take damage. Bowser's "Special Attacks" are done with the stylus. You also have the option to suck up some monsters and have the Mario Bros. fight them. It's a nice way to have the Mario Bros. level up a little faster. You can equip items to boost Bowser's and the Mario Bros. status. You can equip more... equipment by going up in Rank, which can be achieved by leveling up a lot. If you reach a certain Rank, you can shop in exclusive stores for better equipment. You can expect to play as Bowser for 50% to 55% of the game, and the Mario Bros. for 45% to 50% of the game.

Sound 10/10: Outstanding. You have themes for the different parts of the Overworld, the Bowser Battle Theme, the Mario Bros. Battle Theme, the Boss Theme, Fawful's Theme, and the Final Boss Theme. The Final Boss Theme is, without a doubt, the best theme in the entire game.

Graphics 10/10: I don't care so much for 2-D sprites, but you can clearly distinguish everything in the game. My only complaint, and I know I'm being really nit-picky here, is that Luigi's clothes aren't exactly green. Their more of a blue, or turquoise.

Gameplay Time 10/10: This is the perfect length for a game. On your first playthrough, without sidequests, it should take you 25 to 30 hours to beat. With sidequests, I wouldn't know, I haven't done all of the sidequests, but I would suspect another 10 hours to be added on.

Replayability 10/10: You can finish all of the sidequests, get all of the "Special Attacks", level up to 99, or, if you're really picky about 100%, buy everything in the game. You could also just replay the game altogether. I could probably replay this game 5 times in a row (I know... pathetic), and I wouldn't get bored.

Overall 10/10: This is a perfect game, and even if you aren't a Mario fan (But you are an RPG fan), you should give it a try.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10 | Originally Posted: 09/21/09

Game Release: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (US, 09/14/09)

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