[.ca] Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

From Amazon.co.uk:
As games get ever more realistic and violent it's nice to come across one like Mario & Luigi that values gameplay, originality and gentle humour above other more gratuitous gimmicks. A quasi-sequel to the N64's superb Paper Mario (itself a sequel to the never-released-in-this-country Super Mario RPG on the SNES), Mario & Luigi is essentially an action role-playing game, although it has enough action sequences and mini-games to evade easy pigeonholing. The game's preposterous storyline involves Prince Peach's voice being stolen (and replaced with exploding speech bubbles) and both Mario and Luigi going off in pursuit of those responsible. One of the main conceits of the game is that you control both brothers at the same time, with the actions of one controlled via the A button and the other by the B button. This results in a lot of jumping on each other's heads and some genuinely inventive cooperative puzzles. Combat in the game is turn-based and again you control both brothers at the same time, with special "Bros. Attacks" taking the place of magic. This aspect of the game is particularly close to Paper Mario, with both attack and defence being aided by a press of the character's button at the appropriate time. In these cynical times it's something of a relief to see games like Mario & Luigi still being released: it manages to amuse and entertain without upsetting anyone and is one of the very best games to be released in 2003. --David Jenkins

Cronique Amazon.fr:
Attention, grande première ! Pour la première fois dans l'histoire du jeu vidéo, les deux frères Mario et Luigi se trouvent réunis au sein d'un seul et même jeu vidéo ! Le type de jeu est lui aussi assez nouveau pour nos plombiers puisque nous sommes en face d'un RPG tout à fait comparable aux meilleurs titres du genre. L'une des grandes originalités de Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga est de proposer le contrôle des deux personnages de manière totalement simultanée (il suffit d'appuyer sur A ou B pour changer de personnage). En ce qui concerne les combats, ils se déroulent au tour par tour et permettent de réaliser des combos uniques. Par ailleurs, les deux compères peuvent si nécessaire se prêter main-forte pour par exemple atteindre des lieux a priori inaccessibles. Et pour ceux qui auraient la nostalgie de leurs premiers émois, la cartouche contient également le jeu Mario Bros, dans sa version originale… --Arnold Vincent

Novelty wears off fast:
At first I liked this game with the exception of the graphics which is quite poor. However the more I played I just didn't feel any motivation. I didn't care about the story and the gameplay of using both Mario and Luigi in a combo mode got old fast. Basically I love the Golden Sun series and Final Fantasy, however this one was a real let down.

Incredible:
Superb gameplay. Very innovative and fits well with the spirit of what makes Mario Bros. games so cool.

Don't See This Everyday:
When I first heard about this game, I thought to myself, "Yet another Mario adventure...bound to be good, but nothing too special I assume." Boy was I wrong. In a good way, that is. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga has become my number one favorite game of all time. And you're hearing that from a hard-core gamer with a large past in gaming. I myself am an RPG lover, it's my favorite genre of video games, and this did not dissappoint one bit. In this Mario RPG, the Goodwill Embassador from a neighbooring kingom, the Beanbean Kingdom, wants to strengthen the ties between the two kingdoms. The Embassador, Lady Lima, approaches Princess Peach and offers a gift. Lady Lima's assistant opens a chest, and out come a device that sprays a toxic fume on Peach. Panic arrises and Lady Lima transforms into her real identity, the evil Cackletta. Peach's voice is now explosive vocabulary; whenever she talks, explosions occur. Bowser is mad because now he can't capture Peach. He sort of "teams up" with Mario and they set off toward the Beanbean Kingdom, where the vast majority of the game takes place. This allows for some unexplored territory and an entirely original event sequence (this is not a remake of a classic like the Super Mario Advance series is). In short, this is an excellent RPG that all will enjoy; hard-core games, newcomers, kids, and adults alike will get endless entertainment from this goldmine of a video game. A MUST-BUY. And I mean that.

A horrible excuse for a game:
This game was sorely dissapointing. The graphics are okay for gameboy advance, but thats the only good part about this game. The game itself was simple exept for the last boss, who was almost impossible(you start with 1 hp!!!) The storyline is aweful (oh no! Princess Peach had her voice stolen! Horror of horrors!) and the music was barely tollerable. They actually made the original Mario Bros. theme annoying, and for the so called "humor", it is only funny to someone with the maturity of a three year old toddler. The add I read said it was for two players, "Oh," I say, "That means one player plays as Mario, and the other plays as Luigi! Cool!" As it turns out, the only multiplayer is in the Mario Bros. game that they include in every single Mario GBA game. The characters where also terrible, the villan who was supposedly extreamly evil was about as evil as a catfish, and her sidekick was like a Kefka wannabe, Kefka himself was one of the best villans produced by Nintendo or Square Enix but this guy had a girly laugh, horrible lines(even compared to the original SNES release of Final Fantasy 3/6) and never did anything. The goodguys where just as bad, Prince Peasly was supposidly a hansome, compitant person who was as skilled as Mario, but in truth: He was a poorly designed(graphicly), useless, and showing up at inapropriate times. There was also Queen Bean, who was more ugly than Steiner from Final Fantisy 9,and also utterly useless(she commands a nation, but is to lazy to lift a finger to help save her own kingdom) As well, the voice clips in this where HORRIBLE. Everywhere from what Mario and Luigi say when you switch their actions to anyones laugh(sound like they're coughing up a tapeworm, not laughing!). Its kind of hard to belive that Nintendo would make this game so bad, as well as emphisize(sp?) the fact that nobody knows who Luigi is. In closing: Only by this game if you are insane or are planning to give it to someone you hate.

GREAT!!!:
Best GBA game ever. Which isn't really saying much since a lot of them suck, but seriously, it's great. Better than Wario Ware: Mega Microgame$!. Which is a great game as well. I enjoyed it the whole way through. From the first moment of the game to the last. Sure the boss was hard, but that's no reason to give the game one star. This game is a lot of fun!