Tag: Turn based gaming

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga (GBA/3DS) Review

ragglefragglereviews1 Comment

Mario is back and this time its an rpg?

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Mario and Luigi superstar saga was released in 2003 for the Game boy advance it was developed by a team called Alpha Dream and was produced by Nintendo, as mentioned the game is an RPG and was likely made due to the success of the first Paper Mario game, Super Star Saga was very popular after its release and is still a fan favourite to this day so it was of no surprise that a remake was made for the 3DS I am just surprised that the remake didn’t get released before this, so which version of the game is better?

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The plot between both games is exactly the same with the exception that the remake has an additional campaign.

An evil witch called Cackletta and her minion Fawful go to Princess Peaches Castle with a plan to steal the Princesses voice and replace it with explosives, a Toad travels to the home of Mario and Luigi informing the two brothers about what happened, when they both arrive they find Bowser who was hoping to Kidnap Princess Peach but decided against it after he noticed the Princesses rather dangerous new set of pipes, instead the Koopa King decides to team up with the Mario brothers in order to help Peach get her voice back meaning that he could kidnap her without risking the destruction of his castle.

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The Game play is where the differences really start to show and the 3DS version has gotten a lot of backlash due to the changes it has made, in both versions the battle system is turned based and as far as I am aware the way you fight is also the same, the brothers can both jump, hammer, use magic and perform combination attacks in order to defeat enemies, the 3DS version is slightly more lenient than the original as I found avoiding attacks and performing combos here a lot easier than I did back in the day, there is also an easy mode that can be switched too at anytime so the battle system isn’t too complicated for younger fans either.

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The game is also filled to the brim with puzzles that the brothers must solve when travelling across the games large map, not many stand out to me but one of my favourites is the mine cart game and the barrel matching game on the pirate ship.

MARIO LUIGI SUPERSTAR SAGA 3DS COMPARAISON

The visuals in the original game are outstanding, it’s full of exciting and explosive colours, the animations are beautiful not to mention impressive for a game of that era and the little touches help bring a lot of emotion and well timed comedy to the game, the remake while also beautiful doesn’t really push the 3DS to it’s full potential and it’s more of a nicer re skin of what we already had than anything new and unique however it’s still nice to look at and still helps the game maintain its charm and originality.

The music is fantastic, the game has a great soundtrack which varies between nice and cheerful music to scary and intense tracks and each help to build up the mood of the game

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The biggest new addition to the remake is Bowsers minions a brand new 6 hour long campaign, the game is not what you would expect, I wanted a full RPG experience but it’s more of a game that focuses on building an army and levelling up your troops, I personally don’t like this type of game style so the fact that I really couldn’t get into it does not mean that you won’t

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Mario and Luigi superstar saga is one of the best RPG’s you can buy it’s fun, easy enough to learn and it gives a whole new and interesting spin to the Mario universe, the remake adds a whole new campaign and a new coat for the visuals which makes it worth buying if you like the style of games such as age empires and star craft otherwise I wouldn’t spend money on the 3DS remake as this is the only massive bonus available, you can also purchase the original game through the Nintendo Eshop for much cheaper than the 3DS version, I love both versions of the game so it’s hard for me not to give both version a very high score but I think the 3DS remake beats the original by a nudge due to the additional content and clearer visuals.

The orginal game 9.4/10

The 3DS remake 9.6/10

I hope you enjoyed my review of Mario and Luigi Super Star Saga for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo 3DS.

Want me to review a specific game/movie/product or do you have a general question you would like me to answer? if so please email me at ragglefragglereviews@gmail.com

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Paper Mario Sticker Star Review (3DS)

ragglefragglereviews4 Comments

I love the Paper Mario games with one exception the Wii version (Super Paper Mario) but I will talk about that game some other day. The Paper Mario games are great for many reasons, they are full of hilarious comedy, they have epic story lines and most importantly they are really fun to play. With me being a big fan of the series I couldn’t resist but to buy Sticker Star as soon as I possibly could

 

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The Story of Sticker Star is nothing of an epic tale which is a shame since other games in the series have had some really good story lines. The story line may not be epic but it’s not a terrible story line. The story is that the members of the mushroom kingdom are having their annual sticker festival which they have each year to celebrate to power of the royal stickers (five crown stickers which have the power to grant the wishes of the person who wears them).  When presenting the royal stickers Bowser gets his claws on one of them and the rest get blown away to other locations in the game. Bowser’s wish comes true and he becomes a super shiny sticker, he then kidnap’s Princess Peach and Mario has to save her.Image

Game play

The Paper Mario we all know and love is back, that’s right we have gone back to turn based game play with a little twist. We have gone back to turn based game play which is great but now we fight using stickers instead of using partners who have different abilities and powers and this works really well surprisingly.

It’s not just fighting you need stickers for in some cases in the game you will need to use stickers to communicate with certain objects communicating with these objects will either give you a new item which you can turn into a big sticker or you will need to communicate with certain objects in the game in order to continue.

You do not level up in sticker star which is unusual for a Paper Mario game instead you need to find health upgrades throughout the game to increase your overall health, you can get your health to a Max of 100hp and I recommend that you find all of these health upgrades because when you get to the Final boss you may need that little bit of extra hp.

Finally I want to talk about a certain type of sticker called a blue door sticker. Throughout the game you will find doors on objects but you are not able to access them. You are not able to access these doors because you need to buy some blue door stickers to access them, once you place a blue door sticker over the door you can then open the door and go inside. Inside these doors can be anything from money, sticker/objects or health upgrades. You will need to access certain blue doors in the game in order to continue but you can find them yourself.

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Apart from the story line the only other negative aspect to the game I can think of is that there are only 6 worlds and I can’t help but feel that there should be 8 worlds in the game.

 

Graphics

You’re going to want to crank that 3D right up for this game because the 3D really helps the game look amazing and it’s not the kind of 3D that hurts your eyes or makes you feel sick.  The game looks amazing, it’s full of colour, the characters and environments are smooth and at times it really feels like there is a real paper world in your hands, the 3D is perfect it doesn’t make the game look any different and it actually enhances the experience. I won’t say this too often when talking about 3DS games but if you get Sticker Star I recommend playing in 3D throughout the entire game.

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Music

My favourite Paper Mario soundtrack used to be from the thousand year door but now my favourite Paper Mario soundtrack is from Sticker Star. The music in this game is absolutely fantastic and so far some of the best I have heard on the 3DS. The music fits the characters and environments so well and just like the 3D it really enhances the experience. My favourite Piece of music is right at the end of the game before you go into Bowser’s Castle it is pretty much a rock and roll remix of the over world theme.

Final Verdict

If you like Paper Mario you will love sticker star and I highly recommend buying it. It looks and sounds amazing and finally turn based game play is back. Paper Mario Sticker Star is a hilarious adventure which can be loved by the whole family. The game may be amazing but there are a few issues I found with the game. The story line is basic and there are only 6 worlds in the game and for those reasons alone I am going to give Paper Mario Sticker Star a 8/10 the game had a few flaws but overall it is a very good 3DS title which is worth picking up.