DS Plumbers
We take a look at Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS
Tags: Mario & Luigi 2 Categories: GBA Previews, Previews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 8th, 2005
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This is the sequel to Mario & Luigi: SuperStar Saga that appeared on the Game Boy Advance. This title, however, is on the Nintendo DS, so there will definitely be some changes being made.
Mario & Luigi 2: Partners in Time has players taking the role of the titular heroes as they go back in time to and partner up with themselves – it’s Mario & Luigi pairing up with Baby Mario & Baby Luigi. Players will get to control both sets of brothers at various points in the game.
The plot is a little convoluted – or maybe not enough information is released yet. There’s something about UFOs, which if I’m not mistaken, could be a first for any Mario game. Suffice to say that these types of games aren’t remembered for their deep storylines, but instead for their gameplay.
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Since players will be controlling both Mario & Luigi in their adult and baby forms, it is only natural for there to be areas that are accessible to only one or the other group of siblings. This being a “partner” game, pairings will have to occur as well in order to hit certain levels and areas as well. Combo jumps and the like that appeared in the first game will be used again here.
The DS’ touch screen and microphone features aren’t used (at least from what we’ve been shown) but the two screens will be a big help when the party splits up. Being able to see where you are, as well as your partner at the glance of a map will be a great help and not waste countless hours wandering around.
Visually, this is not pushing the boundaries of the DS. This title is clearly picking up where the GBA game left off and that’s not a bad thing. Since the action will travel back and forth between the two screens, it makes much more sense to keep them both 2D rather than switch back and forth between 2 and 3D.
Battles are a turn based affair, but button timing can help to avoid certain attacks. Naturally, each character will have certain attacks making them more useful against certain types of enemies. There will be combination attacks where… well, let’s just say Mario & Luigi can come up with one big fireball. We didn’t get to see much of the combat, but we’ve been assured that there’s plenty of depth explored, much more so than in the previous title.
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One new addition will be the use of the Rumble Pak. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time will be one of the first DS games that will come packed in with a Rumble Pak that fits in the GBA slot of the Nintendo DS allowing players to feel when the hits connect. There’s a lot of potential for this little peripheral, and this could be a great title to showcase it.
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Tags: Mario & Luigi 2
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Nov 8th, 2005 and is filed under GBA Previews, Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
