Ever since he first appeared in 1981, Mario has been a very busy little plumber. While most gamers will associate Nintendo’s most famous mascot with platformers, there have beena lot of different versions of Mario. In 1996, RPG fans got their first taste of a Mario RPG withSuper Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. It was a bit of a risk for Nintendo, but it paid off, and four years later, the game spawned another new RPG series,Paper Mario.
AfterPaper Mariostarted doing well, Nintendo decided to launch a third Mario RPG series, one in which he shares the spotlight with his brother, Luigi. They imaginatively dubbed itMario & Luigi. The series sold well and, over a 15-year period, saw 5 main releases and two remakes. With the last release being way back in 2018, many gamers presumed the series was dead. That was until recently, when a new entry,Mario & Luigi: Brothership,was announced. With its release expected in November 2024, there’s never been a better time to rank its predecessors. The entries here have been ranked by Metacritic score and general reception and have lumped the remakes with the originals since they didn’t add a lot (and actually scored much lower on Metacritic).
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jamisn’t a bad game. It was one ofthe best Mario games on the 3DSand the developer wasn’t afraid to take risks. Unfortunately, not all those risks paid off, andPaper Jamis easily the worst entry in theMario & Luigiseries. That’s a shame because the concept behind it had a lot of promise. The game is a crossover between theMario & LuigiandPaper Marioseries. It takes Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario and sets them against Bowser and his paper doppelgänger, who have attacked the Mushroom Kingdom.
Sadly, crossovers are hard to get right, and this one just didn’t mesh. AlphaDream didn’t take full advantage of what makes thePaper Marioseries special, and many of its elements, like its Sticker Star’s system, felt like they’d been tacked on to the so-so Battle Card system. Even worse, the story, which could have been epic, was a snooze and relied once again on Bowser kidnapping Peach (and her paper equivalent). On the bright side, the game had the witty writing that both series are known for, and the soundtrack was excellent.
Ranking Mario & Luigi: Dream Teamisn’t easy. As the first entry in the series on the 3DS, it improved upon its predecessors in several ways. Unfortunately, it also has a handful of flaws that really spoil the experience. Beginning with the positive, it was much nicer to look at than previous games in the series and, thanks to the shift to 3D, had its very own art style. The story has Mario and a “Dreamy” version of Luigi traveling across various dream worlds. These worlds themselves feature some really creative designs, and in them, the player comes across “Luiginary Works, a new feature. These allow the player to interact with the environment and manipulate Luigi in various hilarious ways. To name just a few, he can grow into a giant, sneeze to create gusts of wind, and even clone himself.
Unfortunately, there’s a but. Despite all the new features the game gives fans and the imaginative setting, it can turn into a bit of a drag. The frequent and lengthy tutorials in the opening hours really kill the pacing, and the final act feels dragged out and bloated as the game increasingly runs out of new offerings for the player. There are also gameplay problems; the gyroscope mechanics feel forced, and some of the controls could be better. It feels like the developers were told by Nintendo to make use of all the 3DS’s bells and whistles (similarly to how early PS3 exclusives were forced to use the Dualshock 3’s terrible motion controls.)Mario & Luigi: Dream Teamis still a really fun game, but its poor pacing and lackluster controls stop it from being one ofthe best Mario RPGs.
Mario & Luigi: Partners In Timewas the second game in the series and struck a delicate balance between expanding on its predecessors and avoiding the kind of bloat that ended up hampering later titles likeDream Team. At the time, it felt a little too linear, but replaying it these days, that’s more refreshing than anything else. The game’s story feels inspired byChrono Trigger(which is a pretty big compliment) and has Princess Peach going back in time and getting caught (yet again) by the leader of the Shroobs, aliens attacking the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi use time holes to switch between the present and the past and try to rescue their princess.
The time-travel mechanics are pretty well implemented, but newcomers shouldn’t expect anything too mind-bending. For a start, Mario and Luigi have to work with their younger counterparts, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, meaning the game has a four-member party system, rather than the usual two. This means there’s quite a few more options in combat and opportunities to get creative. The mechanic also affects puzzles, with solving a puzzle in the past having consequences in the present. The game’s use of the dual screen on the DS also improves gameplay but never feels forced. The story itself is a lot darker than most Mario games, and despite their laughable name the Shroobs are actually a little menacing. The game was one ofthe best Mario games on the Nintendo DS, so hopefully it’ll get the remake treatment some day.
Our last two entries are both beloved games and received the exact same Metacritic scores, which made ranking them difficult.Superstar Sagakicked off the series in spectacular form, introducing many of the aspects that have madeMario & Luigiso popular. Its gameplay was a big step up from earlier Mario RPGs, and its setting, the BeanBean Kingdom, was a joy to explore. It’s a rich, varied land that serves as a breath off fresh air after decades of games set in the Mushroom Kingdom. The setting also allowed for a diverse selection of bosses that were both challenging and fun to fight.
The story was a real treat. Its villains, Fawful and Cackletta, were a far cry from Bowser (who we actually got to team up with). It also gave Peach, one of Nintendo’smost powerful princess characters,something to do other than wait around and be rescued. On top of all this, the writing was on point, and its humor has aged incredibly well. In 2017, the game received the remake treatment withMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, which we’ve decided to bundle with this entry. The remake reworked the game’s graphics, replacing the beautiful sprite work with less special-feeling 3D artwork and added some quality of life improvements. The biggest addition was the tactical mode, Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, which allowed players to control members of Bowser’s army. It was a sizable addition, but overall, the new graphics and re-scored music took away more than the remake added.
The Mario franchise is one ofthe best-selling video game franchises of all timeandMario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Storyis one of the best and weirdest games in that franchise. The game has Bowser accidentally swallow Mario, Luigi and their friends after being given a Vacuum mushroom by the villainous scientist Fawful. This is a setup that leads to Mario, Luigi and Bowser working together, as Mario and Luigi fight to escape from Bowser’s insides while Bowser leads the fight against Fawful.
Mario & Lugi are controlled in side-scrolling sections on the lower screen, while Bowser is controlled top-down using the second screen. Controlling all three at the same time was a lot of fun and actually made for an excellent use of the dual screens, something that couldn’t be said for some other entries. The RPG gameplay itself felt tight at this point, and the game balanced adding new elements while not becoming overloaded beautifully. The artwork was also gorgeous, and the writing as witty as ever, especially when it came to the forced alliance between Mario, Luigi, and Bowser (a relationship that is usuallyone of Nintendo’s best rivalries). This entry also received a remake,Mario & Luigi Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr’s Journeyfor the Nintendo 3 DS in 2018. It included quality of life improvements and re-worked the special moves system, as well as adding a new side campaign where gamers controlled Bowser Jr. While the remake wasn’t bad, it lost some of the magic of the original and went on to be the worst-selling game in the series.
