Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Spoilers)

[Lothars]

I definitly want to try this but I have never played the original mario and liugi for the gbasp

but it's all good gonna try them both eventually.

[FantasiaWHT]

Well I just beat it! SPOILER ALERT









Definitely not as good as #1. No exploration for one. The difficulty was WAY WAY less than #1. Cakewalk the entire way through- the power on the bros items was too strong. Or there were too many of them. There was no incentive NOT to use them exclusively instead of normal attacks.

Also, I swear this is the only game that involves time travel that gets no real gameplay out of that concept. You never travel back and forth between the same places at different times, so they really could have gotten rid of that entirely, and explained the baby Mario & Luigi some other way. Really felt there was a lot of potential wasted there.

The bean system was much weaker than the original too. I only bought one badge with them- the EXP badge. I liked the old system of multiple types of beans!

[Bluteg]

SPOILER WARNING!

I'm on the verge of finishing this as well. 22 hours in right before final boss, I believe. I can't wait for it to end so I can start FFIV Advance. This seems horribly rushed compared to the first with many features that seems bare and stripped compared to the first. For instance were is the fun LttP esque overworld? It feels like they started on an overworld after finishing the story and dungeons while in the end just gave up and decided to do those lazy time warps through out the castle. There are no side-quests except for collecting those now useless beans. The one shop that accepts the beans has nothing useful and I have yet to spend a single one, yet I have 133 of them and intentionally missing a few because there is no purpose in collecting them.

The neat mini-games from the first were transfered into the battle system. I really can't stand the items because it's like completing the same mini-game over a few hundred times. The plot is uninteresting and seems clone-like. I guess all Mario games with RPG elements now have to have random evil end boss from space. I love Super Mario RPG but it seems they took out what made the game great and built a new game around it and added a few gimmicks. PiT seems to be missing side-quests, a non-predictable plot, choice of weapons, non linear gameplay, and definatly an improved battle system. M&L:SSS was good but no SMRPG but moderatly evolutionary and still fun on its own. This is a definate step down much in the way the new Lunar was.

[Jorpho]

Say, did anyone manage to get the prize in that one gem-collecting minigame? What did it turn out to be?

[Jasoco]

It may not be as good as the original, but I'm having megaloads of fun with it. Except that I agree boss battles sometimes take way too long. But I think that may be because you spend too much time trying to figure out the secret to beat them. Which actually is fun and challenging. So far I've only had to "cheat" on one boss because I couldn't figure out why the hell it wouldn't die after 30 minutes. Turns out I was WAAAAAY off.

Each boss has a different method of defeating it. As well as weaknesses and strengths. I had a lot of fun figuring out how to do the Wiggler boss. Took me a few minutes to put 2 + 2 into 4, but once I did, I was on my way.

Also, I am becoming a pro at Bros Shells. I got all the way to 100, my fingers were going a mile a minute. AND I was getting the extra baby spin damage in every hit as well. Niiice. But I suck at some of the ones that require me to hit each characters button when they jump on the enemy. Trampoline and cannon and chomp etc. I mess up with those so I end up using a shell. Fire Flowers are also good, I can occasionally get a good bit of damage with them.

But I'm going through mushrooms and 1UP's like candy. So I just buy a lot when I get to a store.

I like what few new references I've seen so far. Like the guys on the carpets from SMB2.

I am enjoying a lot of the music too. Best version of the original theme I've heard as well as best underground theme too. (Basement) And I'm up to the Thwomp Volcano, I'm digging this tune. Also, the giant Yoshi music rocked.

Speaking of the giant Yoshi, I loved the level design there. I am a big fan of levels where the characters are wandering around inside another character. Whether it be Chapter 4 (The Whale) in Star Tropics or the bio-mechancal shark in Banjo-Kazooie or this one, I love it. It was robotic, yet also living at the same time. Weird. But cool.

The graphics are definitely nicer this time. It's like they were able to break free of the constraints of 16x16 pixel sprites of the first and just paint each level as one big canvas. Also, the characters look cooler, sometimes bigger. Bowser looks more like himself than he did as well.

And while some may consider Luigi's Mansion the bastard child of the Mario universe, I love the continuous references to that very special game. Professor Elvin Gadd has dug himself a place in my heart as a real Mario universe character.

, when the team met E. Gadd in his house on the volcano, I couldn't help but replay that scene from Back to the Future in my head. "I came here in a time machine.. that YOU invented!" That's gotta be a reference.

And Mario and Luigi's interaction with their infant selves is priceless.

[THATinkjar]

Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers

Well... I just finished M&L2. I've played it pretty much non-stop these past few weeks, finishing it in just under nineteen hours. Not a bad time, considering I went hunting for every block, enemy, bean, etc.

While I haven't played Superstar Saga, and thus have little to compare this game to, I really enjoyed the linear nature of this game. I liked being led, so I could spend less time searching for the right place, and more time enjoying the direction I was being taken on. If that makes sense? I was just along for the ride, really.

The puzzles are relatively easy (some may struggle, of course), and toward the end of the game I did get a sense of... going through the motions, a little. But it never got boring. The difficultly is certainly on par with what you guys have been saying... this game is straightforward. The biggest obstacle I faced was the final encounter with the Shroob sisters, which took three attempts (tip: Mix Flowers for the win). The game is made easy by too many items, coins, beans, shops, etc.

Personally... I found the attack system heaps of fun. The moves may be simple, but mastering them proved challenging and enjoyable. Which is pretty much how I would sum up the entire game. I had a blast, and would encourage anyone sitting on the fence to pick this up.

Say, did anyone manage to get the prize in that one gem-collecting minigame? What did it turn out to be?

I got 46, and stopped trying. I'd be interested to hear what the prize was, though. Those blocks were hilarious... "We go DOWN!".

[Jorpho]

The FAQs that have since been written state that it is the Simple badge, which powers up the attack strength of Bros Items when you're running low on them. Not so good methinks. (I recall finding the special Stomp badge to be the most useful.)

In contrast, Super Mario RPG would have had some utterly cool and completely unique item there, like the Super Suit, the Lazy Shell, the Sheep Lure, or maybe even the Fireworks.