Thoughts on Mario & Luigi: Brothership

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and does not reflect the viewpoints of Nintendo, Acquire, or any other entity involved with the development of the game.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Mario & Luigi: Brothership. We don’t recommend reading this until you’ve completed it, and please proceed at your own risk.

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After AlphaDream, the company that created the Mario & Luigi series went bankrupt back in 2019, I thought it was the end of the series. Well, we were all wrong. It was only taking a five-year rest. When I learned the series was making a comeback in the Summer 2024 Nintendo Direct, I was pretty hyped. I was really glad to return to a franchise I once loved during my youth.

I had to finish my own game Touhou Kichouden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria 2 in time for the release of the game, and I explored and finished the game in its entirety in a week. The plot revolves around you having to restore the power grid to Concordia after it went down. Every Mario & Luigi game’s world has a specific theme: Superstar Saga was beans, Partners in Time was time, Bowser’s Inside Story was the human body, Dream Team was dreams, Paper Jam was papercraft and origami, and Brothership was electricity.

In fact, this was one franchise that influenced the Drillimation Danmaku Universe as a whole. What do I have to say about the game? From what the critics said, I have to admit that this game is also fantastic and inarguably the best game in the entire series. It’s not perfect though, and does have its fair share of flaws.

Main Gripes About the Game

1. Not Having the Ability to Sail Shipshape Faster Early in the game

This game was about embarking on a great adventure to restore Concordia’s power grid and reconnect the continent. Your only method of getting to the islands is by sailing with Shipshape. Why did Acquire force the ship to move at a snail’s pace early in the game, only to get the ability to move Shipshape faster via a special ability? Basically, it slowed the pace down and resists the urge of starting a new save file.

Additionally, you also gain another ability toward the end of the game to instantly fly Shipshape to any location of your choosing. It’s very handy when you need to get to that islet.

2. The Constant Interruptions on Shipshape

Any time you need to get to the cannon to shoot yourself onto that island or islet, somebody is almost always bound to interrupt you for some random thing, whether related or unrelated. It was enough to make me say “Go away and let me play the game!”

3. Running the Game at 30FPS

For me, I say that 60FPS is smoother than 30FPS. They messed up the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake by cutting the framerate in half as well (the original ran at 60FPS). Sure, it saves memory, but it makes things stutter.

4. Changing the Action Buttons for Luigi During Battle

Ever since the very first game, we have gotten used to pushing the B button for Luigi’s actions during battle. What about this game? Only in the overworld and not battle. One thing I do have to give credit for is designating the hammer to the X and Y buttons so you don’t have to change tools with the L and R buttons like in previous installments.

5. Not Having the Ability to Further Upgrade One More Stat When Leveling Up

In previous Mario & Luigi games, whenever one of the bros leveled up, you were given the ability to further upgrade one more stat. They appeared to have used Paper Jam as the model by taking away that ability from the game. In my games, namely Touhou Kourinden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria, I give the player to do that.

6. Lack of Post-Game Content

In order for a role-playing game to be successful, it must get players hooked and never let them go. The Mario & Luigi series, for some reason, does not seem to like post-game content. Once you defeat the final boss the game is essentially over.