Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
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| Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story | ||||||||||||||||||||
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"Shooooowtiiiiime!"
— Bowser | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is a role-playing game developed by AlphaDream and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the third game in the Mario & Luigi RPG series, following Partners in Time and preceding Dream Team.
A remake of the game was released in December 2018/January 2019 for the Nintendo 3DS, entitled Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, nearly ten years after the original game's release. It is the thirty-first and final Mario game released on the 3DS. However, this is not the final 3DS Nintendo game as Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn was the true final game released.
Plot
A mysterious disease called the "blorbs" breaks out in the Mushroom Kingdom and is causing the toads to become round and barely able to move around. Princess Peach arranges a meeting to discuss what to do with the disease, but Bowser arrives and tries to kidnap Peach, only to get sent flying out the castle by Mario and land in Dimble Wood, where he buys a "Lucky Mushroom" from a merchant, which turns out to be a "Vacuum Shroom". This causes him to accidentally inhale everyone attending the meeting, including Mario, Luigi, and the star sprite Starlow. Bowser then passes out afterwards and the merchant is revealed to be Fawful, who takes over both the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms after Bowser inhaled everyone. Upon hearing that Midbus, Fawful's right hand man, has taken over Bowser's castle, he sets out to defeat the fiendish Beanish and the shelled swine with the help of the Mario Bros. and Starlow (although Bowser is unaware of their presence).
Why It Rules
Original
- This is the first game in which Bowser has ever been a main protagonist in any Mario game (although he was a playable character in four Mario RPGs, starting with Super Mario RPG) and he has some witty dialogue to go with this.
- The plot and writing are just as good as their predecessors, going for a more comical tone akin to Superstar Saga, compared to Partners in Time's serious one. To go with this, there are many funny and awesome moments in the game, such as:
- The Elite Trio (Private Goomp, Corporal Paraplonk, and Sergeant Guy) betray Bowser at Blubble Lake. This becomes funnier later on when they ask to be forgiven at the end of the game.
- Chakron, the Guardian of the second Star Essence, forces Mario and Luigi to create an earthquake using a Bros. Attack known as Snack Basket (whose Attack Pieces can be found in the Dimble Wood). When Luigi uses this, he becomes huge and chubby.
- While finding the Dimble Wood Attack Pieces, Mario gets kidnapped by Sockops, and Luigi masters the courage to save his older brother. This is an example of brotherly love at its finest.
- The Dark Star replicates Bowser's DNA to form Dark Bowser and absorbs Fawful to become the Dark Star Core, both of which make for an excellent combined final boss (and it's satisfying to finally defeat Fawful and send him off with a literal bang!)
- In addition to playing as Bowser, you are still able to play as Mario and Luigi as usual, both inside and outside of the Koopa King. Just like the Baby Bros., you can swap between the Mario Bros. and Browser by pressing the face buttons (A/B for the Mario Bros. and X/Y for Bowser; the 3DS remake only uses X to swap to Bowser, since Y uses the Team Jump instead).
- Similarly to Kirby, Bowser can inhale smaller enemies in battle after consuming the Vacuum Shroom that Fawful (disguised as Kamek) gives him; unlike the Strong Star Warrior, however, the enemies that are swallowed end up fought by the Mario Bros. inside of Browser rather than going to a pocket dimension.
- Some of Bowser's interactions in the overworld open new areas inside of him for the Mario Bros. to interact with (except when he gets electrocuted at the Toad Town clinic, which segues into a boss fight).
- Bros. Attacks are no longer tied to Bros. Items like they were in Partners in Time, and instead use BP like in most other Mario & Luigi games. They are still as fun to use as ever, with some of them being Green Shell, Fire Flower, Super Bouncer, Snack Basket, and Falling Star.
- Bowser has his version of Bros. Attacks called Brawl Attacks, which utilize the stylus and his minions to attack enemies. Some Brawl Attacks include Goomba Storm, Shy Guy Squad, Magikoopa Mob, and Broggy Bonker (which can be obtained once you find all the Blitties).
- Great graphics that utilize the same art style as Partners in Time (in the original version) or Dream Team (in the remake), with the latter even utilizing 3D graphics in the Giant Battles.
- Amazing soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimamura, with standout tracks including "The Grand Finale (the final boss theme)," "The Wind is Blown at Cavi Cape," "Deep Castle" and "Through Thick and Thin at the Plains."
- During some boss fights, you'll play as Giant Browser while holding the DS/3DS vertically, and they are just as interesting and awesome as they sound, except for the Fawful Express.
- The new characters are fun additions to the franchise, as with most new characters in Mario games.
- Starlow, while sometimes mean-spirited (see BQ #4), makes for a cute new ally for the Mario Bros. and a worthy successor to Stuffwell. She even interacts with Bowser sometimes, with him calling her "Chippy."
- Broque Monsieur and Broque Madame are block-like characters who give Bowser tasks (the former needs his Blitties from each location, while the latter gets a massage from Bowser's Brawl Attack Challenges).
- Fawful returns to his usual antagonistic self, and is still a hilarious antagonist.
- The bosses, both normal and Giant, are really fun to fight, including Dark Fawful, the Dark Star, Blizzard Midbus, Junker, and of course, the final fight against Dark Bowser/Dark Star Core.
- Decent replay value, primarily due to Bros. Attack challenges inside Bowser, Broque Madame's Brawl Attack challenges, and the ability to refight bosses (and Giant Bosses in the 3DS version) in the same Challenge area as the Bros. Attack ones.
3DS Remake
- Many improvements have been made in the 3DS version, making it just as good, if not better than, the original.
- It also adds Bowser Jr.'s Journey, a mode similar to Minion Quest where Bowser Jr., his siblings (the Koopalings), and his father's army fight off the Best Fitness Fiends (now renamed as Brute Force Federation) while looking for ingredients for Skeletone Formula :D in the first half and his Koopalings in the second half.
- The story also focuses on discrimination and equality; at first, Bowser Jr. abandons his Koopalings and mocks the captains to fight many times, and then when he becomes mature, he starts to treat them with respect. On the other hand in discrimination, the Malatoned minions attempt to attack Bowser Jr. and his allies until their brainwashed state is gone.
- Some scenes have explanation in the main game's story; like Dieter was responsible for the Vacuum Shroom and Bowser invading Peach's Castle after not being invited to Peach's conference about the Blorbs.
- Some scenes also focus on right on equality, for example, Ludwig mocks Kaley about her appetite and Bowser Jr.s speech about how good and evil are not similar in terms of the Best Fitness Friends.
- Unlike Minion Quest, it features an expanded post-game levels where Bowser Jr. reunites Private Goomp, Sergeant Guy, Corporal Paraplonk, the Elite Paratroopa trio, and Bowser.
- Nabbit also joins later after recruiting all of them in the post-game, albeit featured as an enemy before Ludwig uses Negotiation.
- During Giant Battles, Bowser can land a Finishing Blow once the bosses' health has been lowered. It first starts with a flurry of punches, but when the bosses send them flying, he lands a giant punch to shove them.
- Boss Rush for giant bosses was added in the game so that players can enjoy them; excluding the Fawful Express due to the problems below.
- Cheeses have been added in the game, exclusively for Bowser, which can recover BP. In addition, the Cheesy Drumsticks can recover HP and BP fully.
- You can scan an Amiibo to gain items, but the same one can only be used once per day.
- The graphics and music are also good.
- Most of the voices are toned down making the game less disturbing, especially when Luigi gets hit by the Mighty Meteor.
- The blowing mechanic, despite being removed here and it is questionable, has been replaced with traditional buttons and tapping for giant bosses only; thus making the game easier.
- One rank has been added for all three characters:
- For Mario and Luigi, after leveling up to Level 12, the Shell Rank has been replaced with a new Boomerang Rank. The Shine Rank has been placed with Flower Rank once they reach level 24. The Rainbow Rank level has been lowered from Level 40 to Level 30. Speaking of which, the Rank-up Bonuses appear when an old rank has been replaced with a new one.
- For Bowser, it adds the Master Boss Rank once he reaches Level 24. The Final Boss Rank level has been lowered from Level 40 to Level 32. The Intruder Fangs reward has been moved to Super Peach's Castle of Fury reward instead.
- While players cannot get EXP after defeating Giant Bosses, they grant 4 rewards instead, especially the Intruder Fangs after defeating Super Peach's Castle of Fury for the first time.
- A Battle Guide has been added in battles and in the menu so that players can understand the battles.
- Good Moral: Perhaps the most important thing is being responsible and show respect, as well as being polite to your companions, otherwise you would end up causing trouble and become discriminated towards people you hate.
Bad Qualities
- You are unable to refight Giant Bosses in the original DS version unless you create a new save file. Additionally, you are unable to refight normal Bowser's bosses in either version.
- While the original game runs at 60fps, the remake only runs at 30fps for unknown reasons.
- As before stated, Starlow can be bossy and mean-spirited, especially towards Luigi and Bowser (although the latter I more justified).
- Cavi Cape is the smallest area in the game and is barely visited except to teach the player how to control Bowser in the field and battles, and later find the Blitties there. However, the music is still good to listen to.
- The Fawful Express is considered the worst boss in the entire game, in part due to the player being timed as the train reaches the station and the fact that only Fire Breath will damage it.
- In the Gauntlet, players cannot normally tap to destroy the spike mountain, causing Bowser to punch automatically instead of following the players' command, thus making the game impossible to complete.
- The blowing technique has been removed in the 3DS remake, which is disappointing since the original had those. Unfortunately, WarioWare Gold has the blowing technique and it was the last game to do so.
- There are some problems to Bowser Jr's Journey:
- Bowser Jr. is unlikable at the first half of the game because he wants to show off to Bowser about the Skeletone Formula :D, explaining why he abandons his Koopalings, his siblings. Once he reached the second half, he started to become mature thanks to Kamek's teachings. Neat the final boss, there is a flashback regarding Bowser asking the Koopalings to do a favor for Bowser Jr. by taking care of him, in which Bowser Jr. could have pay attention to the flashback instead. He even got a page on the Loathsome Characters Wiki.
- Roy, while not as bad as Bowser Jr.'s, is also unlikable as he answers back about his bratty and cocky nature in the first half, explaining why he got abandoned in the first place.
- Despite its story being an improvement over Minion Quest, for players who are not aware, it has themes around poverty and discrimination, which are very questionable themes in a children's game, thus make it more divisive than best. Not even some children's media have signs of poverty or discrimination like Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia, Love Struck! from The Fairly OddParents, and even Average Jeff from Clarence, can handle their executions poorly.
- Pokémon Black and White (and their sequels) show discrimination regarding Team Plasma's goals of liberating people and Pokémon, as well as Pokémon Sun and Moon (and their Ultra versions) show discrimination regarding Aether Foundation people protecting Pokémon by placing then into the Aether Paradise, but all of these games handle their executions better than this game.
- Ironically, Minion Quest had a theme around discrimination, but it handled a lot better than this.
- Examples include Bowser Jr. neglecting most of his Koopalings and minions in favor of getting the ingredients by himself, causing the former to get kidnapped by Best Fitness Friends and minions become brainwashed by them using the Malatone Formula :X and some characters mocking their appearance and behaviors.
- Pokémon Black and White (and their sequels) show discrimination regarding Team Plasma's goals of liberating people and Pokémon, as well as Pokémon Sun and Moon (and their Ultra versions) show discrimination regarding Aether Foundation people protecting Pokémon by placing then into the Aether Paradise, but all of these games handle their executions better than this game.
- Plot Hole: During the time Bowser becomes giant and battles Yikk Tower, since when do Mario and Luigi enter Blubble Lake for the first time while Bowser Jr. and Kamek are searching for Lemmy and Larry? Mario and Luigi cannot go to Blubble Lake once they get the Red Cure and Bowser learning the Body Slam technique.
- The endings are stupid:
- When Bowser Jr. gives a bottle of Skeletone Formula :D to Bowser, the latter ate the entire bottle of it, causing him to become Dry Bowser. This leads to chasing Bowser Jr. as it is a prank this whole time; however, Bowser Jr. does get his comeuppance for his neglectfulness and for being selfish by only getting the ingredients to impress Bowser.
- In the second ending after the player defeats Bowser, he and Bowser Jr. engage plenty of battles, causing Bowser's Castle to get destroyed due to their intense brawling.
- Missed Opportunity: The remake could have sparked controversy due to not only due to its 3DS lifespan and for having the worst-selling game of all time, despite being an improvement over the original, but also containing themes about poverty and discrimination, yet critics and audiences ignored the latter's situation.
Reception
The original Bowser's Inside Story received critical acclaim (scoring 90/100 on Metacritic), while the remake received generally favorable reviews (this score being 84/100). Many of the praises went to the improved gameplay, storyline, humor, and Bowser's role as the focus character for most of the game.
Trivia
- It's theorized that Fawful's "Fawfully-Doo! Where are you?" quote is a reference to Scooby-Doo.
- This is the first and only Mario game that has Bowser's name in it. Not counting the Remake or Bowser's Minions and Bowser's Fury.
- This is the first of the only two Mario & Luigi games that involves three main playable characters (Mario, Luigi, and Bowser). The second is in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (with Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario).
- This is the last Mario RPG where Coins are lost from fleeing a battle.
- This is also the last Mario & Luigi game where Luigi's socks are shown on the artworks.
- When Mario & Luigi told Starlow that they defeated the Shroobs, it was a reference of Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time since they were Baby Mario and Baby Luigi.
- This is the first Mario & Luigi game to have multiple languages for its North American release. Both the French and Spanish translations are distinct from those of Europe and done by Nintendo of America.
- If the player is controlling Bowser, then switch to Mario/Luigi inside him, there will be a remix of the song in the area Bowser's playing.
- This is the first Mario & Luigi game where Bowser does not end up possessed by the main villain, as well as the first RPG game since Paper Mario where the main villain does not actually possess one of the main characters.
- However, Dark Bowser is a character who has copied Bowser lineaments by gathering his DNA, and is similar to previous Bowser possessions, however, he is more so a clone of Bowser than him being possessed.
- Bowser's Inside Story is the Best-Selling game in the Series. (Having 4.56 Million Units Sold)
- This was the first Mario & Luigi game to be released in Japan before in North America.
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